Q3 2009 Earnings Call

October 30, 2009 10:00 am ET

• Economy surges back to growth. Stocks logged their best one-day gain in three months on Thursday after the U.S. economy returned to growth in Q3. The government's first estimate of GDP showed the economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.5%, the first growth quarter in more than a year, and well ahead of Street estimates of 3%, sending Treasury prices and the dollar lower as traders exited safe havens. As recently as last week economists had called for a 3.3% gain, but they pared their estimates in the past couple days after week durable goods sales data came up short. "The economy has emerged with gusto from the deepest recession since WWII," one economist said. "The short-term prospects for the economy remain good."
• Private sector must lead the way - Geithner. The return to GDP growth is encouraging but the recovery is still fragile, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said at a Q&A session Thursday evening following yesterday's Q3 GDP announcement. "The number today was really encouraging... it was broad and strong and it wasn't just cash-for-clunkers and it wasn't just economic stimulus... but it's important to remember that it's very early," he said. Geithner stressed that a robust recovery would have to be led by the private sector, saying the U.S. can't borrow-and-spend its way to health.
• Repsol strikes again. Repsol (REP), long derided as the oil company with no oil, will today announce a "fairly sizeable" discovery in the Gulf of Mexico's Shenzi field that it says will help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Today's discovery comes on top of big finds in Brazil and West Africa, and leaves Repsol with the unexpected challenge of developing a sudden surge in oil and gas resources. "We've had some success in exploration," CEO Antonio Brufau said.
• CIT, Goldman adjust $3B credit line. CIT Group (CIT) reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs (GS) to amend a $3B loan facility, ending their dispute over a $1B "make whole" payment CIT would have owed Goldman if it files for bankruptcy. Goldman will reduce the loan size to $2.13B, wiping out the unused portion of the facility, for which CIT will pay Goldman a $285M penalty, and post an additional $250M of collateral. The announcement, made in an 8-K filing, comes two days after CIT raised an additional $4.5B to bolster its restructuring.
• Rio Tinto doubles capex. A confident Rio Tinto (RTP) doubled its planned 2010 capital spend to at least $5B after it cut debt and saw signs of economic recovery. Rio had planned to cut capex to $2.5B - just enough to sustain current mines. "We will continue our program of cost reduction and debt repayments, but our renewed strength enables us to focus on disciplined capital expenditure on premier growth options," CEO Tom Albanese said. Rio, the world's #3 mining group, said it had cut its debt by 42% so far this year to $22.3B. (statement)
• EDF/Constellation deal at risk. State-owned nuclear power operator EDF is facing pressure from the French government to abandon its $4.5B deal to buy 49.9% of Constellation Energy Group's (CEG) nuclear assets and build four reactors with the U.S. company. "For us, the priority strategy for EDF is indeed in Europe, notably the U.K. and Italy, and everything outside Europe is less essential to EDF's expansion," an unnamed government official said.
• Credit crunch continues. Loan defaults by small and medium-sized U.S. businesses rose in September to 0.85% from 0.81% in August, according to risk management firm PayNet, but accounts in moderate (30 days plus) and severe (90 days plus) delinquency decreased to 4.22% (from 4.35%) and 1.4% (from 1.48%) respectively, the lowest since January. PayNet's Small Business Lending Index, which measures the volume of financing, is down 22% from a year ago, a sign lenders remain reluctant to extend credit to small and medium-sized businesses. "It's hard to imagine a robust recovery when you see numbers like this," PayNet founder Bill Phelan said.
• BoJ holds steady. The Bank of Japan left its key rate unchanged at 0.1%, but said it would discontinue its corporate bond and commercial paper purchase program at the end of December, as scheduled - "given that issuing conditions in the CP and corporate bond markets have been improving markedly, and thus the purpose of the purchases to restore market functioning has been achieved." Still, the BoJ stressed that this doesn't signal the beginning of its exit strategy, and extended its special lending facility to provide three-month funds at 0.1% until the end of March. Remarking on the decision to scrap its corporate funding support, Japan's PM Yukio Hatoyama remarked that it's hard to be as optimistic as the BoJ. (statement)
• House Energy and Commerce Committee OKs consumer agency. A second House panel voted Thursday to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to oversee mortgages, credit cards and other financial products, with a full House vote expected in November. The House bill falls short of the administration's original proposal, exempting auto dealers, credit, mortgage and title insurers and banks with less than $10B in assets, among others - exceptions some worry will weaken the agency's power.
• Sands gets OK for $2-3B IPO. Sources say Las Vegas Sands (LVS) has received approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange for a $2-3B IPO of its Macau unit. Sands will kick off pre-marketing next week, and launch its roadshow on Nov. 9, with a trading debut set for the end of November. Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C) and UBS (UBS) are coordinating. LVS rose 12% Thursday after posting a surprise Q3 profit; shares are up another 12% premarket.
• Junk bond rally becomes self-fulfilling. Demand for junk bonds hit record highs last week, with investors pouring another $207M into junk bond funds, pushing YTD inflows to a record $27.8B. Junk bond indexes are up more than 50% YTD, as investors become more comfortable with risk. The growing cash flow enables shaky companies to head off default - adding more fuel to the rally.
• AIG won't sell Japan units. AIG (AIG) says it will not sell its two Japanese insurers, AIG Edison Life Insurance and AIG Star Life Insurance, reversing its decision from a year ago at the height of the crisis. AIG said in a statement it now believes it would improve its corporate value to keep the two Japanese units, which have a very firm financial base and strong sales network.
• Energy IPO runs out of steam. Former Enron unit AEI, which operates power and gas distribution lines in Latin America, canceled its IPO Thursday hours after it slashed the size of the deal by two-thirds in the face of weak demand. The IPO, managed by Goldman Sachs (GS), Credit Suisse (CS), Citigroup (C) and JPMorgan (JPM), is the first U.S.-listed IPO this year to be withdrawn after an attempt to price the offering. AEI faulted market conditions for the withdrawal, but analysts say its debt load, risk exposure and expected payout to its private-equity owners also raised concerns.
• ChiNext soars on debut. China's Nasdaq-lookalike ChiNext stock market launched trading Friday with strong gains. An initial 28 companies listed, and shares gained 46-123% from their IPO prices, in line with expectations. The listees priced their IPOs at a hefty 56x 2008 earnings.

Earnings: Fri. Before Open

• Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): Q3 net loss of €182M vs. -€174.4M consensus. Sales of €3.69B (-9.3%) vs. €3.88B consensus. Says it has achieved 80% of its goal to reduce annual expenses by €750M. Shares -2.9% premarket. (PR)
• Ameren (AEE): Q3 EPS of $1.16 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $1.82B (-11.9%) vs. $2.1B. (PR)
• American Axle & Manufacturing (AXL): Q3 EPS of -$0.18 beats by $0.20. Revenue of $410M (-22.4%) vs. $420M. Shares -1.4% premarket. (PR)
• Aon (AOC): Q3 EPS of $0.65 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $1.81B (-2.1%) in-line. (PR)
• Apartment Investment and Management Company (AIV): Q3 FFO of -$0.35 in-line. Revenue of $319M (-7.3%) vs. $313M. (PR)
• Arch Coal (ACI): Q3 EPS of $0.16 beats by $0.12. Revenue of $615M (-20.1%) vs. $605M. Shares +3.9% premarket. (PR)
• Chevron (CVX): Q3 EPS of $1.72 beats by $0.25. Revenue of $46.63B (-40.9%) vs. $47.84B. "In our downstream operations, we continued to experience weak margins on the sale of gasoline and other refined products. Weak demand and plentiful supply affected all our major markets." Shares +0.7% premarket. (PR)
• CMS Energy (CMS): Q3 EPS of $0.32 misses by $0.02. (PR)
• Constellation Energy Group (CEG): Q3 EPS of $1.23 beats by $0.16. Revenue of $4.03B vs. $4.48B. Sees full-year EPS of $3.25-3.45 vs. consensus of $3.10. (PR)
• Coventry Health Care (CVH): Q3 EPS of $0.68 beats by $0.14. Revenue of $3.44B (+17.7%) in-line. Shares +2.4% premarket. (PR)
• Cummins (CMI): Q3 EPS of $0.56 beats by $0.19. Revenue of $2.53B (-31.5%) in-line. “While we saw improvement in some markets in the third quarter, we expect the economic climate to remain challenging until late 2010 - especially in the U.S. and Europe.” (PR)
• Dominion Resources (D): Q3 EPS of $0.99 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $3.65B (-16.4%) vs. $3.94B. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.55-0.65 vs. $0.67. (PR)
• Duke Energy (DUK): Q3 EPS of $0.40 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $3.4B (-3.2%) vs. $3.8B. "Industrial sales volumes continued to show signs of stabilization." (PR)
• Estee Lauder (EL): FQ1 EPS of $0.85 beats by $0.51. Revenue of $1.83B (-3.7%) in-line. Shares +4.5% premarket. (PR)
• ITT Industries (ITT): Q3 EPS of $1.03 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $2.7B (-6.3%) in-line. (PR)
• NYSE Euronext (NYX): Q3 EPS of $0.53 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $1.05B (-9.6%) in-line. Announces equity investment in its U.S. futures exchange by Citadel, GETCO, Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and UBS (UBS), with NYX to remain largest shareholder. (PR I, II)
• Penske Auto Group (PAG): Q3 EPS of $0.34 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $2.59B (-12.9%) in-line. Shares (PR)
• Progress Energy (PGN): Q3 EPS of $1.22 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $2.82B (+4.7%) in-line. (PR)
• Regency Centers (REG): Q3 FFO of $0.69 in-line. (PR)
• Simon Property Group (SPG): Q3 FFO of $1.38 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $925M (-1.1%) vs. $892M. Shares -0.4% premarket. (PR)
• Sony (SNE): FQ2 net loss of ¥26.3B ($287.5M) vs. consensus of -¥40.4B. Revenue of ¥1.66T (-20%). Sees full-year net loss of ¥95B, up from a previous forecast of -¥120B and -¥98.9B last year. Sees sales -5.6%, unchanged. (PR)
• Tim Hortons (THI): Q3 EPS of C$0.34 misses by C$0.12. Revenue of C$564M (+10.7%) vs. C$552M. (PR)
• Ultra Petroleum (UPL): Q3 EPS of $0.57 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $155M (-47.8%) vs. $239M. (PR)
• Weyerhaeuser (WY): Q3 EPS of -$0.26 beats by $0.19. Revenue of $1.41B (-33.2%) in-line. (PR)

Earnings: Thur. After Close

• AllianceBernstein (AB): Q3 EPS of $0.67 beats by $0.22. Revenue of $806M (-5%) vs. $737M. AUM down 16% Y/Y to $498B. Shares +3.8% AH. (PR)
• Bally Technologies (BYI): FQ1 EPS of $0.53 in-line. Revenue of $197M (-17%) vs. $206M. Shares +0.6% AH. (PR)
• BMC Software (BMC): FQ2 EPS of $0.66 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $462M (-1%) vs. $463M. Raises full-year EPS guidance to $2.55-2.65 vs. $2.51. Shares +1.8% AH. (PR)
• Callaway Golf Company (ELY): Q3 EPS of -$0.25 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $191M (-11%) in-line. Sees full-year EPS of -$0.30 to -$0.35, vs. -$0.21. (PR)
• Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF): Q3 EPS of $0.45 may not compare to estimate of -$0.07. Revenue of $666M (-44%) vs. $535M. Shares +4.5% AH. (PR)
• DTE Energy Company (DTE): Q3 EPS of $0.96 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $2B (-16%) vs. $2.1B. Sees full-year EPS of $2.75-3.05 vs. $3.19. Shares -7.7% AH. (PR)
• Eldorado Gold (EGO): Q3 EPS of $0.08 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $82M (-20.3%) vs. $85M. Shares +0.7% AH. (PR)
• Genworth Financial (GNW): Q3 net income available to common shareholders of $0.04 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $2.4B (+10%) vs. $2.5B. Shares +9.7% AH. (PR)
• Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ): Q3 EPS of $0.15 misses by $0.09. Revenue of $2B (-16%) in-line. Raises full-year EPS guidance to $0.21-0.23 from $0.12-0.15, vs. $0.20. Shares +2.9% AH. (PR)
• Human Genome Sciences (HGSI): Q3 EPS of -$0.32 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $19M (+61%) vs. $24M. Shares +0.9% AH. (PR)
• Ingram Micro (IM): Q3 EPS of $0.25 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $7.4B (-11%) vs. $6.7B. Shares +2.4% AH. (PR)
• KLA-Tencor (KLAC): FQ1 EPS of $0.15 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $343M (-36%) vs. $332M. Shares +0.8% AH. (PR)
• Las Vegas Sands (LVS): Q3 EPS of $0.03 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $1.1B (+3%) in-line. Shares +8.4% AH. (PR)
• Manitowoc (MTW): Q3 EPS of -$0.04 misses by $0.12. Revenue of $882M (-20%) vs. $934M. Shares -7.2% AH. (PR)
• Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM): FQ1 EPS of $0.13 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $449M (-12%) vs. $438M. Shares -4% AH. (PR)
• McAfee (MFE): Q3 EPS of $0.62 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $485M (+19%) vs. $487M. Shares -5.8% AH. (PR)
• MetLife (MET): Q3 EPS of $0.87 in-line. Revenue of $12.4B (-1%) vs. $12.3B. Shares -2.3% AH. (PR)
• Mohawk Industries (MHK): Q3 EPS of $0.64 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $1.4B (-22%) in-line. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.28-0.38 vs. $0.45. Shares -5.3% AH. (PR)
• PEPCO Holdings (POM): Q3 EPS of $0.44 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $2.5B (-17%) vs. $2.9B. (PR)
• PerkinElmer (PKI): Q3 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $437M (-9%) vs. $430M. Sees full-year EPS of $1.23-1.26 vs. $1.22. (PR)
• RealNetworks (RNWK): Q3 EPS of $0.00 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $140M (-8%) vs. $141M. (PR)
• Regal Entertainment Group (RGC): Q3 EPS of $0.05 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $674M (-11%) vs. $702M. Shares +0.3% AH. (PR)
• SBA Communications (SBAC): Q3 EPS of -$0.43 misses by $0.17. Revenue of $139M (+17%) in-line. Sees 2010 sales of $512M-532M vs. $604M. Shares -1.3% AH. (PR)
• Southwestern Energy Company (SWN): Q3 EPS of $0.34 in-line. Revenue of $503M (-26%) vs. $387M. Shares +0.2% AH. (PR)
• Standard Pacific (SPF): Q3 EPS of -$0.01 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $327M (-18%) vs. $285M. Shares +3.4% AH. (PR)
• Varian Medical Systems (VAR): FQ4 EPS of $0.78 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $642M (+8%) vs. $593M. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.52-0.56 vs. $0.60, and full-year EPS of $2.65-2.75 vs. $2.61. Shares -2.3% AH. (PR)

Today's Markets

Overseas markets were mixed Friday, with strong gains in Japan and China, but some weakness in Europe early on. Futures have moved lower overnight.

By Jeff St. John

For every one project that got a piece of $3.4 billion in Department of Energy stimulus grants on Tuesday, three projects didn't.

Bloomberg quantifies the consensus analyst rating for a stock on a scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best). Stocks with a 5 rating have 100% buy ratings. We recently calculated the historical consensus ratings for all S&P 500 stocks and found the average daily consensus rating for the entire index going back a year. As shown below, the consensus analyst rating for all S&P 500 stocks drifted lower with the overall market during the bear, but it bottomed about a month after the market bottomed back in March. Interestingly, it picked up along with the market throughout the spring and early summer, but when the market stumbled in July, analysts got really bearish and then stayed bearish even as the market turned around and went higher. Finally in mid-August, analysts began to believe in the rally again, and since then they've been upping their stock ratings. Currently the consensus analyst rating for stocks in the S&P 500 is 3.74 (out of 5).

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Keeping an eye on the big movers in the market does not help investors determine which stocks are poised to continue their upward or downward movement. To help our devoted readers identify the movers that still look fundamentally sound and those to walk away from, ValueExpectations.com has scored each of the top 10 Hot and Cold stocks of the month based on Valuation Attractiveness and Economic Margin Change.

If an investor should consider adding any of these stocks as a holding for a portfolio, one should look for companies with attractive valuations and expected improvements in a company’s Economic Margin (EM) which essentially is a measure of a company’s true economic profitability. As an additional level of analysis, we also recommend understanding the embedded expectations that are priced into each of these stocks.

The stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends' is becoming more and more popular. It is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets.

When you buy dividends, there are many stocks in many different sectors to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork has compiled a free downloadable and sortable Excel list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week. wsnn.com came up with many companies all with market caps over $500 million. Here are a couple examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Q2 2009 Earnings Call

August 06, 2009 10:00 AM ET

• Judge holds up BoA settlement. A judge is refusing to allow Bank of America (BAC) to pay a $33M settlement to the SEC in connection to allegations that it made false statements about bonuses in its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, even though both the SEC and Bank of America asked for the settlement to be approved. Judge Jed S. Rakoff said permitting the payment without a hearing would leave the public in the dark about a critical part of the financial sector bailout. Rakoff set a hearing date for Monday.
• AIG soars on short squeeze. AIG (AIG) shares skyrocketed yesterday, climbing nearly 63% to $22.00. Analysts said the spike was likely a result of a short squeeze on the stock, as investors with short positions before a recent 20-1 reverse stock split rushed to buy scarce shares to cover their positions. Some of the movement could also have been speculative trading ahead of AIG's Q2 earnings report tomorrow. Shares +4.8% premarket (7:00 ET).
• SEC to sue former AIG chief? The SEC may file a civil suit against former AIG (AIG) Chairman and CEO Hank Greenberg on allegations of accounting fraud, said sources familiar with the matter. Greenberg has been the subject of investigation for more than four years, though he flatly denies any claims of misconduct. The lawsuit could be filed as soon as today.
• Fannie, Freddie could face major reform. The White House is considering a plan that would strip hundreds of billions of dollars in troubled assets from Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE). The assets would be placed in a government-backed 'bad bank,' leaving Fannie and Freddie with healthy balance sheets while the 'bad bank' would try to collect as much of the outstanding loan balances as possible. A White House spokesman said "it should come as no surprise that the administration is thinking through [government-sponsored enterprises] reform," but no final decisions have been made. Premarket: FNM +4.1%, FRE +7.5% (7:00 ET).
• BNY Mellon bids TARP adieu. Bank of New York Mellon (BK) became the sixth big lender to exit TARP by paying $136M to buy back its government warrants. The repurchase price was below the $160M estimated by the Congressional Oversight Panel, but by the bank's calculations, the government received a 12% annualized return on its investment.
• Google ogles web video. Google (GOOG) agreed to acquire On2 Technologies (ONT) in an all-stock deal worth $106.5M. Google, which already owns popular web video site YouTube, hopes the deal will bring it closer to its goal of being an innovator in web video. Separately, Google sold its radio-ad placement technology to WideOrbit Inc., a small San Francisco company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• CF sweetens offer. CF Industries (CF) raised its all-stock offer for Terra Industries (TRA) to $3.7B, a 29% premium to Terra's Wednesday close, and said it's prepared to return at least $1B in cash to Terra's shareholders if the deal goes through. Agrium (AGU) said it remains committed to acquiring CF Industries.
• SEC plans to muscle up. The SEC is planning to issue more subpoenas and provide individuals with greater incentives to cooperate with investigations, in part by submitting more requests for immunity. As part of its efforts to increase financial oversight, the SEC also plans to create a new office to monitor incoming tips, and to create new units to investigate cases involving asset management, foreign corrupt practices, market abuses, municipal securities and public pensions, and structured products.
• News Corp. still waiting for recovery. News Corp. (NWS.A) posted a quarterly loss (see details below), hurt by a fall in advertising and charges related to its MySpace site. Though CEO Rupert Murdoch told investors 'the worst may be behind us,' he also warned that "there are no clear signs yet of a fast economic recovery" and the next few months will be difficult. Murdoch also said News Corp. plans to charge for all its news websites: "Quality journalism is not cheap, and an industry that gives away its content is simply cannibalizing its ability to produce good reporting."
• Treasury tips towards TIPS. The Treasury will increase the sale of TIPS, inflation-protected bonds, in response to growing demand from China and other investors. The decision is part of a broader effort to make sure the U.S. can finance its burgeoning budget deficit.
• Taylor Bean stops lending. Taylor Bean & Whitaker, which was suspended earlier this week from making Federal Housing Administration loans, will cease operations and won't fund mortgages in its pipeline. The failure of Taylor Bean, the country's 12th-largest mortgage lender, further consolidates an industry that is coming to be dominated by a handful of large banks.
• Bank of England boosts buyback plan. The Bank of England maintained its target rate at 0.5%, and increased its asset purchase program by £50B to £175B. Commenting on the inflation/deflation paradox, the central bank noted two conflicting sets of forces: "On the one hand, there is a considerable stimulus still working through from the easing in monetary and fiscal policy... On the other hand, the need for banks to continue repairing their balance sheets is likely to restrict the availability of credit, and past falls in asset prices and high levels of debt may weigh on spending."
• Monster employment dips down (.pdf). Monster's online employment index inched down in July, falling three points to 114 to reflect a seasonal dip in hiring patterns. Year on year, the index fell by 27%, the least in four months, indicating an improvement in underlying employer demand.
• Jobless data worse than expected. ADP employment was -371,000 in July vs. consensus of -350K. June's losses were revised to -463K. According to the Challenger, Gray & Christmas job report, firing announcements rose 31% in July to 97,373, marking the first monthly increase since January after June's 'surprisingly low' numbers. "While there are signs that the economy is stabilizing and the pace of layoffs slowing, we are still a long way from a full recovery."
• Factory orders inch up. June's Factory Orders rose +0.4% to $349B vs. -0.8% consensus. Last month orders were up 1.1%. Shipments increased 2.3% to $358B, the first gain in 11 months. Inventories decreased another 1.2% to $318B, the sixth straight month of shrinkage.

Earnings: Thursday Before Open

• Ameren (AEE): Q2 EPS of $0.75 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $1.7B (-6%) vs. $2B. (PR)
• Biovail (BVF): Q2 EPS of $0.50 vs. $0.34 consensus (may not be comparable). Revenue of $193.5M (+4%) vs. $191M. (PR)
• Brinker International (EAT): FQ4 EPS of $0.52 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $829M (-23%) vs. $853M. Issues downside EPS guidance for FQ1 of $0.12-0.14 vs. $0.29 consensus. Shares -7.3% premarket (8:00 ET). (PR)
• Canadian Natural Resource (CNQ): Q2 EPS of $1.18 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $2.5B (-43%) vs. $1.7B. (PR)
• Canadian Solar (CSIQ): Q2 EPS of $0.49 beats by $0.58. Revenue of $114M (-46%) vs. $94M. Shares +16.4% premarket (7:40 ET). (PR)
• Comcast (CMCSA): Q2 EPS of $0.33 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $8.9B (+4.5%) in-line. (PR)
• Continental Resources (CLR): Q2 EPS of $0.16 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $152M (-50%) vs. $131M. (PR)
• Delta Petroleum (DPTR): Q2 EPS of -$0.89 vs. -$0.14 consensus (may not be comparable). Revenue of $23M (-72%) vs. $25M. Shares -4% premarket (8:20 ET). (PR)
• Diana Shipping (DSX): Q2 EPS of $0.39 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $60M (-31%) vs. $57M. (PR)
• DirecTV Group (DTV): Q2 EPS of $0.40 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $5.2B (+9%) in-line. (PR)
• El Paso (EP): Q2 EPS of $0.25 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $973M (-16%) vs. $1.1B. (PR)
• Fuqi International (FUQI): Q2 EPS of $0.45 beats by $0.14. Revenue of $101M (+51%) vs. $93M. Shares +10.4% premarket (8:10 ET). (PR)
• GLG Partners (GLG): Q2 EPS of $0.26 beats by $0.22. Revenue of $86M (+263%) vs. $90M. (PR)
• Hospitality Properites Trust (HPT): Q2 EPS of $0.96 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $267M (-21%) vs. $278M. Shares -4.5% premarket (8:10 ET). (PR)
• Huntsman (HUN): Q2 EPS of -$0.27 misses by $0.14. Revenue of $1.9B (-36%) vs. $2B. Shares -4.9% premarket (8:10 ET). (PR)
• IAMGOLD Corp. (IAG): Q2 EPS of $0.15 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $225M (+0.1%) vs. $206M. (PR)
• King Pharmaceuticals (KG): Q2 EPS of $0.32 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $445M (+12%) vs. $438M. (PR)
• Lamar Advertising Company (LAMR): Q2 EPS of -$0.13 vs. consensus of -$0.12 (may not be comparable). Revenue of $275M (-15%) in-line. (PR)
• Lexington Realty Trust (LXP): Q2 EPS of $0.35 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $99M (-21%) vs. $98M. (PR)
• Linn Energy LLC (LINE): Q2 EPS of $0.45 beats by $0.06. "We believe that the Company is poised to continue to deliver positive results and to grow through additional acquisition opportunities." (PR)
• Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (MPEL): Q2 EPS of -$0.30 misses by $0.17. Revenue of $216M (-44%) vs. $256M. Shares -3.9% premarket (8:10 ET). (PR)
• MetroPCS Communications (PCS): Q2 EPS of $0.07 misses by $0.07. Revenue of $860M (+27%) vs. $862M. (PR)
• MF Global (MF): FQ1 EPS of -$0.10 misses by $0.14. Revenue of $271.5M (-27.5%) vs. $271.3M. (PR)
• NASDAQ (NDAQ): Q2 EPS of $0.47 in-line. Revenue of $367M (-13%) vs. $369M. (PR)
• Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP): Q2 EPS of $0.37 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $279M (-62%) vs. $326M. Shares -0.9% premarket (8:00 ET). (PR)
• Sirius XM Radio (SIRI): Q2 EPS of -$0.01 in-line. Revenue of $608M (+1.2%) in-line. Says cash operating expenses are 28% lower since the merger. Increases full-year income from operations guidance to $400M from $350M. (PR)
• Teradata (TDC): Q2 EPS of $0.36 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $421M (-7.5%) vs. $414M. (PR)
• Tetra Technologies (TTI): Q2 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $218M (-28.4%) vs. $229M. Shares +0.75% premarket (8:10 ET). (PR)
• Wendy's/Arby's Group (WEN): Q2 EPS of $0.06 in-line. Revenue of $913M (+192%) vs. $928M. Shares +1% premarket (8:30 ET). (PR)
• Western Refining (WNR): Q2 EPS of -$0.11 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $1.6B (-53%) in-line. Shares -7.9% premarket (7:10 ET). (PR)
• Williams Companies (WMB): Q2 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.08. Issues in-line EPS guidance for FY '09 of $0.70-0.90 vs. $0.83 consensus. (PR)
• Windstream (WIN): Q2 EPS of $0.21 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $753M (-6%) vs. $754M. (PR)

Earnings: Wednesday After Close

• Activision (ATVI): Q2 EPS of $0.08 beats by $0.01. Sees Q3 EPS of $0.03 vs. $0.10. Sees Q3 revenue of $700M vs. $909M. Sees full-year EPS of $0.63 vs. $0.66 and revenue of $4.5B vs. $4.9B. Delaying launch of Singularity and Starcraft II into 2010. Revenue of $1B (+195%) vs. $801M. (PR)
• Allstate (ALL): Q2 EPS of $0.72 misses by $0.40. Revenue of $8.5B (+15%) vs. $8.2B. (PR)
• Amerco (UHAL): FQ1 EPS of $1.01 misses by $0.14. Revenue of $521M (-4%) vs. $515M. (PR)
• AmeriCredit (ACF): FQ4 EPS of $0.23 beats by $0.18. Revenue of $454M (-24%) vs. $413M. (PR)
• Atwood Oceanics (ATW): FQ3 EPS of $1.05 beats by $0.23. Revenue of $149M (+6%) vs. $142M. (PR)
• Brigham Exploration Company (BEXP): Q2 EPS of -$0.12 misses by $0.06. Revenue of $10.5M (-58%) vs. $15.2M. (PR)
• Career Education (CECO): Q2 EPS of $0.07 misses by $0.12. Revenue of $441M (+6%) vs. $419M. Increases stock buyback by $200M to $255.5M. (PR)
• CardioNet (BEAT): Q2 EPS of $0.11 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $38.3M (+30%) vs. $38.5M. (PR)
• Cisco Systems (CSCO): FQ4 EPS of $0.31 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $8.5B (-18%) in-line. (PR)
• Cooper Tire & Rubber (CTB): Q2 EPS of -$0.22 misses by $0.26. Revenue of $773M (+22%) vs. $659M. (PR)
• Corrections of America (CXW): Q2 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $413M (+6%) vs. $411M. (PR)
• Eagle Bulk Shipping (EGLE): Q2 EPS of $0.26 in-line. Revenue of $53M (+42%) vs. $52M. (PR)
• General Cable (BGC): Q2 EPS of $1.02 beats by $0.20. Revenue of $1.1B (-17%) vs. $1.2B. Sees Q3 EPS of $0.45-0.55 vs. $0.72. (PR)
• Great Plains Energy (GXP): Q2 EPS of $0.26 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $481M vs. $495M. (PR)
• Health Care REIT (HCN): Q2 EPS of $0.80 in-line. Revenue of $142M (+10%) vs. $140M. (PR)
• ION Geophysical (IO): Q2 EPS of -$0.05 in-line. Revenue of $101M (-44%) vs. $145M. Sees full-year EPS of -$0.09 to -$0.19 vs. -$0.05. Sees full-year revenue of $450M-500M vs. $534M. (PR)
• MBIA (MBI): Q2 EPS of $4.30 not comparable to consensus of -$0.92. (PR)
• Murphy Oil (MUR): Q2 EPS of $0.83 may not be comparable to consensus $0.65. Revenue of $4.6B (-45%) vs. $4B. (PR)
• Nationwide Health Properties (NHP): Q2 FFO of $0.61 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $97M (+5%) vs. $94M. (PR)
• News Corp. (NWS.A): FQ4 EPS of -$0.08 misses by $0.26. Revenue of $7.7B (-11%) vs. $7.6B. (PR)
• ON Semiconductor (ONNN): Q2 EPS of $0.09 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $420M (-25%) vs. $406M. Sees Q3 revenue of $445M-455M vs. $428M. (PR)
• Orient-Express Hotels (OEH): Q2 EPS of -$0.04 misses by $0.14. Revenue of $132M (-26%) vs. $138M. (PR)
• Prudential Financial (PRU): Q2 EPS of $1.88 beats by $0.68. Revenue of $6.3B (-8%) vs. $6.6B. Sees full-year EPS of $5.00-5.20 vs. $4.72. (PR)
• Redwood Trust (RWT): Q2 EPS of $0.10 misses by $0.13. Net interest income of $35M. (PR)
• Regency Centers (REG): Q2 FFO before impairments of $0.61 beats by $0.32. Net loss attributable to common stockholders of $17.2M. (PR)
• Service International (SCI): Q2 EPS of $0.12 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $514M (-6%) vs. $494M. Raises full-year EPS guidance to $0.36-0.42 from $0.26-0.36 vs. $0.32. (PR)
• Sunoco (SUN): Q2 EPS of -$0.27 misses by $0.15. Revenue of $7.5B (-51%) vs. $12B. (PR)
• Sunstone Hotel Investors (SHO): Q2 FFO of $0.22 misses by $0.11. Revenue of $187M (-23%) vs. $196M. (PR)
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX): Q2 EPS of -$0.99 misses by $0.16. Revenue of $19M (-73%) vs. $33M. (PR)

Today's Markets

Asian markets closed mixed but European markets are starting the day in the black. U.S. futures, once again, are sending no clear signals.

Have you looked closely at what will happen to your portfolio if and when carbon cap-and-trade legislation currently moving through Congress becomes the law of the land?

The Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute has. While IRRC finds in a new report that cap-and-trade would depress earnings by less than 1% for about 200 of the 500 firms in the S&P 500, it also concludes that electric utility earnings could plummet, and that three utilities – Allegheny Energy (AYE), American Electric Power (AEP) and Ameren Corp. (AEE) could see their earnings wiped out completely.

Q1 2009 Earnings Call

May 1, 2009; 10:00 am ET

A news headline out of Capitol Hill Tuesday makes the Electric Utilities a Screaming Buy. Senator Kent Conrad (D), the Senate Budget Committee Chairman said Tuesday that Obama’s budget does not have the votes to pass through the Senate in its present form.

Of particular concern for many of the Senators is the carbon cap-and-trade provisions that will place very costly legislation onto the production of electricity generation and hit the utilities very hard. Chart work shows a rapid sell-off in most all the utilities experienced when the budget was introduced. Just a brief review of the charts of the largest utilities in the country (NYSE: SO, FPL, ED, D, DUK, ETR, EXC, FE, AEE, AEP, AYE, PEG, PPL and PGN) showed dramatic declines in these stocks over the past 3 weeks.

It's no secret, many companies are looking to strengthen their balance sheet and conserve cash. Most companies have been reluctant to cut their dividend payouts but recently, many have folded to the pressure and have cut severely.

With AAA companies slashing their payouts (GE), safe and reliable dividends have become scarce. Long known to be a steady source of dividends, the utilities have recently run into a myriad of troubles, causing some to doubt their previously rock solid high-yields.

If you want to try the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends,' which is the technique of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend, there are many stocks to choose from. This technique generally works only in bull markets.

When you buy dividends, there are many stocks in many different sectors to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks.

Q4 2008 Earnings Call Transcript

February 17, 2009 10:00 am ET

Investors occasionally use a stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends,' which is the technique of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets.

If you are interested in buying dividends, there are many stocks in many different industries to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks.

Q3 FY08 Earnings Call

November 4, 2008, 10:00 AM ET

When the stock market is volatile and in recessionary times, investors often turn to electric utilities as investments. The advantages they have over other stocks is that they are high income, and less volatile. They are also monopolies, provide a product that everyone requires, and during a recession when people are cutting back, one of the last things they cut back on are their electric bills.

The following electric utility stocks all have yields over 6%, P/E ratios below 18, and PEG ratios below three:

Missouri has a very diversified economy. It has a large service sector, wholesale, retail, manufacturing and agricultural. It is a top producer of automobiles, beer and aerospace technology. Some lesser known facts about Missouri follow:

1. Missouri’s top commodities are soybeans, cattle and calves and corn.
2. 14,842 new businesses settled in Missouri during 2007.
3. Top manufacturing industries in the state are: transportation equipment, food products, and fabricated metals.
4. The manufacturing industry employs 13% of the work force.
5. Missouri exports chemicals, machinery and food products to South Korea, China and Japan.
6. The High-tech industry of Missouri employs 4% of the work force.
7. Missouri offers over $306 million in incentives for biofuel energy development, along with tax credits.
8. Forest products contribute $1.69 billion to the economy.
9. Top industries depending on exports are the aircraft manufacturing, and the wholesale trading industries.
10. The optical instrument and less manufacturing industry exports 100% of its products.

The following companies are headquartered in Missouri: