Trouble in the Oil Sands (SU, ECA)
Yesterday’s New York Times carried a story about the commercial building boom in Calgary, Alberta. About 75% of Calgary’s office space is occupied by companies involved in extracting fossil fuels, and much of that…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
UBS Slaps Short-Term Sell on GE (GE), Says AAA Rating and Dividend At Risk
Once the bluest of the blue chips, General Electric (NYSE: GE) can not seem to get a break anymore. Today, analysts at UBS slapped a "Short Term Sell" on GE, saying the company’s AAA…
Northern Trust Gets It Right (NTRS)
Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS) is indicated higher after the trust bank and depository institution managed to show that some banks can beat earnings and still post positive earnings.
Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AXL, ARCC, FSLR, F, GOOG, HOG, JBL, LEA, MYL, RYAAY, UL)
These are some of the top upgrades and positive calls we have seen from analysts on Wall Street this Wednesday morning: American Axle (AXL) Raised to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank. Ares Capital…
Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (AINV, BHI, BAC, WFR, MBT, OZM, SPWRA, STP, VIP, WMT)
These are some of the top pre-market analyst downgrades or cautious calls we are seeing from Wall Street this Wednesday morning: Apollo Investment (AINV) Cut to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. Baker Hughes (BHI)…
What If Housing Does Not Recover This Year
Many economists, perhaps a majority of them, think that housing will bottom sometime in the second half of this year and prices will begin to move back up in 2010. The reasons for the…
The Sony (SNE) System For Handling Layoffs: Fight Them
At most companies when the CEO says it’s time to go, it’s time to go. Not at Sony (SNE). The CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, wants to dump a bunch of people in the company’s…
The Cellular World Turns Ugly As Ericsson (ERIC) Cuts (AAPL)(NOK)(RIMM)(T)(S)(ALU)
The business of selling handsets and cellular service was supposed to be close to "recession proof". A number of citizens in place like China and India still do not have wireless phones. The build-out…
SEC: Did Apple (AAPL) Board Do The Right Thing On Jobs Health
If the CEO of a public company is sick, does the board has to tell the world? How sick? Life threatening? Enough to keep the person out of his work for an extended period?…
Media Digest 1/21/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
According to Reuters, the financial crisis may speed up the approval of the Treasury Secretary. Reuters reports that Fiat has set a deal to own 35% of Chrysler. Reuters reports that an assault on…
Asia Markets And Europe Open 1/21/2009
Markerts is Asia fell sharply The Nikkei was off 2% to 7,902. The Hang Seng fell 3.3% to 12,537. The Shanghai Composite was of .5% to 1,955 At the open in Europe, the FTSE…
All’s Well With Microsoft (MSFT) Except Its Plans
The Daily Racing Form’s take on Microsoft’s (MSFT) fourth quarter is that there was nothing good about it. The company missed earnings and will have to fire almost 10,000 people. Redmond forecast that its…
IBM (IBM): Corporate America’s Last Man Standing
The number of large American companies which have effectively dodged the falling safe of the recession can be counted on most people’s fingers and toes. Wal-Mart (WMT) has done remarkably well, but its latest…
For US Banks, The Glass Is 1% Full (RBS)(C)(BAC)(WFC)(JPM)(FNM)(FRE)(AIG)
The raging debate about the largest American banks is whether their stock market values should be zero. Economist Nouriel Roubini, the most highly paid pessimist in the world, recently said that US banks are…
Moody’s Raises TD Ameritrade, Above Junk (AMTD)
TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: AMTD) has been caught up in much of the same malaise affecting other financial and brokerage firm stocks. The company posted a drop of more than 20% to its…
IPO Withdrawal: Stallion Oilfield Services
A Houston-based company called Stallion Oilfield Services, Inc. has withdrawn its plans for an initial public offering. While the company did not formally call its reason as being "market conditions," it does not take…
IBM Scores While Others Can’t (IBM)
International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) has posted some mixed earnings with earnings at $3.28 EPS and revenue at $27.01 billion. Thomson Reuters (First Call) had estimates of $3.03 EPS and $28.05 billion in revenue.…
The 52-Week Low Club (BAC)(C)(WFC)(JPM)(STT)(AAPL)(DNDN)
The carnage among financial stocks is so complete, that they are listed here witht thier lows: Bank of America (BAC): $5.17, Citigroup (C): $2.80, Wells Fargo (WFC): $14.02, JP Morgan (JPM): $17.70, State Street…
Is Microsoft Selling T-M-T Portfolio? (MSFT, CMCSA, T, S, BBY)
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) used to be a huge investor in telecom, media, and technology companies. A recent SEC filing shows that Microsoft no longer holds its previous stake reported in Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:…
Fiduciary Banks, More Financial Sector Funerals (STT, BK)
The so-called fiduciary banks were never supposed to be immune from the woes of the financial sector. They were supposed to be more-resistant than most depository and lending institutions. Ask anyone holding State Street…