Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Beats
The market needed Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) to come though with big numbers to show that the consumer goods and medical devices markets, which to a large extent depend on consumer healthcare, were OK.…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AOC, BAC, CR, DOV, FSLR, HPT, MMM, MMC, MA, SPWRA, TROW, V, WU)
These are some of the top analyst upgrades we are seeing in early hours of pre-market trading this Tuesday morning: AON Corp. (AOC) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs Bank Of America (BAC) Raised…
Bad Start For Earnings: Pepsi (PEP) Tanks
The early wave of third quarter earnings stepped on a banana. Pepsi (PEP) numbers were awful and they cost a lot of people their jobs. Globally, approximately 3,300 positions will be eliminated in connection…
Time For Google (GOOG) To Dump Yahoo! (YHOO) Deal
Yahoo! (YHOO) needs the deal for Google (GOOG) to sell search advertising for the portal company more than Google needs it. The world’s largest search firm may make a modest sum off its commissions…
Merck (MRK): More Trouble With Vioxx
A lot of people believe that Merck (MRK) knew a lot more about the dangers of its arthritis drug Vioxx than the company ever let on. Heart problems were apparently a by-product of using…
Earnings On Deck: Only Nine Companies Will Matter
Analysts assume third quarter earnings for the companies in the S&P 500 will be bad. But, looking at the number which is the average of all firms in the index is misleading. The market…
Paulson’s New Plan: The Good Guys Get Gored (JPM)(MS)(GS)(C)
One size fits all. That is the reasoning behind Treasury’s plan to invest money in a number of large banks by purchasing preferred shares. Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan (JPM) and Lloyd Blankfein of…
Media Digest 10/14/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
According to Reuters, the Treasury will make $250 billion directly into banks. Ciitgroup (C) and JPMorgan (JPM) would get $26 billion each. Merrill Lynch (MER) and Bank of America (BAC) would each get $12.5…
Asia Markets 10/14/2008 Furious Rally
Markets in Asia were up sharply. The Nikkei rose 14.3% to 9,456. Mitsubishi UFJ was up 14%. Toyota (TM) rose 15.5%. Honda (HMC) rose 17.8%. The Hang Seng moved up 4.4% to 17,028. CNOOC…
As Recession Spreads, Small Businesses Start To Cut Jobs
The credit crisis has been so severe that even the largest companies in the US have had trouble getting access to the capital markets. Firms as large as GM (GM), Goodyear, and Gannett (GCI)…
FDIC To Insure New Senior Bank Debt: Inviting The Sovereign Funds To Dinner (MER)(C)
Many of the world’s largest sovereign funds believe that they were taken to the cleaners earlier this year when they dumped billions of dollars into large US financial companies like Citigroup (C) and Merrill…
Government To Buy Pieces Of Nine Large Banks?
The US Treasury is apparently ready to buy significant stakes in nine of the largest financial firms in America. The trouble with the report is that no one knows for certain which companies are…
Burlington Northern: Warren Buffett Synthetic Stake Addition (BNI, BRK-A)
There was an interesting Form 4 filed today with the SEC. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) has artificially added to his holdings of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (NYSE: BNI). On October 8,…
The 52-Week Low Club (AFFX)(PIR)(AXL)
American Axle (AXL) S&P downgrade due to big customer GM (GM) cutting production. Drops to $2.61 from 52-week high of $28.11. Pier 1 (PIR) Analyst dowgrade due to weak same-store sales. Down to $1.58…
Why So Many Mergers Are Failing (WMI, RSG, AW, VSH, IRF, DBD, UTX, SNDK)
Back in normal economic times and back when private equity was king, Mondays were often referred to as "Merger Monday" because mergers would be announced at the start of the week. If you monitor…
Wells Fargo Looking More and More Like The Old Citigroup Model (WFC, WB, C)
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is the latest of the banking giants to look like the old Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) business model. This became the case with the acquisition of Wachovia Corp.…
AmTech’s Top Fundamental Technology Stocks (CNQR, MELI, MFE, MPWR, QCOM, RIMM, VRSN)
American Technology Research has issued a research report going into earnings season called "Our Best Dozen Fundamental Picks." AmTech believes investors already expect a disaster but that the current business climate isn’t as bad…
Microsoft (MSFT): The Redmond Nation Turns Toward Sanity
At the coroner’s inquest about the dead deal for Microsoft (MSFT) to buy Yahoo! (YHOO) it became clear the Redmond got the best of it. For reasons which investors are not likely to fathom,…
AmTech’s Favorite Defense & Infrastructure Fundamental Picks (FLR, LMT)
There is an interesting report from research team over at American Technology Research called "Our Best Dozen Fundamental Picks" as earnings season is upon us. The research firm noted that investors already expect a…
AmTech Issues Best Fundamental Alternative Energy Picks (ENER, FSLR, FSYS)
The research team over at American Technology Research has issued a report called "Our Best Dozen Fundamental Picks" going into earnings season. The research firm notes that investors are already prepared for a disaster…