Unemployment Soars to 6.1% On Way to 8%
The jobs data isn’t getting better, and in fact is getting worse. The Labor Department has issued unemployment as being 6.1% in August, while consensus estimates were calling for a 0.1% increase to 5.8%.…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Nokia (NOK) Cries “Uncle” Who Will Take It Business?
Nokia (NOK) made a number of odd statements today, the net effect of which was to drive the firm’s stock down 10%. For starters, it said its global market share in the third quarter…
Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (HD, ILMN, MFE, NAV, OMX, VTA, VRNM, WAT)
These are some of the top upgrades or positive calls we are seeing from analysts this Friday morning: Home Depot (HD) Started as Outperform at FBR. Illumina (ILMN) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.…
Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (AFFX, CLNE, MER, NTRS, SPLS, TU)
These are some of the top downgrades or cautious calls we are seeing from analysts this Friday morning: Affymetrix (AFFX) Started as Underweight at Morgan Stanley. Clean Energy (CLNE) Cut to Underperform at National…
Goldman Sachs Pans Merrill Lynch (MER, GS)
Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MER) is trading down 6% or so in pre-market after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to a SELL rating and put shares on its Conviction Sell List. The…
Foreign Buyers Start To Shift Though US Tech Wreckage
Samsung, one of the largest companies in South Korea, says it may want to buy US flash chip company Sandisk (SNDK). The US firm’s stock has dropped from a 52-week high of $56.46 to…
What Happens When Citigroup (C) Fails?
If the markets are to take bond guru Bill Gross at his word, the world’s financial markets could go through a cataclysmic failure. The head of fixed income fund operation Pimco says that a…
Yahoo!’s (YHOO) Five-Year Low To Get Lower, The Weakness Of The Internet No Longer Ignored
Yahoo! (YHOO) moved close to its five-year low yesterday, trading down at $17.75. It really has not been so long ago that Microsoft (MSFT) made its $33 bid for the portal company. Yahoo!’s market…
A Bail-Out For China’s Biggest Bank, As Pimco Warns Global Markets Will Get Worse
Perhaps some day the Fed will run out of money. The equivalent is happening in China. The People’s Bank of China managed to put a truck-load of money into US mortgage-backed securities and paper…
Media Digest 9/5/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
According to Reuters, bond giant Pimco called for more governemt support for the financial system saying the the credit crisis could turn much worse. Reuters writes that Microssoft (MSFT) will begin its $300 million…
Asia Markets 9/5/2008 (SNE)(HBC)(PTR)
Markets in Asia fell. The Nikkei was off 2.8% to 12,212, Sony (SNE) hit a multi-year low as it recalled a number of PCs. The Hang Seng was down 3.2% to 19,747. HSBC (HBC)…
Is Goldman Sachs Losing Its Trading Edge? (GS)
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) has been an incredible performer among the bulge bracket investment banking firms during the entire credit meltdown and market malaise. Its shares had been holding up better than…
The 52-Week Low Club 9/4/2008 (TEX)(HL)(MTW)(CIEN)(VRSN)
Terex Corporation (TEX) Bad guidance. Drops to $37.12 from 52-week high of $91.21. Hecla Mining (HL) Price of silver down. Sells off to $5.79 from 52-week high of $13.14. The Manitowoc Company (MTW) Hurt…
Ag, Commodities, Bubbles & The Recessionless Recession (XOM, BHP, ABX, BTU, POT, WMT)
The new mantra creating a deflating speculative bubble is taking a new twist. Even before Ospraie blew out its fund (and now after) there have been more rumors about commodity-related funds or commodity-stock related…
24/7 Wall St. Most Overpaid CEO Of The Day: Ciena (CIEN) CEO Gary Smith
Shares in Ciena (CIEN), a communications equipment company, fell 25% today to a new 52-week low of $13. The period high was $49.55. As part of its earnings announcement, Ciena said the future looks…
Markets Boo McCain’s VP Choice
John Tamny of RealClearMarkets Alongside last Friday’s announcement that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would be John McCain’s running mate, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 170 points. Stocks have shown weakness ever since. While…
A Dozen Companies Which Should Lay-Off 10,000 People This Year
The evidence that sales at many companies are struggling and that employment will suffer are almost everywhere. Recently, a division of GMAC said it would let 5,000 people go. According to MSNBC, "Job cuts…
Going Nuclear Into Elections (EXC, NRG, D, DUK, PGN, AEE)
Electric utility Exelon (NYSE:EXC) this morning revised guidance for 2008 to a range of $4.15 – $4.30 per share from $4.00 – $4.40 per share. That’s measured on non-GAAP operating earnings; on GAAP earnings,…
Legg Mason and the Coming Redemptions & Misses (LM, LMVTX)
Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM) is having a rough morning to say the least. The investment manager’s shares are being hit after Credit Suisse took an already cautious Neutral rating down to an even…
TEPPCO’s Multi-Year Lows on Increased Offering (TPP)
TEPPCO Partners, L.P. (NYSE:TPP) is under a bit of pressure after the energy logistics company has priced a secondary offering of 8,000,000 units. Last night this was listed as a pricing of 7.1 million…