The government’s bailout package is likely to pass if you believe in the new event-driven alternative futures markets. The latest active contract on intrade.com, perhaps the most liquid of the "prediction markets," is still…
Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) today raised its 2008 guidance again. This is in response to the clear drop in the agriculture and fertilizer sector weakness. Roundup, other glyphosate-related herbicides, and its seeds-and-traits performance are…
Oilfield services company Nabors Industrial (NYSE:NBR) revised its guidance downward after the market closed yesterday and its share price is approaching a new 52-week low. And its bringing its competitors down with it. Noble…
In a sign of how perverse and debased the market’s reactions to simple news has become, NCC (NCC), the large regional bank, dropped from over $4 last Friday to $1.36 on Monday. Today, the…
Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) is being slaughtered this morning. Any hopes that agriculture was going to be cool again are gone. The phosphate and potash producer’s earnings missed the bar by what might as…
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) has priced its massive secondary offering this morning of 547.8 million shares at a substantial discount of $22.25 per share. It has also given underwriters an overallotment option to…
By John Tamny, RealClearMarkets The University of Texas is famous for having the second largest university endowment in the country, behind that of Harvard. Less known is that UT’s second-place ranking is an accounting…
Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) is going to be trading up big this morning. Shares are currently halted on the news that Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ: MCHP) and ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: ONNN) have sent…
Maybe the Hurricane damage has something to do with this, but the weekly jobless claims are reaching a critical point. This last week’s initial jobless claims rose again to 497,000. The Labor Department put…
If one sector always keeps having new projects and new expansions, it is solar and alternative energy. There were several announcements this morning from some key solar players such as Energy Conversion Devices (NASDAQ:…
These are some of the top upgrades we are seeing from Wall Street analysts this morning: Amgen (AMGN) Raised to Outperform at William Blair. Capital Product Partners (CPLP) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer. Digital…
These are some of the early analyst downgrades we have seen this Thursday morning: Akamai Tech (AKAM) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs. CommVault Systems (CVLT) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs. Juniper Networks…
Nokia (NOK) has been very slow moving into the market for high-end smartphones, especially in the US. There are plenty of Apple (AAPL) iPhones and RIM (RIMM) Blackberries on the shelves. Samsung has even…
"Everyday low prices" are getting out of hand. Wal-Mart (WMT) already is cutting what it charges for toys and the holiday season has really not begun. According to The Wall Street Journal, the world’s…
GE (GE) is raising $15 billion, some of it from Warren Buffett at usurious rates. In many states his actions would have been illegal. Why does GE need the money? No so long ago…
It is time for Ben Bernanke to descend from Mount Olympus and join the Croesus of the administration, Henry Paulson, in the the trenches, or the tranches, depending on your perspective. Late word is…
According to Reuters, the economic bailout bill passed the Senate and is likely to pass the House. Reuters reports that GE (GE) raised $15 billion with some of the capital coming from Warren Buffett.…
Markets in Asia were mostly lower with Shanghai closed for the holiday. The Nikkei was down .8% to 11,273. Toyota (TM) fell on poor US sales. Honda (HMC) was down as much as 4%.…
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) shares poor performance stood out even on a down day. It has worked on a game since late 2006 or early 2007 called Tiberium. This first-person shooter was in…
Encore Energy Partners LP (NYSE: ENP) has filed a shelf registration to sell up to $1,000,000,000.00 in securities for its units. It will sell common units representing limited partner interests in Encore Energy Partners…