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Email UpdatesBy Joseph Lazzaro for DailyFinance.com
So much for that nascent oil rally. In this oil market, the bears rule. True, the bulls have their moments, but these are fleeting, like that proverbial church mouse that sneaks out for a peak from time to time, only to be chased back into its hole by the parish cat.
Oil’s free fall resumed in earnest Monday, as the world’s most important commodity plummeted $4.27 to $40.45 per barrel on renewed concern that a prolonged recession in the U.S. and internationally will reduce oil demand.
Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) issued a mid-quarter update after the close of trading today. What is interesting is that things might not be quite as bad as the company rxoected The news is far away from being good news, but sometimes “less bad is good enough.”
It may seem a very gutsy call considering the economy, even in the Obama-favorite of the solar sector. But First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) has just announced that it is going to do a deal. The company plans to significantly expand its penetration within the U.S. utility solar power market, and it is doing this through th e acquisition of OptiSolar’s solar project pipeline.
Citigroup (C) Still fears of nationalization or a larger bailout. Falls to $1.15. from a 52-week high of $27.35.
There is market chatter, despite the sell-off, that Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) may play catch-up in the virtualization space. Jefferies has noted that Larry Ellison and friends may soon acquire privately held Virtual Iron, one of the leading independent virtualization players. If the rumor is true, Oracle would be taking direct aim at VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW).
It’s another rough trading day in the stock market. It is bad enough that the DJIA is down over 3% to decade lows and under 7,000… But even almost all of the defensive stocks are down today. Many of these have been absolutely bashed in recent days and weeks as you will see compared to their 52-week highs.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) insiders are buying shares of their battered company stock. Two Form-4s filed with the SEC show that CEO Jeff Immelt and Vice Chairman Michael Neal each bought stock. Neal’s purchase was 50,000 shares at a price of $7.90 for $395,000. His direct holdings are now listed as 753,341 shares. Immelt’s acquired 50,000 shares at $8.26 for some $413,000.00. His direct holdings are now 1,724,936 shares of GE stock.
This is getting completely swept under the table because of the stock market flush-out. But we have been awaiting the announcement confirming last week’s reports of a venture between Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM). The companies now have agreed to collaborate on a technology platform, IP infrastructure, and “SoC” solutions (system on a chip).
Gartner’s new research on PC sales for 2009 is out and there it nothing in it to cheer the likes of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) or Dell (DELL). Sales of computers will drop so drastically this year that even the Apple (AAPL) Mac may be effected. 
MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) is set to report earnings Tuesday, before the market opens. As the market has slid further, this troubled “guarantor” has gone with it and has again hit new 52-week lows this morning.
Reliant Energy Inc. (NYSE: RRI) is taking a hit this morning. It wasn’t just the earnings loss, or its plans to sell a unit. This really appears to be over the ramifications of the long-term aspects colliding with the near term aspects. The company suddenly finds itself nestled inside this merger fight between NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) and Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC).
Spansion Inc. (NASDAQ: SPSN) is toast. At least that is the case for shareholders. The maker and designer of flash memory chips has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Spansion was not the largest player in the sector, but you have to wonder if competitors like SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) and others could actually come out ahead while Spansion is suffering through bankruptcy.
Once the darling of investors Vinod Khosla and Bill Gates, Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX) is now trading at just 5% of its share price one year ago. The company has just received a month’s grace period from its as it continues to seek new loans. Any takers?
A positive note on the big telcos from John Hodulik at UBS.
AT&T (T) got a major upgrade this morning as Goldman Sachs moved it to “buy” and added the stock to its Conviction Buy List.
