Dry bulk shares rise

Shares of dry bulk ship operators were up today after an announcement yesterday from DryShips Inc. (NasdaqGS:DRYS) saying it had the completed an "ATM" (at-themarket) equity offering that raised gross proceeds of approximately $500 million.

George Economou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented: "Given the status of the world economy, the fact that we have successfully raised $500 million of primary equity is a testament of DryShip's ability to tap the capital markets at any point in time. We would like to thank Merrill Lynch & Co. for their assistance. We believe the primary equity that we have raised has significantly improved our balance sheet and liquidity, and will enable us to continue reducing our debt obligations while also allowing us to take advantage of future growth opportunities."

Oppenheimer & Co upgraded DryShips to "outperform" from "perform," saying the completion of the ATM offering "removes consistent overhead supply that has been one of the causes of stock price underperformance year-to-date."

DryShips ended the day at $7.17--a gain of 29.19 percent.