AIG’s Less Worser Results
AIG announced two bad pieces of news but each was framed as good. The insurance company which has benefited from a $180 billion US bailout reported a net loss attributable to AIG common shareholders…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Today’s Best Market Rumors
Updated throughout the day. Toyota (TM) may miss North American output goals (Nikkei news service) GM is going back to early bidders for Hummer now that its deal with Chinese firm Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery…
Beware Of Greeks Bearing Bad News
EU economic inspectors and IMF officials have been in Greece to review the economic carnage. What they found was at the horrible end of a scale that ranges from good news to bad. Prime…
Another Snow Hurricane In The East, Another Blow To GDP And Housing
The number of “snow hurricanes” that have hit the mid-Atlantic states and Northeastern US must be a National Weather Service record. Much of the East Coast is under assault again and will be for most…
The Recovery Loses Steam As GDP Growth Fails
The US economy may have grown at a 5.7% pace in the fourth quarter of 2009, but according to a survey of experts by Thomson Reuters a figure of closer to 3% is more likely…
The Car Industry Is In As Much Trouble As Toyota
Toyota’s (TM) sales in the US market are supposed to fall and some of its large rivals like Ford (F) and Honda (HMC) are supposed to benefit from customers who will no longer consider buying vehicles…
The Drug Lords, The Men Who Run The Global Phamaceutical Industry
There are twelve major pharmaceutical firms that dominate this industry worldwide. Their combined market value is over $1 trillion with total annual sales of over $500 billion. The firms have developed and marketed most of the…
Media Digest 2/26/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: Akio Toyoda met with Transportation Secretary LaHood. Reuters: Lloyds posted huge loss driven by bad debts. Reuters: A job creation effort is hung up in Congress again. Reuters: Blackstone (BSX) got commitments for its fund…
Asia Markets And Europe Open (2/26/2010)
Markets in Asia were mixed. The Nikkei was up .2% to 10,128. Toyota (TM) rose slightly. The Hang Seng was up 1% to 20,609. China Unicom (CHU) rose The Shanghai Composite was down .3%…
Short Sellers Attack Buffett Holdings (BRK-B, BRK-A, AXP, BAC, BDX, KMX, KO, CMCSA, COP, COST, XOM, GCI, GE, GS, GSK, HD, IR, IRM, JNJ, KFT, LOW, MCO, NLC, NKE, PG, RSG, SNY, STI, TMK, TRV, USG, UNH, UPS, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC)
Short selling is seen for many reasons, but universally traders tend to track short selling to track the biggest changes in the short interest twice each month. Whether these are hedges, forward delivery trades,…
VMware Buying Part of EMC: When Son Buys From Dad (VMW, EMC)
You have to always wonder a bit when a partial spin-out makes a deal to acquire software products from its parent company. After the close of trading came word that VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW)…
Steve Jobs: Being Bank Better Than Dividend or Stock Split (AAPL)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has recovered sharply today from its lows, although it may be on more noise than news. The company at its annual meeting reelected its seven board members. There were market…
What To Expect From Buffett’s Annual Letter (BRK-B, UNH, COP, XOM, MCO, RSG)
This weekend we will get to see the annual letter to shareholders from Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A). We expect a far more confident Buffett than what we witnessed last…
More Cold Days For Gold (GLD, SGOL, GDX, GDXJ)
It has been hard to not notice the sideways trading action in gold of late. Sure, you have the potential decline of the Euro, the rising dollar, mixed economic data globally, China keeping the…
More Troubles Brewing in Video Game Land? (GME, WMT, ATVI, ERTS, AAPL)
There is one headline about management that almost always brings up concerns from the financial community….. CFO Resignations. GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) is paying a price this morning because CFO Catherine Smith left the…
Clues of Microsoft’s Hand Behind Google Antitrust Inquiry
By John Hudson of The Atlantic Wire When the European Commission launched an anti-trust inquiry into Google, the company was quick to blame Microsoft for its problems. The Redmond software giant has direct financial…
More Key SPAC and Blank-Check Developments (BPW, TLB, HMAQF, BBVVF, WLBC, ULEI, CFQCF)
We are seeing more and more deal news in the land of special purpose acquisition companies and in blank check companies. Some is good, while some is not. SPACUpdate.com sent us some exclusive coverage…
Bernanke: The Fed And SEC Examining Goldman Sachs, Greece Issues
Fed chair Ben Bernanke said in his testimony before Congress today that the Fed and SEC are looking into the relationship between Goldman Sachs (GS) and Greece. The EU has been examining the same issues.…
Palm Moves Further Down The Road To Obscurity
Palm (PALM) may not be dead, but it is dying. It could not survive that ongoing success of smartphone leaders Apple (AAPL) and RIM (RIMM). The iPhone and Blackberry just keep gaining sales are…
Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AONE, BIG, BRCM, CME, FITB, FLIR, GOOG, MRVL, STP, YHOO, TS)
These are this morning’s top analyst research calls for upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street analysts this Thursday: A123 Systems (NASDAQ: AONE) Started as Equal-Weight at Barclays. Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) Raised…