The Pessimists Roll In As The Recovery Takes Root
It may be that some people just want to spoil a good time. As earnings, GDP, employment, and housing sales begin to show the trends that have encouraged analysts to call an end to…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Short Seller Rush Out Of Financial Stocks, Tech, And Retail
Short sellers moved out of financial shares in great numbers. As of August 11, the short interest in Citigroup (C) fell 71% to 343 million shares. Share sold short in GE (GE) fell 15%…
Media Digest 8/12/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: GE’s (GE) water business may be too small to help earnings. Reuters: Madoff’s CFO plead guilty. Reuters: Auto inventories are tight but interest in the “clunkers” program is falling. Reuters: China formally arrest…
Asia Market And Europe Open 8/12/2009
Markets in Asia were sharply lower. The Nikkei dropped 1.4% to 10,435. Sony (SNE) and Honda (HMC) both declisned. The Hang Seng was down 2.7% to 20,515. HSBC (HBC) and China Mobile (CHL) both…
Microsoft (MSFT) Readies “Office” Launch With Nokia (NOK)
Microsoft (MSFT) believes, almost certainly, that the future of its operating software and search business is as much if not more on wireless portable devices as it is on the PC where the market…
Applied Materials Skates Past Estimates (AMAT)
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) has reported results for its fiscal third quarter and its net sales were $1.13 billion. The non-GAAP net loss was $2 million, or break-even per share; the GAAP net…
Chart Events Forming in Key Tech Stocks (MSFT, AMZN, RIMM, ORCL, QCOM)
It is normal to see pullbacks. The problem is that most market pullbacks in the last five months have been rare or short-lived since the near-depression levels of early March. But it has also…
Bove’s Sour Bank Call Cautions Recent Gains (BAC, C, FAS)
What happens when a sector loses a key bull, even if it is temporary? Often nothing, but if it is a big enough market pundit then it can have an impact. That is what…
24/7 Wall St. TV: A Miserable Period For E-Commerce
Costco’s (COST) same-store sales fell 7% last month. The firm was lucky. Abercrombie & Fitch’s (ANF) numbers were down 38%. Saks (SKS) plunged by 16.3% and Neiman Marcus fell 27.3%. July was a sign…
Pickens Long Oil, Still Expects Higher Prices
T. Boone Pickens has stayed long oil. There are some comments out of a brief sideline interview at the U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s National Clean Energy Summit this week. Reuters has noted…
Zoltek Left In The Wind (ZOLT)
Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOLT) was a great success story during the boom of energy and alternative energy. But since that bubble popped, its bubble has burst as well. Its shares are getting hammered again…
Suffocating Under the Heavy Hand of Government
By John Tamny of RealClearMarkets “Chinese industry will continue to grow, it can’t help but expand with all the reinvestment they pour into it,” remarked an American engineer who has helped construct multi-million dollar…
Top Day Trader Alerts (CIT, ANDS, AVNR, BG, ANPI, RINO)
These are this morning’s top day trader alert and actively traded stocks. We have links through to each with more detailed price and volume data and analysis over at VSInvestor.com: CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE:…
Top 10 Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades (AMGN, CELL, ELON, SATS, KR, QLGC, MBI, PETM, S, YUM)
These are the top 10 pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades in Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning: Amgen (AMGN) Started as Buy at RBC. Brightpoint (CELL) Raised to Buy at Citigroup. Echelon (ELON)…
Oil Prices May Steady, If OPEC Is Right
The crude market has been through enough wild swings in the last two years to last a lifetime. The market is now embroiled in a debate about whether most of the movement was due to…
Imus: Fox Business Debases Itself Further
Every time the media says that Fox Business Network is doing poorly or its rating are low, it defends itself with an astonishing rabidness. Fox will beat CNBC at its own game. Its business…
While US Stimulus Struggles, China’s Shines
There are very few signs that the US stimulus package, which totals $787 billion, is working. Unemployment rates are showing some sign of improving, but not to the extent that the government had hoped.…
Underwater Mortgages Reach Epidemic Levels
Posit: Underwater mortgages hurt home sales and increase delinquencies and foreclosures. People who have to pay their mortgage holder to sell their homes are less likely to be sellers. A home sold for $200,000…
Strike A Blow For Transparency: No Deal For B of A and SEC
The federal district judge handling the Bank of America (BAC) deal with the SEC to settle charges that the financial firm improperly disclosed the timing of bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch executives has said…
The E-Commerce Savior Leaves Town
Costco’s (COST) same-store sales fell 7% last month. The firm was lucky. Abercrombie & Fitch’s (ANF) numbers were down 38%. Saks (SKS) plunged by 16.3% and Neiman Marcus fell 27.3%. July was a sign…