Posts for Ticker ‘WLP’

The More Focused, and More Opaque, Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B, BNI, UNP, NSC, GS, GE, TIF, HOG, WMT, COP, XOM, WFC, RSG, DOW, ETN, WBC, MCO, WLP, UNH, GSK, SNY, GCI, WPO)

This was an important week for investment guru and billionaire watchers to see which gurus were holding which stocks.  The full public equity holdings of Warren Buffett via Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) were particularly of note, particularly with those B shares under “BRK-B” soon to split and giving a chance for even the less astute ranks of Joe Public to own a piece of the Berkshire dream.  Obviously the huge change is via the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (NYSE: BNI) buyout.  As part of this deal, Buffett is exiting Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) and exiting Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) stakes of about $600 million and $100 million, respectively, to avoid duplication and internal competition.  The rail transport play now accounts for about one-quarter of the total Berkshire Hathaway entity upon closing. But the less obvious position in that Warren Buffett in 2009 has made it clear that there will be a simpler and probably less “stock-hound” version of Berkshire Hathaway ahead.

Buffett has gone higher up the food chain and is likely to be a creditor now inside or to large institutions.  We have seen this during the crisis.  Buffett negotiated a better deal for Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) than the US Government was able to get.  Buffett’s preferred stock in Goldman Sachs has a dividend of 10% and is callable at any time at a 10% premium; but Buffett also got warrants to purchase $5 billion of common stock with a strike price of $115.00 per share, exercisable for a five-year term (4 years now), and Buffett would effectively get to pocket $61 per share if he exercised those all today at the market (and with a $2.6 billion warrant profit alone).

The General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) stake was listed only as 7.77 million shares of common stock (about $125 million now), the same as it has been for quarters.  Yet last year Buffett came to the rescue with a $3 billion of perpetual preferred stock in a private offering with a dividend of 10% and warrants to purchase $3 billion of common stock.  The preferred is callable after 3-years (2 years now) at a 10% premium; the warrants have a strike price of $22.25 and are exercisable for a five-year term (4 years now).
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Posted on: November 19, 2009 – 8:59 am in Activist Investor, Bonds, Buffett, Conglomerates, Dividend, Editor's Picks, Infrastructure, Large Cap Stocks, Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity, Transports, Value Investing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Holdings P-Z Q3-2009 (BRK-A, BRK-B, PG, RSG, SNY, STI, TMK, TRV, USB, USG, UNH, UNP, UPS, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC, WBC)

This is the list of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) public US equity holdings as of September 30, 2009.  As noted in the “A to F” and “G to O” lists, there have been changes since the cut off date and those have been noted where applicable. Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘P to Z.’

  • Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) 96.3 million, the same as before.
  • Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) 3.625 million shares; NEW POSITION following Bill Gates.
  • Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, same as before.
  • Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) 3.079 million shares; DOWN FROM 3.2+ the quarter before.
  • Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) roughly 2.82 million, same as before.
  • Travellers Cos (NYSE: TRV) 27,336; NEW POSITION but small.
  • US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) roughly 69 million; Same as quarter before.
  • USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, same as before.
  • United Health Group (NYSE: UNH) 3.4 million shares; DOWN from 4.5 million last quarter and down from over 6 million in Q1.
  • Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 9.55 million shares, same as quarter before but this does not matter as Buffett is dumping his non-BNSF rail holdings.
  • United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares, same as before.
  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) 37.8 million; WAY UP from the 19.9+ million shares last quarter.
  • Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares, same as before.
  • Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) 313.3 million shares; ABOVE THE PRIOR 302+ million last quarter and above the 290+ million in Q1.
  • Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 3.394 million; DOWN SLIGHTLY from the 3.5 million last quarter and from the 4.7773 million in Q1.
  • Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares, same as before.

WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) IS GONE after being 2.7 million shares last quarter.

BUFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to F’

BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘G to O’

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 – 5:11 pm in Activist Investor, Buffett, Conglomerates, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett Visits Planet of Women (BRK-A, KFT, CBY, WLP, UNH)

Buffett ImageCNBC’s Becky Quick interviewed Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) at a very unusual venue this morning…. Fortune’s Most Powerful Womenconference.  The mainstay part of the discussion was the ‘one-year later after” that we have seen so much this week.  The issue for the public is that Buffett is still leaning toward improvement after having been so negative just in early summer.  More importantly for investors, he opined on the Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) and Cadbury plc (NYSE: CBY) deal and partly on healthcare or health insurance in the sale of WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) and UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH).
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Posted on: September 16, 2009 – 10:02 am in Buffett, Economy, Editor's Picks, Healthcare, Housing, Mergers and Buy Outs, , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Q2-2009 Holdings P to Z (BRK-A, PG, SNY, STI, TMK, USB, USG, UNH, UNP, UPS, WBC, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC)

Buffett ImageBerkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) has released its public stock holdings for Q2-2009 as of June 30, 2009.  Buffett did make 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 ‘P to Z.’

  • Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) 96.3 million, same as before.
  • Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, looks same as before.
  • Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) more than 3.2 million shares, same as before.
  • Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) roughly 2.82 million, same as before.
  • US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) roughly 69 million is same as before after it had been raised in Q1.
  • USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, same as before.
  • United Health Group (NYSE: UNH) 4.5 million; down from over 6 million.
  • Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 9.55 million shares, same as Q1 after growing the Q1 over Q4 position.
  • United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares, same as before.
  • WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) 2.7 million shares, same as before.
  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) over 19.9 million shares, same as before.
  • Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares, same as before.
  • Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) over 302 million; ABOVE the 290+ million shares the quarter before.
  • Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 3.5 million; DOWN from the 4.7773 million shares in Q1.
  • Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares, same as before.

BUFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to F’

BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘G to O’
JON C. OGG
AUGUST 14, 2009

Posted on: August 14, 2009 – 5:22 pm in Buffett, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Health Care Companies Play Let’s Make A Deal (CI, AET, HUM, UNH, WLP, CVH, THC, HLS)

biotech

Managed health care company stocks are rising Tuesday despite press reports that hospitals will contribute $155 billion over 10 years toward insuring the nearly 50 million Americans who do not have coverage.

The cuts would largely come from the amount the insurers receive as reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid.

Shares of Cigna corp. (NYSE: CI), Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), Humana Inc (NYSE: HUM), and UnitedHealthGroup Inc (NYSE: UNH) each are up more than 4 percent in early trading, with shares of WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) and Coventry Health Care Inc. (CVH) also on the rise.

Read more at BioHealth Investor….

Posted on: July 7, 2009 – 9:21 am in Healthcare, , , , , ,

Medicare Winners Under New Healthcare Plans (MRK, PFE, AET, CI, CVH, HUM, UNH, WLP)

Everyone is trying to figure out who the winners and losers are likely to be under a watered-down healthcare program under the Obama administration and with a Democratic Congress.  What is certain is that changes to the old way of healthcare are coming, yet the uncertainty is becoming just how far away from the existing model this will get.  Mike Tarsala contributed a a brief round of explanations for the way this will likely impact drug giants Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE).  There is also a solid take on how companies like Humana Inc (NYSE: HUM), Coventry Health Care Inc. (NYSE: CVH), Cigna corp. (NYSE: CI), United Health (NYSE: UNH), WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) and Aetna Inc (NYSE: AET) are likely to be viewed.

More details of this can be seen at BioHealthInvestor.com.

Posted on: June 22, 2009 – 12:21 pm in Drug companies, Healthcare, Medical, Politics, , , , , , , ,

Cramer’s Obama Healthcare Winner: WellPoint (WLP, CI, UNH, AET)

Cramer ImageJim Cramer came out with a healthcare maintenance  stock tonight on CNBC’s MAD MONEY which he thinks will survive and perhaps thrive under the Obama healthcare plan.  His pick in the healthcare maintenance sector is WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP).  Cramer said he has not been in support of Cigna (NYSE: CI), UnitedHealth (NYSE:  UNH) and Aetna (NYSE: AET).  He also said he won’t be going there.

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Posted on: June 17, 2009 – 5:28 pm in Biotech, Cramer, Drug companies, Healthcare, Politics, , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Q1-2009 Holdings P to Z (BRK-A, PG, SNY, STI, TMK, USB, USG, UNH, UNP, UPS, WBC, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC)

Buffett ImageWarren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) holdings for the first quarter of 2009 are now out for the cut off date here of March 31, 2009.  There are some changes from the end of Q4 here in banking and here is the list of stocks alphabetically ‘P to Z.’

  • Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) 96.3 million, same as before.
  • Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, looks same as before.
  • Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) more than 3.2 million shares, same as before.
  • Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) roughly 2.82 million, same as before.
  • US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) roughly 69 million; ABOVE last quarter’s 67.6 million.
  • USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, same as before.
  • United Health Group (NYSE: UNH) 4.5 million; down from over 6 million.
  • Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 9.55 million shares, above our 8.9 million noted before.
  • United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares, same as before.
  • WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) 2.7 million shares, same as before.
  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) over 19.9 million shares, same as before.
  • Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares, same as before.
  • Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) over 302 million; ABOVE the 290+ million shares the quarter before.
  • Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 4.7773 million shares, same as before.
  • Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares, same as before.

Here is the full list of Buffett holdings “A to F”
Here is the full list of Buffett holdings “G to O”

Jon C. Ogg
May 15, 2009

Posted on: May 15, 2009 – 4:02 pm in Activist Investor, Banking, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Insider Activity, Mutual Funds, Value Investing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 4/13/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaper10According to Reuters, GM (GM) has been told by Treasury to begin work on a bankruptcy.

Reuters reports that China’s growth has started to move inland from the coast.

Reuters reports that Credit Suisse (CS) is starting to close down the offshore accounts of US customers.

Reuters writes that the The Ethisphere Institute named the world 99 most ethical companies. Read More »

Posted on: April 13, 2009 – 3:00 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Disclose Holdings S to Z (BRK-A, SNY, STI, TMK, USB, USG, UNP, UPS, WBC, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC)

buffett_image5The final list of Warren Buffett’s year-end stock holdings from Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) are out and we broke them down alphabetically with this being the “S to Z” stock list.  The cut off here is December 31, 2008 and we have added in some color for how this compares to last quarter’s report:

  • Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, same as before.
  • Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) more than 3.2 million shares, same as before.
  • Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) looks roughly the same at 2.82 million.
  • US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) about 67.6 million shares, down from over 72.9 million last quarter.
  • USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, looks same as last quarter.
  • Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 8.9 million shares, same as before.
  • United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares, same as before.
  • WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) 2.7 million shares, same as before.
  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) over 19.9 million shares, same as before.
  • Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares, same as before.
  • Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) roughly 290.4 million shares, looks same as before.
  • Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 4.7773 million shares, same as before.
  • Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares, same as before.

BUFFETT HOLDINGS “A to G”
BUFFETT HOLDINGS “H to R”

Jon C. Ogg
February 17, 2009

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 5:48 pm in Activist Investor, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Financial Stocks, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Creditors Obstruct GM Rescue: Detroit Becomes Too Big To Fail

Old_carThe UAW and GM’s (GM) creditors are making the great auto company bailout a process that will funnel money into Detroit for years beyond the March 31 deadline which has been set for restructuring plans to be in place. Congress had assumed that GM and Chrysler would cut labor costs and debt enough to create viable companies, even with a domestic vehicle market which may only produce 12 million car sales this year.

The UAW has been dragging its feet, assuming that a Democrat-controlled federal government will not eat its own by abandoning labor. GM’s creditors are making sure that the restructuring of the auto companies will fail. They are doing so by ignoring the mandate from Congress to take less than $1-for-$1 on the debt obligations of The Big Three.

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Posted on: January 17, 2009 – 11:26 am in Autos, , , , ,

Astonishing Worker Layoff Count Today (PFE)(WLP)(PFE)(HTZ)(AMD)

Bejiqcavb2e9ycazw6i8pcauk6iqhca6p_2Looking at the headlines at WSJ.com, the majority are about large companies that cut workers today. Circuit City is liquidating, which could put 30,000 people out of work. AMD (AMD) is cutting 1,100. Pfize (PFE) is letting 2,400 salesmen go.

Hertz (HTZ) is firing 4,000 people and Wellpoint (WLP) laying off 1,500. All that on one web page.

Dark day.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: January 16, 2009 – 1:02 pm in Economy, , , ,

New Warren Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Stocks T-Z (TMK, USB, USG, UNP, UPS, WBC, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC)

Buffett_image_2We have outlined the changes in the holdings of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) and consolidated these into alphabetical order from "T to Z" for the quarter ended on September 30, 2008:

  • Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) 2.82 million
  • US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) over 72.9 million; looks UP from June
  • USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares (same)
  • Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 8.9 million shares (same)
  • United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares (same)
  • WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) 2.7 million shares (same)
  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) over 19.9 million shares (looks same)
  • Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares (same)
  • Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) roughly 290.4 million shares (looks same, but likely larger now)
  • Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 4.7773 million shares (same)
  • Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares (same)

BUFFETT HOLDINGS "A to H"
BUFFETT HOLDINGS "I to S"

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

Jon C. Ogg
November 14, 2008

Posted on: November 14, 2008 – 5:26 pm in Activist Investor, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Insider Activity, , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Holdings T to Z (TMK, USB, USG, UNP, UPS, WBC, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC)

Buffett_imageThese are the last of Warren Buffett’s and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) holdings as of June 30, 2008:

  • Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) more than 3.51 million shares in multiple lots
  • US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) more than 68 million shares in multiple lots
  • USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.07 million shares
  • Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 8.9 million shares
  • United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares
  • WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) 2.7 million shares
  • Wal-Mart Stores inc. (NYSE: WMT) over 19.9 million shares in multiple lots
  • Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares in multiple lots
  • Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) over 290 million shares in multiple lots
  • Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 4.8 million shares
  • Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares

We have also pulled out the other Buffett & Berkshire holdings in two separate groups:
Those grouped as A to G
Those grouped as H to S

Jon C. Ogg
August 14, 2008

Posted on: August 14, 2008 – 9:30 pm in Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Financial Stocks, , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Holdings T – W (BRK-A, BRK-B, TMK, TT, USB, USG, UNP, UPS, UNH, WBC, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC)

After today’s close, we saw the filing showing which stocks Warren Buffett held in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) at the cut off date of March 31, 2008. This is a snapshot of his various holdings that were broken down alphabetically.  Some have multiple positions because of various entities that are held.  Here goes:

Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK)

  • $4.6M for 77,551 shares
  • $27M for 449,728 shares
  • $99.5M for 1,656,900 shares
  • $38.4M for 639,700 shares

Trane Inc. (NYSE: TT)

  • $500M for 10,901,900 shares

US Bancorp. (NYSE: USB)

  • $754,224 for 23,307,300 shares
  • $911,692 for 28,173,426 shares
  • $270,691 for 8,365,000 shares
  • $157,473 for 4,866,300 shares
  • $70,351 for 2,174,000 shares
  • $56,468 for 1,745,000 shares

USG Corp. (NYSE: USG)

  • $628.5M for 17,072,192 shares

Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP)

  • $558.3M for 4,453,000 shares

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS)

  • $104.3M for 1,429,200 shares

United Health Group (NYSE: UNH)

  • $219.9M for 6,400,000 shares

Wabco Holdings (NYSE: WBC)

  • $123.1M for 2,700,000 shares

Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT)

  • $1.00 BIL for 18,998,300 shares
  • $49.8M for 946,000 shares

Washington Post (NYSE: WPO)

  • $591.5M for 894,304 shares
  • $98.1M for 148,311 shares
  • $428.7M for 648,165 shares
  • $24.4M for 36,985 shares

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)

  • $1.556 BIL for 53,489,420 shares
  • $367.9M for 12,643,200 shares
  • $1.114 BIL for 38,313,040 shares
  • $81.1M for 2,788,000 shares
  • $29.1M for 1,000,000 shares
  • $3.771 BIL for 129,591,488 shares
  • $46.8M for 1,609,720 shares
  • $49.4M for 1,700,000 shares
  • $23.8M for 820,000 shares
  • $582M for 20,000,000 shares
  • $465.6M for 16,000,000 shares
  • $232.8M for 8,000,000 shares
  • $78.57M for 2,700,000 shares
  • $58.2M for 2,000,000 shares

Wellpoint (NYSE: WLP)

  • $211.8M for 4,800,000 shares

Wesco Financial (AMEX: WSC)

  • $2.3 BIL for 5,703,087 shares

You can join our open email distribution list to hear about special financings, M&A, IPO’s, secondary offerings, and other special situations.

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Holdings A – H
Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Holdings I – S

Jon C. Ogg
May 15, 2008

Posted on: May 15, 2008 – 5:01 pm in Buffett, Buffett Holdings, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Big Price Movers In S&P 500 For Q1 2008 (MSFT)(GOOG)(AAPL)(INTC)(C)(AIG)(VZ)

The largest losers among the big companies in the S&P 500 for the first quarter were:

Microsoft (MSFT) down 21.6%, Google (GOOG) down 36.7%, Apple (AAPL) down 27.8%, Intel (INTC) down 22%, Citigroup (C) down 29.3%, AIG (AIG) down 26.6%, Verizon (VZ) down 17.9%, Schering-Plough (SGP) down 22.1%, Merck (MRK) down 23.4%, Wachovia ((WB) down 31.7%, United Health (UNH) down 40.9%, Merrill Lynch (MER) down 26.3%, Marathon Oil (MRO) down 23.6%, EMC (EMC) down 22.8%, Amazon (AMZN) down 24.7%, Valero (VLO) down 30.1%, Fannie Mae (FNM) down 34.9%, CME Group (CME) down 30.1%, WellPoint (WLP) down 50.7%, Motorola (MOT) down 42.6%, Lehman (LEH) down 42.3%. Spint (S) down 51.1%, Best Buy (BBY) down 23%, Freddie Mac (FRE) down 25.3%, and NYSE Euronext (NYX) down 30.4%.

The largest winners among the big companies in the S&P 500 in the first quarter were:

Wal-Mart (WMT) up 9.7%, Devon Energy (DVN) up 17.3%, Yahoo! (YHOO) up 24.6%, Burlington Northern (BNI) up 10.5%, XTO Energy (XTO) up 18.2%, EOG Resources (EOG) up 33.2%, Calgene (CELG) up 28.6%, Chesapeake Energy (CHK) up 16.1%, CSX (CSX) up 28.6%, and Nucor (NUE) up 16.2%.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: March 31, 2008 – 5:40 pm in Large Cap Stocks, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (MPG)(MTG)(WLP)(APOL)(WOOF)

Maguire (MPG) Possible sale of the company fails. Shares sell down to $12.42 from 52-week high of $38.08.

MGIC (MTG) Company closes common stock offering, dilution. Stock off to $9.60 from 52-week high of $67.05.

Wellpoint (WLP) Dowgrade from Lehman. Sells down to $43.02 from 52-week high of $90.

Apollo Group (APOL) Misses quarterly numbers. Down to $39.41 from 52-week high of $81.68.

VCA Antech (WOOF) No real news. Just drifting down. Hits low of $26.55 from 52-week high of $46.23.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: March 28, 2008 – 3:01 pm in HI/LOW, , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AIV, BBBY, DVA, LEH, MCD, OPLK, PERY, HOT, TLAB, WLP)

These are the top analyst calls we are looking at this Friday morning:

  • Apartment Investment (NYSE: AIV) Cut To Neutral From Buy at UBS.
  • Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) Cut To Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Davita (NYSE: DVA) Raised To Buy From Neutral at UBS.
  • Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) Raised To Buy From Hold at Citigroup.
  • McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) Started At Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Oplink Communications (NASDAQ: OPLK) Cut To Sell From Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • Perry Ellis (NASDAQ: PERY) Started At Buy at SunTrust.
  • Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) Cut To Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia.
  • Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) Cut To Neutral From Buy at UBS.
  • WellPoint (NYSE: WLP) Cut To Equal-weight From Overweight at Lehman.

Jon C. Ogg
March 28, 2008

Posted on: March 28, 2008 – 6:54 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (BA, OMTR, PAS, RRGB, CRM, PCU, TSM, TEVA, WLP, WX)

Below are the top 10 analyst calls we are focusing on this morning:

  • Boeing (NYSE: BA) raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Omniture (NASDAQ: OMTR) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • PepsiAmericas (NYSE: PAS) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • Red Robin Gourmet (NASDAQ: RRGB) raised to Overweight at JP Morgan; started as Buy at Jefferies.
  • Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Started At Buy at Broadpoint.
  • Southern Copper (NYSE: PCU) started as Underweight at JP Morgan.
  • Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM) raised to overweight at Lehman Brothers.
  • Teva Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TEVA) cu to Hold at Citigroup.
  • WellPoint (NYSE: WLP) downgraded to Neutral at Banc Of America.
  • WuXi PharmaTech (NYSE: WX) raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Jon C. Ogg
March 14, 2008

Posted on: March 14, 2008 – 7:09 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

WellPoint Warned, Now Humana… Blame The 2008 Election (HUM, WLP, AET)

First we saw an earnings warning out of WellPoint (NYSE: WLP) which hurt that stock and most shares in the health insurance field yesterday.  WellPoint cited several factors, including medical costs, lower fully insured enrollment, and an overall weak economy. 

Now we have a warning out of Humana (NYSE: HUM).  The blame here is being put on an analysis of pharmacy claims.  Humana’s numbers look worse with estimates for Q1 being put at $0.44 to $0.46 EPS instead of its prior range of $0.80 to $0.85.  Its full year is now put at $4.00 to $4.25 instead of its prior $5.35 to $5.55 estimate. 

Humana shares opened lower by 25% to under $35.00 in pre-market trading, which will mark a 52-week low and more than half off from its $88.10 highs over the last year.  Shares fell from $over $62 to $47.38 yesterday after WellPoint warned.

The real culprit here may be something far more simple, although this will likely be denied by the insurance industry.  It is an election year and there is a larger chance for government-mandated universal coverage in some form or fashion than there has been in recent election years.  Some insurance professionals believe that in an election year insurance companies don’t like to raise rates so that healthcare costs are not out of control around as voters hit the polls.  Insurance executives keeping up with election coverage already know that healthcare and health insurance rank among the top issues candidates discuss.  This is starting to look all too familiar.

So far, Aetna (NYSE: AET) claimed that it was maintaining its guidance while competitors have lowered numbers.  There is still a lot of the calendar left for 2008.

Douglas A. McIntyre
March 12, 2008

Posted on: March 12, 2008 – 8:39 am in Earnings Warning, Healthcare, , , , , ,