Ethanol Maker Turns Down Federal Loan (ADM, VLO)
Privately held ethanol maker POET has rejected a US Department of Energy loan of $105 million to help with the expansion of a cellulosic ethanol plant in Iowa. POET, with 27 ethanol plants and…
All Work
Paul Ausick
US Drivers Logging Fewer Miles
The Federal Highway Administration issues a monthly estimate on the number of miles driven in the US. For the month of November 2011, US drivers logged 240.9 billion millions. That’s 2.1 billion miles less…
24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (COP, SIRI, GOOG, PG, AMGN, HAL, TWIN, PETS, MFN, GDP, CBRX, SR, RIMG)
Equity markets opened slightly higher this morning but trailed off to negative territory in the late morning. By late afternoon, the NASDAQ composite and the S&P 500 were flirting with a positive result. Continuing…
Oil Prices Rise on EU Embargo, Iran Threat
It’s probably no surprise that the European Union’s decision to begin an immediate embargo on new oil contracts with Iran and the EU’s agreement to freeze Iranian funds generated responses from Iranian politicians threatening…
Materials, Healthcare Sectors Lead Earnings Upside (MMR, SLB, FCX, FRX, CBST)
Of the companies that have so far reported earnings for the last quarter, five from the materials sector have posted surprise earnings upside of more than 15%. That’s according to S&P Capital IQ consensus…
Earnings Better than Expected So Far (MON, BAC, BBT, FCX, GS, COF)
Of the 76 companies included in the S&P 500 index that have reported earnings through last week, 55% have beat expectations according to S&P Capital IQ consensus estimates. The largest year-over-year growth are Monsanto…
BofA Aims for Additional Cost Savings of $3 Billion (BAC)
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) has already identified cost cuts of $5 billion for 2012. Now the company is looking at additional ways to save another $5 billion. The bank is examining cuts…
Marcellus Shale Gas Reserves Estimate Cut 66% (CHK, RRC, ECA, COG)
A report earlier today that Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was reducing its drilling programs due to the low prices for natural gas. Competitors like Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC), Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA),…
US Supreme Court Rules On GPS Use
The official vote in today’s US Supreme Court ruling on police use of a GPS device to track a suspect was 5-4, denying such use without a warrant as a violation of a right…
Iran Threatens Again to Close Strait of Hormuz
The agreement reached by the European Union to impose new sanctions on Iran and its oil exports have ratcheted up the rhetoric, if not also the possibility, that the Islamic Republic would close the…
A Few Good Funds Launched in 2011 (FMLCX, FMIFX, FMCFX, FOCFX, TGICX, GOODX, ARDFX)
A Morningstar analyst has picked out four funds that launched in 2011 as being most likely to offer value to investors going forward. Of the four, one from Fidelity includes four municipal bond-funds with…
Apple Sold 350,000 Textbooks in First Three Days (AAPL)
The Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) initiative into figital textbook publishing is off to a rousing start. The company reportedly sold 350,000 electronic texts since the program was announced last Friday. The company’s proprietary digital…
Potential Upside in Semiconductor Stocks (INTC, AMD, MU, BRCM, QCOM, ARMH, SNDK, ALTR, AMAT, TXN)
Since the beginning of the year the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is up more than 13.5%. The run-up may be over for some chip makers and sustainable for others. Analysts are also a little behind…
Morning Movers (MFN, PETS, URG, CBRX, TWIN)
There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include Minefinders Corp. Ltd. (AMEX: MFN), PetMed Express Inc. (NASDAQ: PETS), Ur…
Conoco Replaces 112% of Production (COP)
Oil & gas supermajor ConocoPhillips Corp. (NYSE:COP) has announced that it replaced 112% of its 2011 production with newly discovered reserves. That’s in-line with the company’s reserves replacement five-year average of 111% through the…
Interest on US Debt Just 3.1% of GDP — Lowest Since 2004
The fears of inflation hawks and bond vigilantes that US debt would stifle economic recovery have been cooled by recent inflation statistics and should be further cooled by the low interest rate the US…
Pan American Silver Acquires Canadian Miner (PAAS, MFN)
Canada’s Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) has agreed to acquire junior miner Minefinders Corp. Ltd. (AMEX: MFN) for total consideration of CDN$1.5 billion. The total works out to CDN$15.60/share, a 36% premium over…
Morning Wire — US Stock-Index Futures Slightly Higher
US index futures are somewhat higher this morning as talks between Greece and its bondholders are believed to be progressing. Greek bondholders have apparently agreed to a haircut of 65%-70% on existing debt, but…
Federal Employees Evade Billions in 2010 Federal Taxes
About 98,000 federal, postal, and congressional staff employees did not pay taxes in 2010 and owe the US Internal Revenue Service $1.03 billion in taxes. Civilian retirees did not pay about $500 million in…
Postal Rates Go Up, Labor Talks Collapse
The US Postal Service will raise about $888 million in additional revenue this year following a one-cent increase in the first-class letter rate that goes into effect today. It’s the first rise in postal…