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Amazon.com Gets More Active in Sports Collectibles, Going After eBay (AMZN, EBAY, CLCT)

Administrator — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:15:33 +0000

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is launching a new Sports Collectibles Store and it is claiming to offer more than 2 million unique collectibles from major sports leagues and sporting events. While this is a store rather than an auction format, there is one simple target here: eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) with its dominance of online auctions resulting in millions of dollars per month of sports collectibles passing through the eBay auction universe. Amazon wants a larger part of that market.

The company is aiming to bring a site for serious collectors and sports fans and offer a broad selection from official licensees of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and the International Federation of Association Football.

Collectors can now browse collectible items by item type, sport, year, team and price. The offerings will be from trading cards and ticket stubs to game-used jerseys and autographed sports gear.

For many of these products, the store will display the authentication source and condition rating from authentication service providers like Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT), and other such as James Spence Authentication (JSA) and Beckett Grading Services (BGS).

You will not find that T206 Honus Wagner baseball card for sale that we just discussed. That is for sale for $775,000 and a higher-grade sample just sold for north of $1.5 million. More detail on investing in the T206 Honus Wagner is here.

As far as how Amazon will assure authenticity, it noted “The emphasis on authenticated selection, combined with our A-to-z Guarantee protection on purchases, allows customers to shop the new store with confidence.”

Buyers should know that this may distort prices paid in many cases. If a wife or girlfriend wants to buy an item for an intimate other or if a father or mother want to buy collectibles for their kids, they may not have a firm grasp on the prevailing market price ranges that should be paid.

This will not derail the eBay auction dominance nor will it kill the auction houses which auction off the really high-end items. What it may skew is all of the items out on the market in the under-$50 to $300 priced items. The baseball memorabilia store’s top 7 items by price are all Babe Ruth signed baseballs and the rank is from over $46,000 down to $10,950. Thanks, but no thanks.

Lastly, keep in mind that Amazon has been selling many collectibles items. This launch is more of a focused effort and it means that Amazon wants to attract many more sellers. The new launch is here.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Apparel, Compensation, Consumer Goods, Entertainment, Internet, Luxury, Personal Finance, Retail Tagged: AMZN, CLCT, EBAY

Who Is at Fault at Avon?

247wallst — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:46:58 +0000

Avon’s (NYSE: AVP) vice chairman, Charles Cramb, was fired as the federal government examines whether the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He may have known about bribes Avon made outside the U.S. The government also has probed whether Avon management selectively disclosed financial information to a Wall St. analyst. And Avon’s CEO, Andrea Jung, will lose that job, but remain executive chairman. Two former CEOs of the company vocally objected to the action because they believe that new management is necessary to lead the troubled company.

Who is at fault as these issues and, most importantly, the issue of Avon’s financial performance, which has undermined the firm’s stock price and reputation? The board of directors.

The Avon board is an odd mix of people, some of whom are hardly qualified to sit in their positions. The board’s lead director, Fred Hassan, who should have been at the forefront of solving Avon’s management problems, has been much too slow in carrying out his duties. He has been a director as long as Jung has been CEO. He has been in a position to watch all of the firm’s troubles unfold and did nothing until he and others forced Jung out.

Maria Lagomasino, a private banker, has been on Avon’s board since 2000. It is hard to see how someone with her background has any reason to be involved with governance at a large public company. Don Cornwell has been on the board since 2002. He is a former radio executive. Paul Pressler, who was dismissed as the CEO of Gap (NYSE: GPS), is also on the board. His turn as the head of a public retail firm ended badly.

There are few precedents of public boards that have been dysfunctional as long as Avon’s. The best example may be Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), where the board stumbled and bumbled for years. The tech company hired former eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) CEO Meg Whitman. Many of the HP board members have left recently. The pressure for them to do so has existed for some time. It is remarkable that the board took so long to do what it should have long ago — bring in appropriately experienced directors.

The changes in Avon management have not been accompanied by changes on the board. Until they are, the reasons to trust that the company’s many problems can be fixed are nonexistent.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Retail Tagged: AVP, EBAY, GPS, HPQ

Alternative Investing: Two T206 Honus Wagner Cards For Sale In Same Month (CLCT, EBAY, MSFT, AAPL)

Administrator — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:18:23 +0000

Almost all investments rise and fall in price through time, and the same is true over the value of sports collectibles and baseball cards. The ‘investing’ rule in sports collectibles that has been true through good times and bad times is fairly simple: vintage collectibles of high quality tend to dominate over the mass-produced items from the 1980s all the way up to modern day. Almost everyone has heard of the great baseball players of the game such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, and Hank Aaron. Very few people know much about Honus Wagner as a baseball player. The difference is that most collectors (and collectible investors) know one thing for sure… The T206 Honus Wagner is the most desired sports collectible that exists.

January 2012 is the first time in memory that two different samples of the T206 Wagner card have been for sale in the same month. If you have nearly unlimited means, a T206 Wagner can end up in your collection right now. Another T206 Wagner just sold in early January.

Published reports indicate that there may be 50 to 100 samples of the T206 Honus Wagner that exist, but there may only be around 50 in existence after speaking with industry sources. A sale of $2.8 million for the “Wayne Gretzky” T206 Honus Wagner in 2007 set a record, and that was after the exact same card had been bought for about $2.35 million earlier that same year.

The reason this card is so rare is known as Honus Wagner decided to have the American Tobacco Company withdraw his card from the T206 series. The “why” this card is so rare remains a debate even today. Only a limited number of this card made it out into the public, or at least only a few which are known to have survived. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, baseball cards were promotional inserts for cigarettes packs and tobacco packages, as well as made for other products. They were far from being kids’ bubble gum cards that later generations would come to cherish.

The most common belief is that Wagner was anti-tobacco and did not want his image promoting cigarettes and tobacco products to children. Maybe, but Maybe not. This may have simply been a contract dispute over compensation or terms. Here is the argument for the latter case… Honus Wagner’s image appeared on cigar boxes in some of the same years around the debated time of 1909 to 1911 when the T206 cards were distributed. Robert Edwards Auctions has auctioned two such cigar boxes in recent years, and the Baseball Almanac shows these images as well.

While most baseball cards rise and fall in value and can be very cyclical, that just has not been the case for a T206 Honus Wagner. As it turns out, there are millions of people who collect baseball cards and memorabilia or who have collected in their lives. The Wall Street Journal reported in mid-2011 that there were 3.1 million millionaires in 2010. And the same report showed over 40,000 in North America worth $30 million or more. Some of these people are still collectors and there is no greater prize in sports collecting than being able to flaunt a T206 Wagner.

It was not very well covered in the media, but a T206 Honus Wagner from the famed Dreier collection just sold in early January 2012 through Legendary Auctions. It was graded by PSA, one of the industry-recognized grading services and the grading brand of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT). It was graded as a “4″ (on a scale of 1 to 10). This famed T206 Wagner sold for an undisclosed sum. After speaking with Doug Allen of Legendary, it was a privately negotiated transaction. Mr. Allen would not disclose the buyer nor could we get an exact price, but he quoted, “The sale was for more than $1.5 million.” An incredible sum indeed.

Now there is another sample of the card for sale right now, for a hefty price. Memory Lane has a “PSA 2″ graded T206 Wagner for sale today for a whopping $775,000.00. It is even advertised on eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) as item #290661465614. After speaking with J. P. Cohen of Memory Lane, this is card is on consignment and had previously been for sale at a higher price and the new price is said to be close to where offers came in for this exact card last year.

These two samples are not the only T206 Honus Wagner cards which have been sold in recent times. A unique sample was a proof strip from the T206 set which actually belonged to Honus Wagner himself. This was purchased at the Major League Baseball All-Star Auction by SCP Auctions (for an anonymous client) for the sum of $316,250 in 2010. It was also SCP Auctions Inc. which brokered the record $2.8 million sale mentioned earlier of the prized Gretzky T206 Wagner.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Compensation, Cult Stock, Economy, Editor's Picks, Entertainment, Luxury, Mergers and Buy Outs, Personal Finance, Private Equity, Special Report, Tobacco, Value Investing Tagged: AAPL, CLCT, EBAY, MSFT

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (V, MA, C, CVX, APD, EBAY, ZZ, BLK, BAC, FCS, FCX, MS, LUV, EGHT, TSL, JASO, STP)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:04:43 +0000

Stocks opened higher this morning and have mostly remained in positive territory throughout the day. Reports that China was considering lowering its banks’ capital reserve requirements boosted both Asian and European markets this morning, while early morning earnings reports put more air under the opening. Morning reports from the federal government on natural gas, crude oil, and refined products inventories weighed on both commodity prices and energy stocks. Crude is mixed today, with WTI down -0.28% at $100.31/barrel and Brent up 0.7% at $111.44. Gold fell about -0.45% today to $1,652.50.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 46 points to 12,625.19 (0.37%), the NASDAQ rose more than 18 points (0.67%) to 2,788.33, and the S&P 500 rose 0.5% or more than 6 points to 1,314.52.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) maintained ‘sell’ at Argus; Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) maintained as ‘buy’ with target price of $130 but lowered estimates at Argus; and Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan.

Earnings reports since markets closed yesterday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Ebay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is up nearly 4% at $31.55; Sealy Corp. Inc. (NYSE: ZZ) is down nearly -18% at $1.51; Blackrock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) is down -0.75% at $186.39; Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is up 2.65% at $6.98; Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. (NYSE: FCS) is down -3.51% at $14.02; Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) is down -0.22% at $44.37; Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is up 5.42% at $18.29; and Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is up 3.33% at $9.32.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

8×8 Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT) is up more than 26% at $4.30. The telecom services company reported much better-than-expected earnings for its third fiscal quarter.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is down more than -15% at $8.32. The solar panel maker is falling following Germany’s announcement that it will begin lowering its solar subsidies.

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is down nearly -15% at $$1.80. This Chinese solar panel maker is suffering from the German subsidy cut as well.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is down -14% at $3.18. Another Chinese solar maker hit by the cuts to German subsidies. The list could go on, but you get the idea.

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

10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: APD, BAC, BLK, C, CVX, EBAY, EGHT, FCS, FCX, JASO, LUV, MA, MS, STP, TSL, V, ZZ

Morning Wire — US Stock-Index Futures Higher

Paul Ausick — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:38:54 +0000

US index futures are higher this morning as European and Asian markets have all responded favorably to recent earnings announcements for US companies like Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), and Ebay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY). Prospects for a growing US economy have raised investors’ appetite for equities. China’s possible easing of its capital reserve requirements for banks is also providing a boost. The single piece of bad news is the bankruptcy filing by Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK), but that has long been expected.

At about 8:30 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX is up 0.64% at 6,395.41 and France’s CAC 40 is up 1.44%, at 3,311.85. In London, the FTSE 100 is up 0.49%, at 5,730.38.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed up 1.30%, at 19,942.90. The Nikkei index closed up 1.04%, at 8,639.68, and the Shanghai index closed up 1.31%, at 2,296.07.

Dow futures are up 0.34%, at 12,547.00. The Nasdaq 100 is up 0.42%, at 2,430.75 and the S&P is up 0.43%, at 1,307.80.

In the currency markets, the US dollar is weaker against the euro and the British pound and higher versus the Japanese yen. The US dollar index is down -0.299% at 80.242.

In commodities, WTI and Brent crude are higher this morning, with WTI up 1.21% at $101.81/barrel and Brent up 0.78% at $111.52/barrel. Gold is up 0.13% this morning, at $1,662.00/ounce.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Index, Market Open, The Day Tagged: BAC, EBAY, EK, MS

Media Digest (1/19/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:44:34 +0000

Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) files for Chapter 11. (Reuters)

Greece and its private lenders work toward a last-hour compromise on a debt exchange. (Reuters)

BP (NYSE: BP) likely to set a $20 billion to $25 billion deal to settle criminal and civil changes from the U.S. government. (Reuters)

EBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) expresses concerns about European business as it announces earnings. (Reuters)

Online demonstrations against an internet anti-piracy bill prompt some members of Congress to drop their support for the legislation. (Reuters)

Sony Ericsson posts an unexpected Q4 loss ahead of its ownership transfer to Sony (NYSE: SNE). (Reuters)

AT&T (NYSE: T) raises the price of data rates that it charges its wireless subscribers. (Reuters)

The new S&P CEO defends decisions to downgrade the U.S. and EU nations. (WSJ)

The White House rejects plans to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) plans to increase Volt sales. (WSJ)

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) says it expects record iron ore output this year. (WSJ)

California Governor Brown pushes for temporary tax increases to salvage the state’s finances. (WSJ)

The International Monetary Fund will try to raise several hundred billion dollars to support weak economies. (WSJ)

Italy sets new plans to allow its private businesses be more competitive. (WSJ)

Younger Chinese move much of their media consumption from TV to the internet. (WSJ)

Airbus raises the price of its A320neo. (WSJ)

Facebook adds a number of applications to keep users online for longer. (WSJ)

The SEC approves a merger between NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) and Deutsche Boerse. (WSJ)

China was a net seller of Treasuries in November. (WSJ)

The International Energy Agency cuts its oil demand outlook. (WSJ)

Hedge funds may sue Greece in the European Court of Human Rights if the nation does not honor bond obligations. (NYT)

A warm winter hurts retailers that sell goods for cold weather. (NYT)

Natural gas prices hit a decade low. (FT)

Commerzbank and Banca MPS may be low on funds and face partial takeovers by their respective governments. (FT)

PayPal’s numbers help eBay’s earnings. (FT)

UK consumer confidence falls. (Bloomberg)

Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) each expect markets to improve. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: BHP, BP, EBAY, EK, GM, GS, JPM, NYX, SNE, T

eBay Delivers… Offers Full 2012 Guidance (EBAY)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:28:30 +0000

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is out with earnings for its fourth quarter. The online auction giant (and PayPal winner) turned in earnings of $0.60 EPS on sales of growth of 35% to $3.4 billion. Thomson Reuters had earnings estimates of $0.57 EPS and $3.32 billion in revenues. This report offers something for everyone, bulls and bears alike.

The guidance for the quarter ahead is sales of $3.05 to $3.15 billion and on non-GAAP earnings of $ 0.50 to $0.51 EPS. That is a tad light against estimates of $0.54 EPS and $3.16 billion in revenues.

Guidance for all of 2012, a way-out look ahead, is being put in a revenue range of $13.7 billion to $14 billion and non-GAAP earnings in the range of $2.25 to $2.30 EPS. The consensus targets are $2.31 EPS on $13.66 billion in sales.

That stock chart noted in our preview may explain more of the post-earnings trading as eBay’s 50-day moving average is $30.54 and the 200-day moving average is $31.19.

eBay shares closed down 0.6% at $30.34 and shares are trading up around $30.65 in the after-hours session ahead of the conference call versus a 52-week range of $26.86 to $35.35.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Earnings, Internet Tagged: EBAY

Major Earnings Previews For The Week Ahead (C, WFC, EBAY, GS, XLNX, AXP, BAC, GOOG, INTC, IBM, ISRG, MSFT, UNH, GE, SLB)

Administrator — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:27:19 +0000

This shortened week is the first week full of many major companies reporting earnings season. We will have a clear direction for the financial leaders and many of the technology leaders after this week is over.

We have many key earnings, including some DJIA components, as follows: Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C); Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC); eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY); Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS); Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX); American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG); Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC); International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM); Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG); Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT); UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH); General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE); and Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB).

We have added in Thomson Reuters consensus data, as well as other bits of data and color if applicable.

Tuesday, January 17

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) both lead Tuesday morning off with earnings, and each are important. Wells Fargo is the healthier of the two and it does not trade at a discount to book value like its peers because it is deemed the least penalized of the money center banks in the new lower-trading and less risk environment. Both pulled back after J.P. Morgan earnings, but both were up handily so far this year.

Citi has estimates of $0.49 EPS and $18.54 billion in sales.

Wells Fargo has estimates of $0.72 EPS on $28.08 billion in sales.

Wednesday, January 18

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) has a bit of a neutral bias going into Wednesday’s earnings after the close as it is still mostly a domestic story for auctions, with PayPal being the biggest boost. Earnings estimates are $0.57 EPS and $3.32 billion in revenues.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) is due on Wednesday morning and the earnings estimates have been cratering ahead of the report. The current target is $1.24 EPS on $6.54 billion in sales, but the earnings targets were above $2.00 EPS recently and the street expected almost $3.00 just about 90 days ago.

Filed under: Calendar, Earnings, The Week Tagged: AXP, BAC, C, EBAY, GE, GOOG, GS, IBM, INTC, ISRG, MSFT, SLB, UNH, WFC, XLNX

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AZN, BLK, BRCM, CEG, ED, EBAY, ERIC, EXC, GOOG, NFLX, NOK, PSUN, SOL, SAP, SNY, TRN, UPS, VVUS, VMW)

Administrator — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:21:46 +0000

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

AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) Reiterated Buy with $46 price target at Argus.
Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Reiterated Buy with $40 price target at Argus.
LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) downgraded to Hold at Benchmark; Raised targets at boutique firm Global Equities Research.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Maintained Underperform and cut estimates at Needham.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse (full summary).
Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. (NASDAQ: PSUN) Raised to Buy at Janney Capital Markets.
ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) named as the Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Raised to Neutral at BNP Paribas.
Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Trinity Industries, Inc. (NYSE: TRN) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.
United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) Started as Perform at Rodman & Renshaw.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VWM) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.

If you enjoyed the morning Wall Street research notes, you can sign up to receive these directly in your inbox each morning by joining our free email list in the box below. We also include major movers, key stock calls, news on Warren Buffett and other gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AZN, BLK, BRCM, CEG, EBAY, ED, ERIC, EXC, GOOG, NFLX, NOK, PSUN, SAP, SNY, SOL, TRN, UPS, VMW, VVUS

Yahoo! Confirms New CEO (YHOO, EBAY, GOOG)

Administrator — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:11:58 +0000

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) has confirmed that it has appointed Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer. He will take over with an effective date of January 9, 2012. At that time, Tim Morse will resume his role as Chief Financial Officer of Yahoo!.

Thompson has also been appointed to Yahoo!’s Board of Directors at the same time he takes on the CEO role. As the reports had indicated, Thomson was most recently the President of the prized eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) unit PayPal and here is what the release noted: “Under his leadership, PayPal solidified its lead as the global online payment service, expanding its user base from 50 million to more than 104 million active users in 190 countries worldwide, increasing the number of merchant partners to more than 8 million globally, and growing revenues from $1.8 billion to $4+ billion in 2011.”

After Carol Bartz was fired, Yahoo! has had a strategy-lite operation and it is unknown how the company will spin off or divest its Asian assets in a tax-efficient and shareholder-friendly manner. The overseas assets are not simple to unload and there are tax ramifications that will likely arise. Ultimately, most shareholders investing in Yahoo! are betting on a buyout.

This news has been in the rumor mill and it is fair to ask if this is irony or coincidence that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) hit a 52-week high yesterday.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Internet, Management Change Tagged: EBAY, GOOG, YHOO