Asian Markets 4/20/2009
Market in Asia were higher. The Nikkei rose .2% to 8,925. The Hang Seng was up 1.2% to 15,792. The Shanghai Composite rose 2.1% to 2.337. At the open in Europe, the FTSE was…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
If States Add Online Sales Tax, Do Amazon (AMZN) And eBay Get Dinged?
States and the federal government have monkeyed around with the idea of forcing e-commerce sites to collect state taxes for years. That would require companies such as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and eBay (EBAY) to track…
China’s Sovereign Fund To Get Aggressive Again
The investment that Chinalco made in Rio Tinto (RTP) suggested that China was becoming aggressive in investing outside the country. The government has run a surplus long enough to still have the capital to…
Stocktwits Market Trends: Where is Google (GOOG) going?
Google reports earnings after the bell today and is continuing its month-long rally trading at 2009 highs and approaching $400. According to Yahoo! Finance, analysts are expecting, $4.93 EPS for Q1. It is notable…
Asking For TARP Capital That Is Not There
The Administration is almost certainly going to have to go to Congress to ask for more capital for the TARP. It will have as its new point man Herb Allison, an old Wall St.…
China’s Rhetoric On Economy Running Hot
The chief of China’s economic cheer leaders, the loquacious Premier Wen Jiabao, said that the nation’s economic stimulus elixir has begun to do its magic. He may be referring the the fact that his…
Weekend of Cancer Data at AACR Ahead of ASCO (ALTH, AMGN, ARIA, ARRY, AZN, BIIB, CELG, CRIS, IMMU, IMGN, INFI, MEDX, MNTA, ONCY, PFE, PCYC, SUPG, TELK, THLD)
This weekend will be a potentially important oncology and cancer news weekend for drug and biotech stocks. The American Association for Cancer Research Meeting will actually have a 100th annual meeting, and some traders…
Idling Rig Count Resumes… More Foreign Oil (BHI, USO)
Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) is out with its weekly rig count. Last week we thought that we were getting close to equilibrium on the supply and demand equation because we were starting to…
Foreign Brands Gone Missing For Investors (NYX, NDAQ, ADDDF, BAESY, AHBIF, LVMHF, NSRGY, NTDOY, RHHBY, LUKOY)
There has been an interesting trend in the globalization movement. The U.S. has seen some major brands and major companies get acquired by foreign public companies, but suddenly U.S. investors have a very hard…
What If Green Jobs Don’t Pay?
Salaries at solar and wind companies are lower than you think. By Brady Yauch of The Big Money The Obama administration is putting a lot of stock in the concept of “green jobs.” In…
Russian Oil Pipeline to China Gets Closer & Closer
The so-called East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) crude oil pipeline from Russian oilfields in western Siberia will be more than 3,000 miles long when it is completed. Part of the project to transport Russian crude…
S&P Downgrades Credit Ratings on DDS, JCP, M, Neiman Marcus, JWN
Standard & Poor’s downgraded the ratings on Dillard’s (NYSE: DDS), J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP), Macy’s (NYSE: M), Neiman Marcus (private) and Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN). Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Diane Shand said, “The rating…
Chesapeake Again Hacks Production (CHK)
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), the largest natural gas producer in the US, is cutting its gas production again, bringing the total reduction to about 400 million cubic feet/day. That total includes a 200…
DryShips Capital Raise & Upgrade (DRYS)
DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) is surging this morning. Last night the company announced that it has completed its $500 million equity offering to boost its balance sheet and to use against debt. The shipping…
Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ABC, BWA, DRYS, FIS, ITW, JPM, MHP, NOK, SOHU, ZUMZ)
There are not so many brokerage calls this morning for it being earnings season, but these are the top 10 analyst calls of upgrades and downgrades from Wall Street we have seen early this…
Citi Keeps Pulling Rabbits From The Hat (C, MS)
Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) is so far a winner this morning after a “more than acceptable” earnings report. The troubled bank and financial supermarket posted a net profit at $1.59 billion on items, but…
Obama needs a new car czar
Why did the Obama administration name investment banker Steven Rattner as the head of auto task force knowing that New York prosecutors were investigating whether he had a role in a kickback scheme at…
GE (GE) Confounds Its Critics
As usual, the GE (GE) quarterly report was a massive compilations of numbers on its various divisions and their performance compared to last year. The only number Wall St. cared about what the one…
A Minority Report Challenges US Economic Improvement
The President says he sees a faint light at the end of the tunnel. So does the Treasury Secretary and head of the Fed. They are joined by Lawrence Summers, who, not so long…
VW No.1 Car Company Worldwide? An Industry Where It Does Not Matter
VW may have passed Toyota (TM) as the world’s No.1 car company just as Toyota passed GM (GM) a year ago. The companies all operate in an industry where being on the top of…