Daily Archives: February 11, 2009

Fired For Lying About Degrees (IPI)

witch-burningIntrepid Potash, Inc. (NYSE:IPI) has announced that President and Chief Operating Officer, Patrick L. Avery, is leaving the company.  This isn’t over management performance or over company developments.  He apparently was “mistaken” about a couple of degrees on his resume.
Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 6:43 pm in Agriculture, Management Change, , , , , , , , ,

Defensive Stock… Bracing For Coca-Cola Earnings (KO, PEP)

coke-imageThursday morning we will get earnings from The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO), and this will likely be the big set-up play for Friday’s Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) earnings.  We have prepared a detailed  preview for Coca-Cola’s earnings.
Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 4:53 pm in Defensive Stocks, Earnings, Food, , , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (SIRI)(MOD)(GXP)(HST)(DVN)

sad_clown3Modine Manufacturing (MOD) Losing money and problems with debt covenants. Drops to $.93 from 52-week high of $19.60.

Great Plains Energy (GXP) Bad quarterly results. Very bad. Shares plunge to $14.53 from 52-week high of $27.50.

Devon Energy (DVN) Rise in crude stockpiles. Down to $51.53 from 52-week high of $127.43.

Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) Wall St. starting to cut estimates on hotel earnings. Sells off to $4.37 from 52-week high of $18.81.

Sirius Xm Radio (SIRI) Chapter 11 rumors. Drops to $.052 from 52-week high of $3.89.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 4:13 pm in HI/LOW, , , , ,

Why Does The New York Times (NYT) Have Three CEOs?

empireThe New York Times (NYT) is not a huge company  by most measures It has less than 10,000 employees and a market cap of just over $600 million.

NYT has three people who could act as CEO. Two of them are members of the family which controls the parent corporation. All three are paid well, and two appear to have little to do. Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 2:16 pm in Management Change, Media,

Chicago Fed, GDP Contraction & Unemployment To Continue

Chicago is not representative of the entire Federal Reserve.  But it is a key district for manufacturing and is frequently used for forecasting many sectors of the economy.   Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles L. Evans gave a speech today, and this just adds more to Fed expectations of the recession continuing.  The Fed may also be too optimistic.
Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 1:26 pm in Economy, , ,

Level 3 Quells Many Fears (LVLT)

money_stack_pic8Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) managed to give an upside surprise to earnings this morning.   Its guidance was much better than most expected.  That includes yours truly.
Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 11:53 am in Earnings, Internet, Technology Companies, Telecom, , , , ,

Mortgage Bankers: Stimulus Not Helping Home Loans

for_sale_signPart of the federal government’s plan to stimulate home sales has been to bring mortgage rates down. It is not working.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that 30-year fixed mortgage rates are still dropping and hit 5.19% last week, so the effort to get interest rates lower has been successful, but that is where it ends.

Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 10:22 am in Economy, Housing

ETF Launch: Credit SPDR From State Street (ITR, STT)

money_stack_pic7State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is launching a new ETF to track the credit markets.  Its State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) investment management arm launched the SPDR Barclays Capital Intermediate Term Credit Bond ETF (NYSE: ITR).  This ETF will give access to investment grade credit bonds and was designed to track the price and yield performance of the Barclays Capital Intermediate Credit Index. The target index includes investment grade corporate and non-corporate credit bonds denominated in US Dollars.  These also have a maturity range of 1 year to 10 years.  As of December 31, 2008, the index included 2,512 issues, an average credit rating of “A” and an average maturity of 5.2 years; and its annual expense ratio is 0.15%.

Jon C. Ogg
February 11, 2009

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 10:14 am in Bonds, ETF, , , , ,

Anadarko Sets Capital Budget, Guidance for 2009 (APC)

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:APC) announced a capital spending budget of $4 billion to $4.5 billion for 2009.  The company spent about $4.9 billion in 2008 and $4 billion in 2007.
Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 9:54 am in Oil & Gas, ,

ArcelorMittal Posts First Loss (MT)

Results from the world’s largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT), could have been worse, but it’s hard to see how. For the fourth quarter, the company posted a loss of $2.63 billion (EPS of -$1.93) on sales of $22.1 billion. Analysts had expected EPS of $0.44 on revenue of $19.73 billion. EBITDAwas $2.81 billion.
Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 9:50 am in Earnings, Metals,

A Different Take on R-I-M ‘Warning’ (RIMM)

rim-logo1Somehow, some way, Wall Street was surprised that Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) reported worse-than-expected earnings.  Based on all the corporate layoffs, this should have been expected.  Where this gets interesting its that its activations grew.
Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 9:26 am in Earnings Warning, Technology Companies, Telecom, Wireless, , , , ,

NY AG Cuomo Said Merrill “Secretly and Prematurely” Awarded $3.5B In Bonuses Before Merger

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) paid out $121 million in bonuses for the top four recipients before being acquired by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).

Cuomo said Merrill “secretly and prematurely” awarded $3.5 billion in bonuses with Bank of America’s “apparent complicity.

Read more…

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 9:02 am in Uncategorized

What To Expect In House Financial Grilling of Bank CEO’s (BAC, C, JPM, WFC, GS, MS, STT, BK)

burning-money-pic5There is not going to be much positive press today about the U.S. banking sectors.  The top CEOs of America’s  banks are going to testify before the House Financial Services Committee.  Despite the government now being part owner, the grilling today is likely to generate even more major PR damage at a time when these banks are already on the defensive.

Here are the banks and CEOs which will be on Capitol Hill this morning, along with our TAP count:

  • Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Ken Lewis, $45 billion
  • Citigroup (NYSE: C) Vikram Pandit, $45 billion
  • JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) Jamie Dimon, $25 billion
  • Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) John Stumpf, $25 billion
  • Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) Lloyd Blankfein, $10 billion
  • Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) John Mack, $10 billion
  • State Street (NYSE: STT) Ronald Logue, $3 billion
  • Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) Robert Kelly, $3 billion

Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 8:55 am in Banking, Financial Stocks, Law, Politics, Regulation, Turnarounds, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Treasury Plan Flaw: Where Is George Soros?

r218533_855025A number of aspects of the bank bailout program presented by the Treasury yesterday troubled investors. The biggest problem was that it lacked details about how it would work.

One of the most important aspects of the plan is the “public/private” aspect to get institutional investor to buy distressed assets side-by-side with the government

The big question is why wasn’t George Soros at the presentation saying he was willing to put $100 million dollars into the program? Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 8:54 am in Banking, Economy,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (BBY, CPT, CHTT, ETN, HEES, ITW, TAP, URI, VRGY)

money_stack_pic6These are some of the top analyst upgrades or positive calls that we have seen this Wednesday morning:

Best Buy (BBY) added to Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List.
Camden Properties (CPT) Raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Chattem (CHTT) Started as Buy at Oppenheimer.
Eaton Corp. (ETN) Raised to Buy at UBS.
H&E Equipment Services (HEES) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Illinois Toolworks (ITW) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Molson Coors (TAP) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
United Rentals (URI) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Verigy (VRGY) Raised to Perform at Oppenheimer.

Jon C. Ogg
February 11, 2009

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 8:18 am in Analyst Calls

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ABH, BBX, XEC, LGF, HK, VTNC)

burning-money-pic4These are some of the top pre-market analyst downgrades we have seen this Wednesday morning:

AbitibiBowater (ABH) Cut to Underperform at RBC.
BankAtlantic (BBX) Cut to Underperform at FBR.
Cimarex Energy (XEC) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Lions Gate (LGF) Cut to Maket Weight at Thomas Weisel.
Petrohawk Energy (HK) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Vitran (VTNC) Cut to Hold at Canaccord.

Jon C. Ogg

February 11, 2009

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 8:07 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , ,

New Nokia (NOK) Cuts Not Good For Motorola (MOT) And Apple (AAPL)

iphone3According to several media reports, Nokia (NOK) says it will cut several hundred employees and temporarily lay off 2,500.

Nokia blames the move on the declining market for handsets around the world. Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 6:33 am in Consumer Electronics, Wireless, , , ,

Why A Sirius (SIRI) Chapter 11 Does Not Matter

sirius_satellite_radio_11It does not matter if Sirius (SIRI) goes bankrupt now. Creditors and bondholders may care. It probably will not be noticed by customers. In that way, it will be like an airline bankruptcy.

And, rumors are that the satellite radio company will file Chapter 11 this week, perhaps falling into the hands of satellite TV firm EchoStar (DISH) Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 6:22 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, Satellite, , ,

Why Does Congress Care What Wall St. CEOs Make?

cammonopoly_wideweb__430x325010Wall St. CEOs are going to be hauled in front of Congress, as they are almost weekly, to defend their use of TARP funds. The subject of what they get paid will almost certainly come up, again.

The issue of whether government money was  loaned by the banks  to consumers and businesses has always been a tricky one. The banks claim that they need the TARP cash for their balance sheets to offset future losses. They blame the government for not changing the “mark to market” accounting rules to help banks free up capital. Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 6:08 am in Banking

China Export Drop Signals Deepening US Recession

china2China’s exports declined 17.5% to $90.45 billion in January. By some measures, the is the biggest drop in a decade. For the same period, China’s imports plunged 43.1% to $51.34 billion.

Both pieces of news are bad for China, and they may be just as bad for the US. Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 5:44 am in China, Economy