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On tonight’s MAD MONEY on CNBC, Jim Cramer called for companies with high cash balances to make acquisitions while competitors are dirt cheap and vulnerable. Yesterday, Cramer called for Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to acquire Allergan (NYSE: AGN) now that Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) decided to take out Mentor Corp. (NYSE: MNT) for a huge premium. We recently pondered whether that deal really made Allergan worth less money or more money over the competition. Allergan has been battered as many "self improvements and enhancement surgeries" are being put off because the public is having a major money pinch. Tonight, Cramer gave two more merger candidates and suitors.
Daily Archives: December 4, 2008
Cramer Calls For More Buyouts (JNJ, MNT, AGN, PFE, ITW, MTW, NKE, UA)
CEO Of The Year Nominees: 7) James A. Skinner Of McDonald’s (MCD)
24/7 Wall St. will name its annual CEO of the Year next week. The executive will be picked from a field of ten which we will profile this week
The CEOs are chosen on the basis of their company’s stock market and financial performances compared with their own industry groups and all large companies traded on US markets. Only firms with market caps of more than $5 billion were considered. 24/7 reviewed revenue growth, operating margins, balance sheets, return on assets, and return on equity.
The 52-Week Low Club (CHK)(WFT)(RIG)(MSCC)(ISIL)
Chesapeake Energy (CHK) National gas supply levels fall. Drops to $11.54 from 52-week high of $74.
Weatherford International (WFT) Oil prices hurting drilling equipment firms. Plunges to $8.32 from 52-week high of $49.98.
Transocean (RIG) Another drilling service firm. Sells down to $46.06 from 52-week high of $163.
Microsemi Corporation (MSCC) Did CEO lie about his degree. Dips to $11.27 from 52-week $28.50.
Intersil (ISIL) Cuts outlook. Moves off to $7.53 from $29.84.
Douglas A. McIntyre
CEO Of The Year Nominees: 6) Ian M. Cook Of Colgate-Palmolive (CL)
24/7 Wall St. will name its annual CEO of the Year next week. The executive will be picked from a field of ten which we will profile this week
The CEOs are chosen on the basis of their company’s stock market and financial performances compared with their own industry groups and all large companies traded on US markets. Only firms with market caps of more than $5 billion were considered. 24/7 reviewed revenue growth, operating margins, balance sheets, return on assets, and return on equity.
CEOs Cutting Sales, Cap-Ex, & Employment Expectations
The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Index shows much more caution than optimism. This reflects expected sales, capital expenditures and employment figures over the next six months. The survey index fell down to 16.5 in the fourth quarter of 2008 with a consistent decrease in economic activity in all three categories measured.
10 CEOs To Go In 2009: Jonathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems (JAVA)
It was 2006 when Scott McNealy broke the news that Jonathan Schwartz would become the new CEO of Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) rather than just be the Chief Operating Officer. As he was the top lieutenant, it was an obvious pick. Schwartz rang the bell of the same company vision being the future. That was unfortunate. Having only two-and-a-half years as CEO may not be enough, but this one has been such a disaster that a new leader from the outside needs to brought in to get Sun in the right direction.
Starbucks (SBUX) Talks About Missing Earnings, Again
Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks (SBUX) keeps retreating from his previous forecasts of how the company will perform financially for the last part of this year and into 2009.
The SBUX CEO today remarked that same-store sales had been down over the last several weeks. According to MarketWatch, he said, "the coffee-shop chain is facing deteriorating comparable store-sales and the company won’t meet Wall Street’s profit target for the current quarter of 21 cents a share."
Agencies Battle Over Who Has Rights To Bailout Detroit (GM)(F)
The latest and one of the most bizarre aspects of the decision of whether the US government will make loans available to bailout Detroit is the battle over which federal agencies can provide capital and which cannot.
According to MarketWatch, "Despite the opinion by the Government Accountability Office that the automakers could receive funds from the $700 billion bailout fund, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson disagrees." The Fed has already turned down a request to be the source of capital.
Bernanke Joins Paulson In Focus On Housing (FNM)(FRE)
As late in the game as it may be, Paulson began to address bringing down mortgage interest rates for new home buyers by suggesting the Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mach (FRE) could be used to push their level to 4.5%.
Today, Bernanke moved his attention to the related topic of foreclosures, finally beginning to address the reality that without stable housing prices, there is no economic recover.
10 CEOs To Go In 2009: Mike Zafirovski of Nortel (NT)
Kicking management and practices at Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE: NT) is nothing new for us. We have discussed the company’s problems here for longer than memory serves. Mike Zafirovski is president and chief executive officer of Nortel Networks and has been at the company since November of 2005. He replaced Bill Owens as CEO, who didn’t exactly have the longest tenure on the job. So this is only a three-year tenure, but it has been a disastrous one. As of today (and admittedly for quite for some time), Zafirovski is being named as one of our ten CEO’s that need to go in 2009.
24/7 Wall St. Hooks Up With Twitter
As many of our readers know, 24/7 Wall St. writes copy for a number of
sites including our own sites and those of our partners. Our own
sites include 24/7 Wall St., Volume Spike Investor, and
BioHealthInvestor. Some of our partner sites include AOL Money &
Finance, Marketwatch, MSN, Stockhouse, BloggingStocks, and Huffington.
Cramer Says Pfizer (PFE) Should Buy Allergan (AGN)
On Mad Money last night, Jim Cramer said Pfizer (PFE) should consider buying Allergan (AGN). Cramer thinks this is a smart play similar to Johnson & Johnson acquisition of Mentor Corporation (MNT) earlier in the week.
Both Allergan and Mentor produce products that are used in cosmetic surgeries.
The Fallacious Notion of ‘Money Supply’
By John Tamny RealClearMarkets
Supply-siders are concerned with the quality of money, not its quantity. Nobody, except the market as a whole, could ever know how much of what kind of money is appropriate to finance expansion without inflation. Jude Wanniski, The Way the World Works
A simple search on Amazon.com for stand-alone VHS videocassette recorders (VCRs) is a mostly fruitless pursuit. Lacking much value in a day of DVDs, the best this writer could find was a used Samsung model for $17.
Rock Star Bono Gets Pole-Axed By Elevations Partners (MOVE)(PALM)
Rock star Bono must be a lot less well off financially than he was two years ago. He must also wish he never met Roger McNamee, who runs private equity firm Elevation Partners where Bono is one of the five professionals who run the firm. Hard to say whether he really spends any time on the job.
Equitable Resources Plans 2009 CapEx (EQT)
Before the market opened this morning, Equitable Resources (NYSE:EQT) announced a capital expenditure budget of $1 billion for 2009. This amount is down from Equitable’s expected capex of $1.4 billion this year. The company plans to finance the spending from cash flow and existing credit lines.
Schlumberger Confirms Lower 2008 Profit (SLB)
Oil field services giant Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) confirmed yesterday that its gross profit for the full 2008 fiscal year would come in below analysts" estimates. The stock closed off about 3% yesterday and shares are down again today. This is also having an impact elsewhere.
Fluor: A Strong Balance Sheet Is a Good Thing (FLR, STO, XOM, JEC, FWLT, KBR)
When everyone else is ducking for cover, it often pays to stick your neck out. That seems to be what Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) is doing with the announcement of a new business that it is calling Fluor Offshore Solutions. Fluor has been in the offshore business for decades, but is more well-known for its onshore engineering and construction business. Where it gets interesting is how it is stacking up against peers.
Advanced Micro Devices: Even Cheaper Processors Off (AMD, INTC, NVDA)
It seems that the lower demand for PC’s and the demand that is there heading into the under-$500.00 PC market is taking its toll on everyone. We have already seen a sharp warning from Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), and this morning we just got the ball dropped by Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD).
DJIA Losing 3 Trifecta (T, DD, MRK)
It is easy to get pumped up about overseas rate cuts, but there is cautionary data from at least three DJIA components. Wal-Mart is the economic trade-down so that win in retail sales is a little muted. AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), DuPont (NYSE: DD), and Merck (NYSE: MRK) all have cautious news this morning.
Weekly Jobless Claims Obscured by Turkey & Bread Lines
The weekly jobless claims just came out at a drop of 21,000 to 509,000. Economists were looking for a roughly 540,000 who applied for benefits. Last week’s initial report of 529,000 was also revised to 530,000. While this is good news on the surface, last week was also a shortened week because of Thanksgiving and that can drastically throw off the numbers.
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Today’s top tickerspy Indexes Home Furnishing R... +14.1% Ethanol and Biofu... +5.1% Electronics Retai... +2.1% Diabetes Stocks +2.0% Memory Chip Stock... +2.0% 
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