The earnings of companies including Starbucks (SBUX) and Caterpillar (CAT) have been better than expected. A number of analysts and the press have pointed out that one-time cost cuts, including lay-offs, can’t be sustained.…
Shares of vaccine makers including Vical Inc. ((Nasdaq: VICL), Novavax Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX) and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: BCRX) all are up strongly Monday after Europe’s version of the FDA decided to fast-track swine…
The Administration and Congress are looking for ways to close the funding gap for the $1 trillion national health care overhaul. The hospital industry has already agreed to $155 billion in concessions and pharma…
The Commerce Department’s data on new home sales did not just rise in June for a third straight month. The new home sales rose sharply. The headline number came in at an 11% gain…
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is making what seem an unusual acquisition. It is acquiring Varian, Inc. (NASDAQ: VARI) after signing a definitive agreement for the acquisition. Agilent will pay roughly a 35% premium…
The following are some of the top stocks to watch for active trading today based on pre-market and after-hours volume activity. There are links through to more detailed coverage and volume analysis at VSInvestor.com:…
John Tamny of RealClearMarkets Not too long ago, it was broadly assumed that mid-level lender CIT Group would go bankrupt. With its executives having staked the firm’s survival on receipt of a federal loan,…
These are this Monday morning’s top ten Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we have seen with close to 2 hours until the market opens: Autodesk (ADSK) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.…
For reasons that will probably always remain a mystery to the broader public, Fed chair Bernanke went to Kansas City this past weekend to defend his record at a town hall meeting covered by…
One of the concerns economists have is that rising oil prices could derail a recovery from the recession, particularly if crude moves back above $70 and stays there. Gasoline prices have kept dropping, for…
Apple (AAPL) already has the world largest digital music store, iTunes, based on most industry measurements. It plans to expand that dominant position in a fashion that will help both it and the music…
One of the concerns analysts have about the nature of second quarter earnings is that they are beating forecasts due to cost cuts and not improvements in revenue. Cost cuts can help margins for…
The cost of the Administration’s healthcare plan is $1 trillion, give or take several billion dollars, based on how the program looks in its final form. The proposal is facing resistance in Congress, some…
Over the past week, the 24/7 Wall St./The Channel Checkers poll surveyed Gamestop and EB Games stores across the United States to track sales trends of gaming consoles and video games. We asked the following questions:…
Over the past week, the 24/7 Wall St./The Channel Checkers poll surveyed various Macy (M) stores to track sales and business levels in July. We asked the following questions: 1. How is business this year? 2. Do you have…
Reuters: Airline on-board entertainment systems face competition from handheld devices like the Apple (AAPL) iPod. Reuters: Bernanke will be on PBS to take his message about Fed plans to a broader audience. Reuters: Some…
Markets in Asia were mostly higher. The Nikkei rose 1.5% to 10,089. The Hang Seng was up 1.4% to 20,254. The Shanghai Composite rose 1.9% to 3,435. At the open in Europe, the FTSE…
Short sellers are will to bet, at least for now, that the worst of the banking earning crisis is over. Short interest in a number of large financial companies fell sharply for the period…
According to The Wall Street Journal, the head of the Citigroup (C) energy trading unit has a contract that could bring him as much as $100 million in compensation this year. The government’s new…
Many investors feel that their brokers led them astray when the market collapsed. Brokers may not have suggested moving money to safe havens, or they may have suggested that clients double down as the…