03 – June – 2009 – 24/7 Wall St.

Daily Archives: June 3, 2009

Top Break-Out Stocks (APSG, CYOU, COOL, TSRA, TIVO)

Today’s 52-week high review list showed many names which looked like they were trying to break out, but then the pullback kept many of them from making the rounds. But companies such as Applied Signal Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: APSG), Changyou.com Limited (NASDAQ: CYOU), Majesco Entertainment Co. (NASDAQ: COOL), Tessera Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: TSRA), and TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) are showing significant strength. Most of these are on news or on follow-through data, so we offered a brief explanation for each as follows:
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Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 1:14 pm in HI/LOW, Trading Alert, APSG, COOL, CYOU, TIVO, TSRA

Bernanke Finds The Elephant In The Room

Ben Bernanke has probably already seen accurate estimates of what unemployment figures for May look like. The ADP data indicates that the loss for non-farm payrolls will be well above 500,000 and perhaps as high as 550,000. That number, more than any other, tells the Fed chief that there is no recovery around the corner , that the recession has put down roots, and the small signs of an improvement in the economy that have been observed over the last few weeks don’t mean much.

Today, Mr. Bernanke told Congress it had to cut the deficit. It is a deficit the the federal government has only just begun to build, so it sounded like the Fed chief wanted Congress to reverse course as soon as possible. Read More »

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 11:41 am in Economy, Politics

Higher Oil Prices Already Impacting Inventories (USO, OIL)

The D.O.E. has just released weekly data for crude oil, and the losses in weekly inventories appear to be a bit reversed this last week. Crude inventories came in up 2.866 million barrels at 365.977 million. This is significant, because we had estimates for black gold looking at a draw down of 1.5 million barrels after two solid weeks of prior draw-downs. It is already impacting trading on the United States Oil ETF (NYSE: USO) and in the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN (NYSE: OIL).
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Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 9:46 am in Commodities, ETF, Oil & Gas, Trading Alert, oil, USO

Apple Upgrade Has Competitive Implications (AAPL, GOOG, MSFT, RIMM)

In a new research call this morning, Collins Stewart rated Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) to a Buy rating. The research call has some serious implications for Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) on the Android platform, but may have broader implications for Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) for Windows Mobile and Blackberry. The call is based on Google’s Android and Apple OS as being winners in the smart phone battle.
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Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 8:30 am in Analyst Calls, Consumer Electronics, Technology Companies, Wireless, AAPL, GOOG, MSFT, RIMM

Slightly Good News From Homebuilder Earnings (HOV, TOL, XHB)

Traders are lightly selling Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) and Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) after the two homebuilders reported earnings between yesterday’s close and this morning’s open. The news is also impacting the SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB) on a lesser basis.
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Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 8:12 am in ETF, Housing, HOV, TOL, XHB

ADP Data Supports Above 9% Unemployment Rate

ADP’s jobs data is showing an expected jobs decrease of some 532,000 for the month of May. The data for April also showed that the job losses were revised down to 545,000. The cuts were all over with small and medium businesses generating 209,000 and 223,000, respectively, and large businesses at -100,000. The government payrolls expectation for non-farm payrolls due this Friday from the Labor Department is roughly 525,000. This number from ADP will not likely create any radical changes to the unemployment expectations released by the Labor Department this Friday. It seems that tomorrow’s jobless claims data and the continuing claims may show more insight than today’s ADP data.

Jon C. Ogg
June 3, 3009

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 7:22 am in Economy, Labor & Unions

Data Domain Bidding War Heats Up (DDUP, NTAP, EMC)

The war for Data Domain, Inc. (NASDAQ: DDUP) is heating up. It was first NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) that offered to buy the company. Then EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) came out with a challenging bid. Now, NetApp is back with a higher revised buyout offer. The new offer values Data Domain at $30.00 per share. Traders believe an all-out bidding war may be about to break out.
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Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 7:12 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, Technology Companies, DDUP, EMC, NTAP

Top Analyst Upgrades (BBT, CMA, FEIC, GOOG, HBI, HD, LOW, NEM, PLT, ROP, TGT, TSCO, WMT)

These are top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research notes we have seen from Wall Street early this Wednesday morning:

BB&T (BBT) Raised to Market Perform at KBW.
Comerica (CMA) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
FEI Co. (FEIC) Raised to Buy at Janney Montgomery Scott.
Google (GOOG) Target Raised to $486 from $414 at Goldman Sachs.
Hanesbrands (HBI) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Home Depot (HD) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Lowe’s (LOW) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Newmont Mining (NEM) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Plantronics (PLT) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Roper Industries (ROP) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Target (TGT) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Tractor Supply (TSCO) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Wal-Mart (WMT) Started as Outperform at Baird.

Jon C. Ogg

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 6:43 am in Analyst Calls, BBT, CMA, FEIC, GOOG, HBI, HD, LOW, NEM, PLT, ROP, TGT, TSCO, WMT

Top Analyst Downgrades (AET, CAH, DAKT, GIL, GPI, KGC)

These are the top early analyst downgrades and cautious research calls we have seen this Wednesday morning from Wall Street firms:

Aetna (AET) Cut to Market Perform at Credit Suisse.
Cardinal Health (CAH) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Daktronics (DAKT) Cut to Hold at Needham.
Gildan Activewear (GIL) Started as Underweight at Thomas Weisel.
Group 1 (GPI) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Kinross Gold (KGC) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 6:39 am in Analyst Calls, AET, CAH, DAKT, GIL, GPI, KGC

By Not Competing With Each Other For Workers, Big Tech Firms May Have Broken The Law

Antitrust officials have come up with an interesting application of the monopoly laws. They believe that large tech firms like Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), and Yahoo! (YHOO) conspired to keep down the compensation of tech employees.

According toThe Washington Post, “The Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether some of the nation’s largest technology companies violated antitrust laws by negotiating the recruiting and hiring of one another’s employees.” Read More »

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 5:16 am in Compensation, Technology Companies, AAPL, GOOG, YHOO

Facebook May Have Found A Way To Make Money

Facebook is not likely to make much money selling advertising. Marketers find it hard to target users on social networks. The cannot be neatly grouped like the people who go to Yahoo! (YHOO) Finance or MSN Health and Fitness. Facebook may have 200 million users, but what they have in common with each other and how it can be measured is still anyone’s guess.

Industry rumors are that Facebook will bring in $500 million in revenue this year, a remarkably small number for such a large web operation. Read More »

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 5:03 am in Internet, EBAY

Saving The Car Industry While Killing Employment

GM’s Chapter 11 filing shows that it will hold onto its highly successful Latin American and Chinese operations. From the standpoint of its new shareholders that makes sense. Both of the overseas markets are growing while GM’s businesses in North America and Europe are not. The No.1 US car company is close to selling off most of what it owns on the continent. Read More »

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 4:44 am in Autos, Economy

Nintendo Claims It Still Beats Rivals, Even If Evidence Says Otherwise

Nintendo says it is doing remarkable well, especially in America. Recent data from the industry show that sales of the company’s Wii have slowed considerably. Sony (SNE) and Microsoft (MSFT) have released products meant specifically to chip away at Nintendo’s market share.

Nintendo’s management wants the press to forget about all of that. Read More »

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 4:26 am in Video Games, MSFT, SNE

Starbucks (SBUX) Changes Almost Its Whole Menu

Starbucks (SBUX) does not seem to know how to leave well-enough alone. It is a coffee chain. But, it has tried to sell music, DVDs, coffee machines, and breakfast and lunch foods.

In a sign of how badly its menu is doing, it will change almost the entire menu. Read More »

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 4:13 am in Food, Retail, SBUX

What If Everyone Does Not Want A Smartphone?

Walt Mossberg, the tech columnist of The Wall Street Journal, made a good point recently. Smartphones like the Apple (AAPL)iPhone are not phones at all. They are miniature portable computers.

Suddenly, there is not a single handset or PC company of any size in the world that is not selling either a high-priced smartphone or a low-priced netbook. There is very little difference between the functions of the two sets of products, so there is almost certainly an oversupply of brand new products for the market. Read More »

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 3:52 am in Consumer Electronics, PC Companies, Telecom, Wireless, AAPL, HPQ, NOK, PALM, RIMM, T, VOD, VZ

Chrysler Gets Too Small Too Fast

There are suddenly a lot of companies that want to be the small, low-cost, nimble niche car company that builds vehicles for what used to be an American market that produced 16 million unit sales a year. The goal of being the largest car company in the US has gotten so unattractive that several of the auto firms like Chrysler say that making money has nothing to do with being big. The irony of the current state of the auto industry is that no one aspires to be the No.1 car company in the largest car market in the world. Being big has become obscene as well as unprofitable. Read More »

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 3:48 am in Autos

Media Digest 6/3/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters: A survey shows the global stimulus spending lacks direction.

Reuters: The race for “green” cars is still wide open.

Reuters: GM (GM) and Chrysler will face Senate scrutiny are dealer closings.

Reuters: Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) are being left behind by healthy rivals.

Reuters: Obama said it is “make or break” time for healthcare reform. Read More »

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 3:07 am in Autos, Banking, Consumer Electronics, Interview, PC Companies, Press Digest, SBUX, MSFT, AAPL, C, BAC, BCS, GOOG, V, GM, SNE, ORCL, TIVO, AET

Asia Markets And Europe Open 6/3/2009

Markets in Asia were mostly higher.

The Nikkei rose .3% to 9,742.

The Hang Seng was up 2.7% to 17,868.

The Shanhai Composite rose 1.7% to 2,779.

At the open in Europe, the FTSE was down .6% to 4,450. The Dax was down .2% to 5,139. The CAC 40 dropped .3% to 3,369.

Data from Reuters and MarketWatch.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 2:30 am in International Markets

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