Daily Archives: December 19, 2008

Companies That Won’t Make It Through 2009 (HMC)(SIRI)(AIG)(FRE)(FNM)(RAD)(NYT)(NT)(PIR)(CHTR)(HOV)

AngrybearA lot of fairly well-known public companies either disappeared or went bankrupt this year. Circuit City is on the list. Based on the most recent news GM may get added soon.

24/7 Wall St. looked at some of the largest and most well-known companies, reviewed their SEC filings if they are public, analyst reports, and media observations about their businesses and picked ten that probably won’t be around at the end of next year. That does not mean that their brands will disappear, but these companies will have been dissolved as the world knows them now or working though the court system in the hopes of getting Chapter 11 protection and a chance at survival.

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 7:47 pm in Research, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

52-Week Low Club (ARTC, CORL, GEOY, HPGP, HLND, HRC, PDLI, SNN, TTWO)

Burning_money_picThere are plenty of 52-week lows out there for the picking.  These are some of the major lows we saw today which we have seen.  Some are on specific news, and some are just on continued selling.  ArthroCare Corporation (NASDAQ: ARTC), Corel Corp. (NASDAQ: CORL), GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY), Hiland Holdings GP, LP (NASDAQ: HPGP) and Hiland Partners, LP (NASDAQ: HLND), Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HRC), PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: PDLI), Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN), and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) are among today’s burnt stocks. 

Here are some brief explanations on each stock:

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 3:01 pm in HI/LOW, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , ,

Cash Pipeline is Flowing, But Rates are Up (ETP, KMP)

Money_stack_pic_5Energy Transfer Partners L.P. (NYSE:ETP) has priced an offering of $600 million in 9.7% senior notes due 2019, and the paper has been rated ‘BBB-’ with a ’stable’ outlook by Fitch Ratings. Earlier this year, Energy Transfer issued $1.5 billion in senior notes in three offerings. The proceeds from those offerings were used to repay existing debt. The new note will pay outstanding borrowing on the company’s revolving credit facility.

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 1:01 pm in Bonds, Dividend, Oil & Gas, ,

The Market Wises Up About GM (GM)

Batmobile512_2It has become just another trading day for GM (GM). Shares are up 11% to $4.09. Over the last two weeks, it has traded well above that level on several days. On December 8, the stock traded at $4.93.

What the market realizes just three hours after President Bush said he would shove money at GM (GM) and Chrysler is that very little has changed. The UAW put out a snide press release about how it was being treated badly. "While we appreciate that President Bush has taken the emergency action needed to help America’s auto companies weather the current financial crisis, we are disappointed that he has added unfair conditions singling out workers" the UAW chief was quoted as saying. In other words, we have no intention of playing ball when it is time to make cuts. We will take that up with Obama.

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 12:46 pm in Autos,

NRG Lectures the Feds (NRG, EXC)

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) responded to yesterday’s announcement by hostile suitor Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC) that Exelon had filed for Hart-Scott-Rodino approval of its proposed merger with NRG. The response is nothing more than a big whine.

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 12:44 pm in Uncategorized, ,

Paulson Pressures Congress To Hand Over TARP Balance, He May Need It (C)(BAC)(WFC)

TreasuryHenry Paulson wants the $350 billion still left in the TARP funding from Congress. He says the last part of the first $350 billion is going to Detroit.

His logic seems to be that something terrible could happen in the next thirty days and that he needs the dry powder just in case.

Since most of Congress has not liked the way Paulson spent the first round of money, there may be some disagreement about him picking up the remainder.

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 10:49 am in Economy, , ,

NASDAQ Offers Life To Hundreds of Stocks (NDAQ, CHTR, FNSR, LVLT, OPWV, PEIX, PWAV, PWAV, RFMD, SANM, SIRI, SPSN)

Money_stack_pic_4Nasdaq_logoThe NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) is making it easier for the army of relatively new penny stocks to maintain their listings on NASDAQ.  The exchange filed with the SEC to extend its suspension of the rules requiring a minimum $1.00 bid price and its minimum market value of publicly held shares.  This was initially set to expire in January, but the terms will now be extended until Monday, April 20, 2009.  With as many stocks that have violated that $1.00 mark in recent weeks and months, this is hardly a surprise and it would even go against the exchange’s own interests to boot this many stocks off the exchange.

We ran a screen for NASDAQ stocks with active trading volume, share prices under $1.00, and those which have traded over $1.00 in the last 52-weeks.  Some of the most usual suspects here are as follows:

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 10:26 am in Cult Stock, Exchange News, Small Cap Stocks, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , , , ,

Richard C. Perry Continues To Dump His Sears Holdings (SHLD) Shares

Sears Holdings (Nasdaq: SHLD) Director, Richard C. Perry, continues to sell his holdings of Sears Holdings.

Earlier in the week, Richard Perry sold over 1.2 million shares leaving him with 1.39 million shares. However, hedge fund manager, Richard Perry sold another 397,952 shares of Sears during the past two days at prices between $38.88-$41.19, leaving him with a total of 1 million shares.

Read more…

Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 9:23 am in Uncategorized,

Bush Turns Aside Chapter 11, For Now

Ford1President Bush said that he will offer loans from the TARP to cover funding needs for three months or so. The package is meant to mirror the one narrowly defeated in Congress less than two weeks ago.

Bush made it clear the a "disorderly" bankruptcy of the car makers would be too great a blow to the economy. But, he also made it clear to auto executives, the unions, and creditors, that if they cannot come up with reasonable restructuring plans which allow firms, especially GM (GM) and Chrysler, to operate independently, Chapter 11 is a possible outcome.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 9:14 am in Autos,

A Bank Merger With M&T and Provident (MTB, PBKS)

Money_stack_pic_3M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE: MTB) has agreed to acquire Provident Bankshares Corporation (NASDAQ: PBKS) for roughly $401 million in stock. 

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 9:00 am in Banking, Mergers and Buy Outs, ,

More Analyst Calls (MT, ASML, FSLR, PALM, SBUX, RIMM)

Money_stack_pic_2There are some additional important analyst calls which were not on the early bird list over an hour ago.  Here are some additional upgrades, downgrades, and initiations of new coverage from Wall Street analysts:

  • ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) Cut to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • ASML (NASDAQ: ASML) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs (may be yesterday call)
  • First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
  • Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) Raised to Hold from Sell at Needham.
  • Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) Started as Hold at Jefferies.

Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) has seen its price target cut by several more firms this morning after yesterday’s earnings, including Raymond James and UBS.  TD in Canada raised the stock to its "Action Buy List" from just a normal BUY rating.

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BKD, SNH, AMZN, AAUK, CENX, EBAY, PRGS)

Jon C. Ogg
December 19, 2008

Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 8:34 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BKD, SNH, AMZN, AAUK, CENX, EBAY, PRGS)

Money_stack_picThese are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades we have seen from Wall Street this Friday morning with more than two hours until the market opens:

  • Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
  • Senior Housing (NYSE: SNH) Started as Outperform at Baird.
  • Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
  • Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) Cut to neutral at UBS.
  • Century Aluminum (NASDAQ: CENX) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
  • eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
  • Progress Software (NASDAQ: PRGS) Cut to Hold at Needham.

Jon C. Ogg
December 19, 2008

Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 7:27 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , ,

Posted Without Comment: S&P Cuts Every Bank In The Universe

95129c_2

According to MarketWatch, "Standard & Poor’s cut the credit rating or outlook of 12 major U.S. and European financial institutions Friday, saying the move reflected its view of the significant pressure on large, complex financial institutions’ future performance as the global economy slows further. S&P added it is raising its overall assessment of bank industry risk and said it believes there will be more volatility in funding markets. The parent firm or banking subsidiaries of Bank of America (BAC), Barclays (BCS), Citigroup (C), Credit Suisee (CS), Duetsche Bank (DB), Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), UBS (UBS), and Wells Fargo (WFC).were all downgraded one or two notches while HSBC (HBC) has its outlook cut to negative, but its credit rating unchanged."

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 6:54 am in Banking, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cheap Oil And The Russian Revolution

Tx00338coilwellgusherodessatexasposThe sitting government in Russia has not had this much fun since Vladimir Lenin died.

Falling oil prices, now sitting well under $40 a barrel. are forcing the Russian government to shut down almost every non-essential program it has in the works. The billionaires who bribe Putin’s people are felling poor. A regime without kickbacks is a regime without power.

The sharp drop in oil has moved Putin from being a man who could invade his neighbors at will and carry on war games with Chavez in Venezuela to a fellow who is fighting to keep his job.

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 6:50 am in Oil & Gas

More Talk Of An “Orderly” Bankruptcy At GM (GM)

Batmobile512The Bush White House let it leak out yesterday that it was looking at Chapter 11 as a possible way to deal with GM (GM).

The news is an acknowledgment that suppliers, creditors, and the UAW are not likely to agree to negotiate their rights away once they see GM get a government check. Why give up anything when there may be more money to spread around in the near future?

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 6:27 am in Autos,

The Mark-To-Market Horse Race

R218533_855025The horses are off and running at Santa Anita. Banks cannot wait to get their hands on a new set of accounting rules that will almost certainly make their earnings look better. Taken to the extreme, the new regulations may help them stay out of the capital-raising game.

The CPAs are saying "not so fast."  Rules are made to be enforced, and even pressed to their limits.

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 6:11 am in Accounting

Just When They Need The Money, The Government Hacks Credit Card Firms (MA)(C)

95129cJust when credit card issuers from Mastercard (MA) to Citigroup (C) need the extra money due to deadbeats, the federal government is going to make it hard for them to get it. Default rates are rising with unemployment and the distributors of the plastic are faced with billions of dollars of write-offs over the next year or so.

The only option these companies have had was to jack interest rates through the roof and bleed the cardholders for as long as they could. Regulators now have dropped bricks on the heads of the card issuers.

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 5:33 am in Banking, ,

Obama At The Dike: What Does $1 Trillion Buy?

Uncle_samThe new administration will ask Congress for close to $800 billion to stimulate the economy and get America back on the road to recovery without straining the capacity of the map makers. By the time members of the new legislature get their hands on the bills to create new programs and add a bit for their districts, the number is certain to go over $1 trillion.

The Paulson $700 billion plan plus a feeder from the Fed that mainlines capital into the financial system has not been very effective. Of course, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has only spent half of his money. He and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke would argue that without their Herculean efforts, things would be much worse.

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 5:00 am in Economy

Media Digest 12/19/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

NewspaperAccording to Reuters, GM (GM) and Chrysler are close to a loan deal with the government.

Reuters reports that Obama will ask for a major stimulus package focusing on infrastructure and helping state finances.

Reuters reports that BOJ cut rate to help the Japanese economy.

Reuters reports that oil is steady at $36, a four-and-a-half year low.

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 3:31 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , ,

Asia Markets And Europe Open 12/19/2008

BritMarkets in Asia were mixed

The Nikkei fell .9% to 8,589. Toyota (TM) fell on word it might post a loss.

The Hang Seng was down 1.9% to 15,208. HSBC (HBC) was off on worries about credit problems.

The Shanghai Composte moved up .1% to 2,018.

At the open, the FTSE was down 1.1% to 4,282. The Dax was off 1.1% to 4,703 and the CAC 40 was down 1.4% to 3,189.

Data from Reuters.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 3:05 am in International Markets, ,