Dow Chemical (DOW) Runs Out Of Options
Dow Chemical (DOW) was supposed to buy Rohm & Haas (ROH). Now, it may be the other way around. Dow can’t close the deal and Rohm is suing to get it finished. Dow has…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
The Death Of Dividends, More Money Out Of Consumer Pockets
Companies keep cutting dividends. Some are pressed for cash because of operating losses. Others are being constrained by higher debt service. Banks need to preserve capital. The problem is becoming big enough that it…
Media Digest 1/27/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
According to Reuters, American Express (AXP) earnings dropped 72% but still beat expectations. Reuters writes that Geithner was confirmed to be Treasury Secretary. Reuters reports that people lost confidence in business globally in 2008.
TI Prints Pink Slips With Mixed Earnings (TXN)
Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) has posted its fourth quarter results of $0.08 EPS on revenue of $2.49 billion. There are items here in the numbers and the company is very cautious ahead. First…
American Express Earnings Left Home (AXP)
American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) posted earnings from continuing operations of $0.21EPS, down about a 70% year-over-year decline. Revenue plunged 11% to $6.51 billion. First Call expectations were $0.22 EPS and $7.22 billion in…
NetFlix (NFLX) Earnings: Consumer Spending Still Alive, Shares Jump
NetFlix (NFLX) benefited from two trends. The first is that consumers don’t have money. The other is that they need entertainment even when the world around them is awful. Revenue for the fourth quarter…
VMware Bunts on Earnings (VMW)
VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) just posted earnings and the virtualization leader reported that Q4 sales and earnings were $0.36 non-GAAP EPS on $515 million in revenues. Analysts were looking for $0.26 EPS and $512.3…
The 52-Week Low Club (AFL)(ALTU)(PSUN)(KVA)
AFLAC Incorporated (AFL) DeutscheBank dowgrades shares. Fall to $19.38 from 52-week high of $68.81. Altus Pharmaceuticals (ALTU) Sharp job cuts. Drops to $.23 from 52-week high of $6.66. Pacific Sunwear of California (PSUN) No…
Is Chesapeake Really In Play? (CHK, BP, STO)
Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) is trading marginally higher today on market chatter that BP plc (NYSE: BP) wants to acquire the company. We first noticed this in the trading for options volume in our…
IPO Filing: Penn Millers Holding Corporation (PMIC)
We have a new IPO filing from Penn Millers Holding Corporation. This is far from a traditional IPO, and it looks as though it is destined to be in the micro-cap stock offerings. What…
Gold Rises, But What About Gold Stocks? (ABX, NEM, NG, VGZ)
Gold prices have risen more than $100/ounce in the past two weeks, but this has done little for many of the larger gold companies. We took a look at Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX), NewmontMining…
Electric Utilities See the Value in the Pipes (AEP, AYE, BRK/A)
American Electric Power Company (NYSE:AEP) expects to increase the company’s profit by building new power transmission lines. The company plans to spend more than $7 billion to add new high-voltage lines in Texas, the…
IPO Filing: Medidata Solutions, Inc. (MDSO)
Medidata Solutions, Inc. has filed with the SEC to come public via an initial public offering. The company has applied to take the ticker "MDSO" on NASDAQ. Citigroup and Credit Suisse were listed as…
Good News Where Least Expected (HAL, WFT, SLB)
The earnings reports from oil field services companies Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) and Weatherford International Inc. (NYSE:WFT) surprised investors on the upside this morning. Given the bad news out of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) last week,…
Can VMware Escape Earnings Noose? (VMW, EMC, CTXS)
Virtualization leader VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) is set to report earnings after the close of trading today. This earnings will likely have an impact on EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) and Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:…
Sharp Rise In Housing Data, Caveat Emptor
The National Association of Realtors showed a positive surprise on December’s existing home sales numbers. But you shouldn’t be surprised that it comes with a twist. The rate came to an annualized gain of…
Markets Solve the Immigration ‘Problem’
John Tamny, Real Clear Markets During the darkest days of the war in Iraq, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was asked whether the United States’ best days were behind it. Instead of piling…
Nero Burns Rohm & Haas (ROH, DOW)
Rohm & Haas Co. (NYSE: ROH) is probably upsetting some who chased the move on Friday who were hoping its buyout might actually close. But this morning the company announced that it has been…
Layoff Hurdles Make 9% Unemployment Look Optimistic (HD, S, CAT, IBM, NOV)
We have been tracking the layoffs and the weekly jobless claims to figure out what they mean for the economy. Just this morning we noticed many job cut announcements from companies.. Home Depot (NYSE:…
Barclays plc (BCS) Surges After Addressing Concerns, Sees ’08 Profit and No Further Capital Raises
After being absolutely pummeled last weak on nationalization concerns, shares of Barclays plc (NYSE: BCS) are up 40% in overseas and pre-open U.S. trading after the company said it sees "significant" pretax profits in…