ETF LAUNCH: High-Yield Municipal Bonds (HYD)
Van Eck Global has announced the launch of a new ETF to track the high-yield municipal bond market. This is under its Market Vectors program and is called the High-Yield Municipal Index ETF (NYX:…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Electric Utilities Need More Bad Weather (LNT, DUK)
Too cool in summer, too warm in winter add up to lower profits for electric utilities. That’s the story today from both Alliant Energy Corp. (NYSE:LNT) and Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE:DUK). Alliant reported full-year…
Diamond Offshore Misses (DO, RIG)
Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (NYSE:DO) reported fourth quarter EPS of $2.11 on revenue of $903.2 million. Analysts had been expecting EPS of $2.34 on revenue of $912.42 million. For the full year, Diamond earned…
The Rise & Fall, or Just the Fall of Factory Orders
Factory orders for the month of December fell as you would expect for the current economy. But the results were even worse than weak estimates out there. They fell 3.9% rather than the 3.4%…
Rising CEO Confidence, Sort Of
The CEO Confidence Index from Chief Executive magazine showed a slight up-tick in January. Corpoate chiefs are still very cautious on labor conditions, and this index was just at another all-time low the month…
Gap (GPS) Still Has Time To Close “Old Navy” And Save Itself
Sales at Gap (GPS) on a same-store basis were off 23% in January, which is breathtaking and sad. Revenue for the chain moved down from $935 million in the month last year to $757…
Buffett Heads To Switzerland (BRK-A)
Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) have been out making fairly large bets in recent months. It seems that distressed prices are tempting the Oracle of Omaha. But what is interesting is…
GE’s Immelt Says Markets Priced In Rating Downgrade; Has Cash Flow To Pay Dividend
GE’s (NYSE: GE) CEO Immelt is making comments at WSJ event in New York this AM.. Immelt says a ratings downgrade wouldn’t change the way he runs the company. He also said the markets…
Back to Normal: Wal-Mart Wins At Target’s Expense (WMT, TGT)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WMT) appears to be back to its game of 2008 and late 2007 after being a bit cautious last month. The company beat its January expectations, and it looks like…
Jobless Claims Set Ominous Tone for Unemployment
We just found out the new numbers for the weekly bread lines at the US Labor Department for the week ended January 31. Initial jobless claims have now total 626,000. This is a gain…
To Ease the Credit Crunch, Let It Be
By John Tamny RealClearMarkets Governmental price controls are problematic in two ways. For one, prices of goods reached naturally in the marketplace are essential signals that producers rely on in order to give consumers…
Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AEZS, AKAM, CNQR, HK, SJT, SGMO, THRX)
These are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive calls from Wall Street this Thursday morning: AEterna Zentaris (AEZS) Raised to Outperform at RBC. Akamai Tech (AKAM) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.…
Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (BPT, BSY, DELL, ETR, HTE, IFX, NVLS, PM, POWI, SBR, TXT, THQI)
These are some of the top downgrades and negative calls we are seeing from Wall Street analysts this Thursday morning: BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty (BPT) Cut to Sell at Citigroup. British Sky Broadcast (BSY)…
Lenovo: Measuring The PC Market Collapse (INTC)(AMD)(NVDA)(GOOG)(MSFT)
PCs are so well-made now that they do not have to be replaced until they break. The processors put in computers made two years ago are still powerful enough for most consumer and business…
All The Best Investment Bankers Pack Their Bags For China
The people in Washington think they have bank CEOs and the investment bankers which they employ on the run. The threat of salary caps for CEOs at financial firms that take too much TARP…
A False Bottom For US Housing
News came out that pending home sales moved up 6.3% in December and this caused a lot of conversation about the housing market finding a bottom. The rapidly falling prices of homes and lower…
A Takeover Of Sirius (SIRI): Buying What No One Wants (DISH)(AAPL)
It is hard to understand why anyone would want to buy Sirius XM (SIR). All it has left is Howard Stern and he will probably leave soon enough. Sales at Sirius are being hurt…
Despite Poor Governance In The Auto And Finance Industies, Boards Refuse To Act (AAPL)(BAC)(C)(F)(GM)(DOW)(ROH)
Much of the crisis in the banking industry has been blamed on the inaction of the boards of directors at companies including Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C). Some of Citi’s most prominent…
Media Digest 2/5/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
According to Reuters, Wall St. workers face a bleak future. Reuters reports that the Senate has agreed to a soft "buy America plan." Reuters reports that the government needs an investment plan for its…
A Chance For Big Oil To Become A Hero
As John David Rockefeller discovered at the end of the 19th Century, there is not much money in refining crude if the supply is not abundant. The US has been a net importer of…