GM (GM) Needs To Kill Some Brands
GM (NYSE: GM) has eight car brands. There has been a debate for at least 20 years, from after the Saturn brand was launched by then-CEO Roger Smith, about whether it made sense to…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
A Corporate Tax Break For Paying Dividends (MSFT)(GOOG)(AMD)(BSX)
The government is fond of using taxes and tax benefits to change behavior. Put a big tax on cigarettes and people will smoke less. Put a "gas guzzler" tax on big cars and people…
Wal-Mart (WMT) And Microsoft (MSFT): Brothers In Prosperity
Recessions make strange bedfellows. Of all the truly huge businesses in the US, save the oil companies, Wal-Mart (WMT) and Microsoft (MSFT) are having unusually good runs. Yesterday, the CFO of Microsoft had the…
Media Digest 3/4/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
According to Reuters February car sales dropped sharply especially for US made vehicles. Reuters writes that BHP Billiton (BHP) is working on raising $55 billion for its potential takeover of Rio Tinto (RTP). The…
Asia Markets 3/4/2008 (HIT)(NTT)(LFC)(SNP)
Markets in Asia were mixed. The Nikkei rose a fraction to 12,992. Hitachi (HIT) fell 2.3% to 718. NTT (NTT) fell 1.7% to 461000. The Hang Seng dropped 2% to 23,120. China Life (LFC)…
Intel (INTC) Grounds Out
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) sent the tech world and stock market more news which they did not need. The company cut its gross margin estimates. According to the company "Intel Corporation today lowered its first-quarter…
Cramer’s Natural Gas Play (CHK)
Tonight on CNBC’s MAD MONEY, Jim Cramer came out with some huge commodity price calls all around "Sweet 16" and "March Madness." His picks all revolve around "$16" for commodity price handles. He already…
Cramer’s New Play For $1,600 Gold (AEM)
Jim Cramer came out on CNBC’s MAD MONEY tonight, predicting huge gains in gold and he thinks that the current sub-$1,000 per ounce prices may go to $1,600 per ounce. He started talking about…
Jim Cramer’s Play On $16 Corn & Wheat (POT, MOO)
Jim Cramer came out on CNBC’s MAD MONEY tonight, predicting huge gains in agriculture prices and in gold. Unlike Basketball’s March Madness and a "Sweet 16" his "sweet 16" targets all revolve around "$16"…
Microsoft (MSFT): Recession Proof?
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has not felt the impact of slower spending. Software must be sitting outside the vortex which is dragging the rest of the economy under. Redmond’s CFO says that the company’s geogaphic…
SPAC IPO FILING: Sidhu Special Purpose Capital Corp. (SOV)
After today’s close, we have yet another special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, that has filed to come public. Sidhu Special Purpose Capital Corp. filed for an initial public offering for $150 million in…
Microsoft (MSFT) Looks To Yahoo! (YHOO) For Delivery Of Online Software
It is now plain that part of the reason Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) wants to buy Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) is to use its customers as targets for Redmond’s big push into online delivered software. Google…
The Business Day In Global Warming (CSIQ, FTEK, TSL, GE, GOOG, CS, SOPW, AKNS, JASO, ENER, CPST)
Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ) issued and sold $75 million in 6.0% Convertible Senior Notes due 2017 in a private placement on December 10, 2007, and in a filing today investors were given the right…
The Great Car Sales Bust (GM)(F)(TM)
After a tough 2007, it would be hard to believe that a domestic car company could have a 13% drop in January sales. GM (NYSE: GM) did just that. The stock is so low,…
KLA-Tencor Loses CFO (KLAC)
KLA-Tencor Corporation (Nasdaq:KLAC) has announced that Jeffrey Hall, its CFO, will resign effective March 31, 2008. Normally we look further into CFO resignations since they are the final ones who "sign off on the…
The 52-Week Low Club (SCA)(DFR)(TMA)(FMT)
Security Capital Assurance (SCA) Warns of loss and hires investment bank to help out of trouble. Stock drops to $.67 from 52-week high of $34.58. Deerfield Capital (DFR) Big loss on impairment charges. Seels…
Apple Analysts Race To Cut Targets (AAPL)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been a success story that few in history have repeated. But the best growth days have been seen, or at least that is what two analyst reports are pointing…
Options Traders Looking For Yahoo! Bid Hike? (YHOO, MSFT)
Options trading often shows some key insight on trade bets as far as upcoming events. It appears that at least some options traders may be speculating that a higher bid is coming out of…
SPAC IPO FILING: Transformation Capital… Public Hedge Fund? (TCY, TCY.U, AINV)
Transformation Capital is another special purpose acquisition company or SPAC that has filed to come public via an initial public offering. The company has many options like all SPAC filings indicate, although it intends…
Fannie Mae Dodges Appraisal Bullett (FNM)
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) has announced a settlement that ultimately looks like will give the company a huge sigh of relief. It has entered into an agreement with the New York Attorney General and…