The earnings previews are for the following: Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM); Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML); Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO); Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC); Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB); Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN); Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM); IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE); Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT); Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO); News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA); PAA Natural Gas Storage L.P. (NYSE: PNG); Plains All American Pipeline L.P. (NYSE: PAA); Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU); Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL); Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI); Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S); Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX); Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL); Visa Inc. (NYSE: V); and Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM).

We have compiled earnings preview on each company using Thomson Reuters consensus estimates and added color on each if applicable.  Some are market moving, some are sector moving, and some are just interesting for traders to watch around the earnings reports.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) has estimates of $0.40 EPS and $311.26 million in revenues.

Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) has estimates of $0.09 EPS and $401.5 million in revenues.    Growth is gone, but it still screens as value.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) has estimates of $0.43 EPS and $11.23 billion in revenues.  Preliminary preview notes are available.

Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC) has estimates of $0.58 EPS and $3.98 billion in revenues.  As a reminder, CSC has warned on earnings.  This one shows up as a value stock in all sorts of investor screens but it is a value trap.

The surprise winner so far in 2012 after the first month is USG Corporation (NYSE: USG). then there are stocks like Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR), Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), and American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP).  Yep, the other winners of these seven holdings are mostly tied to finance.

We have evaluated the performance to date (from FinViz.com) and added in some color on each.  We have also shown how the price compares to the 52-week highs or to the consensus price target as well, and included in some cases whether the position is substantial or not.

USG Corporation (NYSE: USG) is up 32.8% year-to-date and is actually Berkshire Hathaway’s top performing stock.  With so much interest in the bottoming out of housing at some point in 2012, it may not be that ridiculous even if the fundamentals have not changed all that much yet.  The concern here is that at $13.50 it now trades above the consensus $13.30 price target.  Buffett holds over 17 million USG shares.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is up 32.4% year-to-date and the new large preferred position is back to where Warren Buffett doesn’t look foolish for dreaming up his investment in BofA while in the bath.  At $7.36 there is still plenty of upside to the $8.90 price target and this remains (and is expected to remain) well under book value.

Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR) is up 15.5% year-to-date, not bad for what is usually a slower-moving company with a portfolio of industrial and commercial products.  At $35.18, it does not have much upside left to the consensus price target of $37.94 but it is still way off the 52-week high of $52.33.  Buffett’s position is way down from prior periods and is only 636,600 shares as of the last report.  This position just can’t move the entire Berkshire Hathaway Barometer too much.

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) is up 11.6% year-to-date.  The credit rating agency has been a controversial position that Buffett has lightened up on through time.  At $37.60, it is close to the consensus price target of $39.60 and under the 52-week high of $41.93.  Buffett did lighten up a bit on this position but still holds roughly 28.4 million shares.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is up 9.5% year-to-date and is one of the news 2011 investments that Mr. Buffett hid.  It was also his first technology pick as far as pure hardware is concerned.  At $26.55, Intel is very close to its 52-week high of $27.00 and close to its consensus analyst price target of $27.17.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is up 8.9% year-to-date and is up the least of the big money-center banks.  It is also the only one of the money-center banks trading above book value because the restructuring regulatory climate over future earnings will create the least amount of change at Wells Fargo. Buffett keeps adding here and now holds over 361 million shares as one of his biggest positions ever.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is up 7.7% year-to-date, which is lower than many financials. The recent earnings report showed improvement but perhaps a trend towards peaking of the improving credit metrics of AmEx customers.  Buffett’s position is roughly 151.6 million shares.

Berkshire Hathaway’s most recent holdings in entirety can be found here.

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JON C. OGG

M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE: MTB) is 5.38+ million shares, UP ONLY A TAD from the 5.363 million last quarter but this one had been cut in prior quarters.
Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was 405,000 shares valued at $128.45 million.  The position is the SAME AS last quarter but still almost double from the quarter before.
Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) was 28.4 million; SAME AS last quarter but way down from prior quarters and years.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) was 76.7 million shares and listed as THE SAME as last quarter but lower than the 96.3 million shares in prior quarters.
Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was 4.06 million shares; SAME AS before.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) was more than 4.2 million, a LARGER POSITION than the 2.82 million shares last quarter.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was roughly 69 million shares; SAME AS before.
USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) was 17.072 million shares; SAME AS before.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) was 1.429 million shares; SAME AS before.
Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) was ALMOST DOUBLE in shares at 4.202 million worth $146.1 million versus the 2,101,125 shares a quarter before when it had been started as a new position.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a NEW POSITION of 2.291 million shares worth $96.44 million.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was just over 39 million shares; SAME AS before after having been raised in 2010.
Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) was over 1.72 million shares; SAME AS before and Buffett kept his word so far about holding the Washington Post shares despite stepping down from its board.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) over 361 million shares a HIGHER POSITION than the 352+ million last quarter.

PAGE ONE…BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to K’

As noted earlier… today’s holding disclosure has missing data as Berkshire Hathaway was given permission and likely still does not include the full holdings: Confidential information has been omitted from the Form 13F and filed separately with the Commission.

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Bernanke says the U.S. economy is close to the flat line. (Reuters)

New Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 4S does not impress investors. (Reuters)

Boehner says a China currency manipulation bill is a dangerous step in the relationship with the Asian nation. (Reuters)

Morgan Stanley’s (NYSE: MS) Roach says the U.S. will have a mild recession. (Reuters)

Samsung and HTC may take sales because of a lack of new features in the new iPhone. (Reuters)

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Allen & Co. prepare financial reports for potential bidders for Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). (Reuters)

EU officials to file objections to the NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) deal with Deutsche Boerse. (Reuters)

Justice Department and New York State file fraud charges against Bank of NY Mellon (NYSE: BK) for currency trading irregularities. (Reuters)

Airlines forced to cut costs to the bone and charge for more services. (WSJ)

Nissan to build a new plant in Brazil. (WSJ)

Orders for U.S. factory goods fall in August. (WSJ)

Private sector lenders probably will have to take larger write-downs on Greek debt. (WSJ)

Boeing (NYSE: BA) says sales of jets in North America to rise 41% through 2030. (WSJ)

Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) profits rise due to sales in China. (WSJ)

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) to offer more of its older titles in 3D. (WSJ)

Office leasing slows in Q3. (WSJ)

More large banks in the EU admit losses on Greek debt will be in the billions. (NYT)

Morgan Stanley lobbies Wall St. about its prospects as its shares fall. (NYT)

The price of gas drops a penny a day over the past four weeks. (NYT)

EU ministers plan to get capital to banks that have faltered due to the debt crisis. (FT)

Democrats push a tax on millionaires harder as they try to settle budget issues. (FT)

Brazil’s economy expected to slow considerably. (FT)

TechAmerica says the U.S. lost 115,800 tech jobs last year. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Dysfunctional boards have helped create problems at large public companies that have lost billions of dollars in market value. Current SEC and other government agencies’ regulations make it almost impossible for shareholders to remove directors. Investors in these companies, therefore, have little choice. They can decide to live with these boards, or — if they think the governance of the companies will not get any better — sell their stock.

To find the most dysfunctional boards, 24/7 Wall St. looked at the S&P 500 companies. We chose companies whose stock prices have fallen at least 33% over the last five years, but excluded those with revenues lower than $5 billion in 2010. Finally, the board troubles at Hewlett-Packard, Bank of America, and Yahoo! have been so well chronicled that we excluded them from the list as well.

Among the subjective guidelines 24/7 Wall St. editors used to further determine the effectiveness of a board was the length of service among board members. Boards with long-serving board members can be an impediment to change if companies run into troubles, such as in the case of GE. (NYSE: GS) Another factor we looked at was whether a company’s board supported a poor performing CEO for several years, as in the case of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). Ironically, the reverse — electing too many CEOs — may also indicate a dysfunctional board. This is a sign the board cannot effectively choose chief executives and strategies that will help its company return value to shareholders consistently, such as in the case of Hewlett-Packard. 24/7 Wall St. came up with eight “American Companies With The Most Dysfunctional Boards”.

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was 405,000 shares, ALMOST DOUBLE from the 216,000 shares last quarter as a prior new position.  Now valued at $122 million.
M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE: MTB) is 5.363 million, SAME AS before but had been cut in prior quarters.
Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) was 28.4 million; SAME AS last quarter but this is down from prior reports as Moody’s is slowly getting cut.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) was 76.7 million shares; SAME AS last quarter but lower than the 96.3 million shares in prior quarters.
Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was 4.06 million shares; SAME AS before.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) was 2.82 million shares; SAME AS before.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was roughly 69 million shares; SAME AS before.
USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) was 17.072 million shares; SAME AS before.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) was 1.429 million shares; SAME AS before.
Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) was 2,101,125 shares, a NEW POSITION listed as $72.7 million as of June 30.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was just over 39 million shares; SAME AS before after having been raised in 2010.
Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) was over 1.72 million shares; SAME AS before and Buffett kept his word so far about holding the Washington Post shares despite stepping down from its board.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was over 368.6 million; this one GREW AGAIN from the 358.9 million shares at March 31, 2011; was listed as over 342 Million shares one quarter earlier and over 336.4 million two quarters before that.

PAGE ONE…BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to L’

As noted earlier… today’s holding disclosure has missing data as Berkshire Hathaway was given permission and likely still does not include the full holdings: Confidential information has been omitted from the Form 13F and filed separately with the Commission.  

Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) was not listed but that is because it was acquired by Berkshire.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private  placements.

JON C. OGG

In short, he thinks that S&P is off-base and said that the United States should be a Quadruple-A in ratings.  He also said he thinks that this will have a limited impact if no new developments occur.  He noted the debt being in dollars allows the United States to print its way out of debt payments, even if that does mean inflation.

Buffett has sat there for years and years with the public statements that America’s greatest days are ahead of it and that its history will somehow foster American growth.  Quite simply, this is nothing more than Buffett “talking up his book.”  We disagree with most of Buffett’s feel-good statements but we also understand his position.  Could you imagine what might happen if the Oracle of Omaha announced to the world, “We have gone all cash, but only Euro, Yuan, Yen, and others.  We sold all of our dollar-denominated debt and only hold stocks which will rise because of their overseas prowess.”  That might cause a bit of a panic, even if it is physically impossible for Berkshire Hathaway to make such a move.  It is also Buffett’s duty to stay upbeat because he owes it to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.

Investors do need to understand the collateral damage of S&P’s action.  First off, it happened to Japan in the 1990s and the end of the world did not occur.  The main point is that this will domino into the municipalities which are under federal oversight, as well as almost all federal agencies, insurance companies, banks, and other institutions which have the bulk of their fixed income assets tied up in Treasury and federal agency securities.

As a reminder, Berkshire Hathaway is a significant shareholder in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) as S&P’s credit rating rival.  Buffett has lightened up on that position, but he owned it long before the ratings agencies saw a meltdown and he stuck with the bulk of the position.

Buffett’s take on FOX Business Network.

JON C. OGG

Read the best performing stocks for 2011
Read the worst performing stocks for 2011

We have become comfortable, however, with the routine of the calendar.  A six month period is as good as any.

The yardstick for the period is the change in the S&P 500, which was up by 4% in the first six months. The market collapsed in mid-March and rallied into May. The index was nearly flat in June.

Some of the most interesting stocks are those that did not make the lists of best and worst performers, but would have if it were not for a percentage point or two. Ford (NYSE: F), one of the great turnarounds of the last decade, was down 20% in the first half. Its extraordinary gains of the last two years gave way as gas prices rose and consumer sentiment faltered. Target (NYSE: TGT), Wal-Mart’s (NYSE: TGT) most aggressive competitor, was down 23%. The retailer spent as if the recession was over, but its sales did not support this plan.

On the brighter side, Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) was up 41%. The credit rating firm was partially blamed for the credit crisis. It blessed pools of mortgage-backed securities that were actually risky investments. It still faces the possibility of government sanctions, which could curtail its future earnings. Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), once part of McDonald’s (NYSE MCD), posted earnings that showed people could afford to have inexpensive meals out, even if the economy is slow.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTHS) dropped 10.2% for the week after the firm disclosed poor earnings.

Shares of JDS Uniphase ((NASDAQ: JDSU) dropped 7.7% after direct competitor Finistar (NYSE: FNSR) disclosed earnings for its last quarter which were below Wall St. expectations

Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) fell 7.1% because of concerns the government will charge the company for its actions related to the credit crisis.

DDouglas A. McIntyre

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) is a brand new position, but a small one at 216,000 shares worth about $54.3 million as of March 31.
M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) is 5.363 million, SAME AS BEFORE after having been previously cut.
Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) is the same 28.4 million as last quarter, but this is down from prior reports as Moody’s is slowly getting cut.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) had been lowered in a prior period but that has been flat now for two quarters; position is now 76.7 million shares versus 96.3 million shares in prior quarters.
Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) is SAME AS BEFORE at just over 4,06 million shares.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) is SAME AS BEFORE at roughly 2.82 million shares.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is the SAME AS BEFORE at roughly 69 million shares.
USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) SAME AS BEFORE at 17.072 million shares.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) SAME AS BEFORE at 1.429 million shares.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) SAME AS BEFORE at just over 39 million shares after having been raised before in 2010.
Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) SAME AS BEFORE at over 1.72 million shares.  Buffett kept his word so far about holding the Washington Post shares despite stepping down from its board.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) grew yet again, but we already knew this after the earnings report.  This was listed as more than 358.9 million shares at March 31, 2011.  Wells Fargo was listed as over 342 Million shares one quarter earlier and over 336.4 million two quarters ago. 
Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) is the same at about 5.7 million shares but it doesn’t really matter as Buffett and Berkshire are trying to acquire the rest of the company.

PAGE ONE…BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to L’

Again, today’s holding disclosure feels like a lot is missing as Berkshire Hathaway was given permission to not disclose certain positions (most likely Combs’s new picks).  The public equities list are $53.6 billion (plus change) versus the $61.8 billion noted above.  The Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) position is the only new position that we are allowed to see and it is too small to be a significant position.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private  placements.

JON C. OGG