24/7 Wall St. » CVS

Big Changes to Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Stock Holdings, A to Z

Administrator — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:05:01 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) and Warren Buffett have just released their most recent U.S.-listed equity holdings for the Berkshire Hathaway empire. This cut off date is as of March 31, 2012 and Mr. Buffett has already said that he was buying some shares since the end of the quarter on weakness.

Also, keep in mind that portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler are still new and those new positions of under $200 million $300 million are likely tied to them.

24/7 Wall St. has gone through line by line of each position to see which stocks have been bought and sold as new positions, as well as having added in whether or not the number of shares grew or shrank on each since the prior quarter. We had added some color in on some of the positions if applicable.

Be advised that the number of subsidiaries that this filing covers is 14 entities rather than 18 entities in the prior quarter. There is also a note in the 13F filing showing that the SEC has granted “Confidential Treatment” on some Berkshire stock holdings and that likely suggests that Buffett is still acquiring a position he does not want the public to know about yet. This filing does not signal the half-dozen or more European shares that Buffett said he bought so that remains an outstanding issue as well.

The value of the stock portfolio was $66,151,587,000 at the end of 2011 and this was listed as $75,300,250,000 at the end of March 2012.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was over 151.6 million shares, SAME AS last quarter.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) is now 5.6 million shares, HIGHER THAN the 1,793,915 shares last quarter.

CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) is the SAME SIZE at 7.106 million shares after having been a new holding in a recent quarter and having been raised one quarter ago.

Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was right at 200 million shares, SAME AS BEFORE.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is roughly 29.1 million shares, roughly the SAME AS BEFORE but it is still lower than previous quarters in past reports.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 4,333,363 Shares, SAME AS last quarter after having lowered it before.

Da Vita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) is now 6 million shares worth $541 million and that LARGER THAN BEFORE after having been a new position of 2.684 million shares.

DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is a LARGER POSITION listed at 22.999 million worth over $1.13 billion. This one had been 20.348 million shares worth $870 million one quarter earlier and it had been a new position just two quarters ago at 4.249 million shares.

Filed under: Activist Investor, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Compensation, Conglomerates, Insider Activity, Mutual Funds Tagged: AXP, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, CDCO, COP, COST, CVS, DG, DVA, featured, GCI, GE, GM, GSK, IBM, INTC, IR, JNJ, KFT, KO, LMCA, MA, MCO, MTB, PG, SNY, TMK, UPS, USB, USG, V, VIA, VRSK, WFC, WMT, WPO

Most Likely Stock Purchases By Warren Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B, CVS, DVA, DTV, DG, GD, INTC, IBM, LMCA, V, WFC)

Administrator — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:04:26 +0000

Warren Buffett hosted the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) over the weekend and this Monday morning he gave a long interview to CNBC. In the interview Mr. Buffett noted how he still thinks stocks are cheap. More importantly, Buffett said he was using any weakness to buy stocks right now.

When Team Buffett adds to a position, it is often in the new or relatively new positions already in the Buffett portfolio. 24/7 Wall St. has taken a look at the recent additional stake or new stake positions to see which shares that Mr. Buffett and his team of portfolio managers has likely added to along with some color and logic behind the move.

CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) was a larger position as of the end of 2011 at 7.106 million shares after having been a new holding in a recent quarter. This was worth about $280 million at the start of 2012 and it is up more than 10% since then and the market cap here is $58 billion.

Da Vita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) was previously listed as a new position of 2.684 million shares worth $203 million at the end of 2011 but that position is worth about 12% more. This is the leader as a kidney dialysis provider. If the health trends remain then this one is right up Buffett’s alley.

DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) was most recently listed as a larger position which was listed as 20.348 million shares worth $870 million at the end of 2011. In a prior report we had it as a new position of 4.249 million shares one quarter earlier. The share price alone is up over 13% from the value at the end of 2011.

Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) is one of the stocks which we think Team Buffett would have liked to own much more of. The rapid rise in the value of the dollar store trends as a secular theme was even noticed at Berkshire. This was the same size at the end of 2011 at 4.497 million shares but this was a new position and a larger position and it seems that the price just appreciated too fast for Buffett and friends to add many shares. Perhaps they participated in the most recent secondary offering, but that might not appear based on the cut-off dates.

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) was most recently a larger stake of 3.877 million shares worth $257 million after being listed as a new position just one quarter earlier before of 3.064 million shares. These shares are hardly higher than the end of 2011, so perhaps Buffett and team have added to the stake on weakness.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) was a larger of 11.495 million shares worth $278 million at the end of 2011; this was a new position of 9.333 million shares last quarter. Shares are up 16% so far in 2012, so Buffett’s stake here may have grown in size and in value.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) is one that Buffett already hinted at owning more of, but perhaps that is due to IBM’s share float shrinking from its buybacks. The most recent filing showed some 63.905 million shares worth some $11.75 billion now after having been a new position with an average cost of about $170 per share. Buffett’s bet has been worth more than a 10% unrealized gain ($1 billion or so) on what is now one of his largest positions.

Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LMCA) was a new position of 1.7 million shares worth some $132.7 million. If Buffett is involved much here, it is under his new portfolio managers. Shares are up about 6% this year so far but it is unknown what the real goal or strategy is here when you consider the DirecTV angle.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) was most recently listed as a larger position of 2.865 million shares worth $291 million at the end of 2011. This was listed as 2.291 million shares in the previous quarter. The company has a near-duopoly and market strength and history that it seems just like a Buffett dream. He likes banks, but owning the toll road providers for the theme of consumers using less cash and more card swipes in the years ahead.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is almost certainly a larger stake. The reason for believing that is that Wells Fargo seems to be a position which grows in size infinitely and it was raised during the prior filing period to more than 383 million shares. As of Friday’s closing bell, that stake (assuming no share count growth at all) would be worth a shopping $12.65 billion.

It is unlikely that Buffett would have added to each and every position. He just doesn’t do that and his new team may be more interested in adding on other new targeted stocks on the books.

Again, here is the FULL BUFFETT STOCK HOLDINGS.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: Activist Investor, Buffett, Conglomerates, Insider Activity, Mutual Funds, Private Equity Tagged: BRK-A, BRK-B, CVS, DG, DTV, DVA, GD, IBM, INTC, LMCA, V, WFC

Express Scripts, Medco Merger Completed (ESRX, CVS)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:43:21 +0000

The $29.1 billion merger between Express Scripts Inc. (NASDAQ: ESRX) and Medco Health Solutions Inc. has been cleared by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the companies have announced that the completion of the merger. The merger was allowed on a 3-1 vote of the FTC.

It appears that the FTC bought the argument from Express Scripts and Medco that the combined company would have more clout with pharmacies and drug makers to reduce prices to consumers. Critics argued that allowing the merger would reduce competition and drive up costs to consumers.

In a dissenting opinion, commissioner Julie Brill argued that no court has ever approved a merger that created a “duopoly” in a market and that the merger should have been enjoined and gone to trial in federal court. Caremark CVS Corp. (NYSE: CVS) is the other large pharmacy benefits management firm Brill referred to as part of the duopoly.

Express Scripts shares are up about 4.9% shortly after opening this morning at $56.81 in a 52-week range of $34.47-$60.89.

Filed under: Healthcare, Mergers and Buy Outs Tagged: CVS, ESRX

Media Digest (3/22/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:37:55 +0000

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) tries to end a legal case concerning fraud in its CDO sales. (Reuters)

China’s factory activity slows, as evidenced by the HSBC flash PMI of 48.1, a low reading. (Reuters)

A Brazilian court brings charges against Chevron (NYSE: CVS) and Transocean (NYSE: RIG) over an oil spill. (Reuters)

The inspector general at the Federal Housing Finance Agency finds fault with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for spending lavishly on an industry conference. (Reuters)

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) receives permission to drill for shale gas in China. (Reuters)

The Joint Committee on Taxation says the so-called Buffett bill would not raise as much money as anticipated as the rich would often find ways around the levy. (WSJ)

Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) changes the structure of its U.S. operation to skirt Dodd-Frank rules. (WSJ)

Hartford Financial (NYSE: HIG) to leave the annuity business. (WSJ)

Jim Skinner, CEO of McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), to retire. (WSJ)

The U.S. is running out of storage facilities for natural gas. (WSJ)

Gary Pruitt, CEO of McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), will become the CEO of the Associated Press. (WSJ)

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) defend the right of telecoms to buy spectrum from cable companies. (WSJ)

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) says China still blocks sales of some of its products, including versions of its Xbox. (WSJ)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says student loans now total more than $1 trillion. (WSJ)

German politicians intend to balance its budget in two years. (WSJ)

Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI) will buy Actavis for $5.9 billion in a consolidation of the generics industry. (WSJ)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) may speed plans for the brokerage to take over Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. (WSJ)

Bernanke and Geithner praise the financial progress of Europe in testimony before Congress. (NYT)

Homebuilder stocks reach a two-year high as it appears the housing market may have stabilized. (NYT)

Alaska will support a $40 billion gas line project to transport liquid natural gas. (FT)

Jaguar may invest $3 billion in Chinese car company Chery. (Bloomberg)

The head of airline Emirates says more airlines will falter because of fuel prices. (Bloomberg)

Japan posts a trade surplus. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: C, CMCSA, CVS, DB, GS, HBC, MCD, MNI, MS, MSFT, RDS-A, RIG, VZ, WPI

Twelve Retailers Flunking Customer Service

247wallst — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:36:24 +0000

As recently as 2009, Netflix was the most beloved retailer on the Internet. By the end of 2011, following the failed separation of its streaming and DVD by mail service and sharp price increases, the company had the sixth-worst customer satisfaction rating among all e-commerce companies, and one of the worst among all retailers including brick-and-mortar outfits, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

Read The Twelve Retailers Flunking Customer Service

24/7 Wall St. examined ACSI’s annual retail and e-commerce satisfaction report and identified the 12 companies whose customer satisfaction decreased in 2011.

Many of the companies whose customer satisfaction scores dropped the past year have simply cemented their already terrible service reputations.

Walmart, which debuted strong on the Index in 1994, dropped to among the lowest ranked companies by 1996, where it has remained since. Winn-Dixie, a supermarket chain which does business in the southeast, is an example of a company that has never managed to break free of the lowest rungs of customer service. CVS Caremark and Staples, both on this list, have seen occasional improvements in customer service, but are among the worst.

For other companies, however, losing customer satisfaction is in conflict with their reputations. Amazon.com had a 1.1% decrease in its customer service score this past year, even though it still maintained the highest customer satisfaction score among retailers. Charles Schwab’s customer satisfaction also dipped slightly, despite the fact that customers are more satisfied with the company than with any other online brokerage firm.

These are the American retailers with customer satisfaction scores fell in 2011.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, General, Special Report Tagged: AMZN, BKS, CVS, DG, ESRX, ETFC, EXPE, NFLX, ODP, OMX, OWW, PCLN, RAD, SCHW, SPLS, WAG, WINN, WMT

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Stock Holdings, A to K (BRK-B, BRK-A, AXP, BK, KO, CVS, CDCO, COP, COST, DVA, DG, GCI, GE, GSK, INTC, IR, IBM, JNJ, KFT, XOM)

Administrator — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:48:43 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) and Warren Buffett have just released the latest holdings of U.S.-listed equities as of December 30, 2011. These public stock holdings have been broken down into two groups so it is more concise. Keep in mind that portfolio manager Todd Combs is still relatively new and none of the positions from the newer portfolio manager Ted Weschler will likely be reflected at all in these positions yet as the cut-off date is December 31, 2011.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was over 151.6 million shares, SAME AS last quarter.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) was 1,793,915 shares, SAME AS last quarter.
CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) is LARGER POSITION at 7.106 million shares after having been a new holding in a recent quarter.
Comdisco Holdings (NASDAQ: CDCO) was roughly 1.5 million shares, SAME AS BEFORE.
Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was right at 200 million shares, SAME AS BEFORE.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is roughly 29.1 million shares, roughly the SAME AS BEFORE but it is still lower than previous quarters.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 4,333,363 Shares, SAME AS last quarter after having lowered it before.
Da Vita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) is a NEW POSITION of 2.684 million shares worth $203 million.
DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is a LARGER POSITION listed as 20.348 million shares worth $870 million; was a new position of 4.249 million shares one quarter earlier.
Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) is that SAME SIZE as before at 4.497 million shares; was a new position and a grown position before. This one of our Top Stocks for the Next Decade.
Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) was 1.74 million, SAME AS BEFORE but decreased in prior quarters.
General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) is a LARGER POSITION of 3.877 million shares worth $257 million after being a new position before of 3.064 million shares.
General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE) is 7.777 million shares; SAME AS before.
GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) 1.51 million shares, SAME AS last quarter.
Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) was 636,600; SAME AS last quarter but still way down from prior reports.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is a LARGER POSITION of 11.495 million shares worth $278 million; this was a new position of 9.333 million shares last quarter.
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) is now 63.905 million shares worth some $11.75 billion now after having been a new position with an average cost of about $170 per share.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was a LOWER POSITION of about 29 million shares; lower than 37.4 million last quarter and way under the peak of 62 million shares at one point in prior quarters.
Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) was a LOWER POSITION at about 87 million shares, down from 89.7+ million last quarter and this has continued to be lightened up since the Cadbury purchase.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was ELIMINATED FROM THE PORTFOLIO after having been only 421,800 shares last quarter and lowered earlier.

PAGE TWO…BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘L to Z’

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance, Private Equity Tagged: AXP, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, CDCO, COP, COST, CVS, DG, DVA, GCI, GE, GSK, IBM, INTC, IR, JNJ, KFT, KO, XOM

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (YUM, DMD, NLY, MS, UBS, AGU, CVS, RL, RAI, TWX, DIS, WYN, BWLD, CSCO, CZR, FFN, TNK, AKAM, NURO)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:06:49 +0000

The US equity markets opened slightly higher this morning, but soon turned around and spent the rest of the morning lower before returning to about even by afternoon. Equities could close at or near where they opened today. The lack of a decision on the Greek debt swap deal is leading investors to exercise caution both in Europe and the US. If the new Greek deal is anything like the last dozen or so, it will send markets up as soon as it is announced; and once people have a chance to read the details, markets will turn south again. Crude is higher today, with WTI up 0.51% at $98.91/barrel and Brent up 1.24% at $117.67/barrel. Gold closed down -0.73% at $1,735.60/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 6 points to 12,883.95 (0.04%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 12 points (0.41%) to 2,915.86, and the S&P 500 rose 0.22% or about 3 points to 1,349.97.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) cut to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) cut to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) cut to ‘market perform’ at FBR; Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) cut to ‘hold’ at Collins Stewart; and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) cut to ‘sell’ at Deutsche Bank.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) is up 2.16% at $82.95; CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) is up 1.18% at $43.59 after posting a new 52-week high of $44.08 earlier in the day; Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) is up 9.8% at $172.50 after posting a new 52-week high of $178.47 earlier today; Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) is down -1.35% at $39.57; Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) is up 0.3% at $38.21 after posting a new 52-week high of $39.23 earlier today; Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is up 0.95 at $41.34; Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: WYN) is up 5.6% at $43.22 after posting a new 52-week high of $43.36 earlier today; and Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) is up nearly 17% at $82.04 after posting a new 52-week high of $82.45 earlier today.

Our preview of tomorrow’s earnings releases is here. Also see our coverage of earnings for Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) due after markets close today

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Ceasars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR) is up more than 70% at $15.32. The casino owner completed its IPO today, with 1.8 million shares going out at $9/share. We have some issues with this IPO.

FriendFinder Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFN) is up nearly 33% at $1.95. The adult dating site had no news today, so this must just be more halo effect from Facebook — or something else.

Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: TNK) is down more than -12% today at $3.98. The shipping company this morning priced a secondary stock offering of 15 million shares at $4/share.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is up about 2% at $34.33. The internet company acquired a Canadian company today, and reports earnings after markets close today. We have more coverage here.

NeuroMetrix Inc. (NASDAQ: NURO) is down more than -17% at $0.95 after posting a new 52-week low of $0.94 earlier today. The medical device maker priced a secondary offering of 10.5 million shares at $1/share this morning.

Stay tuned for Thursday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – New unemployment benefits claims
10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade report
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
1:00 p.m. – Treasury 30-year bond auction
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AGU, AKAM, BWLD, CSCO, CVS, CZR, DIS, DMD, FFN, MS, NLY, NURO, RAI, RL, TNK, TWX, UBS, WYN, YUM

Media Digest (1/13/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:39:47 +0000

TPG may invest $1 billion in troubled Olympus. (Reuters)

President Obama to ask for a $1.2 trillion increase in the national debt ceiling. (Reuters)

China’s foreign currency reserves drop to $3.18 trillion, a sign that exports have slowed enough to change monetary policy. (Reuters)

Novartis (NYSE: NVS) will cut 2,000 jobs in the U.S. (Reuters)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) stops iPhone sales in China when crowds become unruly. (Reuters)

Several buyers, including Delta (NYSE: DAL) and US Air (NYSE: LCC), may approach American Airlines parent AMR about a buyout. (Reuters)

Yields fall at Italy and Spain debt sales. (Reuters)

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) may have retained Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to look at strategic alternatives. (Reuters)

The Fed may force Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to leave a number of businesses and some areas of the country. (WSJ)

Goldman Sachs approaches federal officials about buying the troubled bond portfolio of AIG (NYSE: AIG). (WSJ)

A strategic review of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) by its board likely will not prompt the firing of its CEO, Indra Nooyi. (WSJ)

China sets new rules to make it easier for foreign investors to put capital into the country. (WSJ)

A Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) shareholder files suit about a possible donation the company made to a university in Macau. (WSJ)

Low retail sales raise concerns about the pace of the recovery. (WSJ)

An agency of the U.S. government pressures AMR to keep its pension plans intact. (WSJ)

Eurozone factory output drops in November, based on year-over-year numbers. (WSJ)

The government probes potentially illegal financial activities at Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND). (WSJ)

Several lenders to Sears Holdings’ (NASDAQ: SHLD) suppliers want faster payments to those suppliers. (WSJ)

BMW and Mercedes increase production in the U.S. (WSJ)

Peugeot would like to form a broad alliance with another car company. (WSJ)

International bond investors largely believe a deal on Greek debt will be done, but not on the terms Greece expects. (WSJ)

China may invest some of its foreign reserves in stocks to get better returns. (WSJ)

Corn prices fall on new, higher estimates of U.S. production. (WSJ)

Members of the 2006 Fed did not anticipate the housing collapse. (NYT)

CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) pays $5 million for charging too much for some drugs. (NYT)

Target (NYSE: TGT) will set up small Apple stores inside its retail locations. (NYT)

The creditworthiness of U.S. companies fell over the past 30 years, according to S&P. (FT)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and LG discuss a new TV project. (Bloomberg)

Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) approaches Citigroup (NYSE: C) for capital it might use as part of a bankruptcy. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, AIG, BAC, C, CVS, DAL, DMND, EK, GOOG, GS, LCC, NVS, PEP, RIMM, SHLD, TGT, WYNN

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (T, FFIV, URBN, AMGN, BAX, CAG, GIS, NAV, SAFM, JEF, NKE, ORCL, TRGT, CIE, CSIQ, PBH, HOV, CVS)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:06:30 +0000

US equity markets opened sharply higher this morning and have been able to sustain and even add to those gains throughout the day. Business and consumer confidence indexes in Europe were higher, giving an early boost to share prices. Then an unexpectedly large jump in new housing starts, especially multi-family dwellings, put an extra charge into investors. Proposed Federal Reserve rules governing big banks have had little impact on financial stocks, which are up about 4% in the late afternoon. Today’s auction of five-year Treasury went out at 0.880%, a record low yield. Crude oil is also sharply higher today, with WTI trading at $97.22/barrel, up more than 3.5%, and Brent is up 3.34% at $106.98. The US dollar has traded weaker all day today. Gold settled on the Comex up about 1.3%, at $1,616.80.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 336 points to 12,101.92 (2.85%), the NASDAQ rose more than 80 points (3.19%) to 2,603.73, and the S&P 500 rose 2.98% or nearly 36 points to 1,241.22.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan. Other ratings actions today include F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) cut from ‘perform’ to ‘underperform’ at Oppenheimer; Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) raised from ‘outperform’ to ‘Top Pick’ at FBR Capital; Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) added to ‘Strong Buy List’ at Zacks; and Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) lowered from ‘Top Pick List’ to ‘outperform’ and target price lowered from $61 to $58 at RBC Capital Markets.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) is up 4% at $26.18; General Mills Inc. is down about -1% at $39.19; Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) is up nearly 7% at $39.05; Sanderson Farms Inc. (NASDAQ: SAFM) is down -4% at $48.66; and Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF) is up more than 22% at $14.46. After markets close today we get earnings from Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) and Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL). See our 360 coverage on Oracle here and coverage of the ConAgra and General Mills reports here.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Targacept Inc. (NASDAQ: TRGT) is down more than -35% at $5.01, after posting a new 52-week low of $4.92 earlier in the day. The pharmaceutical maker’s anti-depressant drug, developed in conjunction with AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN) has failed a late-stage trial.

Cobalt International Energy Inc. (NYSE: CIE) is up nearly 38% at $13.81. The oil & gas exploration company has signed a production-sharing agreement for a block offshore of Angola. Cobalt owns 40% of the project and is the operator.

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) is up nearly 33% at $2.93. The solar panel maker has sold about 86 megawatts of generation to TransCanada Corp. (NYSE: TRP) for approximately $455 million.

Prestige Brand Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PBH) is up nearly 21% at $11.27. The drug and cleaning supplies company paid $660 million for a selection of nonprescription drugs from GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE: GSK).

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) is up more than 18% at $1.50. The home builder is riding the wave of good news about new housing starts.

CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) is up about 9% at $39.85, after posting a new 52-week high earlier of $39.86. The healthcare company raised fiscal year guidance and boosted its quarterly dividend by 30%, to $0.1625/share.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. The most widely anticipated report for tomorrow is due at 8:30 a.m. from the National Association of Realtors, which will be revising its new home sales data from 2007 forward. Lower sales of up to -13% are expected. Here are other noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
1:00 p.m. – 7-year Treasury note auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AMGN, BAX, CAG, CIE, CSIQ, CVS, FFIV, GIS, HOV, JEF, NAV, NKE, ORCL, PBH, SAFM, T, TRGT, URBN

America’s 10 Highest Paid CEOs (Which Are Worth It?)

Charles B. Stockdale — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:22:17 +0000

Several lists of the highest paid CEOs in America are published each year mostly by the business media and shareholder groups. All are based on proxy statements. Long before the lists are published, the boards of directors of these companies try to justify the compensation packages for shareholders. Investors often are skeptical of these defenses, and they should be. It is rare, but not impossible, to show that a chief executive deserves $50 million, or even $100 million a year.

Read America’s 10 Highest Paid CEOs

Based on the annual CEO Pay Survey 2011 by GMI, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 highest paid CEOs. We then analyzed company performance of the highest paid CEOs to determine which pay packages were worth the investment.

Such a review about management compensation is by its nature subjective and different from a board’s reasoning. A board may take into account the long-term record of a CEO who has held his or her job for several years. The board might set a pay package based on an extraordinary year. The directors also may pay a CEO well just before he or she retires. 24/7 Wall St. has downplayed each of these factors, but has not eliminated them. Our judgment of “fairness” is based on what shareholders received in the year as the CEO’s compensation year. Our primary measurements are revenue growth, earnings growth and stock price change.

This is the 24/7 Wall St. list of the 10 highest paid CEOs for 2010 and an analysis of whether their compensations were worth the payments in terms of shareholder returns. All compensation considerations used to set pay, which include board of director criteria from each company, come from SEC-filed proxies.

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