Today’s ratings agency actions include a new rating on off-balance sheet arrangement by AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), parent of troubled American Airlines, and other actions involving General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), ConAgra…
On days when the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 200 points or more, we generally look at the defensive stock sector to see if these are holding up. Many investors want…
Ralcorp’s (NYSE:RAH) board of directors unanimously rejected the latest merger proposal from ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG), saying the $5.18 billion unsolicited bid was not in the best interest of the company. Given…
Today’s ratings actions are led-off by Moody’s affirmation of its ‘A2’ senior unsecured and ‘Prime-1’ short-term ratings on United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX). The affirmation follows United’s announced acquisition of Goodrich Corp.…
Food processing giant ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE: CAG) reported first quarter 2012 earnings before the markets opened this morning. Even after lowering expectations for EPS from $0.36 to $0.31, analysts (and shareholders)…
The coming week is going to feel like a mini earnings season. We have many sector leaders reporting earnings and the fallout (or benefits) could be widespread. On deck are key earnings…
When it comes to defensive investing, food and beverages are two of the go-to sectors for getting equity market exposure but protecting your assets. The logic is simple enough: “You gotta eat…
Time Warner (NYSE: TWC) to buy Insight Communications from Carlyle for $3 billion. (Reuters) Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) expects holiday sales to be strong. (Reuters) Security experts say hackers may make Google…
When you see a ten-day sell-off and a capstone panic day with what is a 300-point sell-off in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the first reaction is that no one wants anything…
Analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) have reversed a forecast from just two weeks ago suggesting that corn, wheat and soybean prices would be higher due to reduced harvests this…
Earnings season is supposed to be over. Guess again. This coming week is going to feel like the earnings floodgates are open and the companies reporting have market-moving and sector-moving abilities. Monday…
We may have just witnessed an oversold bounce in the stock market, or we may be in for more days of recovery. The markets are flirting with six weeks of negative performance…
Stocks are still correcting as economic data keeps coming in weaker and weaker. Now the media keeps routinely talking up what we called a supporting call for QE3. Please, no QE3! Still,…
24/7 Wall St. has done an analysis of the largest companies in the United States based on the size of their portfolios of major consumer brands. Many of these brands are worth…
We have a very busy week ahead for equity investors, even outside of earnings season. This coming week’s key events, what we call The Unusual Suspects, is non-earnings related and includes the…
