Iran Trading Oil for Junk
The Islamic Republic of Iran has been forced to begin trading its oil for goods as the US-led imposition of sanctions make it increasingly difficult for the country to obtain hard currency for its…
All Work
Paul Ausick
Dunkin’ Donuts Bumps Size, Price of Secondary Offering (DNKN)
Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) announced this morning that it would increase both the number of shares offered and the share price on a secondary offering by “certain of its shareholders.” The initial…
Greece May Require Third Bailout
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos told an Italian interviewer that the country may need a third bailout package from fellow Eurozone members, even though the country will do everything it can to avoid such…
Barrick Gold to Issue $2 Billion in New Debt (ABX)
Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) has announced this morning that the company will issue $2 billion in debt securities, the proceeds of which will be used: primarily to repay existing indebtedness under two revolving…
24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AMZN, APOL, HFC, LVS, VZ, MOS, RHT, SN, SHAW, BBY, MY, RIMM, FINL, PHM, CHTP, MM)
Markets opened lower this morning but fought back on the day. This morning’s report new unemployment benefits claims tamped down enthusiasm among investors (our coverage here). US natural gas inventories rose much more than…
Boeing Loses 787 Orders, Gains More 737 Orders (BA, CEA)
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) has confirmed that China Eastern Airlines Ltd. (NYSE: CEA) has cancelled its previous order for 24 of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft, replacing the order with another for 45 of the…
Employees Rate Top CEOs (AAPL, QCOM, AXP, GOOG, HPQ)
Internet jobs site Glassdoor has released its list of the top 25 US CEOs based on employee feedback for the past 12 months. The company asked the question, “Do you approve of the way…
Philly Fed President Warns of Treacherous Path
Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser said today that he does not believe that US monetary policy would be well-served by further accommodation. Additional Fed bond purchases “could lead us down a very…
National Sports Network on Tap for News Corp.? (NWS, DIS, CMCSA, CBS)
News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS) is considering the launch of a new national sports network to compete with the 600-pound gorilla, ESPN, owned by Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), and the recently re-branded NBC Sports…
IEA Promises Will Act on Oil Prices
The executive director of International Energy Agency has released a statement this morning that is pushing crude prices down further today: The oil market has been tightening in recent months; crude oil prices are…
Smartphones Now Total Half of US Mobile Phones (GOOG, AAPL, RIMM, NOK, MSFT)
Research firm Nielsen reports that 49.7% of US mobile phone subscribers owned smartphones at the end of February. In February of 2011, that number was just 36%. The leading operating systems vendors are Google…
Red Hat at 12-year High, Guides Higher (RHT)
Shares in Red Hat Inc.(NYSE: RHT), the largest distributor of Linux software, posted a new 52-week high this morning of $60.20. The last time the stock price was higher than that was March of…
Natural Gas Inventories Rise, Prices Fall Again
The US Energy Information Administration today reported the US natural gas stocks rose by a total of 57 billion cubic feet, above the 43-47 billion cubic feet increase that analysts had expected. Natural gas…
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey Slightly Weaker
The March manufacturing index for the region of the country served by the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank fell slightly in March to 9, down from 13 in February and up from 7 in…
Oracle Rejects Google Offer in Patent Dispute (ORCL, GOOG)
In August 2010, Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) filed suit against Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) for patent infringements on the Java programming language the Oracle acquired with its purchase of Sun Microsystems. The lawsuit sought…
PulteGroup Sinks Homebuilders Shares (PHM, DHI, KBH, MHO, XHB)
Homebuilder PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) is leading homebuilding stocks into another trough today following a downgrade from S&P Capital IQ to ‘Strong Sell’. MarketWatch cites an analyst’s comment on Pulte that likely applies to…
Total’s Costs for North Sea Leak Could Reach Billions (TOT, BP, RDS-A)
A natural gas leak discovered last Sunday at the Elgin field in the North Sea could cost France’s Total SA (NYSE: TOT) billions of dollars in costs to plug the well and clean up…
Oracle Buys Drug Trial Software Firm (ORCL)
Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) has announced that it will acquire ClearTrial, a maker of cloud-based Clinical Trial Operations applications for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of…
US, European Economic Growth on Different Trajectories
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released its latest economic assessment for the G7 group of the world’s largest developed economies. The OECD expects economic growth of just 1.9% among the…
Best Buy to Shutter 50 Stores, Go Smaller (BBY)
Electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) reported fourth quarter and full year earnings this morning. For the quarter, the company reported adjusted EPS of $2.47 on revenue of $16.63 billion. The consensus…