24/7 Wall St. TV: Citi Trying to Exit TARP (C, WFC, BAC)
If the rumor mill is accurate, it seems that Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) may get to beat Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) in the race to exit the TARP in the catch-up game…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
New Quasi-Competition For Gold Trust ETF (GLD, PHYS)
It looks like the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) is about to get some new competition, albeit far a far smaller trading vehicle. A F-1 filing at the SEC was made today by Sprott…
Google Recaptures Lost Search Share Dominance (GOOG, YHOO, MSFT, IACI)
If new data out of Experian Hitwise is accurate, then Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is again taking market share in the US search market against competitors Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:…
Immelt Speaks at West Point: Future Leadership Path (GE)
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) has a unique speech with what will seem like some very new direction occurring today. Chairman & CEO Jeff Immelt has prepared a speech for delivery to the United…
Why Extend The TARP?
Treasury Secretary Geithner has told Congress he will extend the existence of the TARP program through next October, but it is not clear that every member of the House and Senate will share his goals for the fund,…
Mixed Oil Inventories; Refineries Return (OIH, DIG, USO, OIL)
The weekly oil inventory data from the Department of Energy is out with some very mixed data. The headline data on crude may be a shocker, but the rest of the data is counteracting…
Spain Joins Credit Rating Negativity (BBV, STD, REP, TEF, SNF, EWP)
Monday and Tuesday came the downgrades for Greece by ratings agencies. Now it is Spain’s turn, or at least the writing is on the wall. Standard & Poor’s has revised Spain’s outlook to “Negative,”…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (12/9/2009) (AINV)(AAPL)(CBY)
Updated throughout the day. Obama intends to extend the term of the TARP and may use some of it for deficit reductions (CNBC) Howard Stern may not renew his contract with Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) …
Top Day Trader Alerts (AAPL, SQNM, NLST, DNDN, TXN, AVNR)
These are this morning’s key day trader and active trader alert stocks. We have given more details and analysis on each stock and story with a link over to VSInvestor.com: We have given new…
UK To Tax Almost Every Banker Bonus 50%
The executives and traders at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and other successful financial firms in the US had better hope that the American government does not follow UK precedent on collect money from banker bonuses.…
Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (ATK, CA, KR, LLL, LMT, RTN, SQNM, S, MMM, VNDA)
These are this Wednesday’s top ten analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from today’s Wall Street research notes: Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) Raised to Outperform at Macquarie. CA Inc. (NYSE: CA) Raised to Buy…
Speeding Up Holiday Travel: Transportation Security Administration Put Airport Security Rules Online
The best way to speed through airports this holiday may be to cheat the system According to The Washington Post, “The Transportation Security Administration inadvertently revealed closely guarded secrets related to airport passenger screening…
The Weakness Of Government Numbers, The Trouble In Japan
The numbers on the sharp GDP improvement in the Japanese economy for the third quarter were not correct. The Japanese government says that they were not even close. Originally, the data showed the economy…
TARP’s Failures Described By Congressional Oversight Panel
The Congressional Oversight Panel says in a new report that the TARP did one thing and did it well. It prevented the terrible panic in the credit markets from spreading while stabilizing the banking system.…
Home Values Get More Stable
Zillow, the real estate home price research company, says that the value of residential real estate ended its sickening drop in 2009. The firm’s chief economist writes, “Total home values in the United States…
The Myth Of American Car Quality (F)(TM)(HMC)
JD Power’s Sales Satisfaction Index Study for 2009 has been published. The research firm questioned 48,000 people. American cars did well as they have for several years in the Powers Initial Quality Survey, its…
The US Prepares To Go “All In” To Save The Economy
There is still a place in the world of economists where the Tooth Fairy visits. It is where those who believe unemployment is about to improve, consumers will have access to growing amounts of credit that…
Media Digest 12/9/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: China remains a top investment place for US firms. Reuters: Suzuki sold a stake to VW. Reuters: The Administration will extend TARP until next October. Reuters: The Congressional Oversight Committee said TARP had…
Asia Markets And Europe Open (12/9/2009)
Markets in Asia fell sharply. The Nikkei dropped 1.3% to 10,005. Honda (NYSE:HMC) and Toyota (NYSE:TM) fell. The Hang Seng was off 1.4% to 21,761. HSBC (NYSE:HBC) fell. The Shanghai Composite was lower by…
TI.. Good, Not Good Enough (TXN)
Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) raised guidance at its mid-quarter update. The problem is that looks like it has already been baked into the cake after seeing rivals make their guidance updates and with…