The Wheels Come Off At Wal-Mart (WMT)
It was a brutal January at Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT). US same-store sales rose .5% with sales at the flagship Wal-Marts stores up only .2%. "Comparable store sales in the United States for the February…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
EarthLink Manages Costs To Beat Earnings (ELNK)
EarthLink inc. (NASDAQ: ELNK) has posted results and frankly for a company that is an independent ISP these results aren’t all that bad. Income from operations was $22.6 million, or $0.19 EPS, on total…
Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (RATE, CE, CSCO, DCP, RL, PFG, RYAAY, AKH, VM, XL)
Below are some of the early bird analyst calls that are affecting shares in pre-market trading: Bankrate Inc. (NASDAQ: RATE) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup. Celanese (NYSE: CE) raised to Buy from…
Europe Markets 2/7/2008 (BHP)(BT)(ALU)(FTE)
Markets in Europe were off about 1% at 7 AM New York time. The FTSE was off .8% to 5,828. BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) was off 2.9% to 14.76. BT (NYSE: BT) was down…
A World Talking To Itself: Cellphones Hit 50% Worldwide Usage
ET will not have to phone home. He can talk to more than half of the world’s population. According to stats from the US, cellphone penetration will hit 3.3 billion people this year. According…
Tech Pioneer Marc Andreessen Starts NYT Deathwatch
Perhaps Netscape founder Marc Andreessen does not like The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) or maybe he hates the content of its flagship newspaper. Either way, he has started a deathwatch on the…
Anheuser-Busch (BUD) In Merger Talks
AnheuserBusch (NYSE: BUD) and InBev, a rival beer company, are in talks about a merger, according to Trends magazine. Douglas A. McIntyre
CostCo (COST) Same-Store Up 7%
CostCo (NASD COST) reported net sales of $5.11 billion for the month of January, the four weeks ended February 3, 2008, an increase of 11 percent from $4.62 billion in the same four-week period…
Good News For Malpractice Lawyers, Wal-Mart (WMT) Opens More Clinics
Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) likes the medical clinic business. Many of its customers do not have health insurance. It can deliver these people inexpensive care using nurse practitioners instead of doctors. Offering generic drugs also…
GM (GM): The High Cost Of Going Green
GM (NYSE: GM) says that 50% of its cars in the US should be running on ethanol by 2012. According to Reuters "GM will have 11 ethanol-capable vehicles on the market this year and…
Cisco (CSCO) And EDS (EDS) Take Big Tech Down
Cisco (NASD: CSCO) and EDS (NYSE: EDS) have businesses which point different directions on a compass. But, it is the same compass. In one day, Cisco was able to show that large capex tech…
NYSE Short Interest, Numbers For Some Financial Improve
Short interest in financial stocks generally fell in NYSE figures for January 31. Numbers compare to January 15. Shares sold short in Countrywide (NYSE: CFC) fell 52.7 million to 114.2 million. Shares short in…
Media Digest 2/7/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Barron’s
Accorrding to Reuters, GM (NYSE: GM) will have half of its cars running on ethanol by 2012. Reuters writes that Cisco (NASD: CSCO) gave a weak forecast, moving tech shares down. Reuters writes that…
Asia Markets 2/7/2008 (DCM)
Most markets in Asia were close for a holiday. The Nikkei was up .8% to 13,207. KDDI was up 5.2% to 714000 Docomo (DCM) was up 1.9% to 163000. Data from Reuters Douglas A.…
ISP Earnings Preview: Earthlink Vs. United (ELNK, UNTD, TWX)
Thursday is going to be an interesting earnings day if you follow the few independent Internet Service Providers (ISP’s). EarthLink, Inc. (NASDAQ: ELNK) and United Online Inc. (NASDAQ: UNTD) both report earnings on Thursday,…
Motorola’s Best Strategy: Getting Icahn To Buy More (MOT)
Carl Icahn has disclosed in an 13D SEC FILING that he boosted his share ownership in Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT). Icahn indicated his ownership of the stake in a notice to nominate four directors…
Delta (DAL) And Northwest (NWA) Get Urge To Marry
Northwest (NYSE: NWA) and Delta (NYSE: DAL) are getting very close to announcing a merger. According to the FT "the airlines may clinch the landmark accord as early as mid-February, the people said, though…
Chambers’ Conference Call Commentary… Cisco Guidance Soft (CSCO)
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) did give guidance in the conference call, and the shares got whacked over a less confident in near-term visibility and a weak January that is expected to last for…
Akamai Up After Earnings, Guidance Coming Shortly (AKAM)
Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) has just posted normalized earnings of $0.41 EPS on revenues of $183.2 million. First Call had estimates of $0.37 EPS and $174.61 million in revenues. Estimates for the next…
Cisco Meets, But Mum on Guidance (CSCO)
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) has just posted earnings of $0.38 non-GAAP EPS on revenues of $9.83 Billion. First Call had estimates of $0.38 EPS and $9.79 billion in revenues. Net earnings after charges…