GM Sales Rise, Fueling Hope Of Car Recovery
GM’s sales rose unexpectedly, by 4% in October to 177,603 cars and light trucks. Chevrolet retail sales were especially strong, up 31%. The No.1 US car company said fourth quarter production would be 17%…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
As Buffett Dumps Moody’s (BRK-A, MCO)
Warren Buffett is dumping Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO). We’ll never know until it is already done whether the Oracle of Omaha wants to jettison it entirely from the holdings of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:…
Analyst Sees Windows 7 Pricing Data & Penetration Rates (MSFT, DELL, HPQ, YHOO)
Auriga is a boutique research firm that many have not heard of, but this morning the firm has reiterated its BUY rating on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and its $33.50 price target after yesterday’s…
Apple (AAPL) iPhone Sales In China Only 5,000 During First Weekend
China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) released its earnings yesterday and as part of its comments to investors it said it had only sold 5,000 iPhones since it started offering the handset. China Unicom posted moderately good earnings. Its…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (11/3/2009) (CHU)(AAPL)(LGF)
Updates throughout the day. Updated 10.33 AM EST: Royal Bank of Scotland may have to divest its majority interest in the RBS Sempra Commodities joint venture. (The Deal) Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) may allow its…
Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (ARI, CSIQ, CSX, DDRX, HEV, INTC, NVDA, VCLK, VITC)
These are the top ten analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we have seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning: Apollo Commercial Real Estate (NYSE: ARI) Started as Overweight at Barclays; Started as…
Best Buy (BBY) Launches Movie Download Service
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) wants to join the legion of other firms with branded movie download services, although it is not clear why. A number of media sources say that the program will be announced…
GMAC’s Lifeline Is the Economy’s Noose
By John Tamny The 18th century French writer Voltaire once observed that the State is “a device for taking money out of one set of pockets and putting it into another.” Voltaire elegantly distilled…
Buffett Makes His Whale of an Acquisition (BRK-A, BRK-B, BNI, UNP)
We always knew that Warren Buffett loved the railroad stocks. We also had for years heard Buffett talk about the prospects of a “whale of a deal” in large acquisitions. And now this morning…
Tech M&A King Cisco (CSCO) Pushes Into The Living Room
Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) may control most of the global router and enterprise video conferencing business, but it wants a bigger footprint in home video delivery. Silicon Valley’s biggest M&A machine has snapped up China set-top…
India Buys 200 Tons Of Gold And Moves From The Dollar
The dollar is still losing its luster as the foreign reserve currency of choice. India has just bought 200 tons of gold from the IMF at $1,045 an ounce which is close to a…
A Coffee Firm Merger Aimed At Starbucks (SBUX)
Two coffee companies which sell their products online and through retailers are merging. They should be able to create a formidable competitor for Starbuck’s retail business outside its own stores. Diedrich (NASDAQ:DDRX) will be bought by Peet’s…
The Fed Asks Banks To Read Its Mind
Bankers from the nation’s 28 largest banks were called to regional Federal Reserve offices across the country today to get a message from the agency. That message was that they should not wait for…
A Guide To The Auto Industry’s 2010 Winners And Losers
Jerome York is a nasty piece of work and a financial genius who has been successful as a lieutenant to billionaire raider Kirk Kerkorian. York’s curriculum vita as a financial analyst is impeccable. He…
Media Digest 11/3/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: The value of the yuan could cause a trade war between the US and China. Reuters: Executive pensions rose despite drops in stock prices. Reuters: Lloyds will make a large stock offering. Reuters: …
Asia Market And Europe Open 11/3/2009
Markets in Asia were mixed. The Hang Seng was down 1.8% to 21,240. The Shanghai Composite was up 1.2% to 3,114. At the open in Europe, The FTSE was down 1% to 5,053. RBS…
Bill Gates Goes Deeper Into Autos (AN, MSFT, KMX, BRK-A)
We noted just last week that Bill Gates was getting more entrenched in the waste disposal sector. It turns out that Mr. Gates is getting deeper into the auto-retailing sector as well. In an…
Stanley Wants Bigger Tool Works (SWK, BDK, SNA)
The tool sector for builders and home repair is about to get a lot smaller for investors looking for diversification of company choices to invest in. The Stanley Works (NYSE: SWK) and The Black…
Chinese Hotel IPO: 7 Days Group Holdings Limited (SVN, HMIN)
7 Days Group Holdings Limited is national economy hotel chain based in China, and it has just filed to come public via an Inital Public Offering. No terms were disclosed other than it will sell…
Mixed Earnings Metrics on Chesapeake (CHK)
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) has put to bed at least some of the concerns over how much lower natural gas prices seen earlier this year were going to affect its earnings performance. But…