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Leave aside being overpaid. It is stunning that Ron Snyder, CEO of Crocs (CROX), can keep his job. After repeated earnings disappointments, shares in the company hit a 52-week low today of $.79, down from the period high of $46.80.
Daily Archives: November 13, 2008
Most Overpaid CEO Of The Day: Ron Snyder Of Crocs (CROX)
Worst Corporate Press Release Of The Day: McGraw-Hill (MHP)
From time to time, corporate public relations departments put out information that they later regret having released.
To draw attention to their troubles, they issue a second release which has the term "Kill, Kill, Kill" at the top of it. That is supposed to signal the fact that the original document should be retracted. Very subtle.
McGraw-Hill (MHP) put out a "Kill" release today. Unfortunately, it covered a press release it put out on November 7.
"We are advised by McGraw-Hill Education that journalists and other readers should disregard the news release, Glencoe Literature: California Treasures Approved by California Department of Education, issued
Douglas a McIntyre
The 52-Week Low Club (C)(CROX)(MSFT)(INTC)(WCG)(GE)
GE (GE) Concerns about dividend and financial services arm. Drops to $14.58 from 52-week high of $39.95.
Citigroup (C) Huge consumer lending portfolio becomes more of a time bomb. Drops to $8.27 from 52-week high of $37.50.
Crocs (CROX) Tremendously bad earnings. Falls to $.79 from 52-week high of $46.80.
Microsoft (MSFT) Signs of tech slowdown are everywhere. Drops to $18.74 from 52-week high of $36.72.
Intel (INTC) Cuts profit forecast. Sells off to $12.87 from 52-week high of $27.99.
Wellcare Health (WCG) Higher than expected medical costs. Down from $6.12 from 52-week high of $58.73.
Douglas A. McIntyre
Why GE’s Dividend Is Safe (GE)
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) has found itself under a "smart money" controversy, which may be an argument about the reality of the rules and regulations versus the perceptions of what the rules and regulations are. What keeps going around the smart money circles and what is being speculated upon by traders and many in the media is that as a "taker of TARP funds" that the company might be forced to stop paying its dividend or to cut its dividend to shareholders. The company has just stated that intends to maintain the dividend level. Where the discrepancy comes into play is that GE is technically not in the TARP plan and their are many misconceptions over the rules and regulations.
Stock Market Takes Out October Lows (DIA, SPY, QQQQ)
There is a disturbing event happening, and it is one which if gets much worse will take out much of the feeling that the markets have bottomed out. Today the market index readings are challenging the lows from mid-October. Now the challenge comes to whether or not these hold the closing levels and the intra-day lows seen at the time as of 12:53 PM EST today.
S&P500 833.68 (-18.62; -2.18%)
- S&P low close 848.92 (Oct. 27) & intra-day low 839.80 (Oct. 10)
DJIA 8,111.81 (-170.85; -2.06%)
- DJIA low close was 8,175.77 (Oct. 27) & intra-day low was 7,773.71 (Oct. 10)
NASDAQ 1,451.90 (-47.31; -3.16%)
- NASDAQ low close was 1,505.90 (Oct. 27) & intra-day low was 1,493.79 (Oct. 24)
DIAMONDS Trust ETF (NYSE: DIA), SPDRs (AMEX: SPY), and the PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ: QQQQ) are the main ETFS’s which track these index levels, and all actually trailing in the volume severity sen with many such days.
JON C. OGG
NOVEMBER 13, 2008
IEA Cost Projections Bode Ill (XOM, COP, APA)
The International Energy Agency released its World Energy Outlook yesterday. The headline number is that the IEA predicts oil prices will rise to $200/b by 2030. The agency cites rising demand from the developing world and "surging costs of production" as oil is getting more difficult to pump out of the inhospitable places where we’re now finding it (the Arctic, the deep water ocean).
Soros: “Depression Possible”
George Soros, billionaire money manager, had his turn to join fellow hedge fund managers testifying before Congress.
Soros made a point of scaring the hell out of them.
Citigroup (C): Firing Vikram Pandit
Citigroup’s (C) CEO Vikram Pandit has cemented his reputation as the worst CEO of the new breed of men who replaced the remarkably careless and callous executives who ran Citi, Merrill Lynch (MER), AIG (AIG), and other financial colossi during the first part of the decade.
That makes the news that Citigroup is considering sacking its chairman Sir Win Bischoff all the more ironic. Bischoff is, by most accounts, an astonishingly bland man who helped the financial firm through some of its darkest days. His only fault is that he voted to put Pandit into his job. But, the rest of the bank’s board shares that distinction.
Can Forbes Keep Its Enterprise Value From Falling?
In 2006, Elevation Partners, the same venture firm which bailed out Palm (PALM) and counts U2 lead singer Bono as a managing director, put about $275 million into Forbes to get a 40% piece of the media company according to GigaOm and The New York Times. That would have put a price tag on Forbes at $700 million.
It may not be worth that much today and its value is almost certainly falling in the current advertising environment.
IPO Filing: Alon Brands, Inc., A 7-Eleven Play (ABO)
It seems that the IPO filings may at least be seeing a very small comeback after weeks and weeks of being in a desert with no oasis. Alon Brands, Inc. filed late yesterday to sell up to $100 million in common stock. Alon is one of the companies tied to 7-Eleven stores in the U.S. The joint book-running managers are listed as Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch.
Nouriel Roubini and the Folly of Fiscal Stimulus
By John Tamny of RealClearMarkets
Whereas before there had been almost no framework to explain what Roosevelt was doing, now a respectable one was forming. Spending promoted growth, if government was big enough to spend enough. Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man
NYU professor Nouriel Roubini is presently the economist of the moment. Having correctly called the economic troubles in our midst for arguably the wrong reasons, his celebrity recently took him to Capitol Hill, where once again his prescriptions reveal a misreading of the problems at hand.
24/7 Day Trading Alerts (CROX)(OPTR)(FEED)(NTAP)(AMAG)
Things are so bad at Crocs (CROX) that it is off nearly 50% down near $1.
Optimer Pharmaceuticals (OPTR) continues to be volatility. Details here..
AgFeed (FEED) is getting crushed.
NetApp (NTAP) is today’s tech winner.
AMAG Pharmaceuticals (AMAG) is making a big run up.
Exelon: Hostile Takeover of NRG is Out of the Gate (EXC, NRG)
Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC) has officially kicked off its unsolicited takeover of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG). We reported the details yesterday. Exelon needs to receive a majority of NRG’s shares outstanding (about 233 million total) by January 6, 2009, in order to clinch the deal.
Repsol YPF: Are the Russians Coming? (REP)
Repsol YPF (NYSE:REP) is one of the ten largest integrated oil companies in the world. It is based in Madrid, and owns substantial assets in South America. Repsol reported third quarter earnings yesterday, but that’s not the story.
Russia’s vice premier told a news conference yesterday that Gazprom, Russia’s natural gas monopoly, is considering buying a 20% stake in Repsol from Spanish construction company Sacyr Vallehermoso. Sacyr apparently needs cash and is likely to sell its piece of Repsol for about 5 billion euros, nearly 25% less than it paid just two years ago.
Jobless Claims Cross 500K, Brace For Much Higher Unemployment
Weekly jobless claims came out this morning above the critical and psychological level of 500,000 filing for unemployment. This was a gain of 32,000 to 516,000, and to little surprise there was a slight upward revision to last week’s weekly jobless claims to 484,000 from 481,000 previously reported. Today’s jobless claims also marked the highest reading since September 2001.
Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (MO, STZ, LVS, LYV, RF, AXP, CMS, DELL, SOLR, TIBX)
These are the top ten early bird upgrades and downgrades we have seen this Thursday morning with about two hours until the open:
- Altria (MO) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Banc of America.
- Constellation Brands (STZ) Raised to Buy at UBS.
- Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Banc of America.
- Live Nation (LYV) Raised to Strong Buy at S&P Equity Research.
- Regions Financial (RF) Raised to Buy at Ladenburg Thalman.
- American Express (AXP) Started as Underperform at Jefferies.
- Comerica (CMA) Cutto Hold at Deutsche Bank.
- Dell (DELL) added to Goldman Sachs Conviction Sell List.
- GT Solar (SOLR) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
- TIBCO Software (TIBX) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Jon C. Ogg
November 13, 2008
Recession’s Grim Reaper Can’t Catch Wal-Mart (WMT)
The home of "everyday low prices" took a bit of a hit today when it put out its earnings. It can not longer be called "recession proof", but it is still damn close.
Wal-Mart (WMT) made a very modest adjustment to its guidance. The world’s largest retailer said "For the full year, ending January 31, we have tightened and modestly reduced our guidance and now forecast diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to be within a range of $3.42 to $3.46." Wall St. expected that number to be $3.49. Not much of a miss. Not in this economic environment.
GM (GM): People Will Not Buy Cars From A Bankrupt Company
There is a perception among investors and government officials that GM (GM) CEO Rick Wagoner will say anything to save his job. He has argued hard and often that people will not buy cars from a company in Chapter 11. And, he is probably right.
Bankruptcy is a better deal for fixing car companies than a government loan, at least on paper. It would allow a court to void union contracts, pension payments, and debt obligations.
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