Asia Markets And Europe Open 6/26/2009
Markets in Asia were higher The Nikkei was up .6% to 9,77. The Hang Seng rose 1.3% to 18,512. The Shanghai Composite was up .21% to 2,928. At the open in Europe, the FTSE…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
The Power Of Branding: Apple (AAPL) iPhone’s Extraordinary Margins
Software is supposed to be a high margin business and hardware a sector in which most companies struggle with gross margins. Hardware components are expensive and there is almost no getting around that. Apple…
Greenspan Slaps At Current Fed Policy
The old Fed and new Fed don’t get along. A day after the FOMC pronounced inflation nearly dead and said that the dynamics of the economic recovery would not allow it to overheat, Alan…
Ruth’s Chris, or Ruth’s Hospitality, Raising Cash (RUTH)
Ruth’s Hospitality Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: RUTH) has filed a shelf registration to raise capital. The owner of the Ruth’s Chris Steak House chain has filed a mixed securities shelf to raise up to $200…
Palm Shows Mixed Hand (PALM)
Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) has been one of 2009’s top performers due to the anticipation of the Palm Pre smartphone this month. The company’s earnings are out and it has shares marginally higher. The…
More Triple-Leverage ETF Competition (UPRO, SPXU, FAS, FAZ)
ProShares already has double leverage ETFs for investors and traders alike. It now has launched two new Triple-Leverage ETFs. The UltraPro S&P500 (NYSE: UPRO) is meant to offer 300% of the daily return for…
Generic Biotech Drug Approval in Japan, Implications in U.S. and Abroad (NVS, PFE, AZN, AMGN, GENZ, GILD, CELG)
Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) shares are at session highs and well of the lows of the day in the early afternoon Thursday after Japan okayed one of the company’s human growth hormones, the first…
Strong Demand Drives SIRIUS Cash Raising Efforts (SIRI)
SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) has raised more cash through its XM Satellite Radio Inc. unit than it originally projected. We were looking for a raise of some $350 million, but the newly…
PC Sector Sales Not As Bad in 2009, Growth in 2010 (DELL, HPQ, AAPL, MSFT, INTC)
We have another rough couple of quarters ahead of us in PC and computer sales. There are some things to take heed here which will come front and center for the sales and the…
Short Sellers Pile Harder Into Large Solar Stocks (FSLR, STP, LDK, SPWRA, ENER, SOLR, JASO)
Short Selling looked higher in some of the key solar and alternative energy stocks. Of the top 7 solar stock plays we track by market cap, six of the seven saw increased short selling…
Target Core Brand Re-Launch, All About Lower Prices (TGT, WMT)
Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) was hurt as the recession took hold and customers had to go searching for cheaper and cheaper products. Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) was the winner there. Now Target is aiming…
Another 24/7 Wall St. CEO To Go Goes Away (BSX)
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) is finally getting free from President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Tobin. This was one our top 10 CEO’s to go for 2009 as his tenure has been bad. …
The Jobless Double-Dip
The Labor Department has released its latest data on weekly jobless claims. The figure came in at 627,000, a gain of 15,000. We had a Dow Jones consensus looking for 605,000 and Bloomberg had…
Goldman Sachs Mixes Calls in Oil and Utilities (RIG, PTEN, HAL, OIS, NBR, DO, FTI, WR, NRG, NVE)
Goldman Sachs has made several key upgrades and downgrades this morning in the utility sector and in the oil patch. While the utility sector was raised to attractive, some of the other calls seem…
Without Excusing Geithner, This Is Bush’s Inflation
By John Tamny of RealClearMarkets The recent spike in U.S. Treasury yields has generated renewed commentary about the specter of inflation. It’s even being asked if we’re repeating the inflationary mistakes of the late…
Downgrading First Solar (FSLR, TAN)
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is going to be down early this morning after Canaccord Adams decided to downgrade the stock. The brokerage firm decided to cut the rating to Hold from Buy, and…
Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (GLW, CPN, DYN, DE, EIX, IR, LM, STX, SLM, WOOF)
These are this Thursday’s top ten independent analyst calls with upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wall Street brokerage firms with more than two hours until the market opens: Corning (GLW) Started as Outperform at…
Toyota (TM): No Industry Recovery On The Horizon
Toyota (TM) says that the global automotive industry is facing two more lean years. It expects to lose more money this fiscal year than it did last and to run most of its factories…
China: Google (GOOG) Is A Pornographer
China wants PC companies to install screening software so that certain material from the web is censored. The central government of the most populous nation does not think that is enough. About a week…
The Price Of Oil: To Save Money, Americans Won’t Travel On the 4th
Is America’s consumption of gasoline critical to the price of crude? The issue will be tested this 4th of July. If US drivers plan to stay off the roads with gas prices pushing $2.70,…