No Hog Heaven for Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) reported adjusted first quarter 2013 earnings per share (EPS) of $0.40 on $3.09 billion in sales before markets opened today. In the same period a year ago, the food…
All Work
Paul Ausick
A 20-Year Forecast for Airplanes (BA)
Boeing cockpitThe demand for new civilian passenger and freight aircraft in the 2012-2031 time frame promises to double the existing fleet at a cost of about $4 trillion over the 20-year period. The forecast…
24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — August 31, 2012: Markets Rise After Bernanke Speech (GLW, SE, TD, GRMN, MT, OVTI, SAI, STP, ZUMZ, CPB, HSOL, CPB, FB, SPLK, SABA, KNXA, IBM)
Today’s issue of the “Closing Bell” is out early as we join many of you in an early start to the holiday weekend. Data in today’s report was compiled between 1 p.m. and 2…
China Turns Up Heat in Patent Wars
Last year China took the world lead in domestic patent application filings and has set an annual goal of 2 million patent filings by 2015. U.S. patent filings totaled around 530,000 in 2011. Not…
August Gasoline Prices at Seven-Year High
U.S. gasoline prices rose an average of 8.75% a gallon in August to $3.69 a gallon. The price hike is the largest for the month of August in seven years according to the AAA.…
Consumers More Optimistic
The University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index for August rose to 74.3, better than the preliminary reading of 73.6. The August reading also beat a consensus estimate of 73.8 and was nearly 2…
Share Lockups Continue to Plague Facebook
courtesy Facebook Inc.Shares of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) put up another new post-IPO low today after analysts at BMO Capital Markets cut the social networking company’s target price from $25 to $15. The firm…
Bernanke Speaks: Fed Ready to Move, but Not Now
Speaking from the Federal Reserve conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said today that the U.S. central bank has acted decisively to mend the U.S. economy, and that it will continue…
US Airways, American Agree to Open Their Kimonos (LCC, JBLU, ALK, UAL, DAL)
AMRBankrupt AMR Corp. and US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) have announced that the two companies have entered a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), under which the companies have agreed to exchange certain confidential information and,…
Spain Offers Financial Reform Plan, Focus Turns to ECB
The Spanish government today approved a set of financial reforms that it hopes will end the country’s banking crisis. The proposed reforms will fulfill a commitment by Spain to the European Central Bank in…
Eurozone Joblessness at All-Time High
The unemployment rate for the 17 member nations of the eurozone did not change in July, holding steady at 11.3%. What did change was the raw number of unemployed, which is now 18.002 million…
Another Tech IPO in the Hopper (GOOG, KMB, FLEX, ORCL, SAP, PANW, NOW, SPLK)
Business software maker Workday Inc. has filed an initial Form S-1 saying it plans an initial public offering to raise up to $400 million. No date or share price is included in this filing,…
Production Returns in the Wake of Hurricane Isaac (E, RDS-A, XOM, CVX, BP, PSX, VLO)
Crews were returning to both shallow-water and deep-water rigs in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday as the oil and gas industry prepares to restart production following Hurricane Isaac. A report from Platts noted that…
24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — August 30, 2012: Markets Slide Waiting for Bernanke (HUM, YGE, AET, LPX, CTXS, LTRX, CHUY, TIVO, VRA, TD, OVTI, SAI, ZUMZ, P, CIEN, FSLR)
The three major U.S. stock indexes opened lower this morning on an absence of new data from overseas and an expected drop in new claims for unemployment benefits did not occur (our coverage here).…
Google, Apple Talking About Patents — Reuters
The CEOs of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) have been holding private — and so far, secret — conversations on a range of intellectual property issues, and including the current…
Yes, the Rich Are Different — Pew Research
Pew Research has released the results of a survey done last month on the differences between the rich and the rest of us. The survey results didn’t really break any new ground, but did…
Natural Gas Producers Can’t Slow Down Fast Enough (XOM, CHK, EOG, UNG, OIH)
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) today reported the U.S. natural gas stocks rose by a total of 66 billion cubic feet, higher than the 61 billion cubic feet that analysts were expecting. Natural…
First Solar Project Too Successful (FSLR, NRB, BRK-A, BRK-B, PCG)
Solar maker First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) will not ship any more modules to the company’s Agua Caliente solar farm project until January 2013. The stoppage is the result of the project being ahead…
The Largest U.S. Banks
Research firm SNL Financial has released its list of the top 50 U.S. banks at the end of the second quarter of 2012. The eleven largest banks are JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM),…
New Directions for Mobile Advertising (MM, SCOR, AAPL, GOOG)
Mobile ad network Millennial Media Inc. (NYSE: MM) has release a report on mobile advertising spending, and while the company clearly has a dog in the hunt, the survey data compiled by comScore Inc.…