As this is last week of August, the daily upgrades and downgrades are rather thin as firms are starting to run on skeleton crews for one of the lightest news weeks of the year. …
"Never wise up a chump:–W.C. Fields Today almost every paper carries a headline about gas prices falling $.15 in the last two weeks. Regular petrol is down to $3.75. Americans can take to the…
In the latest installment of the "Batman" film series, loyal butler Alfred tries to explain the behavior of some of the most depraved criminals. He points out to a befuddled Bruce Wayne that "Some…
Hopes are that instead of selling a very few cars in August, auto companies will sell less few than they did in July. These perverse economics have become the way that Detroit tracks it…
According to Reuters, US car sales are likely to have another large drop in August. Reuters reports that Bernanke would like to see broader regulation of the financial markets. Reuters reports that most participants…
Most markets in Asia rose. The Nikkei moved up 1.7% to 12,879. Yamaha rose 1.2% to 1802. All Nippon Air rose 1.3% to 385. The Hang Seng moved up 3.1% to 21,016. China Life…
China’s oil and gas price policy may be good for drivers of cars and trucks in this huge communist country, but it is really bad for profits of the nation’s oil companies. China Petroleum…
It looks like more communists will be buying Apple (AAPL) iPhones. The handset is almost certainly going to be available in China this year. Now it appears that there is a deal in place…
Ford (F) came within a nickel of its 52-week low yesterday, hitting $4.35. News also came out that the US car companies will urge Congress to support funding up to $50 billion in low-interest…
Pacific Sunwear (PSUN) Awful forecast. Drops to $5 from 52-week high of $18.44. Cost Plus (CPWM) Tough results for last quarter. Sells down to $1.50 from 52-week high of $6.22. China Techfaith (CNTF) Company…
Alpharma, Inc. (NYSE: ALO) has already responded to King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: KG) regarding the $33.00 per share offer made by King to acquire Alpharma. As we noted based upon the premium trading to…
Several reports indicate that GM (GM, Ford (F), and Chrysler are approaching the government for a total of $25 billion in loans at interest rates as low as 4.5%. The money could come in…
Moody’s has come out with a downgrade this morning on the preferred stock ratings of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE). The ratings have been taken down to Baa3 from A1…
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is giving a speech out at the K.C. Fed Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this morning. His released comments show that he is expecting the economic weakness to persist and…
According to the Pacific Sunwear proxy, CEO Sally Frame Kasaks makes a base salary of $1,250,000. Last year, her total compensation was $3.2 million. Based on the performance of the stock and the business,…
This morning there was a rather long CNBC interview where Becky Quick got to interview Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK-A) Warren Buffett live in Omaha. He noted specifically that the economic weakness was going to…
These are some of the top analyst calls we are seeing in pre-market trading this Friday morning: Avanex (AVNXD) Cut to Neutral at Merriman Curhan Ford. Burger King (BKC) Cut to Neutral at UBS.…
It is fairly thin in analyst coverage today, but these are some of the Friday morning analyst calls we are seeing before the open: Amedisys (AMED) Started as Outperform at Baird. Concur Tech (CNQR)…
The AP announced its list of the top 10 paid CEOs for 2007. The figures were based on "AP’s compensation formula, which adds up salary, perks, bonuses, above-market interest on pay set aside for…
Citigroup (C) cut is earnings estimates for Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), and Lehman (LEH). Today, Bank of America (BAC) cuts its earnings targets for Goldman and Morgan Stanley. Sanford Bernstein and Oppenheimer…