Daily Archives: March 9, 2007

Cramer’s MARCH MADNESS Play

On tonight’s MAD MONEY on CNBC the way to make money off MARCH MADNESS is off those who watch TV at work, and that is the Akamai Tech (AKAM-NASDAQ).  He said that MARCH MADNESS ON-DEMAND is the streaming video on the games and Akamai is the one that makes this possible because of optimizing online streaming video.  Cramer has been positive on this one before.  It fell from $57.00 down to $50.00+ in the recent sell-off and Cramer said he is actually offended at the price.  He said he has been positive on this for 2-years since he started the show.  Cramer thinks this is a big discount that you can clean up on.  Just a month ago the numbers were good and the guidance was raised for 2007 by a mile on revenues for the year.

Jon C. Ogg
March 9, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 6:20 pm in Cramer, Internet

Cramer on Brokerage Firm Stocks

Cramer on tonight’s MAD MONEY has some ways to play next week in brokerage firm analysts: Goldman Sachs (GS) reports before open on Tuesday.  Lehman (LEH) before on Wedsnesday.  Bear Stearns (BSC) before open on Thursday.  Cramer thinks there will be pain in the immediate future and you’ll be able to buy these at much cheaper multiples next Friday.  If these do not sell-off after earnings he thinks that you can still make money.  The bears will probably drive these down according to Cramer.  Here is OUR PREVIEW for earnings in Goldman Sachs.

The bears will frighten you into selling and you can count on the bears to lie and to plant bad stories in the media.  Cramer thinks the bears can convince media that the tape is painted in bad light.  Next Friday Cramer thinks you will be able to buy the best companies around at a discount.

Another name that Cramer thinks you can look at is J.Crew (JCG) after Tuesday’s close.  The stock has been held down by a botched secondary and when they report he thinks they’ll do well and wouldn’t have done the secondary if the quarter was going to be bad.

Jon C. Ogg
March 9, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 6:10 pm in Brokerage Firms, Cramer, Earnings, Financial Stocks

The 52-Week Low Club

McClatchy (MNI) working toward a record for number of days on the list, on negative watch for S&P watch list. Newspaper ad revenue still falling. Hit $34.94 down from 52-week high of $53.24.

Vonage (VG) Verizon (VZ) patent lawsuit win still hangs heavy on these shares. Down to $3.87 for IPO day high of $17.25.

New Century Financial (NEW) The sub-prime lender said money for new loans was not available. Stock hammered down further to $2.96 from 52-week high of $51.97.

ECC Financial (ECR) Mortgage lender is delaying dividend distribution due to potential loan problems. Shares dropped to $.34 down from 52-week high of $1.65.

AtheroGenics Inc (AGIX) Makes drugs for heart disease among other things. Disappointing earnings back on February 22. No visible news today. Shares down to $7.23 from 52-week high of $20.03.

Distributed Energy Systems (DESC) Back again. The alternative energy company posted bad earnings yesterday and the stock is still falling. Down to $1.58 today from a 52-week high of $7.24.

Clearwire (CLWR) Sad when a new IPO is already down almost 10%. Looking like Vonage (VG) in the early days. One day post IPO shares down to $21.49 after getting as high as $24.80 yesterday.

Encysive Pharmaceuticals (ENCY) The company missed its earnings forecast and guided for a poor year. The Associated Press went as far as calling its a "grim outlook". Shares hit lowest level in four years at $2.81 down from 52-week high of $9.75.

Progressive Gaming Intl  (PGIC) Yesterday’s poor quarterly report still weighs on shares of casino softwares. Shares move as low as $6 down from 52-week high of $11.40.

Private Media (PRVT) Adult media (i.e. porno) company hits $2.13 down from 52-week high of $4.87. Not visible reason for the drop.

Merge Technologies (MRGE) The developer of medical imaging and information management software posted poor earnings. Stock dropped to $3.88 compared to 52-week high of $18.37.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 4:01 pm in HI/LOW

American Railcar Industries (ARII) + The Ichans = RUN D.M.C. (The King of Rock)

From The Stock Masters

Railroads are boring. For most of us, owning stake in railroads comes as close as buying B&O Railroad, Short Line, Reading Railroad, or Pennsylvania Railroad for $200 when playing one of our favorite board games. When it comes to modern day transportation do most of us think of traveling by railcar? That would be no. So if you’ve never heard of American Railcar Industries (NASDAQ: ARII) or if you did hear about it last year during the IPO and thought about it for 2 seconds then went back to your ticker tape, I would understand. So what is ARII and why should you care? For lack of a better term, "All Aboard" and off we go…

Thomas the TrainAmerican Railcar Industries is the leading North American manufacturer of covered hopper and tank railcars. That’s right, if your train is broken, you don’t call Thomas the Train, you call these guys. They repair and refurbish railcars, provide fleet management services, design & manufacture railcar and industrial components used in the production of railcars. They are more than just train doctors, they are the AAA of the railroads in America and their majority stockholder is no other than Carl Ichan.

Carl Ichan has a 29% stake in ARII, he’s currently holding 6,109,894 shares. When shares dropped a total of 9.79% on February 14th 2006, Carl lost $17,901,989.42 – Happy Valentine’s Carl. ARII’s board voted in January to increase its size from seven members to nine and guess who got a spot? Carl’s son Brett Icahn (only age 27) was elected to the board making it one big family affair.

But don’t feel bad for billionaire investor Carl Icahn, the man is so money and he knows it. Last month CarlCarl Ichan cut his stake in Time Warner Inc. (TWX) to 20 million shares (down from 55 million shares). The man is a mover and shaker, buying up millions of shares at Motorola (MOT), Blockbuster (BBI), Take-Two Interactive (TTWO), and the list goes on and on. In February Carl forked out $2.8B for Lear Corp. and the employees where not happy about it. To put that buying spree into perspective, I just paid $9 for my latte and sandwich and I didn’t pass go and collect my $200.

Carl isn’t one of those solid gold investors like Warren Buffett, but he knows what he’s doing, and he is the man behind American Railcar Industries. The Ichan’s have a vested interest in American Railcar, and one thing you can count on, Ichan is not going to let ARII’s stock suffer for very long. The man has got more game than Allen Iverson and when big money talks, people listen. You can bet that one year from now ARII will not be below the levels it’s currently trading at, he will push ARII to a new 52-week high before he let’s Wall Street get the best of him. Carl Ichan has been called every name in the book, he’s got RUN D.M.C. - King of Rockskin tougher than leather and comes from Queens, NY – still want to mess with him? Some other guys came from Queens, by the name of RUN-D.M.C. and just like Carl, they’re the King of Rock, there is none higher, sucker MC’s should call him sire, to burn his kingdom – you must use fire, and Carl Ichan won’t stop rockin’ till he retires.

Last month American Railcar swung to a fourth-quarter profit but results fell short of Wall Street predictions, and ARII has been on the slide since. The stock has bounced back a bit since the earnings call, but it’s far from its 52-week high of $40.95 a share. Take a look at the results from the last earnings call, it wasn’t all bad, sure revenue fell to $165.3M from $166M in the year-ago period but for 2006 they earned $34.6M compared with $1.5M in 2005. They paid out a huge a one-time pension settlement expense of $6.8M but ARII’s next two years is going to be a sweet gravy train. On the conference call CEO James Unger said: We see a strong market for our products and services and have a solid backlog to support our future expansion plans. But, most important, we have a capable management team to deliver on our plans. That management team consists of two Ichans swinging their weight around, and guess who wants to make daddy proud? Young Brett Ichan.

So are you saying this stock is valuable just because of the Ichans?

That’s part of it, but the railcar business has been around for centuries and will continue to be. Remember what happened last year when oil and gas prices went through the roof? Shipping freight via railcar became a profitable business, just check the railroad stocks, and guess who’s their supplier and everything else under the sun – ARII.

Still not sold? Fine. Than just stick to buying Baltic Avenue or Marvin Gardens. Now they may pay off but they are no Park Place or Boardwalk. But why Run D.M.C. with JMJnot buy the boring the industries (Utilities & Railroads)? Despite the lack of glamour and grace, people will always have to use them, because It’s like that and that’s the way it is.

Article written by: Frank Lara Jr.
Article posted on: March 9th, 2007

Disclaimer: The Author is long on 100 shares of ARII that were purchased in January 2007.

http://thestockmasters.com/index.asp

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 3:24 pm in Research

The Stock Masters Comments

Stock Tips eLong (LONG) is taking a huge beating today, hitting a new 52-week low down almost 20%. The Chinese Meltravel website released disappointing revenue totals and the bears are tearing apart the stock worse than Mel Gibson’s rantings at a highway patrol officer. Hotel booking commissions came in at $7.2M down 2% from the third quarter and up 23% when compared to the year-ago period. eLong had $1.2M in revenue from air ticket sales, a decrease of 13% from the third quarter of 2006 and up 27% percent year-on-year. They finished the quarter with a net loss of $234,000, compared to a net income of $337,000 in the third quarter and a net loss of $1.1M in the same period in 2005. Bottom line Masters, the online travel revolution has yet to set sail in China, but China’s internet use is on the move. China’s internet market grew steadily in 2006 as the number of users increased to 135 million, according to a report by CCID Consulting. This is a long-term growth stock people, think 5 years, not 5 days or 5 months. Besides, everyone is turning a sour face to Chinese stocks so the result to the earnings call is no surprise. There are plenty of people that believe that China’s stock market correction was long overdue but won’t hurt growth. Not convinced? Can’t say I blame you, hold tight and watch this stock, with Expedia’s (EXPE) influence eLong is destined to make a comeback. Expedia did it, and everyone hated that stock last summer. eLong is expecting Q1 2007 total revenue to come in between $8.0M and $8.5M, stay tuned.

Stock Tips Strong demand for corn from ethanol plants is driving up the cost of livestock and will raise prices for beef, pork and REM - END OF THE WORLDchicken, the Agriculture Department said Friday. The average price of corn, unchanged from last month, is $3.20 a bushel, up from $2 last year. The StockMasters recommend stockpiling these items because it’s the end of world as we know it.

http://www.thestockmasters.com/index.asp

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 3:22 pm in Research

Cramer’s STOP TRADING (MAR 9, 2007)

On today’s STOP TRADING segment on CNBC around 2:45 PM, Jim Cramer was discussing buying shares to make money rather than to make a political statement.  Cramer would buy Schlumberger (SLB) regardless of if they do things in Sudan and he won’t discuss Darfur. 

On ITT (ITT) Cramer thinks the $100 break-up value from Merrill Lynch made a lot of sense.

On Vonage (VG) Cramer is still very negative and may be worst stock of the new century.  He laughed that they claimed a win in the patent case because some patents were not found to be guilty.   

Jon C. Ogg
March 9, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 2:47 pm in Cramer

Earnings Preview: Goldman Sachs (GS)

Goldman Sachs (GS-NYSE) will report Tuesday on its earnings numbers for the quarter.  Estimates are for 3.5% revenue growth to $10.7 billion and EPS of $4.90, which compares to $5.09/share in the same quarter last year.  Now by all accounts, the first quarter results from last year were a blowout, as actual results came in 54% above the $3.29 estimates.

But on Tuesday we will see the beginning of a hard year for Goldman in terms of comparisons, as the financial sector as a whole is running on very high earnings figures.  Goldman’s earnings estimates for the current year are running 2-3% less than ’06 levels, compared to expectations for moderate earnings growth across the sector of about 6%.

The recently-tepid IPO & secondary markets may not bode well for Goldman’s investment banking business where they remain a massive player.  While Goldman has fairly diversified revenue streams from its increasingly global trading business, it’s the investment banking unit that can drive earnings.   

GS stock has certainly been a market superstar in the past year, up over 80% since March 2006.  But try as they might to fight it, the company is highly sensitive to the overall level of economic growth and liquidity within the markets.  If either of these two variables start to erode, a lot of earnings at Goldman will be at risk, and the 10x forward multiple on the stock won’t look quite as safe as before.

Most analysts know, however, that Goldman can manage to do a pretty good job of maintaining decent margins in a downturn.   A weakening IPO market can trickle-down to many levels for Goldman Sachs, particularly since is raised an estimated $24 billion in private equity over the past 18 months.  A slow IPO market will limit the "going private" transactions from having an exit other than selling to other buyers rather than to the public.

Jim Cramer has been a steady supporter of Goldman Sachs, and this was his #2 VALUE PICK FOR 2007 just two months ago.  On January 3 when he made the call, shares were at $200.38 and closed up as high as $220.94 in February.  The market slide has taken this back down just under $200.00 this week.  The short sellers decreased their 8.9 million shares in January to 7.02 million shares in February.  As of today, Goldman Sachs has an $82 Billion market cap.

As a reminder, Wall Street investors have become used to these names beating estimates followed by a sell-the-news mentality if the numbers weren’t a blowout or if they are hard to maintain.  Here is how we noted Goldman Sachs trading right after its last earnings report.  At around $200.00, one has to wonder if the company will try the stock-split feather in their hat to try to drive interest and stock prices.  We’ll keep an eye on the stock heading into earnings along with its peers Lehman Brothers (LEH) and Bear Stearns (BSC), who report on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Written by Ryan Barnes,
edited by Jon Ogg
March 9, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 2:22 pm in Analyst Calls, Brokerage Firms, Earnings, Financial Stocks

ADP’s New Spin-Off, One to Watch

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP-NYSE) has approved today the proposed spin-off of its Brokerage Services Group business to ADP’s shareholders. The spin-off will result in a separate publicly traded company that will be called Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. that will eventually trade under the NYSE ticker "BR."

This is going to be set as a tax-free spin-off dividend on a 1 share of BR for every 4 shares of ADP, so 25 shares of "BR" for every 100 shares of "ADP."  The distribution is expected to occur as of the close of business on March 30, 2007.  Shareholders who own fewer than four shares of ADP common stock (or who do not own multiples of four shares) will receive a TAXABLE cash payment in lieu of the fractional share to which they would otherwise be entitled.  So if you own odd lots on this then this may not be an entirely tax-free transaction.

A when-issued trading basis is expected on the NYSE around March 22, 2007.  Prior to the spin-off, Broadridge expects to enter into a new credit facility and to use $690 million of proceeds from the facility to pay a dividend to ADP. ADP will use these funds, together with approximately $60 million distributed from its Canadian subsidiaries, to repurchase shares of ADP through open market purchases, self tenders or other targeted share repurchase transactions during the 12 months following the spin-off.

This is part of ADP’s ongoing strategy to focus on core operations.

Jon C. Ogg
March 9, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 1:07 pm in Brokerage Firms, Business Services, Financial Stocks, IPOs, Shareholder Issues

Was The AT&T Deal Worth $2 Billion To Yahoo?

Yahoo! (YHOO) lost $2 billion in market cap today on the news that its deal with AT&T (T) may be re-negotiatied. The partnership pays Yahoo! over $200 million a year, according to The Wall Street Journal, so the market values that revenue at a multiple of about 10X. Yahoo! trades for 6.5x revenue, so the hit is especially big.

Yahoo!’s shares are down 5.2% to $29.12. That takes away almost all of its gains for the past month which came on positive news about its new Panama advertising search technology.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 1:06 pm in Internet

February Financial Website Audience

Total Unique Visitors (000) *Total Unique Visitors (000)Total Unique Visitors (000)
Feb-06 Feb-07 % Change
Total Internet : Total Audience (US) 166,966 175,653 5
News/Research 39,547 49,361 25
1 Yahoo! Finance 8,679 11,945 38
2 AOL Money & Finance 10,583 11,676 10
3 MSN Money 11,574 11,016 -5
4 Dow Jones & Company 6,620 5,407 -18
5 CNN Money 5,716 5,248 -8
6 Forbes Property 5,997 4,342 -28
7 Bankrate.com Sites 2,855 3,223 13
8 Reuters Group 3,175 3,056 -4
9 MANTA.COM 1,407 2,970 111
10 Reed Business Information 2,580 2,450 -5

The total audience of unique visitors for news and research sites in the US grew almost 25% to 175.7 million unique visitors. The growth at Yahoo! Finance was an astonishing 38% to 49.4 million.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Data from comScore.

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 10:51 am in Internet

GM’s Clever Chrysler Gambit

GM’s (GM) CEO said that there would probably not be mergers in the US car industry.

But, he did not mention his company’s potential bid for Chrysler (DCX). And, why should he? By making the comments, he has devalued Chrysler by hinting that he might have no interest. Nice way to get the price down.

Private equity groups including Blackstone Group and Cerberus Capital Management LP are kicking the tires, but it is very difficult to see them being able to take much out in costs. They cannot use another company’s management, production and product design to cut costs.

But, GM has sent up a smoke screen that says it will not compete with private equity on price. If Daimler wants to have a piece of GM in exchange for its US arim and thinks that the larger company can take out a lot of costs, then perhaps there is a deal. Otherwise, all the Germans get is cash. That may be enough, but no one seems ready to fight over the rights to own the Chrysler operations.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 9:58 am in Mergers and Buy Outs

Xinhua Finance Media IPO Set For Trading

Today’s awaited IPO of Xinhua Finance Media Ltd. (XFML-NASDAQ) is set to open for trading today.  The company raised almost $300 million in the IPO, which was 23.07 million ADR’s at $13.00 per share. 

This one is an IPO that we actually think has great long-term prospects for those that can take a true long-term approach.  This would have been given a better reception.  Yesterday’s Clearwire (CLWR-NASDAQ) IPO that turned into a "busted IPO" on the first day didn’t help ANY IPO for today and for the immediate future.  The fact that the Shanghai Stock Exchange air-letting session last week was perhaps one of the two or three issues to blame for the US meltdown we saw didn’t help either.

If you are a believer in the long-term of China and media there and even more importantly "for outsiders peering into China" then the fact that this one was muted just represents a better opportunity.  If you are a nay-sayer, then you just got more ammo as to why this was a mid-range deal.  Our stance on this one has been pretty clear and the company has demonstrated a significant past to get to where it is now. 

NASDAQ has given an initial quote indication time for this one of 10:45 AM EST, and has an indicated "release" time for trading to open at 11:00 AM EST.  SourceFire (FIRE-NASDAQ) is one that opens at 10:40 AM EST, and while the companies are about as unrelated as can be you always have to take the IPO to IPO comparison.  We don’t make the rules, they just are what they are.  If something bad happens on the FIRE IPO, that too may take out some wind from Xinhua’s initial followers.

Jon C. Ogg
March 9, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 9:42 am in IPOs, Media, Old Media

CMGI Gets Boutique Research Coverage (CMGI)

CMGI (CMGI) has also been started as a BUY rating at boutique firm WR Hambrecht.  The research note indicates an implied $2.50 price target.  Even though this is a boutique research call, it is important in that this is the first widely recognized brokerage firm that has picked up coverage in the name in a long time.  A very very long time.

The research report is not concerned about the loss of the H-P business in the ModusLink unit because the report says it has the ability to deliver operational efficiencies with its supply chain management solutions and services and that it is well suited to the technology industry.

Interestingly enough the report also notes a "TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE" regarding the company, which sure sounds familiar.  We had noted in the recent past ahead of earnings how the company was transforming itself and even noted how well the company performed last week despite a horrible stock market.  Shares are up more than 6% at $1.69 to $1.70 and has seen more than 225,000 shares pre-market.  The 52-week trading range is $0.98 to $1.73 and the market cap as of the close was $774 million.

This has been an interesting company to follow since we noted "The New CMGI, Running Profitably" back in early December.  The company also made the $2 million investment into Earthanol that we covered earlier and it has been more active of late in its alternative energy ventures.

So far, the CMGI transformational move has had very little impact on two of the other old incubator companies Internet Capital (ICGE) and Safeguard Scientifics (SFE).  These companies are decoupled and have been for some time, but traders will try to tie together almost anything they can when one move starts to work.

Jon C. Ogg
March 9, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 9:14 am in Alternative Energy, Analyst Calls, Internet, Pre-Market Activity

ITRI: Itron Lands Big Meter Order

By William Trent, CFA of Stock Market Beat

We’ve already talked about Itron’s (ITRI) plans to grow through acquisition. Now we see an example of their organic growth/

Read More »

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 8:38 am in Regulation

Yahoo-AT&T Renegotiation = Capitalism at Work

From Internet Outsider

StickupThe WSJ reports that Yahoo and AT&T are renegotiating their broadband access partnership on terms far more favorable to AT&T.  According to the article, this is a result of three factors:

  1. Yahoo’s reduced stature and buzz (thanks to Google)
  2. A reversal in the market dynamic in which search engines are now paying for carriage (thanks to Google).
  3. AT&T’s newfound prowess in broadband access (7 million subs).

No. 2, a reversal in who’s-paying-who, is a profound change, one ushered in by Google’s deal with Dell in which it agreed to pay $1 billion to be preloaded on Dell PCs.  Paid search is so profitable that Google can afford such deals, but the changing dynamic illustrates that search, like other businesses, is subject to the laws of capitalism (attractive returns draw new competition which reduces returns).

Google and Yahoo won’t soon be forced to hand over most of their profits for carriage–most of their traffic, presumably, goes direct, and users usually demonstrate significant loyalty/habits about who they search with.  Like the massive increases in CAPEX at both companies, however, increased distribution and CAPEX costs will probably continue to weigh on both companies’ bottom lines.

In Yahoo’s case, according to the WSJ, a new AT&T deal could significantly reduce the $200-$250 million in revenue the company earns from the deal (approx 5% of overall revenue).  This revenue is probably at least as profitable as the rest of Yahoo’s business, so it might feel an even greater impact on the bottom line.   

http://www.internetoutsider.com/

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 8:31 am in Internet

CMGI’s New Ethanol Investment (CMGI)

Shares of CMGI (CMGI-NASDAQ) are trading up 7% pre-market after the company announced yesterday’s investment into Earthanol, Inc.  Earthanol is a developer of waste-to-ethanol production plants based on proven technologies.  CMGI’s portion of the $7.1 million Series A financing was $2 million.

Earthanol plans to use proven, proprietary technologies to convert agricultural and industrial waste products into clean-burning biofuels. The company is currently developing projects based on dairy industry waste and cellulosic biomass materials. Earthanol’s management team has extensive experience in the development and operation of energy projects, including eight biomass-based power projects in North America.  The company believes it can produce ethanol from organic waste far cheaper than corn-based ethanol.

We have already discussed the ongoing process by which CMGI is trying to transform itself ahead of its last earnings.  We even noted last week how the company performed quite well despite what was a horrible stock market.  The company’s main operations are in the supply chain management services operator called ModusLink, but the company is looking to be more active into the alternative energy investments in its @Ventures unit.  We recently requested an interview with CMGI’s CEO to cover some of its @Ventures investments and other goals to see what else is really under the hood there, but the company responded that it is in a quiet period and could not discuss operations at this time.

Jon C. Ogg
March 9, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 8:10 am in Alternative Energy

Pre-Market Stock News (MAR 9, 2007)

(ABT) Abbott Labs said a U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated a permanent injunction against Abbott for infringing Innogenetics’ patent.
(AEA) Advance America positive on payday advances by Jim Cramer on Mad Money.
(ASHW) Ashworth -$0.17 EPS vs -$0.11e.
(AVR) Aventine confirms new CFO.
(BA) Boeing says 2007 orders will likely not be as strong as the 1000 in 2006.
(BCSI) Blue Coat Systems traded up 6% after beating estimates.
(BGFV) Big 5 Sporting Goods $0.42 EPS vs $0.39e; guides EPS $0.30-0.33 and FY $1.47-1.57 versus $0.38/1.54 estimates.
(CHE) Chemed positive over Roto-Rooter and hospice operations by Jim Cramer on Mad Money.
(COO) Cooper Cos. trading up 4% on higher earnings.
(CSH) Cash America positive as the pawn shop owner for a consumer that has a hard time borrowing by Jim Cramer on Mad Money.
(DCX) Chrysler has another private equity firm interested.
(ENCY) Encysive -$0.44 EPS vs -$0.41e.
(FIRE) SourceFire IPO priced 5.77 million shares at $15.00
(GMKT) Gmarket fell 14% after missing estimates and giving only merchandise sale value guidance for 2007.
(HKF) Hancock Fabrics CFO resigned.
(IDT) IDT posted losses again on lower sales and expects further calling card revenue declines.
(IP) International Paper CFO retiring.
(JSDA) Jones Soda $0.08 EPS vs $0.01e.
(LMRA) Lumera down almost 8% on wider losses.
(LZB) La-Z-Boy announced job restructuring that will cause a plant closure and result in layoffs.
(MOVI) Movie Gallery refinances credit facility.
(NEW) New Century confirms Einhorn resigned, Lender extends $265M; Not yet obtained waivers on remaining 5 financing arrangements.
(NGPS) NovAtel $0.58 EPS vs $0.56e.
(NSM) National Semi traded up 4% after $0.22 EPS vs $0.20 estimate and guiding for slight increase in revenues; sets $500M share buyback.
(NTMD) Nitromed -$0.29 EPS vs -$0.36e (thin coverage).
(OMRI) Omrix Bio traded up 4%; $0.41 EPS vs $0.30e.
(OVEN) Turbochef -$0.16 EPS vs -$0.08 est.
(PG) P&G reaffirmed $0.72-0.74 guidance range ($0.74 is consensus).
(PSPT) Peoplesupport shares lower on warning and downgrades.
(RGR) Steurm Ruger is selling its non-manufacturing properties.
(SKYW) SkyWest approved a 5 million share buyback.
(SWK) Stanley Works reaffirmed forecast to above street consensus.
(WIND) Wind River $0.10 EPS vs $0.10e; sees loss in coming quarter before $0.00-$0.01 non-GAAP versus $0.08 estimates; company found option errors in reviews.
(WXH) Winston Hotels received $15.00 unsolicited bid from Inland American Real Estate Trust.
(ZQK) Quicksilver $0.02 EPS vs $0.04e; stock down 12%.

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 7:39 am in Pre-Market Activity

Earlybird Analyst Calls (MAR 9, 2007)

CHRW cut to Sell at Stifel Nicolaus.
CNW raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
DISH cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
EAT raised to Buy at UBS.
ECLP started as Neutral at Prudential.
EICU started as Underweight at Prudential.
FDX raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
HPT raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
HST raised to Buy at Citigroup.
ITWO started as Positive at Susquehanna.
LTXX raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
PSPT cut to Outperform at JMP.
PSPT cut to Mkt Perform at FBR.
PTI started as Positive at Susquehanna.
QSII started as Neutral at Prudential.
RHT started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
SNCR started as Hold at Jefferies.
TXN raised to Outperform at JMP.
TZIX started as Overweight at Prudential.
UACL raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
VSE raised to Mkt Weight at Thomas Weisel.
WIND raised to Hold at Citigroup.
ZQK cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
ZQK cut to Mkt Perform at Piper Jaffray.

Jon C. Ogg
March 9, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 7:14 am in Analyst Calls

Yahoo!’s Legacy Problem

Yahoo! (YHOO) management must feel snake bit. It now has a legacy problem going back to 2001. Its deal with AT&T (T) to jointly market broadband service is about to come apart. The partnership brings in over $200 million a year plus traffic to Yahoo! that it turns into ad dollars. With 2006 net income of $751 million, the dollars involved are significant.

First, Yahoo! management had to deal with a delay in its new Panama search software, then poor results in Q3 and Q4 of 2006 as its internet advertising slowed.

The launch of Panama brought some investors back to Yahoo! and its shares are up 20% this year. Up until now, and with the AT&T news that may change.

Google (GOOG) is now paying companies for access to customers and the AT&T deal with Yahoo! points the other direction.

The fact is that Yahoo! is old enough as a company to have legacy problems like this one. Google is not.

Apparently AT&T offered to buy Yahoo! last summer. Management at the internet company demurred. Now, they may wish they could reconsider.

One thing is certain. The internet is now old enough to have a history.

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

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 5:35 am in Internet

Europe Markets 3/9/2007 Prudential Up, Vivendi Down

Stocks:  (BCS)(BT)(BP)(GSK)(PUK)(RTRSY)(UN)(VOD)(BAY)(DCX)(DB)(BT)(SAP)(SI)(ALU)(AXA)(FTE)(STM)(V)

Markets in Europe were off modestly at 5.20 AM New York time.

The FTSE was down .5% to 6,198. Barclays was down .2% to 427.5. BP was down .9% to 520.5. BT was down .5% to 299.5. GlaxoSmithKline was down 1.2% to 1431. Prudential was up 1.4% to 680. Reuters was up .3% to 441.5. Unilever was down .3% to 1364. Vodafone was down .4% to 139.25.

The DAXX was down .5% to 6,677. Bayer was down 1.2% to 43.35. Daimler was down .3% to 52.13. DeutscheBank was down 1.2% to 97.98. Deutsche Telekom was down .9% to 12.56. SAP was down .7% to 35.05. Siemens was down .3% to 79.83.

The CAC 40 was off .8% to 5,481. Alcatel-Lucent was down .6% to 9.2. AXA was down 1% to 31.45. France Telecom was down .8% to 19.59. ST Micro was down .1% to 14.48. Vivendi was down 1.3% to 29.42.

Data from Reuters

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: March 9, 2007 – 5:21 am in International Markets