Silver Lake: A Vote For Private Equity
Most of the news about private equity operations has been bad. Tight credit markets. Broken deals. Buy-outs closed but in trouble because of large debt loads. Silver Lake, one of the largest private equity…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Europe Markets 1/9/2008 (BP)(BCS)(SI)
Market in Europe were down at 6.20 AM New York time. The FTSE was off 1% to 6,295. Barclays (BCS) was down 3% to 458.75. BP (BP) was down 4.2% to 607. Marks and…
Lenovo Shares Hit As PC World Implodes
So much for the turnaround at Dell (DELL) and the two-year revival at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). Even overseas PC companies like Lenovo are being hurt by the perception that US demand for computers is falling.…
Why No One Wants To Pump $100 Oil
At $100 a barrel, investors would think oil companies could not get crude out of the ground fast enough. Think of the huge profits now that the price of oil has almost doubled in…
AT&T (T): The Phone Company Was Supposed To Be Recession-Proof
Wall St. was taken by surprise when AT&T’s (T) chief said that the company was seeing soft home phone and internet business. So far, wireless spending seems OK. Since big company CEOs are trained…
Wall St. Doesn’t Care About The Primaries
John McCain and Hillary Clinton may have won in New Hampshire. Michigan and South Carolina are next. But, Wall St. does not care about the primaries. Their results won’t be reflected in whether the…
Media Digest 1/9/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Barron’s
According to Reuters, Bear Stearns (BSC) replaced its CEO James Cayne who will remain chairman. Reuters writes that the CEO of Best Buy (BBY) sees the retail climate getting tougher. Reuters writes that shares…
Asia Markets 1/9/2008
Markets in Asia were mostly higher The Nikkei rose .5% to 14,599. NTT (NTT) rose 2.4% to 530000. Sony (SNE) rose 2.7% to 6190. The Hang Seng rose 1.9% to 27,616. China Life (LFC)…
Microsoft (MSFT) And EU: Best Friends For Life?
After all of the bile that has passed between the European Union and Microsoft (MSFT) over Redmond’s monopolistic behavior in the region, the two may now be bedfellows. The European Commission, a branch of…
Tata (TTM) In Tatters
The credit default swaps market is turning on India’s Tata Motors (TTM). Concerns are mounting that the company will bite off more than it can chew by buying Jaguar and Rover from Ford (F).…
Regulators Beg Buffett To Get Into Bond Insurance
Perhaps the fact that Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) got into the bond insurance business just as it was falling apart was not entirely due to the genius of Warren Buffett. According to the FT, Mr.…
The 52-Week Low Club (CFC)(ETFC)(C)(MER)(AMD)
Countrywide Financial (CFC) Chapter 11 rumors, Denial does not help. Drops to $5.05 from 52-week high of $45.26. MBIA (MBI) Still plenty of panic left in the bond insurance world. Sells off to $13.98…
The Recession Visits Ma Bell (T)
AT&T (T) commented today that its consumer business was being hurt by a slow economy. Shares of AT&T and Verizon (VZ) have both done well this year due to strong cellular business and the…
Is GE’s (GE) Comback Over?
At mid-year, there was a great deal of excitement about the market’s changing and positive impression of GE (GE). The shares had moved from under $34 to $42.15. The nice run was caused by…
Share Collapse At E*Trade (ETFC)
After a huge sell-off of Countrywide (CFC) shares that forced the company to deny it was in deep trouble, shares of another weak financial firm, E*Trade (ETFC) are off 20% and have traded as…
Share Buybacks Not Slowing Everywhere (DELL, CSCO, MO, GE, TXN, GS, MSFT, PG)
As 2008 looks a more shaky year and one that the stock market looks like it is trying to price in a recession, there may be one victim: the share repurchase plans and stock…
The Myth Of The “Ultra-Mobile” Computer (INTC)(QCOM)(RIMM)
There is a good deal of excitement about the market for tiny computers. These would have keyboards about the size of a normal notebook but a four inch screen. They would weigh under two…
AmTech’s Stake In the Ground on Intel (INTC, AMD)
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is being defended by American Technology Research ("AmTech") on recent weakness today. This isn’t just a "reiterated Buy" rating (even if it is "reiterated Buy") as the direct thesis is "We…
Google (GOOG) Search Share Hits High As Microsoft (MSFT) Stumbles
Microsoft (MSFT) may have to buy more search engine companies. Its share of the US search market dropped to just above 7% in December, down from 9.8% a year ago, according to Hitwise, Google’s…
Pre-Market Stock Notes (January 8, 2008)
Bear Stearns’ (BSC) Jimmy Cayne will be stepping down as CEO but remaining as Chairman according to multiple reports. Credence Systems (CMOS) $0.05 EPS & $97.7M revenues vs. $0.05/$105M est.; but guidance much lower…