Daily Archives: July 2, 2009

The Beauty Of Wall St: One Rogue Trader Can Still Move A Market

TX-00338-C~Oil-Well-Gusher-Odessa-Texas-PostersThe notion of regulating risk and behavior on Wall St. was given another stunning blow today as the FT reported that one rogue broker cause a spike in oil prices earlier this week. The paper wrote “PVM Oil Associates, the world’s largest over-the-counter oil brokerage, said it had been the victim of unauthorised trading”.

Oil inexplicably jumped from $71 to $73.50 in one hour of trading on Tuesday.

The news makes it clear that even a small firm can move markets and that providing rules and watchdogs has severe limitations. Read More »

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 6:34 pm in Oil & Gas, Regulation

Beacon’s $43 Million Loan, Possible Game-Changer (BCON)

Money Stack ImageThis morning we caught an alert for volume and trading activity at VSInvestor.com in Beacon Power Corporation because of a government award of a loan commitment.  This has now been confirmed.  Beacon announced that it has received a conditional commitment from the Department of Energy for a loan guarantee of approximately $43 million.  Keep in mind that this is subject to negotiation and completion of a number of contracts and conditions.
Read More »

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 9:44 am in Alternative Energy, Cult Stock, Green Biz, Utilities,

Misguided Optimism in Double-Digit Unemployment Rates

Jobless Line PicThe Labor Department has a slew of data on the employment front this morning.  Actually, it is the unemployment front.  The data for unemployment in June showed a rate of 9.5%.  The bad news comes in the form of the change in non-Farm Payrolls, which came in at-467,000.  Where this gets tricky is inside the individual data and inside the weekly data.

Read More »

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 7:37 am in Economy, Labor & Unions

JPMorgan Solar Picks and Pans (ENER, ESLR, FSLR, ASTI, SPWRA)

Solar Panel PicJPMorgan has decided to make some key solar ratings changes this morning.  The firm is cautious on the valuation of some in the position of a declining market trend right now, but there are some key takeaways here that are up as well.  Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) and Evergreen Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: ESLR) are up, while shares of First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) are getting slapped on this call today.
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Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 7:22 am in Alternative Energy, Analyst Calls, Green Biz, , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (BCSI, CSCO, CAL, DAL, DYN, HA, MTL, SRE, LUV, TTM)

These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades we have seen this Thursday.  There are going to be fewer and fewer research notes from now to what is most likely Tuesday morning as Friday is a holiday and Monday is being taken off by so many investment and research personnel.

  • Blue Coat Systems (BCSI) Started as Buy ar Auriga.
  • Cisco Systems (CSCO) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • Continental Airlines (CAL) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Delta Airlines (DAL) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Dynegy (DYN) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
  • Hawaiian Airlines (HA) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Mechel Steel (MTL) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Sempra (SRE) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  • Southwest Airlines (LUV) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Tata Motors (TTM) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Jon C. Ogg
July 1, 2009

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 6:31 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Another Brilliant Search Move From Microsoft: Bing To Include Tweets

balllmerBing is arguably the best search product Microsoft (MSFT) has ever launched. It has gotten good to excellent reviews. A number of internet reseach firms show that Bing is picking up market share from Google (GOOG) and Yahoo! (YHOO).

Microsoft is paying a price for Bing, one that is well beyond its development costs. The world’s largest software company says it will spend $100 million on the Bing launch campaign and may invest as much as 10% of its operating income on search over the next five years. That could be as much as $20 billion.

Microsoft is being especially smart in areas that involves very little investment, too. Read More »

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 5:08 am in Internet, , ,

Anti-Smoking Drugs Could Cause Suicide (PFE)(GSK)

magazinIt is hard to say whether a person is better off stopping smoking and lessening their chances of a heart attack or killing themselves.  Some of the anti-smoking drugs from Pfizer (PFE) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) can have terrible side effects.  The drugs are Chantix, made by Pfizer, and Zyban, made by GlaxoSmithKline. Inexplicably, the FDA will allow the treatments to stay on the market.

The New York Times reports that “Federal drug regulators warned Wednesday that patients taking two popular drugs to stop smoking should be watched closely for signs of serious mental illness, as reports mount of suicides among the drugs’ users.” Read More »

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 4:59 am in Pharmaceuticals, ,

K-Mart To Offer Discounts To The Unemployed

houseSeveral car companies have offered to make monthly payments for new auto buyers who lose jobs. Hyundai even has a program to take some vehicles back if their owners can’t find work.

The K-Mart division of Sears (SHLD) is joining the parade of firms hoping to aid those down on their luck. According to the FT, the program will start in Michigan, the hardest-hit state where joblessness is above 14%. It is also the home of K-Mart’s former parent. Read More »

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 4:46 am in Retail,

Confirmed: Goldman Sachs (GS) Workers Could Make $700,000 Each

bankGoldman Sachs (GS) recently said that media reports that its employees would make huge sums based on the firm’s 2009 earnings were not true. It turns out that they probably are. In an article in The Wall Street Journal, the paper says Goldman “is on track to pay out as much as $20 billion this year, or about $700,000 per employee.”

Goldman is just asking for trouble. Read More »

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 4:34 am in Compensation,

Paying For Ethics

uncle samThe SEC’s inspector general has suggested to Congress that the government should pay a bounty to individuals who turn in financial felons, a new wrinkle among the attempts to keep fraud out of the system. According to the FT, the agency’s comments included the observation that “Although the bounty system has been in place at the SEC for more than 20 years, there have been relatively few awards made.” The agency also recommended that the Roman Catholic Church pay altar boys for turning in priests who they suspect of bad behavior. Read More »

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 4:01 am in Regulation

Phase II Of The Recession Looms In 2010

bearThe recovery seemed so certain just a month ago. The American economy would be out of the recession before the end of the year. A number of arrows have pointed in that direction. The May unemployment figures were tame despite the ongoing human toll of rising job losses. Housing prices are not plunging at the same rate that they were earlier in the year. The revisions of the numbing GDP drop of the first quarter have improved the number slightly. The assumptions for deteriorating second quarter GDP is that it will be so much better than the first quarter that the American consumer will be less afraid to make even modest purchases. The auto sales figures for June appear to give some support to the idea that not all of the cash available for consumer spending has been put into mattresses. Read More »

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 3:54 am in Economy, Editor's Picks

Media Digest 7/2/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   California declared a financial emergency.

Reuters:   An SEC attorney raised concern about a Madoff report in 2004.

Reuters:   Auto parts supplier Lear filed for bankruptcy.

Reuters:   NYC apartment sales are down more than 50%.

Reuters:   Beijing Automotive will bid for Opel.

Reuters:   GM told a judge asset sales was its only option. Read More »

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 3:04 am in Autos, Banking, China, Compensation, Economy, Emerging Markets, FDA, Internet, Metals, Oil & Gas, Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Asia Markets And Europe Open 7/2/2009

chinaMarkets in Asia were mixed.

The Nikkei fell .6% to 9,875.

The Hang Seng rose .5% to 18,461.

The Shanghai Composite was up 1.7% to 3,060.

At the open in Europe, the FTSE was down .8% to 4,306. The Dax was off 1.1% to 4,853, and the CAC 40 was down 1% to 3,186.

Data from Reuters and MarketWatch.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: July 2, 2009 – 2:24 am in International Markets