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Monthly Archives: January 2009

The Misleading Nature of Government Statistics

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 8:31 am

By John Tamny  RealClearMarkets"Macroeconomics is a tautology and a myth, a dangerous one at that, sustaining the illusion that prosperity is necessarily linked with territory, national units, and government spending ...
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Posted Without Comment: Trouble For Big Banks

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 8:28 am

From Bloomberg:The biggest U.S. banks may face the threat of lower profits or pressure to break up under greater regulation following the financial crisis. Federal Reserve officials have made tackling ...
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Wal-Mart (WMT) Gets Stunned By International

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 7:44 am

No matter how badly the retail industry was in December, Wal-Mart (WMT) still managed to post improved same-store sales of 1.9%. But, that was the only good news the company ...
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Sears (SHLD): A Ray Of Sunshine

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 7:32 am

The holiday season went poorly at Sears (SHLD), so it may still have to close scores of stores and lay-off thousands of people. Same-store sales at Sears stores fell 12.8%. ...
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Analyst Downgrade Onslaught Continues (ASML, CMG, FORM, GFIG, ICE, KLAC, MSSR, MPEL, MRG, PEET, PRXI, PHM, RGLD, JAVA, TCK, TER, UDR, VNO)

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 7:29 am

This morning was a shocker on just how many analyst downgrades and very negative calls were out from Wall Street analysts.  The sad part is this is only part of ...
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Activist Burkle Going After Whole Foods (WFMI)

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 6:53 am

Whole Foods Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) has a new activist in its ranks.  An SEC filing showed that Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. investment vehicle is now holding a 7% stake ...
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Writing Off What Should Have Been Written Off Long Ago

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 6:36 am

Time Warner (TWX) wrote down the value of many of its assets yesterday. The same has happened with many companies which own newspaper and TV assets. The trend is also ...
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Citigroup (C) And The Senate: The Myth Of Saving The Mortgage Market

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 6:22 am

Citigroup (C) and some other banks are in talks with Senators about legislation that would change how people in bankruptcy would be treated when it comes to their mortgages. The ...
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Goldman Sachs Sets The Sun (JAVA)

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 6:13 am

Goldman Sachs was already cautious on Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA).  But this morning it slashed a prior Neutral rating down to its ugly SELL rating.  The firm cited deteriorating ...
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As Lenovo Catches Cold, Dell (DELL) Gets Pneumonia

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 6:06 am

Big Chinese PC company Lenovo said its earnings were falling apart and laid of 11% of its staff. At almost the same time, Dell (DELL) said it was "moving" 1,000 ...
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Does Nordic American Tanker Really Need New Cash? (NAT)

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 6:05 am

There has been one shipping company which has been largely immune to the woes of the shipping sector and the global economy.  That is Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NYSE: ...
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With New Windows 7, Microsoft (MSFT) Takes Another Wrong Step

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 5:56 am

The conventional wisdom about Microsoft (MSFT) will that it will never make a lot of money on its gadgets, the Zune and Xbox, and it will never make any money ...
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Biting The Hand: A US Deficit Rises, China Eschews US Debt

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 5:40 am

Part of the financial game that the US and China have played for more than a decade is that America imports tremendous amounts of Chinese goods and China buys US ...
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Media Digest 1/8/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 4:02 am

According to Reuters, Microsoft (MSFT) Windows 7 is "on schedule" and will begin testing with consumers.Reuters reports that Obama will lay out his case for stimulus package in a speech.Reuters ...
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Asia Markets And Europe Open 1/8/2008

Posted: January 8, 2009 at 3:23 am

Markets in Asia were sharply lower.The Nikkei dropped 3.9% to 8,876.The Hang Seng fell 4.1% to 14,366The Shanghai Composite fell 2.3% to 1,878.In Europe, the FTSE was off 1%. The ...
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