FDIC Director Wants Higher Capital Requirements
Thomas Hoenig, director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said in a speech in New York today that there remains significant risk that the public will once again have to “pick up the…
All Work
Paul Ausick
U.S. Drought Spreads on Warmer November Weather
Warmer, drier weather prevailed in the areas most affected by the ongoing U.S. drought. To compound the problem, little relief is in sight, at least in the near term. The western half of the…
Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale Draws Little Attention
The US Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Wednesday held a lease sale for approximately 21 million acres of US outer continental shelf open for development in the western Gulf…
Coal Stocks Getting a Boost Today
There’s nothing like an acquisition rumor to pump some life into an otherwise moribund stock. And when the company that’s the subject of the rumor is a coal miner, the whole coal mining sector…
Fiscal Cliffhanger for Gold and Silver
There are two schools of thought regarding the reaction of precious metals to the eventual resolution (or non-resolution) of the current negotiations on the U.S. fiscal cliff. If the two sides can reach agreement…
Small Business Optimism Plummets — Gallup
The Wells Fargo/Gallup small business index dropped from a July reading of 17 to a November score of -11, Gallup reported this morning. The index surveys small business owners’ ratings of current conditions for…
Petrobras Kills Order for Five Drill Ships
Brazil’s state-controlled oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, announced today that it was cancelling an order for five new drill ships that had been placed with Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (NASDAQ:…
VeriSign Gets New Deal, Not as Good as the Old Deal
Shares of VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) were halted briefly in premarket trading this morning while the company announced that its six-year deal with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as the…
WhiteWave’s First Earnings Top Estimates
The WhiteWave Foods Co. (NYSE: WWAV) reported third-quarter 2012 results before markets opened this morning. The food and dairy products maker reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.18 on revenues of $575 million.…
ReneSola Delivers More Bad News
ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) reported third-quarter 2012 results before markets opened this morning. The solar PV maker reported a diluted per-share loss of $0.46 on revenues of $218.2 million. In the same period a…
Hostess: A Household Name Attracts Lots of Attention
One might think that a company that has run into bankruptcy would be approached cautiously by a potential buyer. Hostess Brands Inc., maker of such American dietary staples as Twinkies, Cupcakes, Ding Dongs, Ho…
Zumiez Results Point to New 52-Week Low Tomorrow
Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) reported third-quarter fiscal 2012 earnings after markets closed today. For the quarter, the sportswear retailer posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.40 on revenues of $180 million. In…
24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — November 29, 2012: Markets Hold onto Modest Gains (NTAP, LNCO, IACI, KMX, CREE, ARO, GES, TIVO, WDAY, BKS, KR, RY, TIF, AVGO, OVTI, YOKU, ZUMZ, SOL, WWAV, RIMM, BLOX, KSS)
U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning after the weekly report on new claims for U.S. unemployment benefits came in lower than expected (more coverage here) and the second estimate of GDP indicated growth…
Counting Website Visitors Gets More Sophisticated
The proliferation of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets has made life a bit trickier for advertisers to figure out just what they are receiving for their ad dollars. comScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) today…
Timken’s Value Weighed Down by Steel Say Some Investors
Timken Co. (NYSE: TKR) has been in business for more than 100 years, making bearings and steel for a variety of industrial products. Now the company’s largest single shareholder, activist firm Relational Investors LLC,…
Verizon Wireless Tops Carrier Ratings
The top-rated wireless carrier in the U.S. is Verizon Wireless according to a survey conducted recently by Consumer Reports magazine. Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone plc…
Natural Gas Inventory Rises Slightly, Price Dips Sharply
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) today reported the U.S. natural gas stocks rose by a total of 4 billion cubic feet, slightly more than the 9 to 13 billion cubic feet withdrawal that…
October Pending Home Sales Jump
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) this morning released its data on pending home sales in October. The index rose 5.2% from an upwardly revised 99.6 in September to 104.8, and it is 13.2%…
Aeropostale Sinking on Lowered Guidance
After reporting earnings last night that fell far short of the consensus estimate, Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE: ARO) shares are down this morning after the company lowered its fourth-quarter outlook significantly below expectations as well.…
Hercules Offshore Gets a Boost
Services and drilling company Hercules Offshore Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO) recently received some positive comments from two analysts, including an upgrade to Outperform today from Stephens. The company, mostly a shallow-water driller, also published its…