Heads You Win, Tails I Lose
A bad-asset bailout that only private equity could love. By Mark Gimein of The Big Money One of the oddest quotes coming from a government official in the lead-up to today’s new toxic-asset plan…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Allergan May Join Sector Takeover Waves (AGN, GSK, DNA, PFE, WYE, MRK, SGP)
If the rumor mill has any truth to it, then Allergan Inc. (NYSE: GSK) may by the next biotech takeover target. There is roughly $150 billion in new equity investor capital that can be…
Gold’s Value Without Fear & Inflation (GLD, GDX, ABX, GFI, GG, NEM)
The recent move in gold may be saying something about how to value the commodity in an environment of low inflation and in an environment where fear brings less of a premium. The London…
First Solar to Build New Mexico Solar Plant (FSLR)
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) will build a 30 megawatt solar PV plant in northeastern New Mexico to supply power to a wholesaler that serves nearly 1.5 million customers in four Western states. The contract…
Officials Hint AIG Systematic Risks Are Gone, Repayment To Follow (AIG)
If you trust your government and its officials in what they say regarding the overall health of the system, there may be some good news out there on a systematic-risk basis regarding American International…
Citigroup (C) Shares Give It All Back
Maybe Wall St. is not so in love with the Treasury’s plan to buy toxic assets after all. Citigroup (C) is trading at $2.86 this morning, which is where it changed hands last Friday.…
Coal Prices Falling; Will Iron Ore Follow? (BHP, KOL)
The FT reports that contracts between some large coal producers and steel and power companies show coal prices falling by as much as 60% Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE:BHP) and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation have…
Deutsche Bank Believes GE Capital (GE) Losses Can Be Funded Internally
Deutsche Bank provided some updated thoughts on General Electric (NYSE: GE) following last week’s GE Capital investor day. The firm said their central assumption is that GE Capital losses can be funded internally. The…
Will 50-Day Moving Averages Hold Up This Time? (DIA, SPY, QQQQ)
Yesterday’s major rally may have brought on more than just the garden variety panic buying seen in prior panic buying waves. So far we have profit taking being seen early on, but the DJIA…
About Great Depressions, David Brooks Isn’t Serious
By John Tamny of RealClearMarkets In a recent New York Times column, David Brooks took the Republicans to task for a “totally misguided” approach to our economic problems that in his view amounts to “no.”…
Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BIDU, CERN, CLF, DE, DIET, LDK, MRVL, MCHP, NVO, YSI)
These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades we have seen early this Tuesday morning with about two hours until the market opens Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank. Cerner…
Hedge Fund Withdrawals May Hit New Record
If the economy is going to keep getting worse, why shouldn’t hedge funds, where managers can make millions of dollars a year, share in the suffering? It actually looks like they may. According tothe…
Russia: Oil Prices Are Going Back Down
Falling oil prices are particularly bad for Russia. A large part of the country’s GDP comes from exporting its vast supply of crude and gas. So, it is especially surprising that a senior Russian…
Recession Keeps Google (GOOG) Focused On Core Business
Google (GOOG) has been buying modest-sized companies for several years. It tries to find firms that have software or products that allow it to diversify out of the firm’s core search business, which has…
After Brief Respite, Airline Industry Is Heading Back Down
Last summer, the airline industry looked like it was heading toward another rash of bankruptcies. Fuel costs were at record levels because of $147 oil. The economic slowdown was already reducing passenger loads. Then…
Another Important Vote Against The Geithner Plan
Economist Joseph Stiglitz’s outspoken opposition to the Treasury’s plan to fund the purchase of toxic assets from banks may be only be one vote, but since he is a Nobel prize winner, it is an important…
The Housing Mirage: Misleading Numbers
The existing home sales data which was released to the market earlier was a “half empty, half full” set of data. The market seemed to take it as just full and left the empty…
The Economy Now: Waiting For Godot
There has been little definitive discussion of the actual benefits of the Treasury’s new program that will fund the purchase of toxic assets from banks using federal money, and then allowing private money managers…
Skype tries to go up-market
By Douglas McIntyre for Daily Finance Ebay (EBAY) has not had much luck making money on Skype since it bought the VoIP company that has tens of millions of customers around the world. Too…
Goldman, Please Give Back the Money
Paying back TARP cash is good for Goldman, better for the country. By Mark Gimein of The Big Money Conventional wisdom over the last week has gone from “it’s outrageous that folks on the…