Posts for Ticker ‘ETFC’

AMERITRADE Shelf Registration Spurs E*TRADE Speculation Further (AMTD, ETFC, SCHW)

TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) has just filed an automatic shelf registration statement with the SEC today, which many rumor mongers may jump on and point to the notion that this lends more credibility to some buyout rumors from yesterday that it may want to acquire E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC).  AMERITRADE did not offer any terms nor any size or timing, but the offering is solely for senior debt securities and for subsidiary guarantees.  As with most automatic shelf registrations, no underwriters were mentioned by name.
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Posted on: November 19, 2009 – 11:38 am in Banking, Brokerage Firms, Financial Stocks, Mergers and Buy Outs, Rumors, , ,

Today’s Best Market Rumors (11/19/2009) (BA)(AMTD)(MWW)(NWSA)(AAPL)

Updated throughout the day.

Update 12.50 PM EST:  Boeing (NYSE:BA) could lose a $7.5 billion order for fighter planes to Brazil if the US Senate does not confirm Obama’s nominee to be ambassador to the South American country  (Bloomberg)

Update 11.08 AM EST:  TDAmeritrade (NASDAQ:AMTD) may be buying E*Trade  (NASDAQ:ETFC)  (Omaha World Herald)

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has lost a large number of its most talented people to hedge funds. (Bloomberg)

The Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) tablet PC launch date has been delayed until late 2010.  (Digitimes)

Monster.com (NASDAQ:MWW) may be taken over by News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) or Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)  (WSJ)

Blackstone’s (NYSE:BX) Pinnacle Brands may buy Birds Eye  (CNBC)

Sony (NYSE:SNE), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Nintendo are working on ways to keep market share as smart phones come after their market share.  (BusinessWeek)

Time Warner’s (NYSE:TWX) AOL is seeking to buy-out 2,500 employees as it is spun off by its parent. (various)

Citigroup (NYSE:C) may sell its auto lending group.  (NYPost)

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on key analyst calls, top day trader alerts, mergers and acquisitions, Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

For more information on Citi, Microsoft, Sony, and Google check the 24/7 Wall St 500.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: November 19, 2009 – 8:45 am in Rumors, , , , , , , , , , ,

CIT Highlights Risks in Junkier Financial Stocks (CIT, FNM, FRE, ABK, C, ETFC, AIG, PMI)

Burning Money PicIt is of little surprise that CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT) is seeing clobbered today.  The company has finally filed its pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy package and that has CIT shares down a sharp 63% at $0.26 on triple its average volume.  By now, the game is probably known by everyone that bankruptcy usually leaves shareholders of common stock out in the cold.  Should it be of any surprise that the “other troubled financial stocks” are seeing their shares head south?

It was just a week ago that I discussed the Fannie-Freddie equity conundrum.  Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) are down further.  After all, these two are in government conservatorship.  It is even easy to argue that these are just being kept alive so that Uncle Sam doesn’t have to include the obligations on the Fed’s balance sheet.  And how many investors in these companies really believe that they are holding anything more than a long-term warrant or LEAP option that is way out of the money?  Fannie Mae is down 7.4% at $1.00 and Freddie Mac is down almost 9% at $1.12, and neither are on active volume today.
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Posted on: November 2, 2009 – 3:36 pm in Banking, Financial Stocks, Trading Alert, , , , , , , ,

Top Day Trader Alerts (AMD, APOL, ETFC, ILMN, LVLT, PVTB)

These are this morning’s top day trader and active trader alerts from us with links through to updates and more detailed price-volume analysis with a link to each stock at VSInvestor.com:

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

Posted on: October 28, 2009 – 9:07 am in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , ,

Top Day Trader Alerts (AVCT, ETFC, CIT, AIG, IRET, CRUS, NTRI)

These are this Tuesday morning’s top day trader alerts and active trader alert stocks for Monday.  We have more details on volume and price analysis on each stock covered at VSInvestor.com:

Avocet Corporation (NASDAQ: AVCT) is surging to new recent highs on a buyout on exponential trading volume.

E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC), CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), and American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) are all trading higher this morning on no significant news besides market sentiment.

Investors Real Estate Trust (NASDAQ: IRET) is trading down about 4% on a secondary offering.

Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) was very active in the upside gainers last night on raised guidance and is still indicated higher.

NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRI) is rocketing on the Wal-Mart pact, partly because of one monster short interest.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for reminders of the top day trader alerts, analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG

OCTOBER 6, 2009

Posted on: October 6, 2009 – 8:50 am in After-Hours Activity, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , , ,

Today’s Best Market Rumors (10/5/2009)

newspaperUpdated throughout the day.

Update 10.03 AM: NetApp (NTAP) may be on a short list of tech buy-out targets but does not appear to have any real suitors.  (Barron’s)

Update 9.55 AM:  CIT’s (CIT) bond swap may not solve its acute problem of access to unsecured commercial paper. (The Deal)

Brocade (BRCD) has put itself up for sale  (WSJ)

Dolby (DLB), Skechers (SKX), and E*Trade (ETFC) could be buy-out targets (SIA)

Solar companies may be messing around with their accounting  (Barron’s)

Cash4Gold will have revenue of $160 million this year, proof that there is not justice in life.  (TechCrunch)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: October 5, 2009 – 9:23 am in Rumors, , , ,

Financial Junk Acting Independently (CIT, FNM, FRE, ABK, AIG, ETFC)

cit-logoCIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT) is back to looking like its shares the paper they are printed on could be less valuable and less useful than toilet paper.  What is surprising is that this is not killing the other junky actively financial stocks.  CIT is down almost 40% at $1.46 on over 32 million shares on reports that it is close to collapsing, and that is before the market is even open. Common logic would dictate that this relation of one moving the others would be the case.  But junk under one roof is valued differently than junk under another roof.

Right before the open, there are many of the other junky financial stocks that are flat or trading up.  Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) is flat at $1.56 on less than 500,000 shares, while Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) is down 0.5% at $1.84 also on under 500,000 shares.  Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK) is actually up 1% at $1.80 on only 30,000 shares.

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Posted on: September 30, 2009 – 9:30 am in Accounting, Banking, Financial Stocks, Trading Alert, , , , , ,

Top Day Trader Alerts (AOB, DPTR, ETFC, C, FNM, FRE, AIG)

These are this Tuesday morning’s top day trader alert stocks and actively trade stocks.  We have more detailed price and volume analysis and data on each stock with links provided through at VSInvestor.com:

American Oriental Bioengineering Inc. (NYSE: AOB) is down after Asensio.com panned some issues inside the company.  Delta Petroleum Corp. (NASDAQ: DPTR) is trading fairly well considering its 45% drop yesterday.  We are seeing much trading interest in the return of the junk-financial stocks.  E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) is up another 4% pre-market and taking out near-term resistance.  Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) is up after Singapore lightened its share ownership stake.

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) are even hitting September highs.  If you want proof that the financial risk trade is coming back on, even American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) is up over 10% and over $50.00 this morning and challenging those late August highs.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top day trader alerts, analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 22, 2009 – 9:02 am in After-Hours Activity, Financial Stocks, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , , ,

Unusual Options Trading Screens (EK, ETFC, ODP, ARNA, FCX, S, FORM, POT)

It is the weekend, and that means that our end-of-week screen for unusual options trading activity is complete.  Of course expiration date throws a wrench in any screens, but we found some very unusual options trading in others not tied to options expiration and roll-out trades.  We have provided a link through to each for more color and analysis on the specific options and stock moves at VSInvestor.com:

Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) tanked on high stock volume from the KKR deal this week. But the real impressive area was the unusual options trading.

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) is under $2.00, yet options trading is looking very active.  Here we gave price triggers to watch out for as possible resistance, if you can use such a thing on a $2.00 stock.

Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE: ODP) is very rare to see on the unusual stock options list, yet there it was. The big trade was out to January.

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) was not just impressive.  It was a huge winner since it was down and then closed up and saw high options and stock trading.  This will be a key watch-list stock for traders this coming week. The options trading may have been a roll-out.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) very active compared to normal volume in options trading, yet not in the stock volume… $1,000 gold is the likely trigger.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) was very active in stocks and in options, probably a continued bet that management and operations may need to learn to speak German….

FormFactor Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) may be a hedge or income trade of some sort, but this is a very odd pattern by any measure.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. (NYSE: POT) saw a bullish bias in the options roll as September-2009 contracts expired.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top day trader alerts, options screens, analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 19, 2009 – 10:33 am in Options, Trading Alert, , , , , , , ,

Top Day Trader Alerts (ARNA, VVUS, DVR, HLX, ETFC, SCHW, PALM)

These are this Friday morning’s top day trader and active trader alert stocks with moves on unusual volume.  We have also provided more details on price and volume analysis with links through to each stock at VSInvestor.com:

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) had good news but is trading lower as VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) looks better.

Cal Dive International Inc. (NYSE: DVR) is trading 3% lower on a seondary offering of shares that is being sold by Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (NYSE: HLX).

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) is trading up sharply at the expense of Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) after a Goldman Sachs analyst call.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE: MWA) is actually trading up after its secondary offering size was increased on strong demand from a large underwriting group.

Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) is trading down marginally, but is seems like its direction is not clear yet.  We have more details on levels to watch for support and resistance.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top day trader alerts, analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

Jon C. Ogg
September 18, 2009

Posted on: September 18, 2009 – 8:55 am in After-Hours Activity, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (ALL, AMT, AAPL, CCI, ETFC, HGG, KBH, MFE, PCG, PG, SBUX, TOL, VMW)

These are this Friday morning’s top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research calls from Wall Street affecting shares:

Allstate (ALL) Raised to Buy at Argus.
American Tower Corp. (AMT) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Apple (AAPL) Raised to Outperform at Macquarie.
Crown Castle International (CCI) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
E*TRADE Financial (ETFC) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Hhgregg (HGG) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
KB Home (KBH) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
McAfee (MFE) Started as Outperform at William Blair.
PG&E Corp. (PCG) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Procter & Gamble (PG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Starbucks (SBUX) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Toll Brothers (TOL) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
VMware (VMW) Target raised to $32 from $23 at Auriga.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 18, 2009 – 8:10 am in Analyst Calls, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

E*TRADE Almost Reverses Own Fortune (ETFC)

ETRADE LogoThe analyst who upgraded E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) at Citigroup is probably not feeling as confident as compared to about an hour ago.  Citi raised its rating to BUY from Hold and raised its target to $2.30 from $1.50.  This had shares marked up higher as per our “Volume Spike” alert service.  But then at 9:20 AM EST, a headline hit saying that E*TRADE had terminated its stockholder rights plan and filed for an ATM (at-the-market) program to issue common stock.  This is on the heels of the announced CEO departure last week.
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Posted on: September 14, 2009 – 10:08 am in Analyst Calls, Brokerage Firms, Secondary Offering,

Top Day Trader Alerts (ARIA, DPTR, ETFC, FSLR, MOS, POT, SLXP, S)

These are this Monday’s top day trader alert and active trader alert stocks.  We have more color and more detail on price and volume analysis linked through to each at VSInvestor.com:

Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) is one of the top gainers, up 15%… on positive study data.

Delta Petroleum Corporation (NASDAQ: DPTR) is down almost 8% and should be an active stock like it was last week.

E*Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) is up over 5% on an Citi call to “Buy” shares.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is down over 3% on an analyst cut to Sell.

The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) are both getting clipped on a key analyst downgrade this morning.

Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (NASDAQ: SLXP) is the biggest gainer this morning with a 50% gain on its key IBS study results.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) is rallying over 20% on word of a Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) bid coming.  Here wwe noticed the stock is close to resistance, assuming the normal trading takes over after the jump up.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top day trader alerts, top analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG
SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Posted on: September 14, 2009 – 8:58 am in After-Hours Activity, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades (BSX, DWA, ETFC, FSLR, LVS, MSFT, MOS, POT, UPS, UA)

These are the top 10 analyst calls for upgrades and downgrades seen early this Monday morning from Wall Street research firms:
Boston Scientific (BSX) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
DreamWorks Animation (DWA) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.
E*TRADE Financial (ETFC) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
First Solar (FSLR) Cut to Sell at Soleil.
Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Raised to Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Microsoft (MSFT) Raised to Buy at Auriga.
Mosaic (MOS) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
UPS (UPS) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Under Armour (UA) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 14, 2009 – 8:18 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

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

newspaperReuters:   Ebay (EBAY) will sell Skype to private investors.

Reuters:   China’s manufacturing index gained.

Reuters:   A  late Labor Day will hurt August retail sales.

Reuters:   A US judge ruled against AIG (AIG) in a dispute with its former CEO. Read More »

Posted on: September 1, 2009 – 3:57 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Shorts Flee Tech Stocks (MSFT)(INTC)(ORCL)(CSCO)

bearShort sellers moved out of tech stocks in large volumes at mid-month. Based on short interest figures as of August 14, shares short in Intel (INTC) fell 33% to 88.3 million. The short interest in Microsoft (MSFT) was down 4% to 65.1 million. Shares short in Cisco (CSCO) fell 14% to 44.2 million. Short interest in Oracle (ORCL) dropped 13% to 29.5 million. The short interest in Nvidia (NVDA) dropped 29% to 26.2 million.

Among other widely followed stocks traded on Nasdaq, shares short in Sirius XM (SIRI) fell 11% to 119.6 million. Shares short in Level 3 (LVLT) were down 5% to 93.8 million. The short interest in Starbucks (SBUX) was up 10% to 44.3 million. Read More »

Posted on: August 25, 2009 – 7:00 pm in Short Interest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 8/14/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The Chinese are learning the problem of easy access to credit cards.

Reuters:   The US recovery is still slow while France and Germany are rebounding.

Reuters:   UBS (UBS) clients in America may face criminal charges.

Reuters:   Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) defended its valuation of derivatives. Read More »

Posted on: August 14, 2009 – 4:08 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Short Interest Highlights: Out Of Banks And Into GE (GE)

bearShort sellers are will to bet, at least for now, that the worst of the banking earning crisis is over. Short interest in a number of large financial companies fell sharply for the period ending July 15.

Shares sold short in AIG (AIG) fell 91% to 21.9 million. The short interest in Bank of America (BAC) fell 18% to 89.7 million. Shares sold short in Freddie Mac (FRE) dropped 18% to 65.9 million. The short interest in Wells Fargo (WFC) was down 11% to 108 million. Shares sold short in Visa (V) were off 42% to 18.9 million. Read More »

Posted on: July 25, 2009 – 10:00 am in Editor's Picks, Short Interest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

E*TRADE Looks A Tad Brighter (ETFC)

ETRADE LogoE*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) posted some fairly poor earnings considering the improvements seen elsewhere. The good news is that these earnings are actually better or less-bad than estimates.  Its loss was -$0.22 EPS compared to the Thomson Reuters estimates of -$0.31 EPS.  The company is trying to keep making progress on its its balance sheet and capitalization.
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Posted on: July 22, 2009 – 4:05 pm in Banking, Brokerage Firms, Earnings, Internet,

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BHP, BPI, CAG, COP, ETFC, FDX, MRVL, RTP, SONC, SBUX)

These are the top ten early bird analyst upgrades and downgrades from Wall Street early this Tuesday morning with more than two hours until the market opens.

BHP Billiton (BHP) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Bridgepoint Education (BPI) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
ConAgra (CAG) Raised to Buy at UBS.
ConocoPhillips (COP) Raised to Outperform at Bernstein.
E*TRADE (ETFC) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
FedEx (FDX) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Marvell Technology (MRVL) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Rio Tinto (RTP) Raised to Buy at ING.
Sonic (SONC) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Starbucks (SBUX) Raised to Outperform at Baird.

Jon C. Ogg
June 23, 2009

Posted on: June 23, 2009 – 6:25 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,