Fragile Oil Prices: A Storm In The Gulf
The bald man with the 1950s tie who runs the National Hurricane Center gets to go on The Weather Channel a dozen times a year. Those appearances are triggered by the appearance of storms…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
T. Boone Pickens Trades Oil With Both McCain & Obama
On Sunday, T. Boone Pickens issued a press release stating that he had met with Senator Obama in Reno, Nevada to discuss his energy plans. This follows the statement he issued Friday stating that…
Morgan Stanley (MS) 2009 As A Year Of The Locusts
In the current age of financial pessimism, Morgan Stanley (MS) does not want to be bested. In a show of unusual courage, its president is predicting that the world of Wall St. will get…
Lehman (LEH): The Executioner’s Song
Lehman (LEH) has just begun to defile itself. After several quarters of losses and promises of better days, the press is reporting that the brokerage will have negative earnings for the most recent period…
Banks Look To Refinance Maturing Debt As Capital Issues Abound (C) (BAC)
With nearly all of the top investment banks in a precarious financial position as a result of horrific investments in bad debt, banks have no shortage of things to worry about. But the Financial…
GM (GM) Pulls Out Of Oscars — How Can It Slash Costs And Turn The Company Around?
General Motors (GM) has decided that it will not serve as a sponsor for the the 2009 Academy Awards, ending a long relationship that included $13.5 million in ad spending for this February’s broadcast…
Media Digest 8/18/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
According to Reuters, analysts expect Lehman (LEH) to have a $1.8 billion loss. Reuters writes that the US is likely to recapitalize Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE). Reuters reports that GM (GM)…
Asia Markets 8/18/2008 Shanghai Down Over 5%
Markets in Asia were mixed with Shanghai off 5.3% The Nikkei rose 1.1% to 13,165. Bridgestone rose 2.2% to 1890. Canon rose 2.3% to 5260. The Hang Seng was down 1.8% to 20,787. China…
As Russia Arms It Baltic Fleet, Oil Faces Pressure
So far there has been little evidence that the "war" between Georgia and Russia has done anything of substance to increase the price of oil. At the beginning of the conflict, there was a…
OPEC Wants To Raise Prices
If the primary motivation of the rich is greed, then the OPEC member states are no exception. Now that oil prices have begun to drop, so has talk of cutting supply. "The market is…
China Heads Toward “Recession”
Since China has grown so fast over the last decade, that the definition of "recession" may be different than it is in the US or EU. China’s growth slowed to 10.1% in the last…
Guru Investment Watch: Buffett, Icahn, Gates, Peltz, Heebner
This week was a huge week as far as getting to see what the large funds and key money managers or investment gurus were putting into their portfolios. We compiled lists and lists of…
52-Week Low Club (CCJ, CVI, EIX, MDR, SSRI, ZINC)
The drop in commodities isn’t good for everyone apparently. Many metals stocks are on the list today, as are others. Here is a partial list of some semi-active stocks hitting 52-week lows today: Cameco…
AMD (AMD) Gets Goosed By PC Numbers (AAPL)(INTC)(HPQ)(DELL)
AMD (AMD) shareholders have on their rally caps. The shares are up 9% to $5.77. PC sales growth for the last quarter was better than expected. MarketWatch writes, Worldwide shipments grew 3.1% from the…
Ken Heebner & CGM Stick With Commodities (CNX, BTU, FCX, PBR, HES, SLB, WFT, X, CGMFX)
While many funds and money managers are under watch, Ken Heebner and the investments in his CGM FOCUS FUND (CGMFX) are perhaps more closely watched than any other in today’s current market. Some may…
24/7 Wall St. Most Overpaid CEO Of The Day: Building Materials (BLG) CEO Robert E. Mellor
Robert Mellor, CEO of Building Materials (BLG) made over $850,000 in base compensation last year, according to the company proxy. There is no reason to think he will not do as well in 2008.…
Early-Bird Analyst Upgrades (EMKR, IAG, PNM, PCLN, SDXC)
These are some of the very early morning upgrades and positive calls we have seen from the analyst community this Friday morning: Emcore (EMKR) Started as Buy at Stanford Research. IAMGold (IAG) Started as…
Early-Bird Analyst Downgrades (CMVT, CTRP, GET, DNA, HAR, JNJ, PTRY, WDFC)
These are some of the early analyst calls we are seeing early this Friday morning: Comverse Technology (CMVT) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan. Ctrip.com (CTRP) Cut estimates and maintained Buy but target cut 1/3…
China Cars Sales Slow To A Walk, A Bad Dream In Detroit (GM)(F)
Car sales in China may not have gone negative year-over-year, but they are getting close. In July, sedan sales were only up 1.9%. If SUVs and light trucks are thrown in, the increase was…
Drowning In Gas With No Life Jacket In Sight
It boggles the mind that US consumers could spend more on gas than they do on cars. But, that is precisely what happened two months ago. Gasoline accounted for about 4.4 percent of spending…