Hints of the GE Dividend Hike (GE, MMM, UTX)
As we have been expecting for a month or more, General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is now acting as though it is probably closer to raising its dividend than what some were expecting even…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
S&P To Greece’s Rescue (NBG)
Standard & Poor’s may have just come to the rescue of Greece in a better or more clear manner than what the European nations have tried to do all along. The ratings agency has…
Bracing for the Bernanke Put
The FOMC decision on interest rates is expected today at or around 2:15 PM EST. Most market pundits are expecting no change to the Fed Funds Rate. The target of 0.00% to 0.25% is…
Amazingly, Lehman Lives On Despite Bankruptcy (LEHMQ)
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ) is still alive as a stock despite the company being dead. It turns out that there is actually a little asset value left here, as the company has filed…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (3/16/2010)
Updated throughout today. Employees may sue AIG (AIG) after getting less in bonus that their employment agreements called for (NYT). Michael Jackson’s estate signed a $200 million deal with Sony (SNE). Google (GOOG) has…
Top 10 Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ALU, BSX, EAT, CLX, GT, KMB, SBUX, TEVA, UNH, WU)
These are this Tuesday’s top 10 analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls during the pre-market hours. It is more skewed to downgrades, something we have not seen routinely in…
Walmart, The Banking Giant, Extends It Reach
Restrictive state banking laws are not preventing Walmart (WMT) from extending its reach as a financial services presence which dwarfs many banks. The world’s largest retailer will extend its “Money Centers” this year to 1,500…
Walmart, The World’s Grocer, Lowers Prices
Walmart (WMT) intends to use what it charges for groceries as a weapon against its competition. By lowering prices, it may have the dual effect of drawing new shoppers and helping the overall economy.…
Bank Reform May Be Short The Votes It Needs
The healthcare reform package, the centerpiece of the Obama presidency, never made it though Congress, at least not in the form the President would have liked. It will still struggle to be passed in…
Tort Reform For The Bank Business
The legal actions against Lehman total, by some estimates, 62,000 plaintiffs which have a total of $785 million in claims against the failed bank. The restructuring of the firm had already cost $642 million as of last month. One…
Media Digest 3/16/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: The Fed is likely to keep interest rates low for some time. Reuters: China said the yuan in not behind the US trade gap. Reuters: A record number of Chinese are unhappy about…
Credit Card Delinquency Rates Are Improving?
One analyst who looked at the credit card delinquency rates for February noted that the figures appeared to be improving, but that they might be seasonal. It is another way of saying that they might not be…
Congressional Faction Prepared To Risk Economic Ties With China
President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner have taken an extremely modest approach to what may experts believe is manipulative behavior by the Chinese vis-a-vis the value of the yuan. The peaceful method of negotiating …
IPO FILING: MagnaChip (MX)
MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation is coming public. The maker of did not give formal terms of the offering but noted that it plans to sell up to $250 million in common stock. The maker of…
More Apparel Deals Coming? (PVH, WRC, VFC, RL, ARO, ANF, OXM, LULU, UA, COLM)
Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. (NYSE: PVH) has traders and investors speculating about or pondering which other apparel companies may become acquisition targets or which could end up in ‘mergers of equals’ as companies aim to…
No Signs Of Intelligent Life At Boston Scientific
Virtually nothing has gone right at Boston Scientific (BSX) since it bought rival Guidant in a bidding war with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) in 2006. With a year of the transaction closing Guidant had to withdraw 50,000 medical…
More Dividend Hikes, More on the Way (PEP, KO, DPS, QCOM, AMAT, SBUX, CSCO, AAPL, GPS, KMB)
PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is the latest of the big companies to hike their dividend payouts this morning. We have not kept an exact tally, but this is getting close to 70 of the…
The Worst Apple App Of The Day: Starbucks
The Apple (AAPL) App Store has about 150,000 applications which have been downloaded more than 3 billion times. Most of the apps are free, but some cost $50 or more. 24/7 Wall St. has…
Top 10 Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ARMH, DWA, FNSR, GPRE, HAS, ICE, JDSU, LM, RSH, WMT)
These are this Monday’s top 10 analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls during the pre-market hours: ARM Holdings (NASDAQ: ARMH) Cut to Hold at UBS. DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA)…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (3/15/2010)
Updated throughout the day. AIG (AIG) will hold back $21 million from employee bonuses (CNBC) Google (GOOG) will shut its Google.cn site in China (various) Arrow Energy will reject a $3 billion takeover bid from…