Posted: February 9, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Japan has two large car companies known throughout the world for quality, workmanship, value, and fuel efficiency. Each took several decades to establish its brand in the US. Each burnished its brand by the launch of hybrids which brought in a new generation of eco-conscious car buyers.
Toyota (TM), the larger of the pair, has ruined it reputation, perhaps forever. It has recalled nearly eight million of several of its most popular models from around the world. Almost immediately after, it recalled over 400,000 versions of its 2010 Prius hybrid for brakes problems.
Honda (HMC), the smaller firm, today recalled 378,758 vehicles in the US for possible airbag problems. The models include certain 2001 and 2002 Accord, Civic, Odyssey, CR-V, and selected 2002 Acura TLs. Honda recalled 440,000 cars in July for airbag related issues. Honda said it was aware of 12 individual incidents due to the flaws. Read Full Story »
Posted: February 9, 2010 at 6:10 pm
While we were getting ready to post our next round of large companies which we think will be hiking their dividends in 2010, one of the companies beat us to the punch. Earlier this week we noted that General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is likely to revisit its dividend with a hike perhaps in the summer. When it cut its dividend last year, 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) raised its dividend. It was as if George Buckley was holding his finger up in the air in the 3M-GE rivalry. It was actually just the company delivering on its trend. Well, 3M just announced that it was hiking its dividend yet again…. for the fifty-second consecutive year.
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Posted: February 9, 2010 at 5:41 pm
After the Airgas, Inc. (NYSE: ARG) unsolicited offer from Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE: APD) was made, we noticed how there was a premium to the deal’s public price. We even noted that Jefferies had given a potential scenario of $68.00. Now we know why rather than just suspect why. Airgas’ Board of Directors announced that the Air Products’ February 5 proposal AND the previously rejected $62 per share offer grossly undervalue Airgas. Based upon how the release was handled this week and based upon the news reports, it seemed that this first denial of an offer was certain.
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Posted: February 9, 2010 at 4:49 pm
We had said in our detailed preview that this was a make or break quarter for Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU). So far it looks like the investment community is taking it as a ‘make it’ quarter. The leader of online search in China posted earnings of $1.80 non-GAAP EPS and $184.7 million in revenue versus Thomson Reuters estimates of $1.68 EPS and $180.02 million in revenues. The company gave guidance for next quarter of $176 million to $181 million in revenues, while Thomson Reuters estimates were $170.23 million. The more important data is in the breakdown of the numbers, as well as what the price means if it stays this high in price.
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Posted: February 9, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Unemployment may have dropped below 10% last month, but the number only looks good in a vacuum. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the bearer of much of the federal government’s bad news over the last two years, said that the number of jobs open in America dropped to 2.5 million in December. That was a sharp decline from 3.2 million in the same month of 2008. Read Full Story »
Posted: February 9, 2010 at 3:26 pm
CHINA AGRITECH, INC. (NASDAQ: CAGC) was having a great day with gains north of 7%. But at about 3:09 PM EST we saw a filing from the company.. the S-3… the ’selling securities filing’ that often hits stocks if they have made large runs or developed a larger following. The filing is to raise up to $100,000,000.00 in a mixed securities shelf registration.
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Posted: February 9, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is up for earnings later this evening for us, Wednesday morning for, to report earnings. All the media outlets sell you on “this might be the most important earnings season in years” on a misguided basis, but this is going to be one of the most important reports for Baidu. The implications of not just the report, but the guidance, will have ripples for Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) first. The implications will then have ripples for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and then perhaps for the distant Yahoo! Inc.(NASDAQ: YHOO). There are also several issues that have built inside Baidu which will require some attention.
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Posted: February 9, 2010 at 11:27 am
You saw the bank bailout in the U.S. in 2008 to 2009, now it seems that the great bailout is heading the way of Greece if the reports and if the rumors are accurate. As this is the E.U. and a Euro issue, we still caution that until a deal is announced, then it is hearsay. Until it is signed and executed, it is still speculative. Greece has historically bailed itself out the old-fashioned way… by devaluing the Drachma. But now that Greece is on the Euro they no longer have the right to print their own money.
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Posted: February 9, 2010 at 10:14 am
From The Atlantic Wire
Business writers are happy John Thain’s second act is a step down. The CEO who engineered a fire sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America and earned fame as the financial Nero who bought a $35,000 toilet while Wall Street burned has returned to life as the executive of CIT–a smaller, less-prestigious, more troubled firm. CIT is a lender to small businesses that went bankrupt in November, knocking out a $2.3 billion government investment. Thain is a wide-cheekboned Goldman alum who oversaw Merrill Lynch’s hemorrhaging final days. Do they hold the key to one another’s resurrection?
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Posted: February 9, 2010 at 8:54 am
Updated throughout the day.
The EU is getting closer to a bailout of Greece (Reuters)
Beer may be good for strengthening bones (Reuters)
Google (GOOG) will reveal product innovations on a YouTube webcast today (Barron’s)
Apple’s (AAPL) online store is down as it prepares to announce new MacBooks (SAI)
Howard Stern may leave Sirius XM (SIRI) for “American Idol”
Douglas A. McIntyre
Posted: February 9, 2010 at 8:27 am
These are some of this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this morning:
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) Cut to Hold at Needham.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ: LAMR) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs… a little too late.
Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
Sonicwall Inc. (NASDAQ: SNWL) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Started as Hold at Needham.
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) Raised to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Websense, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear about top analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPOs and secondary offerings, ongoing day trader and options trader alerts, stock and market rumors, Buffett and guru investor news, M&A and more.
JON C. OGG
FEBRUARY 9, 2010
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Posted: February 9, 2010 at 8:18 am
We have been given some exclusive coverage on the recent developments in special purpose acquisition companies and blank check companies from SPACupdate.com this morning. Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) is up for review this Friday, and we have developments in Warrants in Atlas Acquisition Co. (AMEX: AXG), China Fundamental Acquisition Co. (OTC: CFQCF), and AutoChina International (NASDAQ: AUTC).
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Posted: February 9, 2010 at 8:09 am
By John Tamny of Forbes
“But is it not conceivable that wants may some day be so completely satisfied as to become frozen forever after? Some implications of this case will presently be developed, but so long as we deal with what may happen during the next forty years we evidently need not trouble ourselves about this possibility.”~ Joseph A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, p. 113.
Last year’s stock-market plunge unsurprisingly generated a great deal of commentary about the possibility of an economic depression that would rival that experienced in the 1930s. And with the present troubles in mind, economists and commentators have sought to use what was supposedly learned in the 1920s and 1930s to draw correlations between the past and present, or to defend government policy to explain why the U.S. economy hasn’t declined as much it did in the ’30s.
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Posted: February 9, 2010 at 7:55 am
The Gartman Letter has been a key technical advisory service for years and years and has become one of the benchmark technical reports. We have already heard both billionaire George Soros and then Robert Prechter of Elliott Wave call gold a serious bubble. Here we watch the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) rather than spot gold because of an ease of trading for investors. and we have already heard Robert Prechter say in the last two weeks in his newsletter that this was “perhaps the last chance to get out of stocks with the DJIA in quintuple digits.” This echoes what our affiliate Adam Hewison said about the NASDAQ heading down to 1,800 or worse and we follow that via the PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ: QQQQ). Last night we saw Dennis Gartman jump in on throwing the towel on the stock market.
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Posted: February 9, 2010 at 6:11 am
Apple (AAPL) has a problem. Steve Jobs created a huge surge in interest in the new iPad table computer when he introduced it. The interest has turned into concern about the price and features of the device.
According to Retrevo, which tracks consumer electronics trends, a new study it conducted “indicates a failure to convince any new buyers to consider the iPad. Not only did Apple fail to convince new buyers, it may have lost many potential buyers who now say they don’t think they need an Apple tablet computer.” Read Full Story »
Posted: February 9, 2010 at 5:56 am
It has probably occurred to Google (GOOG) management that customer service for its Nexus One handset has been poor and that has hurt the handset’s reputation. Google also has to compete with other phones powered by its Android mobile OS, so features and services are even more critical.
One of the most damaging parts of the Google Nexus marketing program is that the company has charged a $350 “equipment recovery fee” to people who return their Nexus handsets. The product is sold by N0.4 US cellular service T-Mobile, which gives Google a relatively small number of potential customers, certainly compared to the universe of consumers that Apple (AAPL) has access to because of its relationship with AT&T (T) which has a much largest customer base. Read Full Story »
Posted: February 9, 2010 at 5:42 am
The Census Bureau reports that the average American household spent $903 in 2008 on internet connections, cable TV, and video games. The New York Times estimates that figure will be $997 this year. The paper points out that cellphone costs could double the number to $2,000.
The number is only an average, so it is misleading. People below the poverty line probably spend very little on entertainment and “connectivity.” That means that households with incomes over $40,00o or $50,000 may well be spending $5,000 on products and services to connect to the internet, talk, text, shop online, watch TV, and play Madden 2010. Read Full Story »
Posted: February 9, 2010 at 5:12 am
US new vehicles sales reached almost 17 million in 2005. The number dropped to 10.4 million units in 2009, the lowest level in 27 years.
Most industry analysts expect the American car market to rebound to 12 million total sales in 2010. JD Power presents a more conservative forecast of 11.5 million.
Read Full Story »
Posted: February 9, 2010 at 5:02 am
Large consumer companies spend a great deal of marketing money on creating, preserving, and increasing the image of their brands. If a product has problems, the process does not always work. Toyota (NYSE:TM) has found that out the hard way.
A new study by CoreBrand sets values on the relationships between brand equity and market cap among large American companies and the research points to two conclusions. The first is that iconic brands are critical to the stock market value of the firms that own them. Hershey (NYSE:HSY) ranked first in the CoreBrands study followed by Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) have spent billions of dollars to build brands which are universally recognized. The second is that weak companies with low market caps may find that their tattered brands make up an especially large part of their fallen share prices. This is probably because their companies are worth so little. Blockbuster (NYSE:BBI) and Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) fall into this category.
The list:
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Posted: February 9, 2010 at 3:53 am
Reuters: Toyota (NYSE:TM) will recall the Prius.
Reuters: UBS (NYSE:UBS) posted a profit.
Reuters: Nissan posted a profit and raised forecasts.
Reuters: JAL will maintain its ties with AMR (NYSE:AMR). Read Full Story »
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