Helen of Troy (HELE) Bad quarter. Sells off to $`12.01 from 52-week high of $24.70. Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) Weak sales numbers. Drops to $99.75 from 52-week low of $357.98. Varian (VAR) Healthcare equipment companies…
If you have somehow managed to be out since last summer when the oil boom was still in full-speed, there is one issue you would not have guessed was coming this quick: layoffs in…
Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) reports today that production from its oil sands operations averaged 235,000 barrels/day for December. In October, production averaged 258,000 barrels/day. Third quarter production averaged 261,000 barrels/day. This is not the…
Norway’s Petroleum Directorate reported yesterday that the company had drilled 56 exploration wells in 2008, of which 25 resulted in new discoveries. That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is that the new discoveries…
Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) yesterday reduced its production estimates for Wyoming’s Powder River Basin and for its Australian coal mining. The company said it has produced "in excess of 200 million tons" of coal…
There are actually a few bright spots in retail despite an economy that is still getting worse and an environment where the consumer is getting poorer and less certain about their job prospects. Among…
If you wanted more access to leveraged ETF investing, your dreams are coming true. Direxion announced the addition of two new Direxion Shares "3x ETFs" to its existing line- up of multi-directional leveraged funds. …
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) is getting hammered this morning on very active trading. details… DryShips inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) has little overlap in the sub-sector of shipping other than that it is…
A couple weeks ago, Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) Board Member, Roger McNamee, appeared on CNBC and hinted a revolutionary new product that will launch at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Crunchgear has said it received…
It seems that the appetite for online brokerage firms to do selective M&A deals is not entirely dead. TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) has announced this morning that it is acquiring much smaller thinkorswim Group…
The Labor Department just released the Weekly Jobless Claims data for the week ended January 3. While this number is arguably one that could have fluctuated wildly after the same sort of wild surprise…
By John Tamny RealClearMarkets "Macroeconomics is a tautology and a myth, a dangerous one at that, sustaining the illusion that prosperity is necessarily linked with territory, national units, and government spending in general." –…
From Bloomberg: The biggest U.S. banks may face the threat of lower profits or pressure to break up under greater regulation following the financial crisis. Federal Reserve officials have made tackling the issue of…
No matter how badly the retail industry was in December, Wal-Mart (WMT) still managed to post improved same-store sales of 1.9%. But, that was the only good news the company could manage. The world’s…
The holiday season went poorly at Sears (SHLD), so it may still have to close scores of stores and lay-off thousands of people. Same-store sales at Sears stores fell 12.8%. As odd as it…
This morning was a shocker on just how many analyst downgrades and very negative calls were out from Wall Street analysts. The sad part is this is only part of the onslaught that we…
Whole Foods Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) has a new activist in its ranks. An SEC filing showed that Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos. investment vehicle is now holding a 7% stake in the organic and…
Time Warner (TWX) wrote down the value of many of its assets yesterday. The same has happened with many companies which own newspaper and TV assets. The trend is also moving to manufacturing and…
Citigroup (C) and some other banks are in talks with Senators about legislation that would change how people in bankruptcy would be treated when it comes to their mortgages. The obvious goal is to…
Goldman Sachs was already cautious on Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA). But this morning it slashed a prior Neutral rating down to its ugly SELL rating. The firm cited deteriorating fundamentals as the economy…