Asia Falls, Europe Opens Down (TM, HMC)
An S&P downgrade of several large US banks and lack of progress on eurozone bailout plans knocked Asia stocks lower. The Nikkei 225 was off .51% to 8,435. The Hang Seng dropped 1.46% to…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Cyber Monday–Largest E-Commerce Sales Day In History (WMT, AMZN)
It is clear that e-commerce sales growth has begun to race ahead of bricks-and-mortar revenue growth this holiday season. Comscore reports that Cyber Monday was “The Heaviest Online Spending Day In History”. Broadband internet…
Twenty-Two Percent Of Residential Properties Underwater In Q3
The state of the real estate market continues to worsen. S&P/Case-Shiller data issued earlier today showed home prices dropping in most of the top 20 markets. New Corelogic information indicates that 22.1% of all homes…
Consumer Confidence Soars
The tug of war between proofs of recession and recovery received some weight on the recovery side. The Consumer Confidence Index soared in November, at a rate last posted in 2003. The Conference Board…
Major Stock Price Increases And Declines (RIG, STX, GLW, RIMM)
Transocean (NYSE: RIG) down 5.8% to $43.26 on news of a share sale to fund Aker Drilling ASA takeover. Seagate (NYSE: STX) up 5% to $16.69 as the company announced an improved earnings outlook…
Seagate (STX) Rallies 9%, Yahoo! (YHOO) Slightly Higher
NASDAQ reports that shares of Seagate (NYSE: STX) are up over 9% to $17.49 after it posted a strong outlook. Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) shares are higher by 1.8% to $15.63 on more rumors that the…
UK Cuts Medium Term Spending Plans
The UK Office for Budget Responsibility said, “In our updated forecasts we expect the weaker economic outlook to increase public sector borrowing and debt. In response the Government has cut its medium-term spending plans…
Canaccord Downgrades NetFlix
Netflix (NFLX : NASDAQ): No surprises on the capital raise, other than the amount; maintain SELL, target lowered to $57
Moody’s May Cut Several Europe Banks
Moody’s may cut the rating of several European banks, according to Bloomberg. The news service reports that Banks in 15 European nations, including the largest lenders in France, Italy and Spain, may have their…
American Air Parent Files Chapter 11
AMR (NYSE: AMR), the parent of American Airlines, has filed Chapter 11. The move has been expected for some time, as the company has struggled with labor costs, jet fuel, and a large debt load. The…
Is Facebook Worth More Than Cisco?
Is Facebook worth more than Silicon Valley icon Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO)? The market seems to think so. Facebook may launch an IPO in the spring that would raise $10 billion and value the…
German Is Once Again Begged to Save Europe
There is still a school of thought that only Germany and its strong balance sheet can preserve the eurozone. The European Central Bank will not step in to buy the bonds of financially weak EU…
What’s Happening in the Financial World? (11/29/2011) Italy Borrowing Costs, New Toyota GT
The cost for Italy to borrow money rose again, and to an unsustainable level. The nation’s 10-year paper yield increased to 7.56%. The southern European nation cannot cover its deficits for long when it…
UK Deficit $50 Billion Higher Than Expected
The FT reports that the UK structural surplus, which was expected to be 6 billion pounds in 2014-2015, will be a deficit of 30 billion pounds. That means the government will have to review and implement…
Media Digest (11/29/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
S&P may cut its outlook on France’s AAA debt. (Reuters) A judge blocks the $285 million settlement between Citigroup (NYSE: C) and the SEC. (Reuters) Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) says Kindle sales rose 4X on…
Why Own 20% of Yahoo! (YHOO)?
Among the most preposterous rumors about Yahoo!’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) potential sale is that private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will take a 20% stake in the portal. What would they…
Holiday Sales Grow, but Pessimism Lurks
Virtually every estimate of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales growth puts the improvement in the double digits. That is even true with the traditionally slow-growing bricks-and-mortar sector. But economists are worried that the…
Italy Sells 10-Year Bonds at 7.56% Yield–CNBC
According to CNBC, “Italy Sells 10-Year Bonds at 7.56% Yield; Sets New Euro Lifetime High.” It is another indication that capital markets investors believe that the debt levels of Italy and Spain cannot be…
Morgan Stanley And Bank Of America May Settle With MBIA
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Morgan Stanly, and other huge banks have begun settlement talks with MBIA over billions the bond insurer lost on paper during the 2008 crash
RIM May Put Security Features On iPhone And Android
RIM (NASDAQ: RIMM) has decided that if it cannot beat them, it will join them The troubled smarphone company may offer some of the security features that come on its Blackberry in apps that…