Daily Archives: July 10, 2009

Short Sellers Make A Big Push Into Tech Stocks (CSCO)(PALM)(SYMC)(RIMM)(DELL)(MSFT)

bearA number of short sellers are not buying the tech rally and have substantially increased their positions in Microsoft (MSFT), Dell (DELL), Cisco (CSCO), Symantec (SYMC), and Palm (PALM).

Among other major technology stocks, the short position in Blackberry maker RIM (RIMM) rose 17% to 22.6 million shares. The short interest in competitor Palm was up 10% to 42.2 million. More than 33% of the Palm float is now sold short.

But, it was the really large tech companies that experienced the most notable moves. Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 4:17 pm in Short Interest, Technology Companies, , , , , ,

New Fertilizer Dump, India and USDA (POT, MOS, AGU, CF, TRA, TNH, IPI, MOO)

Broken Money Merger ImageFertilizer stocks just can’t catch a break.  If it isn’t an official earnings warning to watch out for or the stock market and economic growth concerns, then it government data.  New data reported from the U.S. Department of Agriculture has raised concerns that farmers are going without fertilizer.  Add in a report of another price drop in potash in India and you have the double whammy.  Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. (NYSE: POT), Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS), Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU), CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF), Terra Industries Inc. (NYSE: TRA), Terra Nitrogen Company, L.P. (NYSE: TNH), and Intrepid Potash, Inc. (NYSE: IPI) are all seeing some action today.  Just not good action.  Even the Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF (NYSE: MOO) is getting hit.

Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 1:19 pm in Agriculture, Economy, Trading Alert, , , , , , , ,

Lower Oil Begets Lower Rig Counts… Again (BHI, USO, OIL)

Oil Well ImageIt looked for a moment as though the oil and gas rig counts were finally stabilizing.  Prices had recovered sharply from lows and were challenging $70.00.  But as you can tell, this is all in the past tense.  Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE: BHI) has released its newest data on rig counts.   The United States Oil (NYSE: USO) ETF is down 1.3% at $32.33 and the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN (NYSE: OIL) is down 1.3% at $21.15 as oil itself is down by $075 to $59.66 per barrel for NYMEX WTI Crude.
Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 12:37 pm in Oil & Gas, , ,

Cisco Clarifies Layoff Report (CSCO)

Cisco LogoThere have been many reports today regarding the Thomas Weisel call for more layoffs out of Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), which was never really clear or certain if the layoffs were new or were part of an earlier round of layoffs.  The 1,500 to 2,000 layoffs have been clarified to us by an external Cisco spokesperson.  While it is true that the layoffs have been ongoing and while some workers might still be getting pink slips as a part of this, these layoffs are not a new development and are a part of what has already been telegraphed.
Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 12:17 pm in Labor & Unions, Technology Companies,

Is Cisco Having More Layoffs? (CSCO)

Cisco LogoCisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) may be back to conducting layoffs.  A report from Thomas Weisel says that Cisco is in the process of cutting another 1,500 to 2,000 workers as it looks to squeeze expenses further by another $200 to $250 million.   If the report is true, this would at least on the surface be contrary to what the company has said in recent months.

Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 10:47 am in Labor & Unions, Technology Companies,

Biotech Business Daily (BIIB, VRTX, ALNY, STEM)

Here are some of the top stories affecting key drug and biotech stocks this Friday.  We also have links through to more detailed coverage and analysis at BioHealthInvestor.com:

Biogen Idec Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) kicks off the earnings season for the large biotech companies next week. We have a full earnings preview with current expectations and the bias.  A decline in analyst sentiment for the stock might set up the company for a slight earnings surprise, on the back of recent price increases for its high-profile multiple sclerosis drug Avonex.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: VRTX) this morning said it will sell its rights to milestone payments tied to its hepatitis C drug telaprevir in Europe, a possible sign that the launch of the drug with partner Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) for 2011 may be on track.

Also, see our in-depth feature this week on five fast-growing biotechs with improving analyst estimates: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), Amicus Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: FOLD), Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: HALO), American Oriental Bioengineering Inc. (NYSE: AOB), and Stemcells Inc. (Nasdaq: STEM).

-The 24/7 Wall St. Team

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 10:07 am in Biotech, , , ,

GM CFO Outlines IPO Timeline… Or Re-IPO (GMGMQ, GM)

Burning Money PicEveryone wants to know when an initial public offering of General Motors (GMGMQ) will occur.  Its emergence from bankruptcy has only expedited the curiosity of when the company will be public again.  GM’s new CFO Ray Young just gave a rather lengthy CNBC interview and this was among the issues discussed.

Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 9:52 am in Autos, IPOs, Turnarounds, ,

Consumer Sentiment Heading The Wrong Way

Broken Money Merger ImageThe University of Michigan has reported its preliminary consumer sentiment report for July.  It seems that the “confidence” portion may be limping back towards impotence.  The mid-July report showed a reading of 64.6, down from a consensus estimate of 70 from Bloomberg and from 70.8 in June.
Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 9:12 am in Economy

Rosetta Stone Goes After Google in Adwords Suit (RST, GOOG)

Broken Money Merger ImageBy now just about everybody knows who Rosetta Stone, Inc. (NYSE:RST) is for its leadership in language learning and translation software.  It seems that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has gotten caught up on the wrong side of the line in an advertising-related case.  Rosetta has  sued  Google and is seeking to prevent the search engine giant from infringing upon its trademarks. The suit alleges that Google is allows third parties, including individuals involved in software piracy operations, to purchase the right to use Rosetta Stone trademarks or other terms confusingly similar in Google’s AdWords advertising program.
Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 8:55 am in Entertainment, Law, Software, ,

Top Day Trader Alert Stocks (CIT, DELL, WDC, DDSS, INFY, ASML)

These are some of the top stocks to watch for active trading today based on pre-market and after-hours volume activity.  There are links through to more detailed coverage and volume analysis at VSInvestor.com:

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) are down about 17 percent in the premarket on reports that the FDIC is unwilling to guarantee CIT’s bond sales.

Dell Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL) is trading higher in the premarket on a Goldman Sachs upgrade ahead of the company’s annual analyst meeting scheduled for July 13 and 14.

Labopharm Inc. (Nasdaq: DDSS) shares are up about 4% in premarket trade. The company expects an approval decision on its depression drug Trazodone OD in coming weeks.

Infosys Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: INFY) shares are up following an 8-cent a share EPS beat and higher Q2 guidance.

ASML Holding N.V. (Nasdaq: ASML) shares are down about 2.5 percent ahead of earnings scheduled  for July 15.

-The 24/7 Wall St. Team

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 8:06 am in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , ,

GM: Out Of the Chapter 11 Frying Pan And Into The Market Fire

gmThe “best” parts of GM were transferred to a newly created company, owned almost two-thirds by taxpayers, at about 6.30 AM today. The federal government will end up stuffing a total of $50 billion into the new entity in the hope that a smaller and less debt-heavy GM can make money in the ravaged domestic car market.

GM will keep its Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC name plates and dump Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, and Saturn. Once that process is finished GM may no longer be the largest car company in America. Its market share will probably be below 17%. Ford’s (F) is now above that level and Toyota (TM) is just behind at 15%. Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 8:00 am in Autos, ,

Goldman Sachs Upgrades & Downgrades in Tech (IBM, EMC, NTAP, CA, DELL, ARW, HPQ, STX, WDC, AAPL, MSFT, ORCL, SYMC)

Goldman Sachs is out with some key calls in technology sector today.  While some calls are positive, our take on this is more of a cautious stance due to the broad nature of some of the downgrades.  Among the individual calls is a downgrade of IBM (NYSE: IBM) to Neutral rather its prior “Buy” rating based on limited upside to its $120 target.  Both EMC (NYSE: EMC) and NetApp, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP) were resumed with coverage with “Neutral” ratings. CA, Inc. (NYSE: CA) was also downgraded to Neutral from Buy.

The firm raised Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) to the Conviction Buy List based on its operating leverage and a return in teh second half for PC sales.  Goldman is also reiterating the “Buy” ratings on both Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: ARW) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ). Arrow is based on its operations and its relative underperformance.  The call in H-P is based upon some recovery in the printer business and on some expected strength in the second half for the PC sector.  On the storage side, Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) was raised to “Buy” from Neutral, while Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) was cut to Neutral from Buy.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was maintained as Buy rating and saw its price target raised to $160 from $145.  On the software side, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), and Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) remain its favorite picks.

The ratings for the sector are attractive.  There is good news here, but the sector call is broad enough that the impact may be limited.  And some of the caution may further weigh on the otherwise would-be winners today.

Jon C. Ogg
July 10, 2009

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 7:49 am in Analyst Calls, Semiconductor, Software, Technology Companies, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett Guiding Down Earnings Estimates… Unofficially (BRK-A, BRK-B)

Buffett ImageWarren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) has been out on just about every media outlet that he can reach people on to discuss the notion of a second stimulus package.  He has said this week and before how there is no recovery and there are no green shoots out there in his investment companies. When your time frame for investing is forever, this continues as a clear deviation from what the Oracle of Omaha has taken as a stance in the past.  There is a simple take here… The old guy must be preparing the world for a poor earnings report and another quarter of poor performance.
Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 7:10 am in Buffett, Conglomerates, Earnings Warning, ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (MT, BBT, EVVV, GHL, WFR, NZ, PBR, SY, STI)

Money Stack ImageThese are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research calls we have seen early this Friday morning with more than two hours until the market opens for trading:

Arcelor Mittal (MT) Raised to Hold at Citigroup.
BB&T Corp. (BBT) Raised to Market Perform at FBR.
ev3 Inc. (EVVV) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Greenhill (GHL) Started as Outperform at William Blair.
MEMC Electronics (WFR) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Netezza (NZ) Started as Outperform at William Blair.
Petrobras Brasileiro (PBR) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Sybase (SY) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
SunTrust (STI) Raised to Market Perform at FBR.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 6:24 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , ,

The Chinese Economic Rebound May Have To Wait

chinaChina’s exports fell again in June, this time by 21% according to the Xinhua News Agency. The news means that goods and services being sent abroad by the world’s most populous nation are picking up only modestly since earlier this year.

China’s central government is in a race that it looks more and more likely to lose. Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 5:20 am in China

Trading California IOUs On The Open Market

CALThe SEC says that companies holding California IOUs can trade them like stocks or bonds by handing them over to a broker. According to the agency, “The staff of the SEC has expressed its belief that California’s recently issued IOUs are ’securities’ under federal securities law.” That means they will be traded the same way the most municipal debt is.

California is not the only state likely to issue IOUs. Budget problems in states including Michigan and New York are bad enough that the may have to adopt a California-like plan. Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 5:09 am in Bonds

Troubled Homeowners Slashing Prices

houseAnalysts who thinks that the housing market may rebound this summer better think again. Home sales have been slow and now there is evidence that homeowners are having so little success moving their residences that they are cutting asking prices at an alarming rate.

Housing website Trulia.com reports that “the price of nearly one in four U.S. homes for sale on July 1 had been sliced at least once.” The average cut was 10%, but in some cities it was much more. Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 4:58 am in Housing

US Cries Foul On TARP Warrants

bearThe Congressional Oversight Panel which keeps track of the effectiveness of the TARP program claims that the government has gotten much too little for the warrants it received as part of the loans that it gave a number of banks. According to Reuters, the committee charged that “The U.S. Treasury Department allowed 11 smaller banks to repurchase stock warrants at only 66 percent of their market value.”

The worst part of the accusation is that the largest banks that got government money are now negotiating the fate of their warrants and if they get the best of the Treasury Department taxpayers will get badly hurt. Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 4:39 am in Banking,

UBS (UBS) Tells IRS It Won’t Get 52,000 Client Names

bankUBS (UBS) told the IRS and Justice Department to go to hell. The agencies want the names of 52,000 customers who may have evaded taxes in transactions with the big Swiss bank.

According to The New York Times, “the Swiss government said that it would block any move by UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank and a bulwark of the country’s economy, to turn over the names should it be ordered to do so.” UBS is now saying directly that it will not comply with US government requests which will  block any effective investigation into the tax issue. Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 4:07 am in Banking,

AIG (AIG) Needs To Pay Big Bonuses

magazinAIG (AIG) wants to pay a number of its “key” employees as much as $235 million. Most of the bonuses are meant to retain these people. The Washington Post reports that the reason behind the payments, according to AIG is “we needed to confront the fact that many of our employees, perhaps the majority, knew that their long-term future with us was limited, and our competitors knew that our key producers could perhaps be lured away.”

That point of view seems very reasonable and there is no reason AIG should be asking the government about whether it should make the payments at all. Read More »

Posted on: July 10, 2009 – 3:49 am in Compensation, Financial Stocks,