Posts for Ticker ‘CME’

Next Week’s Top 10 Earnings (VZ, APOL, VLO, V, WYNN, COP, FSLR, CME, XOM, PG)

NYSE Floor ImageThis week was the crest of 2009 third quarter earnings season.  We still have a flood of reports next week and picking a mere top ten earnings to watch was very unfair to many key stocks.  But the ten earnings we have flagged as the top ten for next week are Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL), Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO), Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V), Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CME), ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG).  We have included Thomson Reuters consensus data for earnings and revenue estimates and added color on each where applicable.
Read More »

Today’s Best Market Rumors (10/19/2009) (YHOO)(POT)(SYMC)(CME)(AAPL)

Updated throughout the day        

Updated  3.34 PM EST:  Consensus figures for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) earnings may be significantly too high (Barron’s)

Updated 1.14 PM EST:  The whisper number for Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) is $1.47 EPS compared to the Wall St. consensus of $1.42  (WhisperNumber)

 Update  11.34 AM EST:  Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) is substantially increasing the amount of original content it will run on its websites. (CNET)

Update 11.37 AM EST:   GE (NYSE:GE) and Vivendi are $500 million apart on their valuation of Vivendi’s 20% of NBCU (WSJ)

newspaperKraft (NYSE:KFT) will increase its bid for Cadbury from 745 pence to 850 to 900 pence per share before a UK government deadline on November 3  (Reuters)

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) is having trouble raising money for its new $20 billion fund (NYPost).

US authorities are close to filing a number of other insider trading charges against hedge funds  (NYTimes).

The CME (NYSE:CME) may buy the CBOE  of $5 billion. (Crain’s Chicago Business)

PC makers may have over-built based on higher anticipated sales from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 7  (Barron’s)

Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC) says that tens of millions of US PCs have scam security software  (Reuters)

Potash (NYSE:POT) could benefit from rising corn prices. (BusinessWeek)

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone sales may disappoint investors when the company reports earnings (Fortune)

China’s GDP growth rate will be above 8% this year.  (Forbes)

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

Douglas A. McIntyre

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (AAPL, GOOG, CME, FFIV, HOG, ICE, NDAQ, NTRI, SGMS, URBN)

These are the top ten stocks seeing analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations from Wall Street early this Friday morning:

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was given a cautious call from Oppenheimer, noting that it could report in-line or even slightly disappointing revenues of $9 to $9.2 billion.   Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG): Stifel Nicolaus raised target to $650; UBS raised target to $635; JPMorgan raised target to $608; Goldman Sachs raised target to $635; BofA raised target to $640; Citi raised target to $640.

CME Group (NYSE: CME) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
NASDAQ (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
NutriSystem (NASDAQ: NTRI) Raised to Buy at Janney Montgomery
Scientific Games (NASDAQ: SGMS) Cut to Neutral at JP Morgan.
Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) Started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

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
OCTOBER 16, 2009

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (CME, DRI, ICE, MYGN, NVS, ALXN, MDRX, NNI, NOK)

There were many analyst calls this morning, but the problem is that most were on smaller companies or were by second and third tier boutiques.  These were the top call from Wall Street this Friday morning.

CME Group (CME) Started as Outperform at JMP Securities.
Darden Restaurants (DRI) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) Started as Outperform at JMP.
Myriad Genetics (MYGN) Started as Buy at Soleil.
Novartis (NVS) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Alexion (ALXN) Started as Sell at Think Equity.
Allscripts (MDRX) Cut to Hold at Auriga.
NelNet (NNI) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
Nokia (NOK) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

JON C. OGG

JULY 17, 2009

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (CETV, CQB, CME, CFX, JAZZ, OSG, PII, UBS, WBS)

These are the top early-bird analyst calls with upgrades and downgrades seen this Friday morning with over two hours until the market opens:

  • Central European Media (CETV) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Chiquita Brands (CQB) Raised to Buy at Janney Montgomery Scott.
  • CME (CME) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Colfax (CFX) Raised to Buy ar KeyBanc.
  • Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.
  • Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
  • Polaris (PII) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
  • UBS (UBS) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  • Webster Financial (WBS) Raised to Market Perform at FBR.

Jon C. Ogg
June 26, 2009

Top Analyst Downgrades (ABB, AKS, CME, ERIC, HMC, NOK, SKH)

These are the top pre-market analyst downgrades and cautious research calls we have seen from Wall Street early this Friday morning with more than two hours until the market opens:

ABB (ABB) Started as Reduce at Nomura.
AK Steel (AKS) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
CME (CME) Started as Sell at RBS.
Ericsson (ERIC) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.
Honda Motor (HMC) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Nokia (NOK) Cut to Equal Weight at Barclays.
Skilled Healthcare (SKH) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

JON C. OGG

Is Carbon Trading or Cap and Trade Dying On The Vine? (ICE, CME, NDAQ, BRK-A)

carbon-emission-imageOne of the Obama proposals to fight global warming and climate change may be up against the ropes.  This is emissions trading, or what the media calls “cap and trade.” There are many who consider this type of emissions trading to be the Holy Grail, and there are many who claim it does nothing other than create a business expense or hidden tax.  It could represent a huge new market for the IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) and the CME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME), as well as Climate Exchange plc (OTC-CXCHF) as the owner of the Chicago Climate Exchange.  Climate Exchange plc (LSE: CLE.L) is an AIM listed company which owns the world’s leading environmental exchanges.

We think that it is probably too early to call “cap & trade” a dead idea.  But what is looking more likely is that at best what will be headed to a Congressional vote is a greatly watered-down version of cap & trade.  If a watered-down version does not come first, then we have many reasons to believe that this may be an issue to debate in 2011 rather than 2009.

Read More »

Best Performing Sectors This Week: Cancer Stocks, Home Furnishing, Aircraft Leasing

Earlybird Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AEP, CME, FNFG, KFT, LSTR, RGLD, SD, SBUX, TRI)

We still have well over two-hours until the opening bell this Thursday morning.  So far we have seen many select upgrades and downgrades from Wall Street analysts.  Here is what we have seen so far:

American Electric (NYSE: AEP) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
CME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
First Niagara Financial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: FNFG) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Landstar System Inc. (NASDAQ: LSTR) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD) Raised to Sector Perform at CIBC.
SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE: SD) started as Buy at SunTrust Robinson.
Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Jon C. Ogg

Top Analyst Downgrades (APOL, STD, BA, BRKR, CHU, CME, GR, PCP, STX)

These are the top pre-market analyst downgrades or negative calls we have seen from Wall Street this Wednesday morning:

Apollo Group (APOL) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Banco Santander (STD) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Boeing (BA) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Bruker Corp. (BRKR) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
China Unicom (CHU) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
CME Group (CME) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Goodrich (GR) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Precision Castparts (PCP) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Seagate Tech (STX) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.

JON C. OGG

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ABH, AMFI, CME, LPX, MA, MSCC, NOK, V)

Burning_money_picThese are some of the top downgrades and negative research calls we have seen from Wall Street analysts this Friday morning:

  • AbitibiBowater (ABH) Cut to Underperform at Raymond James.
  • Amcore Financial (AMFI) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
  • CME Group (CME) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
  • Louisiana-Pacific (LPX) Cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
  • Mastercard (MA) Started as Sell at Citigroup.
  • Microsemi (MSCC) Cut to Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
  • Nokia (NOK) Cut to Neutral at Nomura.
  • Visa (V) Started as Hold at Citigroup.

Jon C. Ogg
January 23, 2009

CME’s Mixed Bag (CME)

CME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME) has reported earnings of $2.81 GAAP EPS on revenue of $681 million, but non-GAAP earnings were $4.13 EPS if you include NYMEX and CME merger operations. 

The numbers today are going to be harder for analysts and traders to interpret because of all the combined businesses.

Read More »

CME Owners Bracing For Earnings (CME)

Cme_logoCME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME) is set to report earnings after the close of trading today.  The futures and commodities exchange giant estimates (from First Call) are $3.98 EPS and $644.3 million in revenues.  Exchanges and financial companies do not offer guidance, but next quarter estimates are $4.02 EPS and almost $712 million in revenues.

Read More »

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (BGFV, CME, QSII, TUP, SKS)

These are some of the negative calls and downgrades we have seen this Wednesday morning:

  • Big 5 Sporting Goods (BGFV) cut to sell at UBS.
  • CME Group (CME) cut to market perform at KBW.
  • Quality Systems (QSII) cut to hold at Jefferies.
  • Tupperware (TUP) cut to neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Saks (SKS) started as underweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
September 17, 2008

Exchange Wars: What Will NYSE Get From Qatar? (NYX, NDAQ, CME)

NYSE Euronext (NYSE Euronext: NYX) has signed a strategic partnership with the State of Qatar in a bid that may transform the Doha Securities Market.  The visibility is aimed to make Doha’s market an international player in the global exchange space and to give the NYSE Euronext with a foothold presence in the Middle East.  NYSE Euronext will purchase a 25% stake in the Doha Securities market for $250 million in cash (US Dollars), in what was said to be the most attractive offer as part of a competitive bidding process.

The State of Qatar and NYSE Euronext to build a new, internationally integrated cash and derivatives exchange in Doha. This will be aligned through equity participation, technology integration and market structure similarity.  The NYSE will get 3 of the 11 board seats on the exchange and the State of Qatar will retain 75% ownership and 8 of the 11 board seats.

This will enhance Doha’s existing cash equities business and provide a platform for derivatives trading and related clearing services.  The NYSE Euronext will act as a partner managing the operation of the new exchange and will appoint the senior management team and providing technology services.  After this is all said and done, Qatar expects to end up with a total market infrastructure capability and will solidify its position as a regional capital market.

The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close during Q4-2008.

If you want to compare this implied $1 Billion market cap based upon the terms of the deal, that compares to a $15+ Billion market cap for NYSE Euronext and compares to a $5.98 Billion market cap for NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ).  CME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME) has a market cap of $23.9 Billion as of last look.

Jon C. Ogg
June 24, 2008

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (BMC, CNK, CTXS, CME, CTCM, DHT, RDEN, HOV, TPX, WLL)

These aren’t going to be the only impact analyst calls this Tuesday morning, but these are ten of the calls we are focusing on very early this morning:

  • BMC Software (NYSE: BMC) Started as Neutral at UBS.
  • Cinemark (NYSE: CNK) cut to equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) Cut to Market Perform from Outperform at FBR.
  • CME Group (NYSE: CME) Raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
  • CTC Media (NASDAQ: CTCM) started as Overweight at Lehman Brothers.
  • Double Hull Tankers (NYSE: DHT) raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Elizabeth Arden (NASDAQ: RDEN) raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
  • Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) Raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
  • Tempur-Pedic (NYSE: TPX) cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
  • Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL) started as Outperform at Wachovia.

Jon C. Ogg
June 17, 2008

CO2 Trading Going Mainstream (NDAQ, NMX, CME)

In the 1990’s, carbon certificate trading was mostly unheard of.  This has also been largely untapped by American companies and by the American public.  Until Now.

The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., the subsidiary of NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMX), also announced that it will introduce a U.S. Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative carbon allowance futures contract in the third quarter of 2008 that will be traded on the CME Globex, under the CME Group, Inc. (NYSE: CME).  This is expected to be the first exchange-traded contract for compliance with a government cap-and-trade program in the U.S.

It also looks like the NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) intends to launch a new index family for carbon dioxide emissions certificates this summer in its efforts with Nord Pool, according to Dow Jones.  After looking at Nord Pool’s website this has only been available to private investors, so this could be a real game changer.

The Chicago Climate Exchange, part of Climate Exchange plc (CLE.L), has allowed people to trade carbon futures now for years. 

If you want to do some research on your own about what is coming down the pipe, here are just a few of the links we have followed from over the years:

Carbon emission certificates are not without controversy.  While it does address the issues, many refer to it as a "pay to pollute."  That is an argument that will go on for years and we have no interest in getting in the middle of that.

It almost looks in a way like the U.S. may have joined the Kyoto Protocol, even if it isn’t official.

Jon C. Ogg
May 8, 2008

Big Price Movers In S&P 500 For Q1 2008 (MSFT)(GOOG)(AAPL)(INTC)(C)(AIG)(VZ)

The largest losers among the big companies in the S&P 500 for the first quarter were:

Microsoft (MSFT) down 21.6%, Google (GOOG) down 36.7%, Apple (AAPL) down 27.8%, Intel (INTC) down 22%, Citigroup (C) down 29.3%, AIG (AIG) down 26.6%, Verizon (VZ) down 17.9%, Schering-Plough (SGP) down 22.1%, Merck (MRK) down 23.4%, Wachovia ((WB) down 31.7%, United Health (UNH) down 40.9%, Merrill Lynch (MER) down 26.3%, Marathon Oil (MRO) down 23.6%, EMC (EMC) down 22.8%, Amazon (AMZN) down 24.7%, Valero (VLO) down 30.1%, Fannie Mae (FNM) down 34.9%, CME Group (CME) down 30.1%, WellPoint (WLP) down 50.7%, Motorola (MOT) down 42.6%, Lehman (LEH) down 42.3%. Spint (S) down 51.1%, Best Buy (BBY) down 23%, Freddie Mac (FRE) down 25.3%, and NYSE Euronext (NYX) down 30.4%.

The largest winners among the big companies in the S&P 500 in the first quarter were:

Wal-Mart (WMT) up 9.7%, Devon Energy (DVN) up 17.3%, Yahoo! (YHOO) up 24.6%, Burlington Northern (BNI) up 10.5%, XTO Energy (XTO) up 18.2%, EOG Resources (EOG) up 33.2%, Calgene (CELG) up 28.6%, Chesapeake Energy (CHK) up 16.1%, CSX (CSX) up 28.6%, and Nucor (NUE) up 16.2%.

Douglas A. McIntyre

CME Acquiring NYMEX

It’s official.  The CME Group Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: CME) is acquiring NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMX).  The commodities and futures exchanges announced a definitive agreement where CME will acquire NYMEX on the terms previously announced. 

NYMEX shareholders will receive 0.1323 shares of CME Group Class A common stock and $36.00 in cash for each share of NYMEX common stock.  This equates to approximately 12.5 million shares and cash of $3.4 billion, and NYMEX will ultimately hold approximately 18.6% of the combined company.   This generates a purchase price of $100.30 before any dilution to CME shares.  NYMEX shares closed at $95.34 Friday, and the 52-week trading range is $86.61 to $148.00.

Shareholders of NYMEX can elect to receive either CME stock or cash for each share of NYMEX, although the cash and stock amounts will be determined by proration in the event that cash elections are either greater than or less than a mandatory cash component of approximately $3.4 billion.   CME may choose to increase the cash amount if NYMEX shareholders elect to receive more than $3.4 billion in cash, under certain circumstances.

The combined exchanges will now offer commodities and futures offerings in almost every major asset class and in cash, over-the-counter and regulated markets.  There were many out there that questioned whether or not the merger between the CME and the CBOT should have been allowed by regulators.  You can imagine the questions this brings up.

Jon C. Ogg
March 17, 2008

NYSE Going Further Into Futures & Derivatives (NYX, CME)

NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) and CME Group, Inc. (NYSE: CME) announced late today that NYSE would purchase CME Group’s Metals Complex.

NYSE noted that trading of full and e-mini contracts in gold and silver futures and options on futures contracts would begin later this year on LIFFE CONNECT, which is the NYSE Euronext’s derivatives trading system.  The deal and the trading launches are of course subject to regulatory approvals.

The precious metals derivatives contracts currently trade on the e-CBOT, an electronic trading platform managed by Atos Euronext Market Solutions and powered by LIFFE CONNECT.  NYSE Euronext will acquire the CBOT Metals Complex from the CME Group, including its volume and open interest, and CME will provide clearing services for up to 1-year.  In 2007, the CME Group Metals Complex traded more than 11 million contracts, an average daily volume of more than 45,000 contracts.

This might have been slightly larger news if they would have chosen any other day to announce this.

Jon C. Ogg
March 14, 2008