Daily Archives: November 10, 2009

Major Stocks That Have Doubled And Their Future Prospects (F)(AMZN)(AAPL)(WFMI)(MOT)

appleBy Douglas A. McIntyre

The S&P 500 index is so far having a fine year, up a bit more than 20%. But several big-company stocks in the index have doubled, or better, over that time. Among the best-performers are some of America’s most well-known companies.

Here’s a look at 10 of those and their prospects of advancing further — or sliding back into the large pack of equities that have had only modest advances during the current bull market (all prices are as of the close on Nov. 9).

Ford (NYSE:F) was left for dead when it traded at $1 last November. The market thought it would share the sorry fate of its rivals General Motors and Chrysler, and that common shareholders would get nothing.

Read more…

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 5:37 pm in Editor's Picks, , , , , , ,

Clearwire Shows Earnings & Financing Hand (CLWR, S, CMCSA, TWC, DRWI)

Clearwire LogoInvestors are getting a look at why Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) announced that it was getting new partner financing ahead of its quarterly earnings report.  The wireless broadband services provider did show a gain in revenue to $68.8 million, up 13% from the $60.8 million a year ago and up from $63.59 million just in the June quarter.  Thomson Reuters had revenue estimates at just over $66.6 million.  The net loss of -$0.43 EPS was in-line with estimates.  Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA), and Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC), its strategic partners, are set to expand selling efforts in 4G areas. Today’s news also has implications for DragonWave Inc. (NASDAQ: DRWI).
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Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 4:45 pm in Earnings, WiMAX, Wireless, , , , ,

52-Week High Club (PCLN, TWTC, FOSL)

Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ: PCLN) surged over 20% to a yearly high of $209.19.  The global online travel agency rose after the company forcast that 4Q earnings would be at least $1.52 a share, with current analyst estimates resting around $1.49.  

tw telecom inc. (NASDAQ: TWTC) rose as high as 10% today as it reached a yearly high of $15.24.   The internet and telephone service provider was upgrade by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to “overweight” from “neutral”. 

Fossil Inc (NASDAQ: FOSL) rose as high as 11.5% to a high of $32.07 toda as the fashion accessory designer and distributor raised their earnings estimates.  

Garrett W. McIntyre

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 4:29 pm in Earnings, Retail, Telecom, , , ,

Tech Titans Still Have $269 Billion Cash For Deals (MSFT, CSCO, AAPL, GOOG, INTC, HPQ, QCOM, EMC, VMW, YHOO, DELL, ORCL, JAVA, AMZN, EBAY)

The recovery is on and mergers are happening, yet the technology sector has been slow to make deals.  Despite some deals already having taken place from the technology giants and that $260 billion cash balance which was there in the middle of last quarter is even larger now.  The tally for cash by our count is now right around $269 billion.  We looked through the top market caps of technology companies in our 24/7 Wall St. Real-Time 500 and this list is expanded now that some issues have been resolved in all the companies.  The stocks in this group are Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA), Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC), International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), and eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY).

These few tech companies with the $269 billion cash that could be deployed for mergers, acquisitions, or the good old dividends are also listed before tallying up credit lines, factoring, debt sales, and other creative financing methods.  We have listed the suppositions and counting methods for each one to illustrate how much is available at each company.
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Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 1:07 pm in Consumer Electronics, Dividend, Editor's Picks, Internet, Large Cap Stocks, Mergers and Buy Outs, PC Companies, Private Equity, Rumors, Semiconductor, Technology Companies, Value Investing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Housing Sales Rise, But Prices Continue to Drop

Burning House ImageThe National Association of Realtors is out with its Q3 data on home sales.  As you would expect, there is some positive data and some cautious data.  The group reported that most states continued to see rising existing home sales, but prices “moderated” in many metro areas.

The total state existing-home sales rose 11.4% to an annual rate of 5.3 million units.  This is up from 4.76 million units on an annualized basis in the second quarter, and is 5.9% above the 5.01 million units on an annualized basis in the third quarter of 2008.  The sequential quarterly gains were seen in 45 states and in Washington D.C., but some 28 states and D.C. saw double-digit percentage gains. Compared to Q3-2008, the report said sales were higher in 32 states and D.C.

Read More »

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 10:28 am in Economy, Housing

Top Day Trader Alerts (ATVI, ERTS, PCLN, JASO, EPR, BKD, JAVA, ORCL, STAN)

These are this morning’s top day trader and active trader alert stocks with more details and analysis via a link to VSInvestor.com for each stock:

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) is up 2% over the new “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II”… Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) is down 3% after being up on sloppy earnings last night.

Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) is hitting multi-year highs after beating its earnings targets and raising guidance.

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is a winner and up 6% after earnings.

Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE: EPR) is getting hit on a secondary offering.

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) is getting hit on a larger secondary offering as Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE: FIG) is selling all of the shares in the deal.

Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) and its $9.50 per share buyout by Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) may be further in jeopardy on an EU protest, but it is holding up better than you might think.

Standard Parking Corp. (NASDAQ: STAN) is down over 3% on a 6.59 million share secondary offering of common stock.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 9:17 am in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , ,

9 Of 10 Bank Holding Companies Make The Cut

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve reported that 9 out of 10 bank holding companies that were required to raise additional capital to bolster their balance sheets have successfully done so.  The Supervisory Capital Assessment Program (SCAP) had determined in May that these needed to raise $74.6 billion by November 9th.  This was achieved through new issuance of equity in the amount of $39 billion, conversion of existing preferred equity to common equity amounting to $23 billion, and the sale businesses and assets amounting to 9$ billion.  The ten bank holding companies that were required to raise additional capital were: Banks of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), GMAC LLC, KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC), Regions Financial (NYSE: RF), SunTrust (NYSE: STI), and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC).

Of the ten the one laggard was GMAC, which failed to raise the necessary funds.  The May SCAP report indicated that GMAC needed to buffer its balance sheet with an additional $11.5 billion in Tier 1 capital.  The Federal Reserve expects the troubled mortgage and auto loan originator to fill in its funding gap by accessing the TARP Automotive Industry Financing Program.

Garrett W. McIntyre

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 9:08 am in Banking, Financial Stocks, , , , , , , , , , ,

Today’s Best Market Rumors (9/10/2009) (AMD)(AMR)(LCC)(CLWR)(MOT)

magazinUpdated throughout the day.

Update 2.52 PM EST:  The antitrust disagreement  between Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and AMD (NYSE:AMD) may be resolved by a private settlement  (MarketWatch)

Updated 12.23 PM EST:  Motorola (NYSE:MOT) may have sold 100,000 Droid the first weekend the handset was on the market  (Bloomberg)

Updated 11.33 AM EST: Huge hedge fund SAC says it has found no improper trades. Media sources has linked the firm to the Galleon insider trading investigation. (Bloomberg)

Updated 8.48 AM EST:  Hedge fund assets could hit $2 trillion worldwide by the end of 2010 (DealBook)

American Air (NYSE:AMR) and US Air (NYSE:LCC) may merge  (TheStreet)

The International Energy Agency may be downplaying the need for greater oil supplies to prevent a market panic.  (CNBC)

AT&T (NYSE:T) is publishing data to undermine Verizon’s (NYSE:VZ) claims about the better quality of its cellular network.

Time Warner’s (NYSE:TWX) AOL unit will lay-off 1,000 people next month. (AllThingsD)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is not likely to close its media properties.  (Ad Age)

A number of public pensions face bankruptcy. (Forbes)

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) may use its China business as a template for expansion in India.  (The Deal)

Even after a $1 billion cash infusion 4G WiMax company Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) may need more money from Sprint (NYSE:S) and other partners.  (BreakingViews)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 8:38 am in Rumors, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Moody’s to AIG Rescue? (AIG)

AIG LogoAmerican International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) is running this morning.  The stock is trading higher this morning on a debt rating comment from last night. It turns out that Moody’s might have some relevance after all with the gains we are seeing.  Moody’s issued a report last night noting that AIG will be able to repay its Federal Reserve credit line, and that it will be able to repay much or all of the investment from the US Treasury Department’s if financial markets stabilize.  That is still an “IF” and not a definite event.
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Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 8:31 am in Analyst Calls, Bonds, Financial Stocks, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert,

Banks Intend To Buckle Down In The Face of Credit Card Legislation

In the FED’s most recent bank survey they asked how the banks indented to deal with the Credit CARD Act of 2009.  The Act meant to protect users from sudden interest rate spikes on their credit cards.  Its main provisions limit when lenders can raise rates on existing balances and also require lenders to alert card holders of increases.  

bankOf the banks surveyed, 75% of respondents did not expect to be in compliance with the legislation until February 2010 when most of the Act takes effect.  Banks reported that they intended to, or already have, tighten the terms of credit card loans to both prime and nonprime borrowers.  About half of the respondents indicated that they would increase interest rates and reduce credit limits for prime borrowers.  A bit less than half intend to raise the minimum credit score required to obtain a loan.  75% of respondents indicated that they would raise rates on nonprime borrowers.   Read More »

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 8:22 am in Banking, Economy, , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (ADBE, CETV, ENER, SOLR, KR, RL, RAX, SQNM)

These are this morning’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen early this Tuesday morning from Wall Street research calls:

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) Raised to Buy at Janney Montgomery Scott.
Central Euro Media Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ: CETV) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) Cut to Sell at Citigroup; Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Hold at Lazard.
GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR) Cut to Underweight at Piper Jaffray.
Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE: RAX) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer; Raised to Buy at Kaufman
Sequenom Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM) Maintained Sell and $3 target at Auriga.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 7:35 am in Analyst Calls, Pre-Market Activity, , , , , , , ,

International Energy Agency Sees Sharp Rise In Global Temperatures

oilThe IAE is predicting that use of fossil fuels could cause a very sharp increase in the world’s temperature as the demand for energy rebounds from the recession.

In its new World Energy Outlook, the agency writes that “a continuation of current trends in energy use puts the world on track for a rise in temperature of up to 6°C and poses serious threats to global energy security.” Read More »

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 6:07 am in Oil & Gas

Burglary Business Damaged By The Economy

OMGBurglaries are falling sharply, very sharply since 1973. The number of victims per thousand households has dropped from just over 100 thirty-five years ago to under 40 last year, according to the Bureau of Justice.  It appears the cause is, at least in part, the recession.

So far, 2009 has shown an even larger improvement than last year did. Burglary rates are down by as much as a third in some cities. Read More »

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 5:40 am in Law

The Federal Government In the Car Loan Business

carThe federal government is highly active in getting banks to reset loans for people who want to stay in their homes by improving the terms of their monthly payments. The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan has had mixed success, but it has helped keep tens of thousands of people in their homes. It might be said that keeping even one person from being thrown out into the cold is worthwhile, although the Administration’s entire home foreclosure program is a $75 billion multi-purpose plan designed to help as many as nine million borrowers suffering from falling home prices and unaffordable monthly payments. That is an expensive program to help what may be a modest number of people with their mortgages Read More »

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 5:11 am in Autos, Economy, Editor's Picks,

Electronic Arts (ERTS): M&A And Layoffs Meet At A Crossroad

wiiElectronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) did something today that is almost never seen in the corporate world. It made a big acquisition and fired 1,500 of its workers, 17% of the total staff, on the same day. Read More »

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 5:02 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, , , , ,

A Split With Google (GOOG) Would Hurt News Corp (NWS) And WSJ Badly

bearRupert Murdoch, head of News Corp (NYSE:NWS), has made it clear that he is done with the BBC and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) stealing his content and using it to make money. He may sue both companies under the “fair use” laws to keep them from using material from his huge media empire.

Murdoch should be careful what he wishes for. According to a study from Experian Hitwise, “on a weekly basis Google and Google news are the top traffic providers for WSJ.com account for over 25% of WSJ.com’s traffic.” And, “over 44% of WSJ.com visitors coming from Google are “new” users who haven’t visited the domain in the last 30 days.”

Murdoch may have his way and badly damage his WSJ.com business in the process.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 4:54 am in Internet, Law, ,

Media Digest 11/10/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Markets hit their 2009 highs.

Reuters:   Dodd is set to unveil his financial reform bill which calls for merging many bank regulators.

Reuters:   Kraft’s (NYSE:KFT) bid for Cadbury turned hostile.

Reuters:   A survey of economists predicted strong GDP growth in 2010. Read More »

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 3:57 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Asia Market And Europe Open 11/10/2009

chinaMarkets in Asia were slightly higher

The Nikkei rose .6% to 9,871. Mitsubishi UFJ NYSE:MTU) rose.

The Hang Seng was up .3% to 22,269.

The Shanghai Composite rose .1% to 3,178.

At the open in Europe, the FTSE rose .2% to 5,246. Vodafone (NYSE:VOD) and HSBC (NYSE:HBC) both reported earnings. The Dax was up .1% to 5,626. The CAC 40 rose a fraction to 3,785.

Data from Reuters and MarketWatch

Douglas A. McIntyre

 

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 3:24 am in International Markets, ,

The Twenty-Five Most Valuable Blogs In America

uncle sam

It has been nearly a year since 24/7 Wall St. did its latest edition of the Twenty Five Most Valuable Blogs. Valuations have moved up significantly since then. Advertising CPMs have improved markedly since the beginning of this year. A number of the largest blogs on our list have larger audiences than they did a year ago.

All of the blogs analyzed here are private companies. Blogs owned by larger firms are not measured.  Blogs used primarily as fronts for other businesses have also been excluded. Some of the blogs on the list have raised VC money and those sums can be used as guidelines if they are disclosed. The only worthwhile value is what an acquirer will pay, so any estimate needs to take into account the value the blog may have to an outside buyer. Several blogs from earlier versions of this list were sold, among them Ars Technica and PaidContent. Some of the largest blogs based on audience measurements do not have significant revenue and are also excluded.  For instance, “The Daily Beast”, a large news commentary site controlled by IACI, takes almost no advertising. In theory, it has little if any economic value at all. Read More »

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 3:15 am in Internet, Media, Uncategorized