Daily Archives: October 9, 2008

Can deCODE Genetics Escape Icelandic Woes? (DCGN)

Decode_logo_2If you think things are bad here in the U.S., Iceland is experiencing something far worse.  The country is on the verge of teetering, it is nationalizing its banks, and it is on the verge of hyper inflation.  It is nearly impossible for U.S. investors to invest in anything liquid in the country via closed end funds or by ADR shares.  But there is one stock: deCODE genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: DCGN).

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Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 7:54 am in ADR, Biotech,

Goldman Sachs Kicking Steel While It’s Down (AKS, STLD, TX, CMC)

It is a bit surprising when you see a firm like Goldman Sachs downgrade many key steel stocks after their shares have fallen by so much.  That is what we are seeing this morning.  Many steel stocks are down more than 75% from their recent year highs.  It sees lower steel and scrap prices on deteriorated demand in the coming months.  Below is the firm’s downgrade list, although Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC) was actually upgraded.

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Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 7:28 am in Analyst Calls, Metals, , , ,

Gap (GPS) Gets Killed, Same-store Down 11%

AngrybearIn what will probably be viewed as bad news by most people, Gap’s (GPS) same-store sales dropped 11% last month. And the chain sells dirt-cheap clothes.

Net sales dropped 6% to $1.34 billion. So much for the turnaround.

Old Navy same-store numbers were down 24%, another argument for axing the brand completely.

Gap trades near the bottom of its 52-week range at $15.44. It won’t old that level for long.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 7:12 am in Retail

Long Live the Short Sale

Down_arrow_redThe ban on short sales in financials and companies tied to financials has ended.  Beginning this morning, investors will be able to bet against these companies.  While the experiment was meant to curb the free fall in these stocks, many market participants have determined that the practice of just issuing an outright ban was an outright failure.  Many of the stocks on that list have fallen more than 25%.

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Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 6:13 am in Short Interest

IBM’s Earnings: No Bellwether For Tech (ORCL)(MSFT)(CSCO)(INTC)

IbmIt would not be a good idea to look at IBM’s (IBM) superior earnings and assume that tech will have had a good third quarter and that the rest of the year looks super.

With quarterly revenue of over $25 billion, Big Blue has over two times the sales that Cisco (CSCO) does and nearly as big a lead over Microsoft (MSFT).

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Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 5:40 am in Technology Companies, , , , ,

Citigroup (C) And Wells Fargo (WFC) Find A Cowpie On Wachovia’s (WB) Books

Wachovia20color1_1The most wonderful thing about the current financial crisis is that it is a monument to human optimism. Every day executives and government officials signal that things may be getting better. Everyday they get worse.

There is no better example of this than the land-grab that is going on between Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) to get the retail system and other assets of Wachovia (WB). As it turns out, after a close look, the Wachovia balance sheet is uglier than expected.

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Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 5:17 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, , ,

AIG (AIG): The Buffoons Take Over The Nut House

AigIt did not take long for the bailout of AIG (AIG) to dissolve into chaos. Just two weeks after the Fed put $85 billion into the failing insurance company, the new management asked for an extra $37.8 billion.

The news is yet another example of how fast the financial system is failing. Institutions which appear to have been saved can walk into more trouble in the course of a few days.

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Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 5:01 am in Financial Stocks, ,

Paulson’s New Bailout Plan: The Trouble With Owning Bank Shares

TreasuryHenry Paulson watched the Brits come up with a new plan to save the banking system before he did. He is probably embarrassed by that. He and Bernanke seemed to have a big lead over everyone else in building Lego models for saving the financial world.

The latest idea if for the Treasury to actually buy equity in banks thereby mainlining capital into large financial institutions in the hope that they will then lend that money out.

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Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 4:39 am in Banking, , , , , ,

Media Digest 10/9/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

NewspaperAccording to Reuters, the US Treasury may buy interests in large banks following the model set up by the UK.

Reuters reports that IBM’s (IBM) earnings strength helped calm tech investors.

Reuters reports that MetLife (MET) and The Hartford (HIG) may be in merger talks.

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Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 2:59 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Asia Markets 10/9/2008 (PTR)(SNE)

ChinaMarkets in Asia were mixed.

The Nikkei fell .5% to 9,157. Sony (SNE) and Canon were both up over 4%.

The Hang Seng rose 2% to 15,741. China Overseas Land Investment was up over 5%. PetroChina (PTR) was up over 4%.

The Shanghai Composite fell .8% to 2,075.

In Europe, the FTSE, DAX, and CAC 40 all opened higher by over 1%.

Data from Reuters.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 2:21 am in International Markets, ,