AOL Shareholders Party Like It’s 1999
courtesy AOL Inc.AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) announced this morning that it will complete the final steps needed to return approximately $1.1 billion to shareholders in the form of a special dividend of $5.15 per…
All Work
Paul Ausick
Amazing: Short Interest in Solar Stocks Cools Off (CSIQ, FSLR, GTAT, WFR, SPWR, JASO, LDK, STP, TSL, YGE)
We tracked the short interest in the following North American Solar companies: Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT), MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR),…
Big Swings in Chip Stocks’ Short Interest (INTC, AMD, QCOM, ARMH, MU, SNDK, BRCM, MRVL, NVDA, TXN, AMAT, SMH)
We have tracked the key short interest changes as of August 24th in the following semiconductor leaders: Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), SanDisk Corp.…
Amazon, Apple Soar; Autodesk Tanks (AAPL, AMZN, ADSK, CMCSA, NFLX)
Ah, the fortunes of war. Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) are up about 77% over the last 12 months, and the stock posted a new all-time high earlier this week. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:…
24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — August 24, 2012: Markets Up on Macro News (BMY, KMI, STX, CPB, SPLS, ARUN, BEBE, CRM, SCVL, SOL, MSG, MDGN, SVU, ADSK)
The three major U.S. stock indexes opened lower this morning but picked up some buying steam in the first hour or so of trading. The morning’s report on durable goods sales looked good until…
The Value of SUPERVALU (SVU, KR, SWY, WMT, TGT)
We wrote this morning about the ongoing M&A chatter about SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU). The store is seeking a buyer for the whole company, but so far most of the interest has come from…
North American Rig Count Drops by 16 (BHI, SLB, HAL, OIH)
Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE: BHI) has reported that the North American rig count totaled 2,232 this week, down from 2,240 the week before and down from 2,483 in the same period a year ago.…
Bakken Oil & Gas Assets Change Hands (BKH, QEP)
Black Hills Corp. (NYSE: BKH) has sold about 85% of the company’s assets in the Bakken and Three Forks shale plays in the Williston basin for approximately $243 million in cash. The effective date…
Food Price Forecast Unchanged in July
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today that its estimate for food price inflation did not change in July. The agency still expects food prices to rise 2.5%-3.5% this year and 3%-4% next…
Merkel Wants Greece to Stay in Eurozone
U.S. equity markets jumped sharply about half an hour ago following a report in The New York Times that German chancellor Angela Merkel said: I want Greece to stay in the euro zone and…
Top Talent Heads for Exits at Social Media Firms (GRPN, ZNGA, FB, YELP, ANGI, LNKD, SOCL)
We’ve noted already this morning that Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) has replaced its head of national sales. And a report from Bloomberg notes the departure of four executives from social game maker Zynga Inc.…
General Growth Saga Just Beginning (GGP, BAM, SPG, HHC)
When Pershing Square Capital Management filed a Form 13D with the SEC yesterday related to its ownership interests in General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP), Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman included a letter to GGP’s…
Construction Equipment, Tractor Sales Lag in China, India (CAT, DE)
Slowing global economic growth is cutting into sales of heavy construction and farming equipment in what were the world’s fastest growing markets: China and India. The impact on U.S. makers like Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:…
Alzheimer’s Drug Shows Some Success (LLY, PFE, ELN)
Drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) announced this morning that the company’s solanezumab treatment for Alzheimer’s disease failed to meet both the cognitive and functional endpoints in recently completed phase 3 double-blind trials.…
Groupon’s National Sales Chief Out
The senior vice-president of national sales for Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN), Lee Brown, left the company yesterday, according to an exclusive report from Reuters that was later confirmed by Groupon’s senior VP of sales.…
Apple, Samsung Each Win a Little in Korean Patent Case
All eyes have been watching the proceedings in San Jose, Calif., where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has sued Samsung Electronics for infringing Apple patents on smartphones and tablets. Similar lawsuits have been filed in…
FCC Approves Verizon Spectrum Purchase (VZ, CMCSA, TWC)
Following in the footsteps of last week’s approval of the deal, the Federal Communications Commission today has approved the $3.9 billion acquisition by Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) of wireless spectrum from SpectrumCo LLC.…
Corn Prices Tumble on Low Exports
In something of a surprise today, corn prices gave back nearly all the gains they made in August, closing at the Chicago Board of Trade at $8.13/bushel. That’s a 12% drop in the last…
Salesforce.com Lowers Forecast, Gets Smacked
Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) reported adjusted second quarter EPS of $0.42 on $732 million in sales after markets closed today. In the same period a year ago, the customer relationship management firm reported EPS…
24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — August 23, 2012: Markets Lose Ground on Weak Data (XOM, NOC, SWY, CS, WFM, HPQ, KKD, FLWS, BIG, HRL, JKS, ADSK, BEBE, CRM, SCVL, SOL, MSG, NOK, ROSG, JKS)
The three major US stock indexes opened lower this morning and spent most of the day heading lower still. Economic data was mixed at best today, with the flash PMI number lower than expected…