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Posts for Ticker ‘WYE’

Unusual Options Trading Patterns (SUN, VLO, TSO, FTO, GE, GOOG, IBM, PFE, WYE)

We are starting to see some elevated options trading that appeared on the unusual volume screens. Many of these are pre-earnings trading and some are on other expectations. We have more detailed data on each over at VSinvestor.com with links on each stock individually:

OptionsHawk.com pointed out to us that there was a huge increase in refiners options trading in Sunoco Inc. (NYSE: SUN), Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO), Frontier Oil Corp. (NYSE: FTO) and in Tesoro Corporation (NYSE: TSO).

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is starting to see some elevated options trading as well ahead of tomorrow’s earnings.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is seeing increased options trading ahead of earnings, which was actually more active on a fully leveraged basis than the stock was.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is seeing increased options trading ahead of earnings.

Pfzer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is seeing elevated stock trading on the Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) closing due to indexers like the S&P 500 and Russell adding shares, and we are seeing it in the call options as well.

As a reminder, OCT-2009 options expiration date is tomorrow, and all “out of the money” with an October expiration will expire with a value of ZERO.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, daily analyst upgrades and downgrades, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG
OCTOBER 15, 2009

Posted on: October 15, 2009 – 2:50 pm in Options, Trading Alert, FTO, GE, GOOG, IBM, PFE, SUN, TSO, VLO, WYE

Fidelity’s Top Portfolio Changes (BAC, WFC, GS, MS, JPM, AAPL, MSFT, CSCO, ORCL, XOM, CVX, PFE, ESRX, WYE, GE, SBUX)

Fidelity Management & Research Company, or FMR, was among the giants which released its quarterly holdings over the most recent days. While it is always interesting to see which holdings are the top holdings, most traders look at the big portfolio changes to try to gain insight into the minds of fund managers. We looked through the top holdings valued at $1 billion or more solely for the Fidelity Management & Research Company unit and we looked for positions where the position changed by more than 10% up or down by measure of share count rather than by the dollar amount.

There were some serious additions in Q2 in the financial sector to its portfolios. The tech sector saw some mixed changes, while the drug and consumer changes looked lower. There was a surprise cut in a key conglomerate and a huge add to one of the Battlestar Galactica coffee stocks.

Of the larger changes to its top holdings in financial stocks, FMR’s major large changes were all additional stakes being taken. WELLS FARGO & CO (NYSE: WFC) was listed as $6.05 billion via 249.45 million shares, a gain of roughly 36 million shares. J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO INC. (NYSE: JPM) was worth $5.44 billion from a stake of almost 159.6 million shares, a gain of over 7.1 million shares. BANK OF AMERICA CORP. (NYSE: BAC) was listed as $4.17 billion via a stake of 315.9 million shares, but that is effectively a doubling in size of shares from its Q1 reporting. GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC. (NYSE: GS) was listed as a $3.44 billion stake via 23.35 million shares, a gain of roughly 7 million shares of stock. MORGAN STANLEY (NYSE: MS) was a stake worth some $2.5 billion via some 87.8 million shares, also more than double its previous shares listed.

APPLE INC. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is one of its top few holdings at $5.96 billion, and this was a gain of more than 10% to 4,59 million shares. MICROSOFT CORP. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was a huge gain by almost one-third of its stake to some 163 million shares of stock worth a reported $3.87 billion. ORACLE CORP. (NASDAQ: ORCL) was listed as being worth some $2.79 billion via 130.3 million shares, a gain of about 15.3 million shares. IBM (IBM) was worth $1.00 billion via 9.62 million shares, but this is after a drop of roughly 4.3 million shares.
Read More »

Posted on: August 17, 2009 – 4:58 pm in Banking, Drug companies, Financial Stocks, Insider Activity, Mutual Funds, Oil & Gas, Technology Companies, Telecom, Uncategorized, AAPL, BAC, CSCO, CVX, ESRX, GE, GS, JPM, MS, MSFT, ORCL, PFE, SBUX, WFC, WYE, XOM

Bristol-Myers Gets Key Assets With A Medarex Deal (BMY, MEDX, ABT, JNJ, AMGN, WYE)

Bristol Myers Inc. (NYSE: BMY) plans to spend $2.4 billion to buy partner Medarex Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDX). It will get a great deal beyond the cancer monoclonal antibody that developed together.

The Medarex pipeline has substantial value.

The monoclonal antibody ipilimumab is by far the main reason that Bristol pulled the trigger. It is currently in Phase III trials for both metastatic melanoma and hormone-refractory prostate cancer. Read More »

Posted on: July 23, 2009 – 9:12 am in Drug companies, Editor's Picks, Mergers and Buy Outs, Pharmaceuticals, AMGN, BMY, JNJ, MEDX, WYE

The Next Blockbuster Drugs: A $170 Billion Opportunity

Safety and efficacy data are critical to drug candidates. But what really makes a potential drug attractive is strong top-line data, a new biotech-based treatment, and a massive potential market.

With help from Thomson Pharma and our own backlog of coverage, BioHealthInvestor.com, a 247wallst.com website, sought to find the most promising biopharmaceutical candidate from both biotech and pharmaceutical companies in each of the top 10 most prevalent medical conditions in the U.S. Read More »

Posted on: July 22, 2009 – 4:01 am in Biotech, Drug companies, Editor's Picks, Pharmaceuticals, ABT, AMGN, ARRY, AZN, BIIB, BMY, ELN, GILD, GSK, JNJ, LLY, MNKD, MRK, NVO, NVS, PFE, RNNBY, SNY, TEVA, THRX, WYE

Media Digest 5/19/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters: Twitter will release business tools in an attempt to make money.

Reuters: A GM (GM) bankruptcy is seen as nearly inevitable.

Reuters: American Express (AXP) will cut 4,000 jobs.

Reuters: Obama will unveil aggressive car fuel standards.

Reuters: Madoff trustee sues Fairfield Group for $3.5 billion

Reuters: Mail blue collar workers are losing ground in employment and compensation. Read More »

Posted on: May 19, 2009 – 2:53 am in Autos, Banking, Buffett, Casinos, Drug companies, Economy, Internet, Media, Oil & Gas, PC Companies, Press Digest, AMD, AXP, BCS, BSX, BX, DELL, GM, GOOG, HD, HMC, HPQ, MGM, SBUX, TM, VOD, WYE

The Top Ten Stocks For Short Sellers (MSFT)(INTC)(SIRI)(F)(AIG)(C)

Short selling is among the most controversial investment practices and has been blamed for sharp sell-offs in the stocks of a number of large companies, especially financial firms. Governments in both the US and other developed countries are considering banning or seriously restricting the practice of short selling. When financial stocks were dropping rapidly late last year, taking short positions in some banks and brokerage stocks was actually forbidden.

There are a limited number of stocks which consistently have short interests above 50 million shares. They are the shares in companies that short sellers move in and out of the most often.

The reasons that theses stocks are so heavily shorted is a combination of their trading volume, their numbers of shares outstanding, and their susceptibility to big price swings caused by news and rumors.

The ten favorite stocks for short sellers are a combination of financial, tech, conglomerate, auto, and big pharma companies–a sign that when Wall St. bets against companies it has no favorite sectors.

The top ten stocks for short sellers: Read More »

Posted on: April 26, 2009 – 1:12 pm in Conglomerates, Financial Stocks, Hardware, Old Media, Pharmaceuticals, Short Interest, Software, Technology, AIG, C, F, GCI, GE, GM, GOOG, INTC, LVLT, MSFT, PFE, SIRI, WYE, YHOO

Allergan May Join Sector Takeover Waves (AGN, GSK, DNA, PFE, WYE, MRK, SGP)

If the rumor mill has any truth to it, then Allergan Inc. (NYSE: GSK) may by the next biotech takeover target. There is roughly $150 billion in new equity investor capital that can be put to work in this space now that Genentech Inc. (NYSE: DNA) is being bought by Roche and that Pfizer Inc. (NYS: PFE) is buying Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) and that Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) is buying Schering-Plough (NYSE: intra-day trading trends for day traders and options volume at Volume Spike Investor. And then there is the deeper down assumed valuation assessments using forward P/E’s and other balance sheet data at Biohealth Investor.

Allergan has now just crossed over the 10 million share mark and shares are up 11.7% at $48.23. In today’s world of the market whip-around and the world of M&A, we won’t be shocked if Allergan denies the rumors saying they would rather be an acquirer. Nor would we be shocked if the company halts or just says “No Comment!” in response to this.

Jon C. Ogg
March 24, 2009

Posted on: March 24, 2009 – 11:34 am in Biotech, Drug companies, Medical, Mergers and Buy Outs, Rumors, Trading Alert, AGN, DNA, GSK, MRK, PFE, SGP, WYE

A Renaissance for Big Acquisitions

A large part of the money that was made by banks and investment banks from 2004 through most of 2007 was made from mergers and acquisitions. When the credit markets fell apart, the financing for these deals disappeared. Then the economy got so bad that buying companies became secondary to staying in business through the downturn Read More »

Posted on: March 19, 2009 – 3:59 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, CBS, CSCO, CVX, DNA, DOW, IBM, JAVA, PFE, ROH, TWX, WYE, XOM

Top Analyst Upgrades (BIG, GLW, DRIV, DUK, KSS, MEOH, PFE, STP, TRV, WYE)

These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive calls we have seen from analysts this Tuesday morning:

Big Lots (BIG) Raised to Buy at Soleil.
Corning (GLW) Raised to Buy at Collins Stewart.
Digital River (DRIV) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Duke Energy (DUK) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Kohl’s (KSS) Raised to Buy at BofA Merrill.
Methanex (MEOH) Raised to Outperform at CIBC.
Pfizer (PFE) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Suntech Power (STP) Raised to Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
Travelers (TRV) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Wyeth (WYE) Raised to Buy at UBS.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: March 10, 2009 – 6:33 am in Analyst Calls, BIG, DRIV, DUK, GLW, KSS, MEOH, PFE, STP, TRV, WYE

Media Digest 3/5/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

According to Reuters, Ford (F) will launch a major financial restructuring.

Reuters reports that the US is launching a $75 billion plan to help troubled holders of US mortgages.

Reuters reports that the Fed says the near-term outlook for the economy has darkened.

Reuters writes that sever Merrill executives were told they must appear before the NY attorney general. Read More »

Posted on: March 5, 2009 – 3:59 am in Press Digest, BAC, BCS, F, GE, GOOG, INTC, JPM, MSFT, NVDA, WFC, WYE

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (ADBE, ALXN, BIG, NSR, PFE, WYE)

These are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive calls we have seen this Monday morning:
Adobe Systems (ADBE) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) Started as Outperform at Leerink Swann.
Big Lots (BIG) Raised to Buy at Soleil.
NeuStar (NSR) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
Pfizer (PFE) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Wyeth (WYE) Raised to Buy at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
February 9, 2009

Posted on: February 9, 2009 – 7:57 am in Analyst Calls, ADBE, ALXN, analyst research, analyst upgrades, BIG, NSR, PFE, WYE

A Double Dip Layoff Economy

A look at the companies which announced layoffs in December and January demonstrates that almost no industry is immune from job losses due to this contracting economy. Tech companies such as Microsoft (MSFT) fired people. So did many retail operations including Macy’s (M).Consolidation efforts led by Pfizer’s (PFE) marriage to Wyeth (WYE) have begun to put tens of thousands of people out of work. GM (GM) is signaling that it may have to take another 15,000 or 20,000 jobs off its payroll in the next month to convince the federal government that it can become economically viable in a market in which car sales are still falling. Read More »

Posted on: February 8, 2009 – 10:15 am in Economy, GM, HPQ, IBM, M, MSFT, PFE, WYE

Media Digest 1/30/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

According to Reuters, Republican may keep fighting Obama on the stimulus package.

Reuters reports that Roche dropped its bid on Genentech (DNA) to $42 billion.

Reuters writes that the Administration will release its plans to fix banks next week.

Reuters reports that NYS Attorney General Cuomo may try to get back $4 billion in Merrill Lynch bonuses.

Posted on: January 30, 2009 – 4:01 am in Press Digest, AMZN, CL, DELL, DNA, EK, F, FNM, HMC, MMM WFMI, MO, MS, PFE, SNE, TM, WYE

The New Layoff Kings: Thirty Companies Fire 173,000 People

Continuing jobless claims rose by 159,000 in the week ended Jan. 17 to a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, the most since the government’s records began in 1967. The number of unemployed people in the US could rise by one million this month, almost twice the figure for December.

Where are the job losses coming? Only thirty firms account for over 173,000 of the firings so far this month.

Posted on: January 29, 2009 – 2:57 pm in Management Change, BA, CAT, COP, DAL, EK, EMC, GLW, GM, HD, HTZ, IBM, INTC, MOT, MSFT, PFE, S, SBUX, TXN, WYE

Media Digest 1/27/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

According to Reuters, American Express (AXP) earnings dropped 72% but still beat expectations.

Reuters writes that Geithner was confirmed to be Treasury Secretary.

Reuters reports that people lost confidence in business globally in 2008.

Posted on: January 27, 2009 – 4:01 am in Press Digest, AIG, AXP, BAC, C, CAT, DOW, FNM, FRE, HD, IBM, MCD, NFLX, PFE, S, SI, TXN, VMW, WYE

A Major Resurrection Of The M&A Industry Is Coming (PFE)(WYE)

The Pfizer (PFE) deal to buy Wyeth (WYE) for $68 billion looks like a single M&A deal which will break the drought in investment banking activity, but only for a day.

The conventional wisdom is that acquisitions in a recession are too risky. They require capital and integrating companies is hard even when the economy is strong. Pfizer will borrow $22 billion to consummate the transaction.

Posted on: January 26, 2009 – 5:51 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, PFE, WYE

Media Digest 1/26/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

According to Reuters, The National Association of Business Economics survey found that members believe that the economy has it its worst period in 27 years.

Reuters reports that Pfizer (PFE) is close to a deal to buy Wyeth (WYE).

Reuters writes that Bank of American (BAC) played a role in $4 billion of bonuses granted to Merrill Lynch employees.

Reuters reports that bankruptcy fears have hit auto parts suppliers.

Posted on: January 26, 2009 – 3:59 am in Press Digest, ALU, BAC, BCS, GE, PFE, UBS, WYE, YHOO

Pfizer (PFE) And Wyeth (WYE): A Merger As A Way To Fire People

Companies, even really big ones with hundreds of thousands of employees, can only fire so many people. At some point the core functions like accounting and marketing need enough personnel to keep operations running. The layoff machine runs out of fuel.

Pfizer (PFE) has already fired thousands of people. Most recently it cut 800 researchers and 2,400 sales personnel. The drug firm probably would have been more brutal if it could have been.

Posted on: January 23, 2009 – 6:22 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, PFE, WYE

Media Digest 1/23/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

According to Reuters, Samsung had its first ever quarterly loss.

Reuters reports that Pfizer (PFE) is in takeover talks with Wyeth (WYE), a deal that would be worth $60 billion.

Reuters reports that a good bank/bad bank system would lead to nationalization.

Reuters reports that the new Treasury Secretary designate believes that China has manipulated the Yuan.

Reuters writes that Google (GOOG) beat earnings estimates.

Posted on: January 23, 2009 – 3:54 am in Press Digest, BAC, BCS, DIS, GOOG, LUV, MSFT, NOK, NYT, PFE, SBUX, TM, UNH, VZ, WYE

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (APD, AA, CENX, CERN, BOOM, ECLP, EE, FCX, K, LOGI, WYE)

These are some of the top pre-market analyst downgrades we have seen this Thursday morning with more than two hours until the market opens:

Air Products (APD) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
Alcoa (AA) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Century Aluminum (CENX) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Cerner (CERN) Cut to Hold at Jefferies; Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Dynamic Materials (BOOM) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
Eclipsys (ECLP) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
El Paso Electric (EE) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley; Cut to Underperform at FBR.
Kellogg (K) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Logitech (LOGI) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Wyeth (WYE) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
January 22, 2009

Posted on: January 22, 2009 – 7:34 am in Analyst Calls, AA, APD, BOOM, CENX, CERN, ECLP, EE, FCX, K, LOGI, WYE

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