The premise for Detroit going to Washington for $50 billion in loan guarantees is that the auto industry needs cheap money to retool factories that can build more fuel-efficient cars. US buyers don’t want…
No one in his right mind wants to buy Washington Mutual (WM), but it does have some juicy pieces which would make nice additions at several other large financial firms. That leaves open the…
The Western concept of recession is flawed. Two quarters of negative GDP growth and there it is. That notion is based on economies that have a normal state of growth of about 3%. Anything…
According to Reuters, debt of Washington Mutual (WM) was cut to junk on a forecast of a $4.5 billion loss reserve. Reuters says that concerns about Lehman (LEH) spread to Merrill Lynch (MER). Reuters…
Markets in Asia were modestly higher. The Nikkei rose .9% to 12,215. ANA rose 1.9% to 377. The Hang Seng rose .3% to 19,439. BOC Hong Kong dropped on a Goldman downgrade. PetroChina (PTR)…
Lehman (LEH) Dead or alive. Off to $3.79 from 52-week high of $67.73. Washington Mutual (WM) Will the bank make it? Plunges to $1.75 from 52-week high of $39.25. Merrill Lynch (MER) dragged down…
With the trends seen lately in communications equipment and data providers because of telecom spending dropping, it is no huge surprise that the short selling has been increasing in some of the stocks in…
Many traders and short sellers have loved targeting solar power and other alternative energy stocks. What is interesting is that the bets against these companies did not show a larger increase since many of…
There was a very mixed bag in short selling in the semiconductor sector. What was interesting was the huge increase in the bets against NVIDIA because it was so far after the drop. Most…
Unfortunately there is no real clear trend in the Internet sector stocks in the short selling from mid-August to late August as you will see below. Internet …
The market’s disdain for Big Band Networks (BBND) is long-standing and deep. The company went public nearly two years ago. Since then the maker of technology to improve the flow of data over the…
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) has sent a letter to Imclone Systems (NASDAQ: IMCL) in response to yesterday’s rejection of its buyout offer. It said it is disappointed that the $60.00 bid was passed up…
In the next day or two, the financial markets could hit their tipping point. It is certainly not beyond the realm of the possible that Lehman (LEH) and Washington Mutual (WM) could fail. Merrill…
CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) is trading higher after the railroad operator increased its 2008 and long-term financial guidance. It sees Fiscal-2008 earnings of $3.65 to $3.75 per share, which is above its prior $3.40…
Today may well be the day that Lehman (LEH) fails. No one should be surprised if the company goes into Chapter 11 today or if the government steps in to sell off pieces and…
Shares of Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) are being hit this morning on what seemed to be good earnings data on the surface. But when you dig down it seems that the growth is slowing…
These are some of the early bird analyst upgrades and positive calls we are seeing this Thursday morning with more than two hours to the open: Auxilium Pharma (AUXL) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.…
These are some of the early bird analyst downgrades and negative calls we are seeing this Thursday morning with more than two hours to the open: AudioCodes (AUDC) cut to neutral at Merrill Lynch.…
With Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae (FNM), and Freddie Mac (FNM) fundamentally gone as independent institutions, the Treasury and Fed have turned their attention to Lehman (LEH) and Washington Mutual (WM). Nothing to that effect…
Saudi Arabia walked out on OPEC yesterday. It said it would not honor the cartel’s production cut. It was tired of rants from Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and the well-dressed oil minister from Iran.…