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MARKET CURRENTS

  • 6:30 PM To what extent should boards take direction from shareholders? Not much, in the eyes of CommonWealth REIT (CWH) and Urban Outfitters (URBN). Each has done a noble job of thumbing its nose at investors; the former by reinstating a director kicked out in a proxy vote, and the latter by finally giving into shareholders' wishes to elect a female director - by nominating the CEO's wife. (NYT, Gretchen Morgenson) Comment!
  • 6:00 PM Where's a GARP investor to look given a relative shortage of cheap growers? Barron's Jack Hough likes stocks "experiencing midlife growth spurts," particularly: Conn's (CONN), BioScrip (BIOS), JDS Uniphase (JDSU), and AFC Enterprises (AFCE). Comment! [Quick Ideas]
  • 5:30 PM Shares of Trimble Navigation Limited (TRMB) could rise 25% over the next year, Barron's says: "Over the past decade, as farmers embraced its technology, Trimble earnings grew at an annualized rate of 26%. This year, profits are likely to advance a more subdued 13%... As the construction sector rebounds and Trimble expands its end markets, profits should take off once again." Comment! [Quick Ideas]
  • 4:46 PM Barron's takes a liking to UTi Worldwide (UTIW): "As the restructuring proceeds and the airfreight market rebounds, profit margins could rise significantly, boosting earnings. The shares could rally 35% in the next 18 months." One criticism left unanswered: UTIW's margins are much thinner than those of freight-forwarding heavyweight Expeditors International of Washington (EXPD). Comment! [Quick Ideas]
  • 4:15 PM Apple's (AAPL) effective tax rate of 14% is just a smidgin lower than IBM at 15% and Google (GOOG) at 17%. And Apple's hardly on the lowest rung: Amazon's (AMZN) rate is just 6%, Ford's (F) 3%, and Carnival's (CCL) just 1%. In trying to untangle what S&P 500 companies pay in taxes, David Leonhardt finds top executives are exceptionally shrewd at holding tax rates down. (infographic) 11 Comments
  • 1:25 PM Blackstone (BX) plans to pull a "significant portion" of the ~$550M it has invested with Steve Cohen and SAC Capital in light of the ongoing insider trading investigation, according to a letter from pension consulting firm Russell Investments reviewed by Reuters. Blackstone's redemption request came "sometime before May 15," meaning the asset management firm made the decision prior to SAC's disclosure that it would no longer cooperate unconditionally with authorities and prior to news that Cohen himself had been subpoenaed. 1 Comment [Financials]
  • 9:01 AM Getting crowded? After a home-run of a buy idea by Oscar Schaefer at the Roundtable in January, Barron's is back with another bullish call on Hertz (HTZ) - only now the price is 55% higher, the $10B market cap company is a favorite of the hedge fund crowd, and the winners of a recent high-profile investment competition won by pitching a buy of the auto-rental leader. 1 Comment [Quick Ideas]
  • 8:25 AM Reuters’ Robert Campbell thinks Keystone XL (TRP) has become a victim of political posturing and says a rival plan, ETP's Trunkline, is being held to a far lower standard thanks to an incoherent U.S. environmental policy. But if a pipeline isn’t built, crude will move by more carbon intensive methods that also are susceptible to accidents. Indeed, moving oil by road or rail is no longer seen as a stopgap until pipelines are built. 17 Comments [Energy]
  • 24 May, 6:36 PM Peoples Bancorp (PEBK) declares $0.03/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.98%. For shareholders of record June 4. Payable June 14. Ex-div date May 31. (PR) Comment! [Dividends]
  • 24 May, 6:25 PM News Corp. (NWS, NWSA) expects to write down the value of its soon-to-be-independent publishing business by $1.2B-$1.4B this quarter, according to an SEC filing. The media company says "certain of its goodwill and intangible assets were potentially impaired” at the publishing business, which includes newspapers such as the NY Post and WSJ. 1 Comment [Consumer]
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