HD – 24/7 Wall St.

Posts for Ticker ‘HD’

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Q3-2009 Holdings (BRK-A, BRK-B, GCI, GE, GSK, HD, IR, IRM, JNJ, KFT, LOW, MCO, NLC, NKE, NSC, NRG)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) has its Q3-2009 public equity holdings as of September 30, 2009. In our group “A to F” we noted some interim changes in the lot. Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘G to O.’

Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) 3.447 million shares, same as before.
General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE) 7.777 million shares is the same as before, but does not include the huge preferred investment from late 2008.
GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) 1.51 million shares, same as before.
Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) 2.757 million, same as last quarter.
Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) 636,600 shares; WAY DOWN from the 7.78 million listed last quarter.
Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) 3.3722 million shares, same as before.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was just over 36.91 million shares; Same as last quarter and still well under the 62 million shares at one point in 2008.
Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) over 138 million; same as last quarter.
Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW) 6.5 million shares, same as last quarter.
M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) 6.71 million shares, same as before.
Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) was listed as over 39.2 million shares, but that is WAY DOWN from the 48 million last quarter. Be advised that he has noted sales and hinted at more sales here.
Nalco Holding (NYSE: NLC) 9.0 million shares, same as last quarter.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) 7.641 million shares, same as before.
Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) 1.933 million shares, same as before, but we already know Buffett has or is selling out of non-BNSF shares in rail companies.
NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) 7.2 million, same as before.

BUFFETT HOLDINGS A to F

BUFFETT HOLDINGS P to Z

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

JON C. OGG

Posted on: November 16, 2009 – 4:48 pm in Activist Investor, Buffett, Conglomerates, BRK-A, BRK-B, GCI, GE, GSK, HD, IR, IRM, JNJ, KFT, LOW, MCO, NKE, NLC, NRG, NSC

Lowe’s (LOW): Hope Gets In Your Eyes

One word from a CEO can obscure an entire earnings reports. Home improvement giant Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) reported lackluster earnings. However, its chief Robert A. Niblock said, “We are beginning to see signs of improved performance in some of the hardest-hit housing markets including California, Florida and areas of the desert Southwest.” Those areas were crushed so flat that it would require a massive turnaround the regions to do much to help the prospects of Lowe’s or Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Read More »

Posted on: November 16, 2009 – 9:45 am in Earnings, Housing, HD, LOW

Earnings Duel on Deck: Lowe’s vs. Home Depot (LOW, HD)

This week’s earnings calendar is going to be dominated by retail earnings. Early in the week you have the home improvement and building material wars with earnings first out of Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) on Monday and then Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) on Tuesday.

We have compiled estimates from Thomson Reuters, made some key comments on what to look for in each report, shown past performance, and given some added color on what to look for ahead. We have some concerns here about how these stocks are valued. We also showed the relative performance for 2009, the gains since March 9 that traders use as the official end of the death spiral, and we are also showing performance since July 31.
Read More »

Posted on: November 15, 2009 – 10:46 am in Calendar, Earnings, Housing, Retail, HD, LOW

24/7 Wall St. TV: McDonald’s (MCD) Consumer Service Lesson: Seconds Count

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) spends a great deal of its test kitchen time trying to beat the clock. It has occurred to the fast food chain that a customer who expects to wait 30 seconds for a meal may leave after a minute if his food is not ready. The world’s largest restaurant operator has its own Innovation Center where management works out the kinks of serving food hot and on time. Read More »

Posted on: November 9, 2009 – 4:08 am in Food, TV, BBY, BKC, DIS, GE, GIS, HD, K, MCD, MOT

The 100 Hardest Working Brands In The World

There are a number of ways to rank brand values. One of the most important is the level at which a brand contributes to the market value of a public company.

24/7 Wall St. asked Corebrand, the brand research and consulting firm, to look at the top 100 brands based their contribution to market capitalizaton. Using this method, the hardest working brand was Hershey (NYSE:HSY), followed by Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG)

Corebrand described the process briefly to 24/7 Wall. St.

24/7 Wall St.: Corebard often refers to the brands on this list as the”hardest working brands”. How did you come to that description?

Corebrand: There are a lot of people measuring and examining the “strongest brands” or the “most valuable brands”. Our opinion is that examining one without the other is somewhat meaningless. How “strong” a brand is nice to know but not very relevant unless you understand how that strength benefits business. Similarly, “value” is little more than a measure of corporate size unless you understand the drivers of that value and how to influence it. By examining the strength of the brand and it’s contribution to total market value, we can help companies and their leadership manage that strength and value over time.

24/7 Wall St.: Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having a brand value be a very large percentage of market cap in the present and as an indication of a company’s future performance?

Corebrand: The brand will need to be in balance with the rest of the company’s assets. A company should strive to have it’s brand strong enough to fend off competitors or changing market conditions but not so strong that it becomes overly dependent on the brand as a single driver of value. If a company can achieve and maintain its appropriate maximum strength without becoming over-dependent, it will see greater returns in bull markets and retain greater value in bear markets.

The list: Read More »

Posted on: October 20, 2009 – 5:06 pm in Research, Uncategorized, AAPL, AET, ALL, AM, AVP, AXP, BA, BBBY, BDK, BGP, BKS, BMY, CAJ, CAL, CL, COF, CPB, CVS, CVX, DAI, DD, DELL, DIS, DLM, EBAY, EK, EL, F, FDX, FUJIY, GE, GIS, GOOG, GPS, GR, GT, HD, HMC, HNZ, HOG, HRB, HRL, HSY, IBM, JCP, JNJ, K, KFT, KO, KSS, L, LIZ, LOW, LZB, MAR, MAT, MCD, MOT, MS, MSFT, NKE, NSANY, NYT, ODP, PBI, PBY, PEP, PG, PZZA, RAD, RL, RSH, S, SBUX, SCHW, SHW, SKS, SLE, SNE, SPLS, SUN, T, TBL, TGT, TIF, TM, TSN, TUP, TXN, UPS, VZ, WAG, WEN, WHR, WMT, XOM, XRX, YHOO

Martha Stewart & Kmart Get a Divorce (MSO, SHLD, HD)

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (NYSE: MSO) has just released a headline titled “Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Issues Statement.” Unfortunately, this ’statement’ is that the relationship between Martha and Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) in Kmart is not being renewed. We suspected something of this magnitude when the The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) pact was signed, and that now appears to have been the last straw.
Read More »

Posted on: October 16, 2009 – 2:29 pm in Retail, HD, MSO, SHLD

Martha Stewart Lands at Home Depot (MSO, HD, SHLD, M)

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (NYSE: MSO) has a new exclusive product lineup partner. We still want to know where Martha will end up after the K-Mart deal she has with Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) expires, although a new partnership unveiled today does not specifically address that question and does not sound “exclusive” despite the term being used.

The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) announced an agreement today with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to develop an exclusive Martha Stewart Living brand of home improvement products. It was not noted that this will have any impact on the K-Mart agreement and it still notes that Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) is one of the many retailers where Martha Stewart products will be available.
Read More »

Posted on: September 14, 2009 – 4:40 pm in Consumer Goods, Entertainment, Housing, Luxury, Product Review, Retail, HD, M, MSO, SHLD

Buffett Gets Deeper Into Housing and Real Estate (BRK-A, LUK, GS, CIT, HD, LOW, USG)

Warren Buffett is positioning Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) to profit when the housing and property market returns to more normal levels. Now, he is teaming up with what many investors consider a “Buffett rival.” Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) is teaming up with Leucadia National Corp. (NYSE: LUK) to acquire the North American mortgage and servicing operations of Capmark Financial Group Inc. Interestingly enough, a company affiliated with Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway called HomeServices of America made a real estate firm acquisition in Chicago earlier this week.
Read More »

Posted on: September 3, 2009 – 11:19 am in Buffett, Conglomerates, Editor's Picks, Housing, Mergers and Buy Outs, BRK-A, CIT, GS, HD, LOW, LUK, USG

Are Housing Gains A Sham? (XHB, ITB, URE, HD)

This morning’s July data for existing home sales, or used homes, posted another gain and this makes it the fourth consecutive month, according to the National Association of Realtors. This created more excitement in the markets and in everything tied to property. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB) is up 3.9% at $15.38 and the iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction (NYSE: ITB) is up 4.7% at $13.13. Even the Ultra Real Estate ProShares (NYSE: URE), which seeks pre-fee and pre-expense moves of twice the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate index, is up big by 6.1% at $5.78 despite this not being an apples-to-apples comparison. It is easy to point to figures for support or contradiction to any trend, but in reality we want to see if this excitement is real or if this is just another temporary sham in housing.
Read More »

Posted on: August 21, 2009 – 12:21 pm in Economy, Housing, HD, ITB, URE, XHB

Media Digest 8/19/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters: HP (HP) issued optimistic guidance.

Reuters: China is investing in the private housing sector.

Reuters: Buffett says the US is on a slow path to recovery.

Reuters: US regulators urged Citigroup (C) to push out its former CFO. Read More »

Posted on: August 19, 2009 – 4:00 am in Press Digest, AAPL, AIG, C, FRE, HD, HP, LOW, MGM, MSFT, PHM, SNE, UBS, WMT, XOM, YHOO

Top Day Trader Alerts (HD, LOW, CIT, GERN, TSL, NVAX, HURN, RIMM)

These are this Tuesday’s top day trader and active stock alerts. We have more detailed data on volume and price analysis with links through to VSInvestor.com on each stock:

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) managed to do better than rival Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW) and shares were up 4%.

CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT) has pulled an about-face and is now higher after its big loss.

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) is down sharply on its IND application delay.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is trading up over 3% after the Chinese solar player managed to beat earnings estimates.

Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) is soaring 10% on swine flu vaccine news.

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HURN) is surging over 25% on a partial redemption of its accounting woes.

Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) is up 2.5% but may be more active after an analyst is calling for a double.

JON C. OGG
AUGUST 18, 2009

Posted on: August 18, 2009 – 9:06 am in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, CIT, GERN, HD, HURN, LOW, NVAX, RIMM, TSL

Home Depot’s Earnings Bar Lowered After Lowe’s (HD, LOW)

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) is set to report earnings tomorrow morning and it may have just caught a break now that Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) missed its earnings and has seen its shares drop from the report. Today’s weak stock market is not helping matters either.

Lowe’s said that its profit fell about 19% to $759 million, or $0.51 EPS, while revenue fell 5% from last year to $13.84 billion. We had Thomson Reuters showing a $0.54 EPS and $14.35 billion as consensus expectations.
Read More »

Posted on: August 17, 2009 – 2:20 pm in Earnings, Housing, Retail, HD, LOW

Top Day Trader Alerts (BDX, BRK-A, BPAX, FSLR, GFG, IDCC, LOW, HD, RST)

These are this Monday’s top day trader and active stock alerts. We have more detailed data on volume and price analysis with links through to VSInvestor.com on each stock:

Becton Dickinson & Company (NYSE: BDX) is trading higher as a new position for none other than Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A).

BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPAX) is one of this morning’s few big winners on a presentation of H1N1 vaccine results.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is getting clipped by almost 5% on a Barron’s report.

Guaranty Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: GFG) looks busted.

InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDCC) is down by almost one-third on active volume this morning (and Friday evening too) on a patent ruling.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW) is down about 10% after the home improvement and hardware giant posted light earnings. This one is enough that it is affecting Home Depot (NYSE: HD) as well.

Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE: RST) was down over 10% after warning of higher operating expenses.

-The 24/7 Wall Street Team

August 17, 2009

Posted on: August 17, 2009 – 9:16 am in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, BDX, BPAX, BRK-A, FSLR, GFG, HD, IDCC, LOW, RST

Berkshire Hathaway & Buffett Q2-2009 Holdings G to O (BRK-A, GCI, GE, GSK, HD, IR, IRM, JNJ, KFT, LOW, MTB, MCO, NLC, NKE, NSC, NRG)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) has released its Q2-2009 public equity holdings as of June 30, 2009. There are some portfolio changes that have been seen here from the end of Q1 and we have broken these down into 3 groups of ‘A to F’ and ‘G to O’ and ‘P to Z’ so these are easier to see on one page. Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘G to O.’

Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) 3.447 million shares, same as before.
General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE) 7.777 million shares is the same as before, but does not include the preferred investment from late 2008.
GlaxoSmithkline (NYSE: GSK) 1.51 million shares, same as before.
Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) 2.757 million, actually less than the 3.7 million shares in Q1.
Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) 7.78 million, same as last quarter.
Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) 3.3722 million shares, same as before.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was just over 36.91 million shares; ABOVE the 32.5 million last quarter and above the 28.6 million in Q4. This is still well under the huge 62 million shares last year.
Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) over 138 million; looks roughly the same as before.
Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW) 6.5 million shares, same as before unlike at Home Depot.
M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) 6.71 million shares, same as before.
Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) 48 million shares are listed as the same as before, however we already know that Buffett CUT THIS SINCE JUNE 30 and may cut it further.
Nalco Holding (NYSE: NLC) 9.0 million shares, same as Q1 after the Q1 position had been raised.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) 7.641 million shares, same as before.
Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) 1.933 million shares, same as before.
NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) 7.2 million, same as before.

BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to F’

BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘P to Z’

JON C. OGG
AUGUST 14, 2009

Posted on: August 14, 2009 – 5:02 pm in Buffett, BRK-A, GCI, GE, GSK, HD, IR, IRM, JNJ, KFT, LOW, MCO, MTB, NKE, NLC, NRG, NSC

Tracking The Value Of The World’s Major Brands

Several companies run annual brand valuations. It is a good business for advertising and marketing firms to be viewed as experts on brands. Brand values are based on the cash flow they create, and there are a number of ways to measure that. The mathematical parts of the formulas are relatively easy. The part that is hard, because it requires skilled forecasting, is what the reputation and value of a brand is likely to be three or four years from the date the values are set. It would have been hard half a decade ago to predict that AIG (AIG), the brand of the world’s largest insurance company, would be virtually worthless today, or that Facebook would be an extremely valuable brand. There is both art and science to determining the future of brands. Read More »

Posted on: August 12, 2009 – 3:21 pm in Accounting, Banking, China, Consumer Electronics, Consumer Goods, Editor's Picks, Financial Stocks, Hardware, PC Companies, Research, Software, Telecom, Tobacco, Wireless, AAPL, AIG, AMZN, BAC, C, CHL, CHU, GE, GOOG, GS, HD, IBM, KO, MCD, MO, MSFT, PEP, PM, RIMM, SBUX, T, VOD, VZ, WMT, YHOO

Short Seller Rush Out Of Financial Stocks, Tech, And Retail

Short sellers moved out of financial shares in great numbers.

As of August 11, the short interest in Citigroup (C) fell 71% to 343 million shares. Share sold short in GE (GE) fell 15% to 143 million. The short interest in Wells Fargo (WFC) was down by 9% to 99 million. Shares sold short in American Express (AXP) dropped 20% to 36 million. The short interest in Capitol One (COF) dropped 19% to 30 million. Shares sold short in Visa (V) dropped 22% to 15 million. Read More »

Posted on: August 12, 2009 – 4:14 am in Short Interest, AMD, AXP, C, COF, CSCO, GE, HD, LOW, MSFT, NVDA, ORCL, QCOM, TXN, V, WFC, WMT

The Best Short-Selling Opportunities Of The Year (C)(GE)(F)(SBUX)(SIRI)

There is still some conversation about the federal government restricting short-selling activity in certain stocks. The counterargument to these restrictions is that short selling plays an important role in the valuation of securities by efficiently allowing investors to bet that a stock will fall as readily as they can bet that it will rise. Short sellers have the reputation, whether deserved or not, for trying to manipulate information about public companies with the hope of driving their prices down. That may be true.

24/7 Wall St. has come up with a list of the best short-selling opportunities between now and the end of the year. The list was chosen based on: 1) trading volume, 2) the total short position in the stock over the first half of the year, 3) a history of the short position in these stocks rising or falling rapidly, and 4) stocks in companies that tend to move on news throughout the year and not just on earnings information. Read More »

Posted on: July 5, 2009 – 5:54 pm in Airlines, Analyst Calls, Autos, Banking, Biotech, Casinos, Conglomerates, Consumer Electronics, Dividend, Drug companies, Editor's Picks, FDA, Green Biz, Hardware, Healthcare, Infrastructure, Internet, Large Cap Stocks, Medical, PC Companies, Pharmaceuticals, Private Equity, Retail, Short Interest, Software, Technology, Turnarounds, Wireless, AAPL, C, DELL, F, FITB, GCI, GE, GOOG, HD, JBLU, LVS, MCD, MRK, MSFT, NOK, PALM, S, SBUX, SIRI, YHOO

Media Digest 6/16/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters: The US outlined new financial market reforms.

Reuters: Obama lobbied MDs on his new healthcare package.

Reuters: Russia hosted the first BRIC summit.

Reuters: B of A’s (BAC) BlackRock (BLK) stake is more appealing.

Reuters: Samsung and Nokia (NOK) are pushing into smartphones. (MOT)(AAPL)(RIMM). Read More »

Posted on: June 16, 2009 – 3:01 am in Autos, Banking, Drug companies, Healthcare, Housing, Labor & Unions, Management Change, Media, PC Companies, Pharmaceuticals, Press Digest, Technology, AAPL, ADBE, AIG, AMR, BA, BAC, BLK, C, CAL, DAL, EMC, F, FRE, GE, GS, GSK, HD, HD LOW, HIG, HOV, JPM, LCC, LNC, LOW, LUV, MOT, MS, MSFT, NOK, NTAP, NWS, NYT, PRU, RIMM, UAUA, UBS, WFC

Media Digest 6/11/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters: Fiat closed its deal for control of Chrysler.

Reuters: California may be hit by an economic “meltdown.”

Reuters: May foreclosures were third highest month ever recorded.

Reuters: The US named a “pay czar” to track financial compensation.

Reuters: May retail sales are forecast to be up .5% due to gas.

Reuters: The US may crack down on derivatives trading. Read More »

Posted on: June 11, 2009 – 2:59 am in Autos, Banking, Consumer Electronics, Financial Stocks, Housing, Management Change, Oil & Gas, Press Digest, Technology Companies, Turnarounds, Wireless, AIG, BAC, BLK, BP, C, COP, CVX, DELL, GE, HD, LVLT, NWS, NYT, PALM, PG, S, VLO, XOM

Top Analyst Upgrades (BBT, CMA, FEIC, GOOG, HBI, HD, LOW, NEM, PLT, ROP, TGT, TSCO, WMT)

These are top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research notes we have seen from Wall Street early this Wednesday morning:

BB&T (BBT) Raised to Market Perform at KBW.
Comerica (CMA) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
FEI Co. (FEIC) Raised to Buy at Janney Montgomery Scott.
Google (GOOG) Target Raised to $486 from $414 at Goldman Sachs.
Hanesbrands (HBI) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Home Depot (HD) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Lowe’s (LOW) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Newmont Mining (NEM) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Plantronics (PLT) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Roper Industries (ROP) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Target (TGT) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Tractor Supply (TSCO) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Wal-Mart (WMT) Started as Outperform at Baird.

Jon C. Ogg

Posted on: June 3, 2009 – 6:43 am in Analyst Calls, BBT, CMA, FEIC, GOOG, HBI, HD, LOW, NEM, PLT, ROP, TGT, TSCO, WMT

Today’s top tickerspy Indexes
Home Furnishing R...	+14.1%
Ethanol and Biofu...	+5.1%
Electronics Retai...	+2.1%
Diabetes Stocks	+2.0%
Memory Chip Stock...	+2.0%

24/7 Wall St.