Sprint has bled customers while its larger competitors AT&T Wireless (T) and Verizon Wireless (VZ)(VOD) have been adding them. Sprint believes if its can set up a network with faster speeds for the transfer of data and entertainment content that it will siphon off subscribers from the other wireless companies.

Sprints still does not know how well 4G will work nationwide. AT&T has enough problems with its 3G network. Wireless systems are far from perfect.

AT&T recently played down the near-term value of 4G products. It and Verizon Wireless will use a different technology, Long Term Evolution, than Sprint.  According to The Wall Street Journal, “Consumers won’t be able to make much use of next-generation wireless networks for another two years according to AT&T management.” Verizon is viewed as having a lead over AT&T on LTE technology, but there will not be handsets to handle the new systems any time soon and building infrastructure will take years.

There is still an important set of issues about 4G and none of the wireless companies will be able to address them until there systems are in place: do most wireless users want faster online broadband? It will cost billions of dollars to build the infrastructure. What if the adoption rate by consumers is slow?

4G technology may revolutionize wireless communication, if anyone wants it.

Douglas A. McIntyre

We have provided the size and price of each deal with the relative price movement, underwriters, share impact, and comparisons on the size of the company if applicable.

Commercial Vehicle Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CVGI) filed this week for a secondary offering and this morning it priced 3,800,000 shares of common stock at a price of $6.25 per share.  The offering is by the company and the approximately $22 million is earmarked for general corporate purposes and Robert W. Baird & Co. acted as underwriter for the offering. Shares are down 0.3% at $6.66 on over 300,000 shares versus 91,000 shares per day on average.  The market cap before any effects of this stock is $146.7 million and the 52-week range is $0.51 to $8.08.

Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE: CPA) was not seen this week in the filings but this morning priced 1,600,000 of its Class A non-voting shares by its selling holder CIASA at $56.00 per share.  Morgan Stanley was the sole book-runner.  Shares are flat now at $57.05, so it held above the offering despite the funds going to a holder rather than the company; its market cap is $2.47 billion.

Genpact Ltd. (NYSE: G) was at $14.91 after the company registered to sell 28 million shares of common stock for selling shareholders, but this morning the pricing is for 33.6 million shares at a price of $15.00 per share.  Now shares are up 1% at $15.30 this morning.  Those holders include General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) affiliates, as well as General Atlantic and  Oak Hill Capital Partners.  Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are lead book-running managers; Citigroup, UBS Securities, and Credit Suisse are joint book-running managers; JPMorgan Securities and Wells Fargo are co-lead managers.

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG) announced last night the pricing of its public offering of $1.1 billion aggregate principal amount of its senior notes after it had priced its stock offering the day before: that equity offering was 52.253 million shares of common stock at $27.75 per share AND a concurrent offering of 20 million depositary shares representing a 1/40th interest in The Hartford’s 7.25% Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock (Series F) at $25.00 per depositary share.  As previously noted, this is to repay the TARP.

As of last night, the week’s offerings were literally a floodgate of secondary offerings. It is almost worrisome when you see this many shares being sold. We have included the appropriate color where applicable, as well as applicable price reactions, comparisons to market cap, the underwriting team on each, and more. The most difficult notion to fathom here is that these are just the decent-sized offerings to large offering from companies which did more than just an automatic shelf registrations. SIXTEEN deals here alone….

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) filed on Tuesday to sell up to $500 million in any combination of Common or Preferred Stock, Warrants, Debt and/or Depositary Shares. The stock held up fine with only a 6.3% drop to $7.85 on Tuesday versus a 52-week range of $5.97 to $10.95. No underwriters were named for the REIT’s securities sale for ‘general corporate purposes’ and the market cap as of Tuesday was $783 million.

Dice Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DHX) registered to sell up to $50 million in common stock for holders, although the prospectus noted common and preferred stock. It also said that any proceeds to the company would be for for ‘general corporate purposes,’ which was inclusive of debt repayment, working capital and/or capital expenditures. Dice shares were down 1.1% to $7.61 n Tuesday and the market cap was about $475 million.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) received approval to pay back its TARP obligations. After earnings last night the credit card issuer said it would be selling $350 million in subordinated debt to repay the TARP. Shares were down 1.5% at $15.07 on early look but that is after earnings and may be only a lesser event in the grand scheme of things.

Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE: EPR) listed almost 6.3 million shares for sale for a value of close to $250 million in common shares. The difference here is that the offering is said to be dividend reinvestment component and a direct share purchase component shares, so these may actually not be sold… ” 8,500,000 common shares to be offered for purchase under the Plan, including 2,202,093 common shares that were previously registered but not sold.”

Finisar Corp. (NASDAQ: FNSR) filed on Monday to sell 7.2 million shares of common stock. Tuesday brought about a drop down 3.4% to $14.30 on above-average share volume. This one is after a significant recovery because its 52-week trading range is $2.56 to $14.90 and its new market cap was $931 million as of Tuesday’s close. Morgan Stanley and Jefferies & Company are joint book-running managers; Piper Jaffray and Morgan Keegan are co-managers.

The Corporate Power Rankings are released at midnight on each Sunday based on performance during the previous week.

McDonald’s (MCD) sharp improvement in same-store sales moved it to the top of the list. Google (GOOG) was beaten down by its probably decision to exit China.  Ford, which has been near the top of the list, what hurt by news that Toyota (TM) has posted strong sales in the early days of March

	Company	Rank (last week)	Symbol	Comment
	McDonald’s	1 (9)	MCD	McDonald’s posted obscenely good February same-store sales up 4.8% from last year. People will eat fattening food even in a snow storm. Rival Burger Kings claims lousy results.
	Disney	2 (3)	DIS	Disney’s crazy “Alice In Wonderland” films holds first place for another weekend. Mouse Company wised up and shutters underperforming Robert Zemeckis’ ImageMovers Digital. Sacks 450 people and wins Employee Morale Day award.
	Berkshire Hathaway	3 (5)	BRK	Berkshire Hathaway boasts CEO Buffet as Forbes 3rd richest man in the known universe. But, best news is that Berkshire had no involvement with Lehman implosion.
	Coca-Cola	4 (4)	KO	Coca-Cola bottling affiliate posts huge profit increase. More good press mention about soda company dividend increase.
	Apple	5 (1)	APPL	Apple shares expected to rise from $226, near a 52-week high, to as much as $280 according to a new TheStreet.com poll. COO Tim Cook gets $22 million bonus, so things must be going pretty well.
	IBM	6 (7)	IBM	IBM thrashed Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and EDS in fourth quarter digital storage market share race. Company announces it plans to make money on cell phone tech for old people and students. Shows the firm’s ability to make money no matter what.
	Ford	7 (2)	F	Ford sales may not do as well near-term as expected as aggressive incentives bring customers back to Toyota. But, No.2 US car company (No.1 some months) forecasts profit in small cars.
	Abbott Labs	8 (14)	ABT	Abbott heart device operation gets big lift from new heart value replacement. Market laughs off Citigroup downgrade.
	Wal-Mart	9 (8)	WMT	Walmart comes up with bright decision to put back on its shelves items that customers miss. Maybe it should not have removed them. But, news of hot China economy is good for big box boy.
	Philip Morris	10 (10)	PM	Philip Morris declares $.58 dividend which now drives yield of 4.7%. Refinancing of debt pushes expensive obligations into the future.
	Cisco	11 (6)	CSCO	Al Gore invented the internet. Router company makes big deal about making worldwide web as much as 12 times faster. Announcement falls flat.
	Johnson & Johnson	12 (12)	JNJ	Johnson & Johnson is one of the drug companies that Barron’s say will lose $100 billion in sales to over the next five years. But, with medical device and consumer lines, JNJ is safest haven.
	Oracle	13 (11)	ORCL	Oracle stock runs up sharply for the week, perhaps because Forbes named Larry Ellison one of the world’s richest men. Probably not, actually. Rebound in tech spending is best guess on Wall St.
	Verizon	14 (16)	VZ	Verizon makes bizarre decision to list on NYSE and NASDAQ. On a better note, company will put NFL on wireless phones which should help sell handsets and wireless subs.
	Proctor & Gamble	15 (20)	PG	P&G recalls Pringles. The good news is no one eats them anymore. On the other hand firm gets good PR for its “green cleaning” products.
	GE	16 (13)	GE	GE faces uphill battle with regulators on NBCU deal with Comcast. Conglomerate tries to make big deal out of financing deal with Navistar. Wall St. won’t buy it.
	Intel	17 (19)	INTC	Intel may benefit from PC companies push to get tablet PC to market ahead of Apple iPad. Gartner research operation says global chip gear spending to soar.
	FedEx	18 (15)	FDX	FedEx warns of slow economic growth hinting results will be poor. Competitor Deutsche Post misses outlook which means FedEx could be taking market share. Or, whole industry may be weak.
	Microsoft	19 (24)	MSFT	Microsoft wins big if Google leaves China and leaves Bing to graze. Mr. Softy also posts good numbers for Xbox 360 sales in February. Wack-a-moles Wii.
	Dow Chemical	20 (17)	DOW	Dow Chemical gets hit by earnings estimate downgrade by Morgan Stanley. If Lyondell restructuring works, Dow has a new competitor.
	Pfizer	21 (18)	PFE	Pfizer faces failure of early stage experiments on breast and lung cancer drugs. But, research shows doctors should prescribe more cholesterol lowering drugs like PFE Lipitor.
	Exxon-Mobil	22 (27)	XOM	Exxon Mobil gets natural gas deal cleared in New Guinea. Makes gutsy call by increasing capital spending to $28 billion for this year. Leaves competition in the dust.
	Hewlett-Packard	23 (29)	HPQ	Hewlett-Packard is best positioned to launch PC to flank iPad. Forecasts of substantial PC sales worldwide this year should help HP which holds No.1 market share position.
	JP Morgan	24 (30)	JPM	JPMorgan settles pay-out for WaMu leaving major legal headache behind. Examination of Lehman collapse may mean some liability for JPM, but it gets Brownie points for saving Bear Sterns.
	Goldman Sachs	25 (32)	GS	Goldman Sachs gets “buy” rating from Societe Generale. GS does not seem to have much exposure to Lehman fallout, yet. China chairman leaves firm, but no one liked him anyway
	Caterpillar	26 (21)	CAT	Caterpillar should benefit from overheating Chinese economy and building spree. But, company economist only forecast 3.4% US GDP growth the year, a signal of bad earnings.
	Google	27 (22)	GOOG	Google hints it is highly likely to close China search site which could cost it hundreds of millions of dollars over time. Company faces fed scrutiny over AdMob buy. But, all’s well as research shows Google maintaining huge market share lead in US.
	American Express	28 (23)	AXP	American Express tells some customers that records were stolen by one of its employees. Signs consumer spending is still weak do not favor credit card firms.
	Boeing	29 (25)	BA	Boeing told that FAA will inspect some 737s and Air Force grounds 104 FA-18. BA does pass important trial with 747-8 and looks a lock to get Air Force tanker deal, if the plane in not grounded.
	AT&T	30 (26)	T	AT&T could face heavy costs if FCC gets it way on broadband expansion. CEO gets extraordinary pay package for weak results. Ma Bell one of the DJIA components that sharply underperforms index since historic March 2009 lows.
	Bank of America	31 (28)	BAC	Bank of America loses tens of millions of dollars as it cuts debit card overdraft fees. Gets credit for accelerating home loan modification program. But, new data shows foreclosures still rising.
	Home Depot	32 (31)	HD	Home Depot still on its back because of home building and home sales troubles. Analysts seem to like competitor Lowe’s better. It shows LOW stock outperforms HD recently.

-Douglas A. McIntyre   douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com

Reuters reports that UAW leaders are urging members to vote for the new Ford (F) contract.

Reuters reports that The San Francisco Chronicle may fold.

Reuters writes that AIG (AIG) may abandon its asset sales plan.

Reuters reports that Live Nation and Ticketmaster may run into regulatory problems for their merger.

Reuters writes that Citigroup (C) may sell its Japanese investment bank.

Reuters reports that Microsoft (MSFT) says it will have no new cost cuts.

Reuters reports that the Fed has told banks not to use government capital for dividends.

Reuters reports that Bernanke said the US could be in recession for most of the year.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Citigroup management is unhappy that more government involvement may come with Uncle Sam’s increased investment.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Bank of America (BAC) is feeling the bite of mortgage backed securities.

The Wall Street Journal reports that GM (GM) and Ford (F) met with the Administration to talk about the shaky US parts supply industry.

The Wall Street Journal reports that watchdogs think the TARP is ripe for fraud.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Japan’s trade deficit widened.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Ford executives will take pay cuts.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the car industry is facing a lending squeeze.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Nokia (NOK) and Vodafone (VOD) are cutting jobs.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Merrill’s losses increased by $500 billion.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Wells Fargo (WFC) may be reluctant to cut its dividend.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Medtronic (MDT) will disclose payments to doctors.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the net at Thomson Reuters rose 51%.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google (GOOG) has joined the investigation into Microsoft’s browser.

The New York Times reports that there are arguments over how much capital big banks will need to get through the financial crisis.

The New York Times reports that Hong Kong’s GDP dropped 2.5% in the fourth quarter.

The FT writes that Japan’s exports are down 45% year-over-year.

The FT reports that Bernanke said bank nationalization is unlikely.

The FT reports that Rupert Murdoch of News Corp (NWS) pushed the benefits of his “contrarian” style.

Bloomberg reports that Toyota (TM) cut January vehicle production by the most in three decades.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Based on the North American sales of Ford (F) and GM (GM) and their share of the market, total vehicle sales in the US will be about $350 billion in 2008. All of the US car companies lose money on their piece of that. It is hard to say what the P&L for the market is for foreign car companies.

But, in a bankruptcy, with most of the unnecessary costs out of The Big Three, and most of their debt obligations gone, their piece of the American market, just shy of 50%, has tremendous value, which may be why companies like Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC), VW, and the Renault-Nissan operation could find the assets of the US companies very attractive.

The American piece of US car sales is about $175 billion now. Looking at the ratio of sales to market value at Honda, 56%, the operations of The Big Three, scrubbed of obligations, would be worth $100 billion. If the margin on the assets could be moved to 10%, or $17 billion, at a seven times operating income valuation, the assets are worth $120 billion.

In 1999,  when American car companies were doing well, GM had a market cap of $53 billion. Ford’s was $86 billion.

Bankruptcy may not be the ideal route for creditors, unions, or the current managements of The Big Three, but it may be the only way to unlock over $100 billion in value. And, that does not include their international operations.

Douglas A. McIntyre

• Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) cut to Neutral at JP Morgan.
• BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) Cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia.
• BP plc (NYSE: BP) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
• CKE Restaurants (NYSE: CKR) started as Outperform at FBR.
• Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
• Genpact (NYSE: G) started as Outperform at Robert W. Baird.
• Red Robin Gourmet (NASDAQ: RRGB) cut to market Perform at Wachovia.
• Spirit Aerosystems (NYSE: SPR) started as Outperform at FBR.
• Wright Medical (NASDAQ: WMGI) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
• Zoran (NASDAQ: ZRAN) cut to Underperform at Jefferies & Co.

Jon C. Ogg
April 11, 2008

Jon Ogg produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter.  He can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Among the companies with the largest increase in short position were Jones Apparel (JNY), DR Horton (DHI), and Thornburg Mortgage (TMA),

Ford (F) topped that short list with 191.1 milion shares short, little changed from August. Countrywide, Home Depot, and Best Buy were also in the top ten.

Below is the short interest in selected companies.

Largest Short Positions

Company                                       Shares Short

Ford (F)                                          191.1 million shares short

Qwest (Q)                                        85.9 million shares short

AMD (AMD)                                     84.4 million shares short

Counrtywide (CFC)                           78.7 million shares short

Time Warner (TWX)                          64.9 million shares short

Home Depot (HD)                             63.8 million shares short

Best Buy (BBY)                               62.8 million shares short

GE (GE)                                          59.7 million shares short

GM (GM)                                         56.3 miillion shares short

Altria (MO)                                       50.1 million shares short

Sprint (S)                                         47.8 million shares short

Largest Increases In Short Position

Company                                         Increase

Marsh & McLennan                           Up 20.2 million

Jones Apparel                                   Up 19.9 million

Rolm & Haas                                    Up 16.1 million

Rite Aid                                            Up 10.7 million

DR Horton                                        Up 8.4 million

Delta                                                Up 6.8 million

Thornburg                                         Up 5.7 million

Texas Instruments (TXN)                    Up 5.3 million

MBIA                                                Up 4.1 million

Largest Decreases In Short Position

Company                                          Decrease

Tenet                                                Down 16.1 million

Wells Fargo                                       Down 15.6 million

CVS                                                  Down 15.5 million

Schering-Plough                                 Down 15.2 million

Fannie Mae                                        Down 14.6 million

Wachovia                                           Down 13.8 million

Bank of America (BAC)                       Down 9.5 million

Valero                                                Down 9.2 million

News Corp (NWS)                               Down 7.8 million

JP Morgan (JPM)                                 Down 7.7 million

Data from WSJ and NYSE

Douglas A. McIntyre

Reuters writes that Man Group, the UK hedge fund, has delays its IPO.

Reuters writes that Toyota (TM) sees slower growth in the US.

Reuters writes that Buick tied Lexus in the JD Power reliability study, the first time the US brand has finished in first place.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Countrywide Financial (CFC) said the credit markets could affect its financial position.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the SEC is checking the books of banks including Bear Stearns (BSC) and Goldman (GS) to see whether they may be hiding mortgage investment loses.

The WSJ writes that profits at refiners are dropping as the price of gas comes down.

The WSJ writes that chip demand drove up profits at Nvidia (NVDA).

The WSJ reports that Electronic Arts (ERTS) and Hasbro (HAS) will create video games based on popular games like Monopoly.

The WSJ reports the niche channels are moving off cable to the internet.

The New York Times reports that Goldman Sachs (GS) size has not protected its stock price.

The NYT reports the Universal Music will begin selling music without copy protection.

FT writes that Chrysler is trying to expand in markets outside the US.

Barron’s reports that shares in Emulex (ELX) fell after it reported modest earnings

Douglas A. McIntyre

This may actually help some of the IPO’s out there if this stability in the market and a solid IPO close can come.  There are some negatives out there as it was pointed out how GE represents almost 75% of Genpact’s business and with GE still owning more than a 20% stake.  Most of these ex-Conglomerate subsidiaries tend to do well in the markets, so barring the cautionary stance it seems hard betting against one of the spin-offs with "Gen…" in the name.

GE’s business contract runs to 2013 according to the prospectus.  Shares traded over 18 million shares today.

Jon C. Ogg
August 2, 2007

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