GM And Chrysler Face Longer Odds
By Paul Ausick of 24/7 Wall St. Auto companies have recently reported sales figures for the month of December and full-year 2009. For nearly all, the numbers are better. The numbers are also not…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Trouble With OPEC Quotas
Yesterday’s report from Reuters that some OPEC member nations are cheating on their quota agreements is unique only in that the news agency has apparently got a document outlining what the cartel wants its…
Media Digest 1/7/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: Cadbury (NYSE:CBY) has held private talks with Hershey (NYSE:HSY). Reuters: Oil dropped below $83 as China said it would tighten its energy policy. Reuters: GM will close Saab.
Asia Markets And Europe Open (1/7/2010)
Markets in Asia fell moderately. The Nikkei was down .5% to 10,661. JAL fell on fears of bankruptcy. The Hang Seng dropped .7% to 22,269. China Life (NYSE:LFC) fell. The Shanghai Composite was down…
Cramer’s Going Global Theme Stock Picks for 2010 (VALE, STD, CHU, PCU, NAT, STO, BHP, BNS, JDSU)
Jim Cramer came out with his series of themes for 2010 on CNBC’s MAD MONEY this evening, and tonight’s theme was ‘Going Global.’ Despite the market being overbought and the negative news headwinds, today held up…
Speculators Run Platinum & Palladium Plays Ahead of ETF Launch (GLD, SGOL, PTM, PGM, SWC, PAL)
If you have ever wondered just how much exchange traded funds and exchange traded notes can run a market, you can forget about wondering how much the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) has helped to…
Dell Deal: AT&T Clutters Up Its 3G Network
PC also-ran firm Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), desperate to get into new lines of business, has launched its Android-based handset, the Mini 3. Dell announced that AT&T (NYSE:T) will be offering the phone to subscribers to its cellular…
What Will Hershey (HSY) Have To Pay For Cadbury (CBY)? $20 Billion
Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) may be posturing to top Kraft Food Inc.’s (NYSE: KFT) bid for Cadbury Plc. (NYSE: CBY) Hershey would likely make a friendly bid, at least 10 percent higher, between $19…
Some OPEC Members Cheating on Quotas
One problem the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has had since its founding is ensuring that members abide by their quota agreements. To some degree, keeping member states in line resembles nothing so…
Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Retiring Debt, With Debt (BRK-A, BRK-B)
Warren Buffett is raising capital. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) has just filed with the SEC to raise up to $1 billion via a sale of debt securities. It is selling its own equivalent…
Oil Inventory Gains Trump Weak Refining (OIH, USO, OIL, UCO)
The Department of Energy has just released its weekly oil inventory data, which was something to watch considering the move up in oil and the cold weather of late. The data was far less…
Top Day Trader Alerts (SONC, DPTR, NLST, CIEN, NICE, BZH)
These are this morning’s top day trader and active trader alerts with links to each story for more detailed analysis and data: Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC) is down over 10% on poor earnings. Delta…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (1/6/2010) (HSY)(MSFT)(HPQ)(VOD)
Updated throughout the day. Mobile advertiser Millennial Media is likely to be bought soon now that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has bought Quattro and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has purchased AdMob. (The Deal) JAL is once again facing bankruptcy. (Reuters)…
Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AOL, DT, DOW, ECA, FNSR, PM, SWIR, TEN, MMM, WY, ZBRA)
These are this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls: AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan. Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) Started as Underweight at Morgan…
Level 3 Back at the Well (LVLT)
The effort of raising cash by selling debt at some companies just never seems to end. Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) is one of those companies. The company announced that its Level 3…
Wii Sales Jump For Nintendo In December
By Douglas A. McIntyre Sales of Nintendo’s flagship Wii video console skidded this past fall. There were concerns among the company’s shareholders that the product was losing its novelty and that heavy discounts on…
Only 1.5% Of Cadbury (CBY) Shareholders Have Backed Kraft Offer
Kraft (NYSE:KFT) says that 1.52% of Cadbury (NYSE:CBY) shareholders have backed its offer to buy the UK firm. The offer will stay open until February 2, but that probably will not matter. Kraft has raised the cash…
GM Gets No Relief Under New CEO Whitacre
Ed Whitacre, the former AT&T (NYSE:T) CEO and current GM chairman, fired the car company’s chief and put himself in charge. Whitacre said the he would shake up the old guard and get sales…
China Passes Germany As World’s Top Exporter
Germany is no longer the world’s top exporter. The Global Trade Information Services say that China exported $957 billion of goods in the first ten months of last year. Germany’s number was $917 billion. …
Job Satisfaction May Not Matter
The press made a great deal of a report that job satisfaction hit in 2009 what is an all-time low in a 22-year-old survey conducted by The Conference Board. The new research shows that only 45%…