24/7 Wall St. » C

What’s Important in the Financial World (2/9/2012) A Mortgage Deal With Banks, Yahoo! to Sell Alibaba?

247wallst — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:38:05 +0000

As one set of government suits against America’s largest banks is settled, another is about to begin. Media reports say that federal regulators and state attorneys general have set a $25 billion deal with Ally Financial, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). These lenders have been accused of abusing the foreclosure process for their own financial advantages. States and the federal government would receive payments, along with thousands of people whose homes were foreclosed on from 2008 to 2011. Just as this home mortgage matter is settled, the government means to sue banks that misrepresented the value of mortgage backed securities that they sold to other large institutions. The Wall Street Journal reports that the banks that are part of the second investigation include Ally Financial, Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). Between mortgages and mortgage instruments, the housing collapse will cost major banks tens of billion of dollars.

Greeks in Brussels

The Greeks have departed for Brussels, where they will plead with the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank for the money needed to cover the nation’s financial needs next month. The parties have until February 15 to reach a settlement. The Greeks say they have given in to all austerity requests but have no deal to cut some government-controlled pensions. So, after all of the negotiations, that single issue may drive Greece into default.

Luxury Car Sales

At least some rich people around the world do not think their wealth will be entirely stripped away by taxes. Daimler said it had a 39% increase in fourth-quarter profits. It said the primary driver was an upswing in sales of high-end Mercedes, particularly the car company’s M-Class SUV. Daimler is not alone. BMW posted similarly impressive earnings, as did Volkwagen’s Audi division.

Yahoo! and Alibaba

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) may finally get some tangible value from its 39% holding in large China e-commerce company Alibaba. Rumors suggest that Alibaba is close to securing bank loans of as much as $3 billion. Wall St. thinks the Alibaba stake is worth closer to $5 billion, so the firm may have to use some of its own money. Now, investors will have to wait to see what Yahoo! does with the cash. There is almost no optimism that Yahoo! has the management and prospects to use the billions to rebuild its troubled businesses. Yet, with a new CEO and newly constituted board, a turnaround is at least a long shot.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Market Open Tagged: BAC, C, DB, GS, JPM, WFC, YHOO

Citi Dividend Returning Sooner Than Expected (C, JPM, WFC)

Administrator — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:26:44 +0000

Any time you have a shareholder talking up a company, you have to understand that they are talking up their book. Billionaires do this, and they tend to be listened to more than others when it comes to money. After the close of trading on CNBC, Maria Bartoromo interviewed Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia.

The prince is a very long-term investor in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C). He is also apparently its largest holder. This evening he noted that he expects Citi to begin returning capital to shareholders soon. The stress tests should be finished in March and the prince said is pushing for a dividend hike. He even noted that he held a conversation with Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit late last week and his opinion is that the new Citi is doing very well.

Citi is one of the ‘too big to fail’ banks and it has paid only a one-cent dividend since it has gotten out from the TARP. After a 1-for-10 reverse stock split, many investors have moved on. The adjusted dividend back in 2007 was $5.40, but it is going to be quite some time before investors expect that to remain.

Thomson Reuters is predicting that Citi will have normalized earnings at $4.04 EPS in 2012 and $4.70 EPS in 2013. If the bank is ever allowed to return 40% of its normalized earnings, Citi could pay out $1.60 or so per share in annualized dividends. That is a big if, but at $33.30 it would generate a dividend yield of 4.8%.

Again, that IF is a really big ‘if’ based on the regulatory climate of today. The one bank that is expected to be among the very first to raise the common stock dividend is J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). Its $0.25 per quarter dividend used to be $0.38 per quarter before the bubble burst. We also expect a higher dividend coming down the pipe from Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) as its $0.12 per quarter dividend compares to $0.34 before the bubble burst.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Banking, Corporate Governance, Dividend, Financial Stocks Tagged: C, JPM, WFC

What’s Important in the Financial World (2/6/2012) Greek Settlement, GM Profit Target

247wallst — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:44:41 +0000

Time has finally run out for Greece. The European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund have said they are tired of waiting to see if Greece can cut is budget again. Some members of Parliament in the southern European nation say the requested cuts are too great. Unions have staged powerful protests to show the government they will not give in to demands for wage cuts. “If we determine that it’s all going wrong in Greece, then there won’t be a new program — and that means in March you’ll have a declaration of bankruptcy,” Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs euro finance meetings, told Der Spiegel magazine. It is unlikely that Juncker would make his opinion so public if the need for a deal was no more than a day or two away.

China’s GDP Growth

The IMF cut its forecast of China’s GDP growth this year. Given the uncertainties about the global financial markets and the GDPs of many nations, that move it not unusual. What is shocking is the size of the negative forecast — China’s GDP growth rate could drop 4% from the current estimate of 8.2%. And the 8.2% is a number reached by a downward revision by the IMF less than two months ago. It is hard to fathom that an economy that has grown at more than 10% a year for the past decade could face such a shock. It is the IMF’s acknowledgement that the entire world could teeter into recession, and that the problems in Europe could effect both China’s trade with that region, but also with the U.S. The latter will not avoid the slump either, the IMF must reason, despite recent, strongly positive signs.

Foreclosure Abuse Deal

State attorneys general and U.S. regulators are just a day from a settlement with Ally Financial, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) over mortgage foreclosure abuses. The settlement would help current homeowners. Some would be allowed to refinance current home loans. Others would get financial assistance. Even if the deal is closed, the implementation could take months. It will take at least that long to sift through which homeowners are worthy of aid, and then to process them to help those who deserve it. The entire face value of the settlement will be $25 billion.

GM Profit Forecast

General Motors (NYSE: GM) says it can make $10 billion a year for the next several years. That would mark a tremendous comeback from its 2009 Chapter 11 filing. It also would validate the decision of the U.S. government to bail out the car company. The challenge GM faces as it presses its goal is that the world’s largest car manufacturers, Volkswagen and Toyota (NYSE: TM), expect to do as well as GM. Toyota just raised its sales forecasts to levels that would take it to a record in units shipped next year, if it can reach the numbers. VW has attacked the U.S. market because it needs American sales to allow it to keep pace with its two major rivals. GM has momentum, but its profit forecasts are large enough to make an uphill battle.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Market Open Tagged: BAC, C, F, GM, JPM, TM, WFC

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (C, NEM, STX, XOM, MWW, AMZN, BRCM, AET, COCO, EPD, MAN, MPC, NOC, WHR, KTCC, SGMO, MDVN, JDAS, IXYS)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:04:57 +0000

The three major US stock indexes opened higher this morning, following on a positive debt sale by Portugal and some improvement in PMI numbers from Europe. ADP employment data did not meet expectations, but did not pull stocks down. ISM data fell a bit short of expectations, but construction spending rose sharply. In Asia, China posted mixed PMI reports and the country’s data on new loans was lower than expected. US oil and gasoline inventories rose more than expected, put a crimp in energy prices that had started our higher for the day (more coverage here). WTI crude finished the day down -0.9% at $97.61/barrel, its lowest level in six weeks. Brent crude rose 0.71% to $111.77/barrel. Gold closed up 0.41% at $1,747.60.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 83 points to 12,716.31 (0.66%), the NASDAQ rose more than 34 points (1.22%) to 2,848.27, and the S&P 500 rose 0.89% or nearly 12 points to 1,324.08.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) raised to ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) cut to ‘hold’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) raised to ‘buy’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus (see our coverage here); and Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) cut to ‘perform at Oppenheimer. Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) had three ratings changes today: maintained as ‘neutral’ with target price cut to $190 at Credit Suisse; maintained ‘outperform’ but estimates cut at Baird; and target price lowered to $225 at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Amazon.com is down -8.2% at $178.51; Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) is up 8.24% at $37.18; Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) is up 3.3% at $45.13; Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO) is up nearly 34% at $4.05; Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is up 3.8% at $50.13, after posting a new 52-week high of $50.35 earlier today; Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) is up nearly 14% at $45.70; Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) is up nearly 10% at $41.98; Northrup Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) is up 2.22% at $59.34; and Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) is up 14% at $61.93.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Key Tronic Corp. (NASDAQ: KTCC) is up nearly 37% at $8.53, after posting a new 52-week high of $8.74 earlier today. The computer peripherals maker posted better-than-expected earnings and revenues after markets closed last night.

Sangamo BioSciences Inc. (NASDAQ: SGMO) is up more than 21% at $4.19. The pharmaceutical maker has announced a collaboration with Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) to develop a hemophilia treatment.

Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) is up more than 21% at $67.26, after posting a new 52-week high of $70.87 earlier today. The development stage drug maker has reported highly positive results on a test of its late-stage prostate cancer treatment. We have more coverage here.

JDA Software Group Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS) is down more than -17% at $24.39. The software maker issued a fairly weak quarterly report and continuing investor wariness remains over an SEC investigation of the company’s accounting practices.

IXYS Corp. (NASDAQ: IXYS) is down more than 14% at $11.76. The integrated circuit maker posted poor quarterly numbers after markets closed last night.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is speaking at 10:00 a.m. and Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher is speaking in the evening. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – Challenger Job-cut data
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve money supply and balance sheet reports

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AET, AMZN, BRCM, C, COCO, EPD, IXYS, JDAS, KTCC, MAN, MDVN, MPC, MWW, NEM, NOC, SGMO, STX, WHR, XOM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMZN, ASH, BAC, C, CAT, DB, XOM, MWW, NEM, STX, SXC, WBSN, VRTX)

Administrator — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:18:09 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Wednesday morning.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Maintained Neutral but cut target to $190 at Credit Suisse; Maintained Outperform but lowered estimates at Baird; Lowered target to $225 at Jefferies.
Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (NASDAQ: AMCC) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) named as the Value Stock of the Day at Zack.
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) named as Bear of the Day with under current price objective target by Zacks.
Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Caterpillar, Inc. (NYSE: CAT) named as Bull of the Day with way above-consensus price target at Zacks.
Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
SunCoke Energy Inc. (NYSE: SXC) Reinstated as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Websense Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: VRTX) Reiterated Outperform and raised target at $42 at Credit Suisse.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AMZN, ASH, BAC, C, CAT, DB, MWW, NEM, STX, SXC, VRTX, WBSN, XOM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AAP, AZO, BAC, C, HFC, IMGN, JAKK, JPM, K, KEG, MEOH, MNST, MS, MYL, SPLS, TWX, WFM)

Administrator — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:34:56 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Monday morning.

Advanced Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Citigroup , Inc. (NYSE: C) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE: HFC) Cut to Neutral with $27 target at Citigroup.
ImmunoGen Inc. (NASDAQ: IMGN) Reiterated Buy with $17 target at Canaccord Genuity.
JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) Maintained Buy but removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Key Energy Services (NYSE: KEG) Maintained Buy but raised estimates ($19 target) at Canaccord Genuity.
Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ: MEOH) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) Cut to Neutral at SunTrust.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Raised to Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs.
Mylan, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Whole Foods Market. Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) Maintained Buy but removed from Conviction BUy List at Goldman Sachs.

This is overseas, but BofA has downgraded Societe Generale and BNP Paribas to Neutral from Buy this morning.

Here were the top analyst calls of the last week condensed into one short piece.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAP, AZO, BAC, C, HFC, IMGN, JAKK, JPM, K, KEG, MEOH, MNST, MS, MYL, SPLS, TWX, WFM

Media Digest (1/30/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT

247wallst — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:49:34 +0000

EU leaders agree to create the European Stability Mechanism, which will have funds of 500 billion euro and begin its business in July. (Reuters)

EU leaders probably will create a 20 billion euro fund to help improve unemployment among the young. (Reuters)

Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) reports that small business hiring slowed in January and wages dropped. (Reuters)

The head of Philips warns of challenges in the first half of this year. (Reuters)

Republicans will link a highway spending bill to the Keystone XL pipeline. (Reuters)

Much of the missing $1.2 billion from MF Global may never be found. (WSJ)

Citigroup’s (NYSE: C) Richard Parsons may retire as chairman. (WSJ)

Germany warns Greece it may not get bailout funds because of inadequate austerity measures. (WSJ)

The head of the Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) will turn down his bonus because of an uproar about its size. (WSJ)

The IMF will review whether the yuan is still undervalued. (WSJ)

AMR’s nonunion retirees want more say in its Chapter 11. (WSJ)

The Association of Fundraising Professionals says many nonprofits had record years in 2011. (WSJ)

Sarkozy announces plans to improve France’s competitiveness. (WSJ)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Aol (NYSE: AOL) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) set an alliance to prevent phishing emails. (WSJ)

Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) will sell some of its Japanese operations. (WSJ)

A new Fed study warns of deflation. (WSJ)

Investors are voicing more concern over Japan’s debt. (WSJ)

Troubles at newspapers caused 71 dailies to be sold last year. (NYT)

Many U.S. banks use CDs to bet for or against Europe’s problems. (NYT)

Research In Motion (NYSE: RIMM), which has done well in Europe, faces more challenges there. (NYT)

Ratings agencies will be questioned about their role in MF Global. (FT)

Exports from industrial companies in the West to China fall. (FT)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: AOL, C, GOOG, INTU, MSFT, RBS, RIMM, XOM, YHOO

Short Sellers Increase Bets Across the Board

247wallst — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:33:04 +0000

For the first time in a long time, short sellers have increased their bets that the stock prices of most large companies and in most large sectors will fall. The NYSE and Nasdaq released their figures for short positions as of January 13.

Short sellers increased their positions in all four of America’s large banks. The short interest in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) rose 18.5% to 186.1 million. The price of its stock, and most other bank stocks, have risen as it appears that the worst of their balance sheet problems have faded some. Shares sold short in Citigroup (NYSE: C) rose 19.1% to 50.3 million. The short interest in Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) was up by 11.4% to 47.1 million. Shares sold short in JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) were up by 21.5% to 40.6 million.

Shares sold short in the two big car companies also rose. The short interest in Ford (NYSE: F) was up by 14.7% to 147.1 million. Shares sold short in General Motors (NYSE: GM) were up 13.7% to 62.3 million.

The short interest in almost all major tech stocks was up as well. Shares short in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which posted relatively good earnings, were up 49.8% to 101.5 million. Shares sold short in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), which also posted strong numbers for the fourth quarter, rose 12.2% to 131.8 million. The short interest in Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) was up by 6.1% to 69.9 million. Shares sold short in Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) were up by 40.8% to 27.4 million.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Short Interest Tagged: BAC, C, DELL, F, GM, INTC, JPM, MSFT, ORCL, WFC

Media Digest (1/26/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:29:50 +0000

Ben Bernanke says the Fed is prepared to buy more bonds. (Reuters)

NEC to cut 10,000 workers. (Reuters)

Nintendo posts poor earnings and cuts forecasts. (Reuters)

Warren Buffett says higher taxes on the rich are a way to bring the burden on Americans back inline. (Reuters)

George Soros criticizes efforts to put austerity over growth in Europe. (Reuters)

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) shares rise on news its subscriber base rose sharply. (Reuters)

Tokyo Electric Power will get a $13 billion bailout. (Reuters)

George Soros buys Italian bonds because of high yields coupled with deflation. (Reuters)

U.S. officials are looking at HSBC (NYSE: HBC) for money laundering. (Reuters)

German consumer morale reaches a 10-month high. (Reuters)

Creditors may accept a lower yield on Greek bonds to end negotiations to keep the nation out of default. (Reuters)

The International Monetary Fund says a halt to Iran’s oil flow would push crude prices up 30%. (Reuters)

Nintendo will have the new Wii in markets before the end of the year. (Reuters)

Strategy Analytics says Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android-based tablets have narrowed the sales gap with Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad. (Reuters)

SAP (NYSE: SAP) says it will do more to target Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) customers. (Reuters)

Public pensions have increased their investment in private equity, according to the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service. (WSJ)

Roche’s offer for Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) is based on the belief that doctors will use genetic products on a more regular basis. (WSJ)

U.S. bond yields reached near record lows. (WSJ)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture releases data that show winters have been warmer recently. (WSJ)

A new Wall Street Journal poll shows better results for Obama. (WSJ)

Merkel says labor reforms and closer ties among EU nations were key to the success of austerity programs to close national deficits. (WSJ)

A drop in output shows the UK is closer to recession. (WSJ)

U.S. auto makers have returned to U.S. labor because of foreign exchange rates and low wages. (WSJ)

Samsung’s chip business is growing even faster than its cellphone division. (WSJ)

Farmers are planting more wheat despite droughts. (WSJ)

The Fed’s message is that a recovery may be years away. (NYT)

There is an oversupply of freighters, in part because it takes so long to make them. (NYT)

Citigroup (NYSE: C) says EU banks have raised $52.8 billion in new capital since the third quarter to meet regulatory demands. (NYT)

Hedge funds are dumping Greek debt. (NYT)

Apple thinks the Chinese market could sharply increase its sales. (FT)

Iran may block oil exports ahead of sanctions. (FT)

As EU-based banks keep cash on their balance sheets, more companies may default because of lack of capital. (Bloomberg)

Geithner says he will leave office after Obama’s first term. (Bloomberg)

Airbus begins to fix cracks in wings of its A380. (Bloombeg)

Ford (NYSE: F) may post its largest profit since 1998. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, C, F, GOOG, HBC, ILMN, NFLX, ORCL, SAP

Media Digest (1/25/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:35:38 +0000

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has another blow-out quarter driven by iPhone sales. (Reuters)

Japan has its first trade deficit since 1980. (Reuters)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) posts weak earnings on a revenue drop. (Reuters)

International Monetary Fund’s Lagarde says that if Europe combined the ESFS and ESM rescue funds, it would raise confidence in the chance that a bailout of weak economies would work. (Reuters)

A PricewaterhouseCoopers study shows CEOs are concerned about a negative reaction to the situation in Europe. (Reuters)

More cracks are found in the wings of Airbus A380 super jumbos. (Reuters)

Roche offers $5.7 billion to buy gene map firm Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN). (Reuters)

The Baltic Exchange’s measure of the cost of shipping commodities plunges, an indication of a slow economy. (Reuters)

Ericsson’s (NASDAQ: ERIC) shares plunge after it said profit for Q4 dropped sharply. (Reuters)

Facebook will suspend trading in its shares for three days, but does not explain why. (Reuters)

EU executives will block an NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) merger with Deutsche Borse. (Reuters)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to combine information on users, which will make it harder for them to keep private. (WSJ)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) presses to lead the Facebook IPO. (WSJ)

The parent company of British Air may be part of an AMR buyout. (WSJ)

The IMF cuts its forecasts for most nations around the world. (WSJ)

AMD (NYSE: AMD) shows a loss on large write-downs. (WSJ)

The Defense Department to reveal its plans for budget cuts. (WSJ)

The PMI of many parts of Europe rises. (WSJ)

EU finance ministers press Greece and its private creditors to settle differences on refinancing. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) is accused of using the government bailout as the means to make the Chevy Volt. (WSJ)

McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) quarter is driven in part by late-night food sales. (WSJ)

Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group plans to go public to raise $100 million. (WSJ)

Olympus is in talks with Sony (NYSE: SNE) to raise $1.3 billion. (WSJ)

The Avenue Capital Group will take over Quiznos as part of a debt restructure. (WSJ)

Gannett (NYSE: GCI) buys Fantasy Sports Ventures so that it can focus more on sports news. (WSJ)

Daniel Mudd, CEO of Fortress (NYSE: FIG), leaves after charges of securities fraud. (WSJ)

Morgan Stanley makes only a small number of its executives new managing directors. (WSJ)

European banks restructure to improve balance sheets, but some moves may be blocked by regulators worried the changes could hurt the financial system. (NYT)

The European Central Bank faces losses on Greek bonds that could reach 55 billion euro. (NYT)

Oil imports helped drive Japan’s rare trade deficit. (NYT)

The IMF presses the ECB to take larger losses on Greek bonds. (FT)

Citigroup (NYSE: C) may make more spending cuts in its securities group. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, AMD, C, ERIC, FIG, GCI, GM, GOOG, ILMN, MCD, MS, NYX, SNE, YHOO