Daily Archives: December 4, 2006

Cramer Electrifies Emerson Electric (EMR)

Tonight on CNBC’s MAD MONEY, Jim Cramer also talked about what a great day today was.  He thinks the bears will have to stage a raid, but look for totem stocks to hang your hat on.  Last summer he thought buyback stocks were the ones to hang your hat on, but he is saying again that now you want to do it with dividends.

Because of a selloff a stock that has been forgotten is Emerson Electric (EMR).  EMR should have 15% growth, trades at 15-times earnings, has a 2.5% yield, it already reported in November, and it may be immune from the fallout in any sell-off.  You can now get into the stock lower than when thgey boosted the dividend, and that shouldn’t be the case.

It closed at $85.12 in normal trading (down 0.1%) but was up around $86.00 after Cramer touted the name.  The yearly high is $90.42.

Cramer thinks they are drawing a line in the sand, but with a fed that may cut rates before raising them you want to own high dividend stocks.

Jon C. Ogg
December 4, 2006

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 6:23 pm in Cramer

Cramer Now Saying Under Armour is a Buy to the Ninth Power

Tonight on CNBC’s MAD MONEY, Jim Cramer noted the war that Under Armour (UARM) is waging a war against Nike (NKE), and against the Adidas-Reebok brand.  Cramer said he is no longer vascilating and the stock is a Buy.

He even said a Buy to the ninth power.  This isn’t just because people are wearing.  Nike is trying to keep UARM down, but UARM is winning in little niche area like baseball cleats.  This niche expansion is something Cramer is only starting to understand now and they are doing well.  This is even going to replace the under clothing for skiing and hunting, he thinks it has smart management that is looking for holes to fill.

UARM rose 0.75% to $46.73 in regular trading, but went up another 3% to $48.18 in after-hours on Cramer’s tout.

Jon C. Ogg
December 4, 2006

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 6:08 pm in Cramer

The New CMGI, Running Profitably

CMGI (CMGI) is one of the old Internet incubators, and it is trading higher in after-hours trading.  The company closed up $0.04 at $1.37 in regular trading, but shares were up at $1.44 in after-hours trading.

The incubator reported a 6.5% drop in revenues year over year to $283.6 million, but posted more than a 100% gain to operating income of $5.1 million .  Its non-GAAP operating income was $10.2 million and its net income after items was $10.3 million (up almost 400% from last year).

The decline in revenue was primarily attributable to anticipated lower revenue from a single client, in connection with a change in their supply chain model.  As of October 31, 2006, CMGI had working capital of approximately $282.5 million compared with $282.2 million at July 31, 2006.

CMGI is one of the old day trader stocks and low-price stocks that many flock to when there is news.  Its 52-week trading range is $0.98 to $1.84.  There are no real estimates on the company anymore.  There has been no change in its old mirror incubator company Internet Capital Group (ICGE).

Jon C. Ogg
December 4, 2006

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 4:33 pm in Internet

US Stock Market Wrap (DEC 4, 2006)

DJIA    12,283.85; Up 89.72  (0.74%)
NASDAQ    2,448.39; Up 35.18 (1.46%)
S&P500    1,409.12; Up 12.41 (0.89%)
10YR-Bond    4.433%     Up 0.008
NYSE Volume    2,723,529,000
NASDAQ Volume    1,942,218,000

Pfizer (PFE) was the biggest stock today after they unexpectedly halted late stage trials of its new cholesterol drug because of a higher death risk.  PFE fell 10.6% to $24.90, but the DJIA component traded 288 million shares.

Onyxx Pharma (ONXX) fell a sharp 30% to $12.18 after its cancer drug (already approved for kidney cancer) failed to meet endpoints for skin cancer studies.

Mellon Financial (MEL) rose as it is being acquired in a merger of equals with Bank of New York (BK); both rose as BK rose 12% to $39.75 and MEL rose 7% to $42.78.

LSI Logic (LSI) fell 13% to $9.12 (on 52 million shares) after announcing it was doing a leveraged acquisition in all stock for Agere (AGR); AGR rose 8.5% to $19.30.

Station Casinos (STN) rose 22% to $84.90 after an $82 buyout from an investment group led by CEO Fertitta.

Landstar (LSTR) fell 5% to $42.14 after lowering guidance from weaker orders.

Openwave (OPWV) rose 8% to $8.95 after it filed its financials and disclosed $182M in charges over options.

Allegheny Tech (ATI) rose 6.7% to $93.92 to another high close after Cramer said this stock has along way to go.

Novellus (NVLS) rose 0.4% to $32.45 after narrowly raising estimates.

Baidu.com (BIDU) rose 3% to $114.88 after the WSJ said the company may compete against Yahoo and Google in Japan.

IBM (IBM) rose 2.5% after the cover of Barron’s featured it as about to really move.

Dell (DELL) fell another 1.5% after an analyst report in barron’s indicated that DELL had met earnings many times through options and warrants manipulations.

Jon C. Ogg
December 4, 2006

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 4:15 pm in Market Close

Cramer Likes Cabellas and ADM

On today’s STOP TRADING segment on CNBC, Jim Cramer covered a few issues.

He noted Pfizer (PFE) again, saying it was another Bristol-Myers (BMY).  He said it is a $25.00 bond now, that has almost no upside.  Regarding the safety board, he said them not even knowing of a possibility of issues.

Going hunting, Cramer said Cabellas (CAB) is one that is winning from hunting trends again.  He said the analysts also refuse to upgrade it and they might be wrong.

Cramer thinks Archer-Daniels (ADM) is a winner trading cheap.

Jon C. Ogg
December 4, 2006

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 2:48 pm in Cramer

What Elese Is Wrong With Pfizer

Pfizer (PFE) had its CEO interviwed by Mike Huckman on CNBC today.  Mike Huckman even asked him how a "guy that used to sell chicken for Boston Market that is fairly new to the drug industry was able to learn the industry," which sort of changed the tone of the interview.

Huckman also asked what compelling reasons PFE investors have to buy the stock today, and a brief synopsis of the response was as follows:

-financially strong and profitable,
-have resources to pursue plans,
-new management team,
-delivering on transformation,
-keen focus on strategic business development.

MarketWatch has also noted that a "NIH scientist charged with Pfizer conflict of interest"

As noted, there were many downgrades.  There are also a few more additions to the notes:

cut to Neutral at Merrill Lynch,
cut to Neutral at JPMorgan, 
cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley,
cut to Underweight at Lehman.

Bloomberg noted that Moody’s is reviewing the "Aaa" rating as well.

In options, it has traded more than 53,000 contracts of the DEC $25 CALLS, more than 26,000 of the DEC $22.50 PUTS, more than 32,000 of the DEC $25 PUTS, more than 50,000 of the JAN $25 CALLS, traded more than 32,000 of the JAN $22.50 PUTS and more than 23,000 of the JAN $25 PUTS.

As of 2:30 PM EST PFE shares wwere $24.59, and had traded almost 241 million shares.  The daily trading range is $23.50 and the actual highs on the day are hard to caculate to the penny because of old price prints from Friday and pre-market.  Its 52-week trading range is $20.27 to $28.60.

Jon C. Ogg
December 4, 2006

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 2:42 pm in Drug companies, FDA, Pharmaceuticals, Press Digest

China Wants OPEC Dialogue: Stand In Line

China is broadcasting that it wants a direct conversation with OPEC to secure a steady stream of oil for its mushrooming economy. It is easy to see the benefit of that for China, but the reasons for OPEC to have the conversation are more difficult to fathom. China imports six percent of the world’s crude and has been working on arrangements with suppliers in Africa and South America.

China may have to get in line behind the US and Japan. Both countries have felt the sting of higher oil prices and both have economies that rely on oil as much as China does. The need in China is acute because the economy is growing at 10% and a spike in price or drop in supply could undermine that.

It would appear that OPEC is unlikely to enter into individual conversations with countries that are the world’s largest consumers.

What would be the point?

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 1:47 pm in Uncategorized

Cramer Makes More Merger Picks

Today Cramer discussed a wave of M&A after Pfizer’s (PFE) blow-up today, also bank mergers predicted, and more tech deals coming.  You can watch his new video HERE on thestreet.com new free online video efforts supported by advertising.  This is all part of his new online video initiative that is replacing his radio deal that ended on Friday.

He said again that Pfizer (PFE) is in trouble and needs growth, so why not make a deal with Amgen (AMGN) or Celgene (CELG); AMGN tremendously down from where it should be.

Bank of New York (BK) & Mellon (MEL) deal is saviest and there has been very little M&A in that group as far as real consolidation.  Cramer predicts a wave of M&A after this deal with maybe Wells Fargo (WFC) looking at other targets ….PNC Financial (PNC), Comerica (CMA), Washington Mutual (WM) are all potential takover candidates.  Cramer aslo wondered where HSBC and other foreign banks are as they could come into the US to make bank acquisitions on the cheap for them?

LSI (LSI) taking matters into its own hands, and the market saying these deals make too much sense in tech and finance and they are too cheap.

Cramer also said that you can’t pay attention to what the media is saying about a weak dollar.  Don’t be fooled about the weak dollar…."Good!"

Once again, HERE is that video location on TheStreet.com.

Jon C. Ogg
December 4, 2006

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 12:38 pm in Cramer, Mergers and Buy Outs

Comcast: Verizon Home Invasion

Stocks: (CMCSA)(VZ)

Verizon is starting service in Philadelphia for its IPTV service over fiber. It will be offered to 100,000 homes. The city is the headquarters home for cable giant Comcast, which owns the pipe to the home that most people use to get their TV content, and broadband.

Oddly enough, Verizon will charge about $118  month for its phone/ TV/broadband service, the deadly "triple play". Comcast charges $99 for a competing service, and they are the incumbent. One would think they would price the service below Comcast’s to pick up market share.

Comcast picked up 483,000 new voice over IP subscribers in the third quarter. It goes without saying that the figure is bad news for Verizon, which comes to the market with fast pipes years after cable companies.

But, if Verizon gets good penetration in Comcast’s home market, that would be a horse of a different color.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 12:31 pm in Telecom

Airbus Loses Its Mind

Stocks: (BA)

Airbus is late to market with its wide-body A350 jet. Boeing has been selling its competitive product, the 787 Dreamliner, for some time. Part of the reason that Airbus was late to market had to do with production problems. The more important issue was whether the Airbus parent. EADS, could come up with funding.

Airbus’s answer to being late to market is that Boeing’s work on the 787 was subsidized through tax breaks from the US government and Washington state along with contract with the defense department.

Do airline who will buy the planes care? Why should they. Either they get a good wide-body at at fair price or they don’t. Boeing was earlier to market and has an advantage. That’s the way it is.

Boeing currently has orders for 455 of its 787 plans in hand. There are about 100 orders for the A350 according to Airbus. That gives Boeing a pretty commanding lead. Airbus is currently making the point that its plan is easier to repair and has a wider cabin. Maybe.

But, the whining about who paid to build the planes isn’t going to sell a single one.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 10:49 am in Uncategorized

Yahoo! Mobile Gets Out Of Hand

Stocks:  (YHOO)(RTRSY)

Recent research shows that Yahoo! has a healthy lead over other internet companies like AOL and Google in terms of wireless device usage. There is some chance that this could help offset Google’s huge lead on the PC, especially in search.

But, there is point at which trying to extend a brand onto a new platform may become absurd, and Yahoo! may be there. The company said that in a joint venture with Reuters, it would encourage cell phone users with cameras to submit photos for Yahoo! News and the Reuters service. These may be distributed user-created photos of news events to media outlets across the world.

User created content is all the rage as is wireless based camera and video technology. There could be some merit to the plan, but it is fair to assume that millions of photos may be submitted and that almost none of them will be useful for a news agency and a new aggregator.

Keep the full-time photographers and stingers. The crazy folks with the cell cameras can’t get it done.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 10:27 am in Internet

Demutualization IPO Filing: Employers Holdings

Employers Holdings, Inc. has filed to come public in an IPO, but this is not a run of the mill IPO.  The company has filed to sell up to $287,960,000 in an IPO, but this is actually a demutualization of one of the remaining mutual insurance companies out there.

Employers Holdings, Inc. is the name that EIG Mutual Holding Company, a Nevada mutual insurance holding company, will adopt upon consummation of its conversion to a stock corporation. This conversion and name change will occur immediately prior to the closing of the offering of common stock described in this registration statement. 

Investors love demutualizing IPO’s.  Recent "partnerships to public entities" such as MasterCard (MA) and KBW (KBW), plus the impending Visa IPO, will probably give an easy floor for this deal whener terms come out.  There is no share count estimated and there is no price range, so obviously you have to see valuations when that occurs.  They have proposed to get a stock ticker of "EIG" on the NYSE, and so far Morgan Stanley is the only listed underwriting firm on the filing.

"Employers" is a specialty provider of workers’ compensation insurance focused on select small businesses engaged in low to medium hazard industries mostly located in several western states, primarily California and Nevada.  "Employers"distributes almost exclusively through independent agents and brokers and our strategic distribution relationships.  For the year ended December 31, 2005 and the nine months ended September 30, 2006: net premiums written were $439.7 million and $299.5 million, total revenues of $496.5 million and $359.2 million, and net income of $137.6 million and $116.5 million.  "Employers" had total assets of $3.2 billion at September 30, 2006.

This almost certainly won’t hit the IPO show until early in 2007, but this may be one to watch since it has done so well and in such a limited geographic area.  This has the earmarks and buzzwords that IPO investors love to see: demutualization, regional-to-national, solid income, predictable cash flows……..

Jon C. Ogg
December 4, 2006

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 10:18 am in IPOs

Cramer Comments on Pfizer; Also What to Expect on PFE From Here

This morning Cramer on TheStreet.com posted his comments regarding Pfizer’s (PFE) drug blow-up this weekend.  You’ll need to go visit thestreet.com there about what he said exactly, but keep in mind he has been a Pfizer bear for a long time.

He had been questioning their ultimate pipeline for a long time, and interestingly enough he noted it could be in Bristol-Myers (BMY) mode.  If he is right, that is not a good prognosis for a DJIA component.

It is worth noting that Cramer has been very cautious on PFE since September.  PFE really boondoggled this.  This was just touted by the company at its analyst day last Thursday, yet the bomb was dropped on Saturday.  How does a company go on record with so much, and then make this announcement.

PFE is becoming a case study on how to lose the trust of Wall Street, and this is going to plague the company for much longer than just today.  That is why so many analysts have downgraded the company, and this is not even taking the boutique calls into consideration:

cut to Neutral at Merrill Lynch,
cut to Neutral at JPMorgan, 
cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley,
cut to Underweight at Lehman.

Now you just have to wonder how long it will be in the doldrums before "value players" start coming in, but don’t count on it being today.  My guess is that you may see a small bit of recovery after the dust settles from the gap down, but these drug pipeline blow-ups are usually not isolated to a day and historically drug stocks with a severe drug issue tend to go even lower than the initial gap down price.  That means that daytraders can play the stock up and down today, but longer-term buyers will probably do better giving this some time before entering long-term positions. 

As of November, there were 44.7+ million shares in PFE’s short interest, up from 44.1 million shares in October.  This was THE great drug in their pipeline, and now you have to wonder how good their grasp on the reality of their other drug studies happens to be.

Jon C. Ogg
December 4, 2006

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 9:19 am in Cramer, Drug companies, Pharmaceuticals, Pre-Market Activity, Press Digest

InTel And Qualcomm Battle For Wireless

Stocks:  (QCOM)(INTC)(ERIC)(S)(MOT)

Qualcomm announced that it bought two chip companies, one in the WiFi space and one in Bluetooth. The move would appear to be one that puts QCOM in competition with Intel to get a piece of the wireless chip business. But why buy the two firms, RF Micro Devices and Airgo, when Intel owns almost the entire market.

Oddly enough, the news comes at the same time that Ericsson signalled that it might have a deal with Qualcomm on Wideband CDMA for third generation cell phones. The two companies have been fighting over the royalties due to Qualcomm for the technology. The battle has gotten so bitter that Eriicsson and other cell companies have complained to the European Commmission to try to move the issue into the arena of government regulation. 

Qualcomm’s stock has been battered by concerns over antitrust actions due to the royalties it charges cellular phone makers. The stock is down from $53 in May to about $36.  There has also been significant concern that new wireless technologies like the WiMax standard supported by Intel, Samung, Motorola, and Sprint could damage Qualcomm’s current lock on the broadband cell industry.

It would appear that someone woke up at Qualcomm. The only way to effectively fight WiMax is to make piece with large customers like Ericsson and acquire technology that will allow it to combat Intel on other wireless fronts. Qualcomm may have to give in on the amount it charges firms like Ericsson, but that is better than protracted litigation an losing a large customer completely.

With Intel’s huge lead in WiFi and Sprint building a WiMax network in the US, it may be a bit late in the day for Qualcomm to come to its senses. If so, $36 may be a high water market for Qualcomm for some time to come.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 8:52 am in Wireless

Pre-Market Stock News (DEC 4, 2006)

(AGR) Agere being acquired by LSI for 2.16 shares.
(AH) Armor Holdings won a $649M truck order from Army.
(ATI) Allegheny Tech noted as a name that can still go higher according to Cramer on MAD MONEY.
(ATO) Atmos Energy filed to sell 5.5M shares.
(AUY) Yamana Gold positive on Cramer’s MAD MONEY again.
(BAY) Bayer’s Nexvar failed to meet primary endpoints on skin cancer, although this is already approved for kidney cancer.
(BIDU) Baidu.com could compete more with GOOG & YHOO in Japan according to WSJ.
(BK) Bank of New York merging with Mellon Financial.
(CRN) Cornell Corrections raised guidance.
(CVTX) CV Therapeutics says Regadenoson meets primary endpoint and will file with FDA in mid-2007.
(DELL) Dell has been manipulating options & warrants to meet earnings projections according to FBR analyst in Barron’s.
(DUK) Duke noted positively in Barron’s.
(GKIS) Gold Kist will be acquired by Pilgrims Pride for $21.00 per share.
(HD) Home Depot said it is not in talks with LBO firms.
(IBM) IBM noted positively in Barron’s.
(KYPH) Kyphon paying $500M to acquire St. Francis Medical Tech.
(MEL) Mellon merging with Bank of New York.
(MSFT) Microsoft shares noted positively in Barron’s.
(NT) Nortel sold some assets to Alcatel-Lucent for some $320 million.
(ONXX) Onyx Pharma trading down 27% pre-market after its drug trial with Bayer for Nexvar failed to meet skin cancer targets, although this is approved for kidney cancer.
(OPWV) OpenWave said it would record $182 million in charges related to its option from 2000-2005.
(PFE) Pfizer trading down 10% after it halted its new cholesterol drug in late-stage trials after increase in deaths in trials.  This was the biggest potential drug close to development in their pipeline.
(SEE) Sealed Air raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
(STN) Station Casinos gets $82 buyout bid from management.
(ZVUE) Handheld Entertainment will have its pre-loaded MP3 Players in select Wal-Mart stores starting tomorrow.

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 8:02 am in Pre-Market Activity

Select Analyst Calls (DEC 4, 2006)

ABFS cut to Sell at Merrill Lynch.
ACAS started as Outperform at KBW.
AKAM started as Outperform at Cowen.
AINV started as Outperform at KBW.
ALTR raised to Buy at AGEdwards.
ALU cut to Sector Perform at RBC.
BAC cut to Mkt Perform at KBW.
CADX started as Buy at Merrill Lynch, started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
CBE raised to Outperform at CIBC.
CNW cut to Sell at Merrill Lynch.
CPC cut to Underperform at Bear Stearns.
DEI started as Neutral at Merrill Lynch & B of A; started as Overweight at Lehman.
DHR cut to Hold at Citigroup.
ET started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
GHS started as Buy at Goldman Sachs; started as Mkt Perform at Wachovia.
HUB cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
HYSL reitr Buy at First Albany.
LFC cut to Sell at Citigroup.
MBI cut to Hold at Citigroup.
MET cut to Underperform at FBR.
NOK cut to Neutral at Prudential.
OVTI started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
PALM started as Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
PFE cut to Neutral at Merrill Lynch, cut to Neutral at JPMorgan,  cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley; cut to Underweight at Lehman.
PRXL raised to Buy at Jefferies.
RFMD started as Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
SCHW started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
SEPR raised to Buy at Soleil.
SPSN started as Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
VOD raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
WB raised to Outperform at KBW.

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 8:01 am in Analyst Calls

The Chinese Take On Google In Japan

Stocks: (BIDU)(GOOG)(YHOO)

Baidu, the Chinese search engine company, is moving into the Japanese market Yahoo! and Google have the largest market shares in the Japanese market while Baidu gets about 50% of the search ad dollars in China followed by Yahoo! and Google.

Yahoo! and Google have little to fear. Baidu is a relatively small company because online search revenue in China is only about $250 million. The market in Japan is closer to $1 billion.

And, Yahoo! and Google have too large a lead. The Yahoo! site in Japan, which is run with large wireless and DSL company Softbank, is the most visited site there.

The move may actually end up being a costly diversion to Baidu, which, although No.1 in China, still has to keep a lead of the much largest US search firms. If they up the ante in China as Baidu moves into Japan, Baidu may find itself spread too thin when its needs to defend its home turf. Baidu has only $138 million on it balance sheet compared to over $10 billion for Google.

Baidu’s stock trades near a 52-week high, but, a failure in Japan could jeapordize that. 

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writea about.

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 6:03 am in International Markets

Ten Most Undervalue Stocks: Anheuser-Busch

The series on most undervalued stocks will look at company’s cash flow, price to sales rations, balance sheet, earnings portential and future P/E forecasts to find shares that trade at a discount to their potentail value.

Anheuser-Busch (BUD) traded at $46 in mid-December 2002. It currently changes hands at about $48. During that period operating income has been fairly flat at in the $3.3 to $2.7 billion range.

Recently, BUD did a deal with InBev to import certain popular brands like Becks, which should add to it revenue. Deals like this may grow because BUD has by far the largest share of the US market and a huge distribution network that would allow other company’s to piggy back off of its infrastructure. BUD is also diversifying overseas to ramp up its revenue. Recently it has purchased assets in Mexico and China.

While Diageo, a European competitor with revenue of just over $12 billion has a market cap of $59 billion, BUD has a cap of $36 billion on revenue of over $15 billion.

UBS recently upped its rating on BUD due to the InBev deal and the company says it will raise prices next year. The company has reiterated its long-term growth goals which means that 2007 could be a strong year for the brewer.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 5:47 am in Large Cap Stocks

Europe Market Report December 4, 2006 AXA, Vivendi Up

Markets in Europe were up modestly at 5.25 New York time.

The FTSE was up .4% to 6,044. BEA was down 1.7% to 384. BP was up .5% to 570.5. BT was up .3% to 288.5. GlaxoSmithKline was down .4% to 1354. Prudential was up .5% to 660. Reuters was down .1% to 450.25. Unliver was up 1% to 1360. Vodafone was up 1.7% to 134.75.

The DAXX was up .3% to 6,260. Bayer was up 1.1% to 39.26. DaimlerChrylser was up .8% to 43.76. DeutcheBank was up .1% to 96.58. Deutsche Telekom was down .1% to 13.14. SAP was up .3% to 154.34.

The CAC 40 was up .3% to 5,269. Alcatel was flat at 10.12. AXA was up 2.1% to 28.68. France Telecom was down .2% to 19.32. ST Micro was up .6% to 13.54. Vivendi was up 1.2% to 29.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 5:26 am in International Markets

Media Digest December 4, 2006 Reuters, NYT, WSJ

Stock: (RTRSY)(DJ)(YHOO)(ERIC)(QCOM)(PFE)(GOOG)(BA)

According to Reuters, the CEO of Ericsson is more optimistic that there will be a deal between his frim and Qualcomm. Ericsson has complained that Qualcomm overcharges for royaltied on Wideband and thiird generation cell technology and has take its complaints to the European Commission.

Reuters writes that Pfizer’s shares are at risk of falling because a cholesterol drug it believed would replace income from Lipitor is being pull due to health problems.

The Wall Street Journal writes tha Chinese search firm Baidu is entering the Japanese market in a threat to Yahoo! and Google’s businesses there.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Quallcomm is buying two chip firms to help it compete with Intel in the wireless business. The companies have strengths in the WiFi and Bluetooth wireless technologies.

Airbus will have to pitch its new A350 plane as better than Boeing 787 because Airbus is so late to the market and Boeing has such a large lead. The marketing of the plane will include a larger cabin and more fuel economy.

The New York Times reports that Ask.com part of Barry Diller’s media company, will begin offering local search.

The New York Times also writes that Yahoo! and Reuters will begin a service to encourage cellphone user with cameras to contribute photos to Reuters new service and Yahoo! News.

The New York times reports that Dow Jone flagship The Wall Street Journal will shrink the size of its paper and cut the amount of news it runs by 10% as part of a cost savings program.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: December 4, 2006 – 5:12 am in Press Digest