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Monthly Archives: February 2009

The Rise & Fall, or Just the Fall of Factory Orders

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 10:09 am

Factory orders for the month of December fell as you would expect for the current economy.  But the results were even worse than weak estimates out there.  They fell 3.9% ...
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Rising CEO Confidence, Sort Of

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 10:00 am

The CEO Confidence Index from Chief Executive magazine showed a slight up-tick in January.  Corpoate chiefs are still very cautious on labor conditions, and this index was just at another ...
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Gap (GPS) Still Has Time To Close “Old Navy” And Save Itself

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 9:58 am

Sales at Gap (GPS) on a same-store basis were off 23% in January, which is breathtaking and sad. Revenue for the chain moved down from $935 million in the month ...
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Buffett Heads To Switzerland (BRK-A)

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 9:25 am

Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) have been out making fairly large bets in recent months.  It seems that distressed prices are tempting the Oracle of Omaha.  But ...
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GE’s Immelt Says Markets Priced In Rating Downgrade; Has Cash Flow To Pay Dividend

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 9:24 am

GE's (NYSE: GE) CEO Immelt is making comments at WSJ event in New York this AM.. Immelt says a ratings downgrade wouldn't change the way he runs the company. He ...
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Back to Normal: Wal-Mart Wins At Target’s Expense (WMT, TGT)

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 9:04 am

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WMT) appears to be back to its game of 2008 and late 2007 after being a bit cautious last month.  The company beat its January expectations, ...
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Jobless Claims Set Ominous Tone for Unemployment

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 8:37 am

We just found out the new numbers for the weekly bread lines at the US Labor Department for the week ended January 31.  Initial jobless claims have now total 626,000.  ...
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To Ease the Credit Crunch, Let It Be

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 8:32 am

By John Tamny  RealClearMarketsGovernmental price controls are problematic in two ways. For one, prices of goods reached naturally in the marketplace are essential signals that producers rely on in order ...
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Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AEZS, AKAM, CNQR, HK, SJT, SGMO, THRX)

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 7:51 am

These are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive calls from Wall Street this Thursday morning:AEterna Zentaris (AEZS) Raised to Outperform at RBC.Akamai Tech (AKAM) Raised to Buy ...
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Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (BPT, BSY, DELL, ETR, HTE, IFX, NVLS, PM, POWI, SBR, TXT, THQI)

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 7:47 am

These are some of the top downgrades and negative calls we are seeing from Wall Street analysts this Thursday morning:BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty (BPT) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.British Sky ...
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Lenovo: Measuring The PC Market Collapse (INTC)(AMD)(NVDA)(GOOG)(MSFT)

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 6:29 am

PCs are so well-made now that they do not have to be replaced until they break. The processors put in computers made two years ago are still powerful enough for ...
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All The Best Investment Bankers Pack Their Bags For China

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 6:09 am

The people in Washington think they have bank CEOs and the investment bankers which they employ on the run. The threat of salary caps for CEOs at financial firms that ...
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A False Bottom For US Housing

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 5:50 am

News came out that pending home sales moved up 6.3% in December and this caused a lot of conversation about the housing market finding a bottom.The rapidly falling prices of ...
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A Takeover Of Sirius (SIRI): Buying What No One Wants (DISH)(AAPL)

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 5:28 am

It is hard to understand why anyone would want to buy Sirius XM (SIR). All it has left is Howard Stern and he will probably leave soon enough.Sales at Sirius ...
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Despite Poor Governance In The Auto And Finance Industies, Boards Refuse To Act (AAPL)(BAC)(C)(F)(GM)(DOW)(ROH)

Posted: February 5, 2009 at 5:11 am

Much of the crisis in the banking industry has been blamed on the inaction of the boards of directors at companies including Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C). Some ...
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