24/7 Wall St. » FSCI

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (HPQ, KO, LEN, PEP, CREE, ANN, CPWM, HNZ, CRMT, CRM, BONT, CF, MOS, FSCI, CLWR, MTOR, MRVL)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:09:39 +0000

Stocks got off on a positive note this morning, but resisted the temptation to climb based on a positive reading of the leading econonmic indicators and higher estimates of US GDP growth in the fourth quarter. Consumer spending appears to be higher than expected and retailers’ inventories are falling which should lead to some re-stocking before the holiday shopping season kicks in with real force. Crude oil prices have fallen about -1.4% today, to below $97.50/barrel. Volume has been reasonably heavy as today brings the expiration of options. Gold prices are up a bit at $1,725.80. See our earlier story on the countries that own the world’s gold.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 25 points to 11,796.23 (0.22%), the NASDAQ fell more than 15 points (-0.60%) to 2,572.50, and the S&P 500 fell 0.04% or about 0.48 points to 1,215.65.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), which was raised to ‘buy’ at Sterne Agee. Other action included The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) started as ‘buy’ at Jefferies; Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) cut to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup; Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP) started as ‘hold’ at Jefferies; and Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) started as ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Ann Inc. (NYSE: ANN) is down more than -6.6%, at $23.63; Cost Plus Inc. (NASDAQ: CPWM) is up more than 3%, at $7.88; H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) is down more than -3%, at $51.06; America’s Car Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT) is up more than 10%, at $35.84; Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) is down more than -10.5%, at $112.67; and The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) is down more than -8%, at $2.84, after posting a new 52-week low of $2.70 earlier today.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF) is up about 2.9%, at $152.46. The company’s stock got pounded yesterday on news that the corn prices fell, but are recovering a bit today as investors remember that falling corn prices don’t necessarily mean that less corn will be planted and, thus, less fertilizer will be used.

The Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) is up more than 4.6%, at $53.12. Another fertilizer maker that got slammed yesterday and is recovering somewhat today.

Fisher Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: FSCI) is up about 12.7%, at $29.20. The broadcast TV station operator has sold its Fisher Plaza building in Seattle for $160 million in cash to Hines Global REIT, Inc.

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is down nearly -21%, at $1.47. The company is reported to be considering skipping a $237 million debt payment due in two weeks, raising fears that the wireless broadband provider could end up in bankruptcy.

Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) is down about -9.7%, at $5.12, after posting a new 52-week low of $5.11 earlier in the day. Shares lost -17% earlier this week when the company lowered its guidance for 2012 and the stock was downgraded today from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’ at KeyBanc.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) is up more than ;6.8%, at $14.70. The chip maker reported so-so earnings yesterday, but strong positive statements by analysts at FBR and Citi have turned broken eggs into an omelette.

Stay tuned for Monday. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank president Dennis Lockhart is speaking in Brazil. Here’s a list of other noteworthy events (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Chicago Federal Reserve Bank national activity index
10:00 a.m. – National Association of Retailers existing home sales report

Have a great weekend.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Analyst Calls, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ANN, BONT, CF, CLWR, CPWM, CREE, CRM, CRMT, FSCI, HNZ, HPQ, KO, LEN, MOS, MRVL, MTOR, PEP

Bill Gates & Cascade New Stock Holdings (AN, BRK-A, CNI, KOF, FSCI, FMX, GBL, TV, OTTR, PCX, LGBT, PNM, RSG, SIX, BEE)

247wallst — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:35:35 +0000

These are the new holdings (sans ETF and sans derivatives) for Bill Gates’ CASDADE INVESTMENT LLC As of September 30, 2008:

AUTONATION (NYSE: AN) 5,263,588
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY (NYSE: BRK-A) 4,050
CANADIAN NATL RY (NYSE: CNI) 33,859,544
COCA COLA FEMSA S A B (NYSE: KOF) 857,128
FISHER COMMUNICATIONS (NASDAQ: FSCI) 455,700
FOMENTO ECONOMICO (NYSE: FMX) 20,966,795
GAMCO INVESTORS (NYSE: GBL) 90,845
GRUPO TELEVISA SA (NYSE: TV) 19,680,400
OTTER TAIL (NASDAQ: OTTR) 2,556,499
PATRIOT COAL (NYSE: PCX) 2,408,653
PLANETOUT (NASDAQ: LGBT) 521,739
PNM RESOURCES (NYSE: PNM) 7,019,550
REPUBLIC SERVICES (NYSE: RSG) 34,873,836
SIX FLAGS (NYSE: SIX) 10,210,600
STRATEGIC HOTELS & RESORT (NYSE: BEE) 4,190,000

You can join our open email distribution list to hear about holdings of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, IPO’s, secondary offerings, private placements, merger, special situations, rumors, and more.

Jon C. Ogg
November 14, 2008

Posted in Activist Investor, Insider Activity Tagged: AN, BEE, BRK-A, CNI, FMX, FSCI, GBL, KOF, LGBT, OTTR, PCX, PNM, RSG, SIX, TV

Bill Gates Personal Stock Holdings (MSFT, CNI, FSCI, OTTR, LGBT, PNM, RSG, SIX, FMX, TV, BRK.A)

247wallst — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 07:41:00 +0000

Below are most of the equity holdings listed for Bill Gates’ own Cascade Investment, L.L.C. as of December 31, 2007. These were disclosed in a filing late in the week. Keep in mind that these are not tied at all to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and these also do not include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation either. This also does not include any ETF holdings. These are not quite all of his holdings inside of Cascade, but these are the bulk of the holdings:

Company (Ticker)                                                 Value                Shares
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A)          $573,480,000    4,050
Canadian National Rail (NYSE: CNI)          $1,589,028,000    33,859,544
Fisher Communications (NASDAQ: FSCI) $17,298,000       455,700
Fomento Econmico Mexicano (NYSE: FMX)$412,617,000       10,810,000
Grupo Televisa S.A. (NYSE: TV)                   $467,803,000    19,680,400
Otter Tail Corp. (NASDAQ: OTTR)                $88,455,000       2,556,499
PlanetOut Inc. (NASDAQ: LGBT)                   $3,240,000          521,739
PNM Resources Inc. (NYSE: PNM)             $150,569,000       7,019,550
Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG)          $852,483,000       27,192,451
Six Flags, Inc. (NYSE: SIX)                            $20,728,000          10,210,600

If you want to see Mr. Gates’ new best friend’s holdings (that would be Warren Buffett) you can see all of those here for the same period.

Or you can see Carl Icahn’s top equity holdings as well.

Jon C. Ogg
February 16, 2008

Bill Gates & Cascade Holdings

247wallst — Tue, 15 May 2007 16:42:38 +0000

These are the holdings of Cascade Investment Management, L.L.C. as of March 31, 2007. For those that do not recognize the name "Cascade," that is Bill Gates own private investment vehicle he uses for outside unrelated and passive investments for his own money that is not tied to Microsoft operations. Here are the holdings as of March 31 per the SEC FILING:

Stock                                                                               $$Value          Shares
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY (BRK-A)       $441,410    4,050
CANADIAN NAT. Rail (CNI-NYSE)       $1,387,530    31,434,745
FISHER COMMUN. (FSCI-NASDAQ) $22,147       455,700
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL (FS-NYSE) $57,483       715,850
GRUPO TELEVISA SA (TV-NYSE)       $579,288    19,439,200
OTTER TAIL CORP (OTTR-NASDAQ) $87,535    2,556,499
PNM RES INC (PNM-NYSE)                $210,581    6,519,550
REPUBLIC SVCS INC (RSG-NYSE)    $756,494    27,192,451
SIX FLAGS INC (PKS-NYSE)                $61,366    10,210,600
WESTERN ASSET
CLAYMORE US TR                                  $26,425    2,270,200
WESTERN ASSET/CLYMRE
US TR INF (WIA-NYSE)                            $48,872    4,113,800

Jon C. Ogg
May 15, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.