OPEC’s Enigma
OPEC elected to continue production at its current level, at least until May. The announcement was an unexpected result of the cartel’s meeting in Vienna. There was no consensus among analysts about why OPEC…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Selling The Washington Monument
China’s premier made some pointed remarks about the US economy and its appetite for increasing the national deficit in order to save the American way of life. The fallout from his observations is a…
Media Digest 3/16/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
According to Reuters, a price battle among goods makers is beginning. Reuters reports that payments to AIG (AIG) employees is causing rage among people already concerned about the bailout. Reuters reports that Bernanke sees…
AIG (AIG) Discloses Who Received Payments From Federal Funding (I.E. Goldman Sachs (GS) Had A Good Day
After days or pressure from Congress and the public, AIG (AIG) released data about which counterparties to it credit default swap portfolio got large chunks of money from the federal government bailout of the…
Financial Outrage Of The Week: AIG (AIG) To Pay $450 Million In Bonuses
According to The Wall Street Journal, AIG (AIG) will pay $450 million in bonuses to people in the firm’s financial products group, where may of the insurance company’s losses originated. The paper says that…
Would Direxion Financial Bull 3X Consider Reverse Split? (FAS, FAZ)
Day traders, ETF investors, hedgers, swing traders, and more have been using the Direxion financial leveraged ETF’s as their go-to trades in the financial sector. Direxion Financial Bull 3X Shares (NYSE: FAS) is the…
Lower Rig Counts Again, Lower Supply… (BHI, OIL, OIH, USO)
Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) just released its weekly rig counts. Despite the fact that oil has recovered handily off its lows, it seems that oil rig operators still are not enthusiastic about operating…
IBM: Big Blue Goes Green and Blue (IBM)
IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is expanding into the water business. One part of the effort is to develop a smart grid of sensors and software to help manage water systems. The other part of…
NRG-Exelon-Reliant: Merger Soap Opera Continues (NRG, EXC, RRI)
The CEO and Chairman of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) have sent a letter to stockholders pointing out the weaknesses in the buyout offer from Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC). Earlier this month, Exelon announced that it…
The FAS and FAZ Make Stock Market Volatility Look Like Child’s Play
Since Monday, when several news items (1. Citigroup (NYSE: C) said it would be profitable, 2. Fed Chairman Bernanke addressed mark-to-market issues, and 3. Barney Frank said he expects to see the uptick rule…
Dissing RIM, Blessing Palm (RIMM, PALM)
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) is not participating in this morning’s rally. This stock had a good week as shares closed yesterday at $41.46 after having traded under $36.00 on Monday. Research firm…
Upside of Recession: Lower Trade Deficit
There appears to be an upside of the recession. The “International Trade” data, which is the US Trade Deficit, is shrinking. The report for January 2009 came in at -$36.03 billion. The consensus estimates…
American Apparel Secures Needed Investment (APP)
American Apparel, Inc. (NYSE Alternext: APP) has confirmed reports of an outside private equity investment. The retail apparel player got $80 million with Lion Capital LLP. This should satisfy most of the concerns which…
Top Analyst Upgrades (ALU, AGN, AMAG, EIG, JPM, LOGI. MCD, PALM)
These are the top analyst upgrades and positive research calls we have seen from Wall Street this Friday morning with about two hours until the market opens: Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) Raised to Outperform at Baird.…
China Admits US Debt Is Losing Favor
Analysts who watch the interest rates that the US must pay on its debt should have felt a little shiver yesterday. The Chinese government, the largest holder of Treasuries, expressed some doubt about the turnaround of the American…
Goldman Sachs Dumps Wal-Mart From Conviction Buy List (WMT)
Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) is indicated lower after Goldman Sachs removed the world’s largest retailer from the Conviction Buy List. Goldman still has a “Buy” rating on the stock. The concern that the firm…
On Berkshire: Loses AAA, Buffett Salary & No AIG (BRK-A, AIG)
There has been quite a lot of news on Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) and Warren Buffett in the last 12 hours. Bond and credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded the conglomerate. Buffett also outlined…
Will GE (GE) Dump Forecasts After Debt Downgrade?
It is an interesting theory, but it may not be plausible. Some analysts think that GE (GE) will use a downgrade of its debt by S&P as cover for reducing forecasts for earnings out…
Europe Says It Has Spent Enough To Save Economy
European nations are sick of spending money to stimulate the economy. Or, more likely, they are running out of access to capital and simply don’t want to admit it. At the G20 summit, where…
More Price Pressure On OPEC
OPEC wants to keep cutting production and enforce production cuts is has already made so that none of its members try to dodge the cartel’s limits to pick up a little extra cash. The…