Doing Nothing At The Fed
The Federal Reserve combined an optimistic view of the economy with a set of decisions to leave most of the formal plans it has made over its last two meetings unchanged, according to the…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Shorts Flee Financials, Attack Industrials And Tech
Short sellers jumped out of major financial shares but piled into the stocks for major industrial firms based on data as of June 15. Shorts clearly think the restructuring of the bank industry has…
Media Digest 6/25/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: Political battles are likely to make this a tough year for the Fed. Reuters: The head of Toyota (TM) warned of two more tough years. Reuters: Lawmakers accused Fed of a cover-up in…
Asia Markets And Europe Open 6/25/2009
Markets in Asia were higher. The Nikkei rose 2.2% to 9,796. The Hang Seng was up 2% to 18,258. The Shanghai Composite rose .1% to 2,925. At the open in Europe, the FTSE was…
Mini Earnings Season on Deck Thursday (PALM, ACN, MU, LEN, CAG, FINL, JTX, TIBX)
Thursday is shaping up to be a miniature one-day version earnings season this week. This is likely the last of the major earnings reports we’ll see for another three or four weeks until the…
Nike, Just Barely… Or Almost (NKE)
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) is still trying to find its footing with its dominance during a nasty economy, no pun intended. The sportswear, apparel, footwear, and equipment giant posted $0.99 EPS on a 7%…
Ken Heebner Endorses Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley (CGMFX, GS, MS)
Ken Heebner of CGM Funds is often a guest on CNBC after the FOMC decision on rates. His sphere of great influence has withered as the CGM Focus Fund (CGMFX) has been hammered. Last…
FOMC Risks Inflation Tomorrow For Stability Today
There was almost no chance of any formal change to interest rates today. Everyone has been speculating that the FOMC has been looking for an end-game away from the near-zero Fed Funds target now…
As The Rich Squirm: A Take of Two Luxury Goods Brands (COH, TIF)
In a recession, the poor get poorer, and as Merrill Lynch study today suggests, the poor get poorer still, which has forced Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) to make big changes that are helping to…
Buffett Opines on Green Shoots, Inflation, Apple Disclosure, and Bernanke (BRK.A, BRK.B, WFC, AAPL)
Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) just gave an interview to CNBC’s Becky Quick ahead of the “Power Lunch” segment. As far as green shoots in the economy, Buffett said…
Does ‘Going Concern’ Removal Change MGM’s Position? (MGM)
Last night we had an interesting volume spike alert in the after-hours trading in shares of MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM). It turns out that the spike was because the company’s auditor’s report will no…
Cheering Poor New Home Sales (XHB)
The data on new home sales for the month of May is going to be a disappointment even for the green shoots crowd, at least on the surface. Sales of new homes in May…
Will Monsanto Ultimately Jettison Roundup and Herbicides Operations? (MON)
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) posted a drop in third-quarter earnings to $694 million, or $1.25 EPS. That compares to $811 million, or $1.45 EPS, a year ago. Revenue fell to $3.16 billion from $3.54…
Surprising Durability In Durable Goods
The report for May’s Durable Goods came in better than expected at +1.8%, and that is still up at +1.1% when you remove transportation from the report. Even on an ex-Defense orders basis it…
Rite Aid, No New Surprises (RAD)
Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) is getting a bit of a boost after earnings, despite there being no major success nor a major turnaround in the near future. The drug store chain posted narrower…
Top 10 Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ADTN, ADS, BA, LFC, DB, EMC, FCX, FSYS, WFR, RVBD)
These are the top ten analyst calls of upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we have seen from Wall Street early this Wednesday morning with more than two hours until the market opens: ADTRAN (ADTN) Started…
Could Banks Have To Close To Solve Severe Problems?
One of the most respected financial newsletters in the country is predicting that the federal government may have to call a “bank holiday” like the one that FDR mandated during the Depression. According to…
Bogus Home Appraisals May Derail Real Estate Recovery
A huge number of home value appraisals may be wrong, with most of them being much too high. That is causing banks to back away from mortgages. A house that has been appraised for…
China’s Goal To Become World’s Largest Economy Back On Track
China’s drive to become the world’s largest economy appears to be back on track again. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development raised its forecast for GDP growth in the world most populous country…
The Boston Globe Will Stay Open, For Now (NYT)
The New York Times (NYT) and the largest union at The Boston Globe have reached an agreement that will almost certainly keep the paper operating, but that could change sometime next year. The Times…