Posts for Ticker ‘CVC’

Sirius XM (SIRI) And CBS (CBS) Pose Greatest Financial Risk Among Media Firms

TVCBS (NYSE:CBS) and Sirius XM (NYSE:SIRI) pose the greatest investment risks among media companies based on a forensic measure of their transparency and the statistical reliability of their financial reporting and governance practices, according to new data from Audit Integrity. The probability for bankruptcy for Sirius is 8.5% and 4.6% for CBS. Both numbers are remarkably low, but still high for major US companies. Audit Integrity’s bankruptcy model achieved 90.9% accuracy in 2008 and 93.8% in 2009.

The safest companies for investors, based on the same measurement are Disney (NYSE:DIS) and  DirecTV (NYSE:DTV). The rest of the firms in the analysis are Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), Viacom (NYSE:VIA), Comcast (NYSE:CMCSA), Cablevision, (NYSE:CVC), GE (NYSE:GE), and Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC). Read More »

Posted on: November 12, 2009 – 9:23 pm in Accounting, Media, Old Media, , , , , , , , , ,

The Unusual Suspects (AA, MOS, YUM, CVC, CIT, LOCM, RVSN, WFC)

bull-and-bear-image2It is the weekend and that means a review of last week’s unusual suspects and a review for key stocks in the week ahead.  Technically earnings season gets its first earnings report from a DJIA component in ACLOA Inc. (NYSE: AA) this week, as well as earnings from The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) and from Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM).  Other key stocks to watch will be Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC), CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT) on the ropes, the real or unreal takeover chances for Local.com Corp. (NASDAQ: LOCM), and the unusual trading in Radvision Ltd. (NASDAQ: RVSN) and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC).  We have provided more detailed information and analysis on each story below.
Read More »

Posted on: October 4, 2009 – 10:34 am in Agriculture, Banking, Buffett, Cable Companies, Calendar, Commodities, Dividend, Earnings, Editor's Picks, Food, Internet, Mergers and Buy Outs, Options, Private Equity, Rumors, The Week, Trading Alert, , , , , , , ,

The 24/7 Wall St. Interview With Ivan Seidenberg, CEO Of Verizon

VZ24/7 Wall St. interviewed Ivan G. Seidenberg, the Chairman and CEO of Verizon (VZ), recently. The conversation covered Verizon’s major plans, the global telecom markets, and the effects of the recession. This is the one in a series of 24/7 Wall St. interview with large company CEOs to examine the future of business and industry as the world economy recovers.

The interview: Read More »

Posted on: September 21, 2009 – 5:10 am in Cable Companies, Interview, Telecom, Wireless, , , , , ,

YouTube Joins The Movie Rental Legions

youtubeGoogle’s (GOOG) YouTube may finally come up with a way to raise revenue. It streamed nine billion videos last month, but, by some estimates loses $300 million a year.

The quality of the video on YouTube is usually so low that advertisers don’t want to put their high-quality TV messages on the service. That leaves YouTube with limited options to make money. Read More »

Posted on: September 3, 2009 – 5:27 am in Entertainment, Internet, , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 7/30/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Unemployment is causing further stress in the housing market.

Reuters:   The Microsoft (MSFT) deal with Yahoo! (YHOO) may have challenges with regulators.

Reuters:   Sony (SNE) lost money on weakness in its TV business.

Reuters:   The Senate is looking the roles at Goldman Sachs (GS) and Deutsche Bank (DB) may have played in last year’s meltdown in mortgage markets. Read More »

Posted on: July 30, 2009 – 3:59 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comcast (CMCSA) Launches Threat To Wireless Telecom Services

TVCellular providers including Sprint (S), AT&T (T), and Verizon Wireless (VZ)(VOD) have had the broadband wireless market all to themselves. WiFi offered some modest competition, but its service only works within a few hundred feet of a base station. The 3G broadband wireless systems created by the telephone companies cover entire cities and most major roadways.

Comcast (CMCSA), the nation’s largest cable company, means to break the hegemony of the phone companies. Read More »

Posted on: June 30, 2009 – 5:10 am in Cable Companies, Telecom, Wireless, , , , , , ,

Media Digest 8/30/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Cybercrime is spreading fast on Facebook.

Reuters:   GM will seek to sell most of its assets to a new company.

Reuters:    Madoff got 150 years in prison.

Reuters:   AIG (AIG) shareholders will elect new directors.

Reuters:   GM is close to a deal to sell Opel.

Reuters:   A jury returned a $1.7 billion drug verdict against Abbot (ABT). Read More »

Posted on: June 30, 2009 – 3:03 am in Drug companies, Hardware, Healthcare, Medical, Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas, Press Digest, Wireless, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 6/24/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The head of a Congressional watchdog committee is pushing for a consumer protection agency.

Reuters:   China defended its export policies against a WTO complaint.

Reuters:   Citigroup (C) intends to raise the base pay of key employees.

Reuters:   Apple’s (AAPL) Jobs has an excellent prognosis after recent surgery. Read More »

Posted on: June 24, 2009 – 2:53 am in Autos, Banking, Cable Companies, China, Commodities, Compensation, Consumer Electronics, Drug companies, Earnings, Internet, Labor & Unions, Mergers and Buy Outs, Press Digest, Private Equity, Regulation, Semiconductors, Wireless, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 6/17/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Obama proposed sweeping reform for financial industry.

Reuters:    A number of large banks repaid TARP. (JPM)(GS)(BBT)(COP)(STT)(AXP)(USB)

Reuters:   Consumer prices show inflation is in check.

Reuters:   China could still be a big buyer of US debt.

Reuters:   NYSE will create a derivatives clearing house. Read More »

Posted on: June 18, 2009 – 3:07 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rating the Top 25 Newspaper Websites 2009

newspaperThe struggle for large urban newspapers to stay in business has largely been an effort on the part of their managements to increase revenue on the Internet faster than it is lost in their print editions. It has become clear that the race is becoming one that newspapers are unlikely to win. Internet revenue for some online editions is actually dropping. Print advertising is going down as fast as it did in 2008. Several large newspapers including The Rocky Mountain News have folded in the last year. The owners of other papers, particularly The Boston Globe and The San Francisco Chronicle, have threatened to fold these properties unless workers are willing to accept significant cuts in people or compensation.

A few newspaper websites have extremely large numbers of visitors. Online research service Compete.com reported that NYTimes.com had nearly 15 million unique visitors in May. The New York Times Company (NYT) reported that its online revenue fell 8% to $42.2 million in the first quarter, despite the size of the flagship paper’s website and other online properties such as Boston.com, the website affiliated with The Boston Globe. Online revenue was only 12.8% of the company’s sales, hardly adequate to have a significant impact on a firm  in severe financial trouble. The Washington Post Company’s newspaper revenue associated with online publishing fell 8% to $23 million in the first quarter of 2009. Washingtonpost.com had 8.7 million unique visitors in May, which makes it a large website, but clearly not big enough. Newspaper publishing revenue at the Post was $160.9 million in Q1, down 22% from the same period a year ago. The company losing revenue that fast cannot afford to have its online revenue shrink and account for only 14% of total sales. Read More »

Posted on: June 15, 2009 – 8:36 pm in Editor's Picks, Entertainment, Internet, Media, Old Media, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cisco (CSCO) Video Traffic Forecast Trouble For Cable And Telecoms?

ciscoCisco (CSCO) expected a staggering increase in IP traffic between now and 2013. A new report from the router company says that global IP traffic will quintuple in the five years ending in 2013.

The primary reason for the surge will be video traffic which Cisco defines as file-sharing, TV, internet video and video-one demand. Video will account for 91% of all consumer Internet traffic four years from now. Read More »

Posted on: June 9, 2009 – 1:50 pm in Cable Companies, Internet, Telecom, , , , , ,

Media Digest 5/22/2003 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Chrysler is already seeing positive effects from bankruptcy.

Reuters:   The US is working with GM (GM) on a Chapter 11 filing as the June1 deadline looms.

Reuters:   Pimco’s Gross says US is at risk of losing its AAA rating.

Reuters:   The US closed BankUnited and sold it to private equity interests.

Reuters:   AIG’s (AIG) Liddy stepped down as CEO.

Reuters:   The trillion dollar bailout is beginning to shake market confidence in the US economy.

Reuters:   New reports show the US has a bumpy road ahead as it moves toward recovery. Read More »

Posted on: May 22, 2009 – 2:58 am in Autos, Banking, Cable Companies, Consumer Electronics, Earnings, Economy, International Markets, Labor & Unions, Management Change, Mergers and Buy Outs, PC Companies, Pharmaceuticals, Press Digest, Private Equity, Retail, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 5/8/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperAccording to Reuters, stress tests results will force ten banks to have to raise nearly $75 billion.

Reuters reports that Toyota (TM) lost $6.9 billion and warned of more losses ahead.

Reuters writes that the NY Fed chairman resigned over potential conflicts of interest from his holdings in Goldman Sachs (GS).

Reuters reports that Oracle (ORCL) will not divest Sun’s (JAVA) hardware business.

Reuters reports that the CEO of Google (GOOG) says he expects more government scrutiny of his company. Read More »

Posted on: May 8, 2009 – 3:01 am in Banking, Cable Companies, Conglomerates, Corporate Governance, Earnings, Economy, Healthcare, Internet, Media, Press Digest, Retail, Technology, Technology Companies, Video Games, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 4/29/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaper27According to Reuters, the days of the CEOs of Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) may be numbered.

Reuters reports that a deal has been reached to cut Chrysler’s debt but a bankruptcy is still possible.

Reuters reports that Citigroup has sought approval to pay some bonuses.

Reuters writes that Apple (AAPL) may be using the iPhone to play Verizon (VZ) off against AT&T (T) Read More »

Posted on: April 29, 2009 – 2:52 am in Autos, Banking, Biotech, Cable Companies, Economy, Financial Stocks, Management Change, Press Digest, Software, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 2/27/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaper16According to Reuters, Obama is prepared to put up to $750 billion into banks.

Reuters reports that the government and Citigroup (C) has worked out an equity conversion deal that will give the government a large stake in the bank.

Reuters reports that the attorney general in NY wants a list of the top bonuses from Bank of America (BAC) Read More »

Posted on: February 27, 2009 – 3:50 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 2/10/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaper1According to Reuters, the White House is finishing a bank rescue package , that involves investment by private equity.

Reuters reports that a poll of analysts cut Q2 earnings forecasts.

Reuters reports that Amazon (AMZN) launched a new Kindle Read More »

Posted on: February 10, 2009 – 4:05 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 1/9/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

EmpireAccording to Reuters, the world is waiting on US jobs data to measure recession.

Reuters reports that a Congressional panel is upping criticism of the Treasury.

Reuters reports that corporate fraud scandals can happen anywhere.

Reuters reports that Moody’s warned on Honda (HMC).

Reuters reports that Yahoo (YHOO) is close to naming a new CEO.

Read More »

Posted on: January 9, 2009 – 3:56 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (ANN, CVC, COF, CELG, GME, PPDI, STJ, STI, THQI, WOOF, WU)

These are some of the many research upgrades we have seen from Wall Street analysts this Monday morning with more than two hours to the open:

  • Ann Taylor (ANN) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs
  • Cablevision (CVC) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research
  • Capital One Financial (COF) Raised to Market Perform at KBW
  • Celgene (CELG) Raised to Outperform at Baird
  • GameStop (GME) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray
  • Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPDI) Raised to Outperform at Baird
  • St. Jude Medical (STJ) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan
  • SunTrust Banks (STI) Raised to Market Perform at KBW
  • THQ (THQI) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray
  • VCA Antech (WOOF) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray
  • Western Union (WU) Raised to Buy at S&P Equity Research

Jon C. Ogg
October 13, 2008

Posted on: October 13, 2008 – 6:18 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Early-Bird Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ANN, CSUN, VRGY, CVC, KNX, OSK, WERN)

As this is last week of August, the daily upgrades and downgrades are rather thin as firms are starting to run on skeleton crews for one of the lightest news weeks of the year.  Here are today’s early-bird analyst upgrades and downgrades:

  • Ann Taylor (ANN) Raised to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
  • China Sunergy (CSUN) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • Verigy (VRGY) Raised to Hold at S&P.
  • Cablevision (CVC) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
  • Knight Transportation (KNX) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
  • Oshkosh (OSK) Cut to Sell at S&P.
  • Werner Enterprises (WERN) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.

Jon C. Ogg
August 25, 2008

Posted on: August 25, 2008 – 6:25 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , ,

Media Digest 8/22/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

According to Reuters, NewspaperWarren Buffett and the head of Blackstone (BX) called for a solution to the govenment’s growing debt load and reliance of foreign investors to finance US borrowing.

Reuters reports that Korean banks held talks with Lehman (LEH) about taking a stake in the US broker.

Reuters writes that Boeing (BA) is thinking of planning a protest for the way the bidding for a big tanker contest is being managed.

Read More »

Posted on: August 22, 2008 – 3:01 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,