Being in the mutual fund and institutional money management business is almost as bad as being in commercial banking. Several companies in the industry have lost half of their assets between redemptions and the…
The CBOE VOLATILITY INDEX, or "the VIX" or the "Fear Index" is still well off of its highs from the end of 2008 when it was trading at astronomical levels in the 60’s and…
Back in 1998-1999, the Clinton administration wrote contracts for offshore drilling that were supposed to provide royalty relief for oil companies if oil prices fell below $25/barrel. Somehow, the contracts were written without a…
The Beige Book is out and the district by district report on business activity is somewhat dismal. The good news is that the pace of bad news is not really out of line with…
Lower oil prices were supposed to be good for the refiners. Yesterday, Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) released its interim update for the fourth quarter of 2008. Today, Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO) followed suit, releasing preliminary…
Being a record label, or now a music label, is not what it once was. Not even close. Just ask Death Row Records and former owner Suge Knight. In an odd twist of fate,…
We have already highlighted that Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE: NT) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But the fallout from the filing continues to reverberate in the industry. For instance, Flextronics International Ltd.…
Stewart initiates coverage on Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) with a Buy. Price target $65. Collins analyst says, "AMZN leads the E-Commerce industry with a culture of innovation and a strong customer-centric approach. AMZN’s top-line growth…
Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT) has just been halted for trading on wire reports that the firm has filed for bankruptcy protection. It is no secret that the company has been in trouble. We noted before…
According to MarketWatch: "Stung by weak demand and falling prices, U.S. seasonally adjusted retail sales plunged 2.7% in December, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday. Excluding the 0.7% decline in auto sales, retail sales recorded…
These are most of the general analyst calls we have seen with downgrades or negative implications this Wednesday morning in the early pre-market trading hours: Allscripts-Misys (NASDAQ: MDRX) Cut to Neutral at UBS. Anglo…
It is probably no huge shock that downgrades are coming more than upgrades now that oil has come down so much. Too bad these were not the calls several months ago. Here are some…
There is an interesting trend where Barclays has essentially cut its rankings on hedge fund and private equity operators. Here are the calls, plus a call elsewhere on a bank: Blackstone (NYSE: BX) Cut…
These are some of the early bird upgrades and positive research calls we have seen from Wall Street analysts this Wednesday morning with more than two hours to the open: AU Optronics (NYSE: AUO)…
The price of gas is going up. Saudi Arabia, the lead member in OPEC, says that it is serious about cutting production this year. Last year’s cuts did nothing to stop the drop in…
Coca-Cola (KO) has decided to market its flagship product as a way for people beaten down by the recession to feel better about themselves and the world around them. The soft drink company is…
The conventional wisdom was that 2008 would be the worst year for bank losses in years, but that it would be the bottom. The damage of mortgage-backed securities has moved into the past. What…
China reworked its 2007 GDP growth numbers and that put it ahead of Germany in total GDP, making it the third largest economy in the world. The revision seems a little out of the…
Sandy Weill created Citigroup (C) because he wanted to run the world’s largest financial services company. He had lost this opportunity earlier in his career, but he did find a way eventually to get…
Thomas Alva Edison accumulated 1,093 US patents over his lifetime. Most R&D operations are not that efficient. Corporations hate research. It is expensive. The scientists know more about a company’s products than the management…