CAT - News and Analysis from Seeking Alpha 'CAT' Tag RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.com/symbol/cat Report from Europe: Dovish Comments and Strong Data Buoy Stocks http://seekingalpha.com/article/172774-report-from-europe-dovish-comments-and-strong-data-buoy-stocks?source=feed 172774

Risk markets continue to trade in the sweet spot on a flock of Fed comments (after someone let the doves out) and a slew of bullish Chinese economic data. Looking across markets, most prices are sitting not too far from where they were this time yesterday. Clearly, investors have seen, on balance, little surprise in the latest data and information flow. This included a wall of Fed speakers, several whom took the time to point out that neither inflation nor unemployment were presently indicating a need for the Fed to exit its ultra-easy policy stance. The Dallas Fed’s Fisher did indicate a worry that the Fed’s policy would stoke a destabilising Dollar Carry Trade. Talk is cheap but Treasury Secretary Geithner did say that he “deeply believes” a strong Dollar is important for the US and he has responsibility to implement policies to shore up confidence.

Some US stocks to watch Wednesday include GE (GE), Caterpillar (CAT), Alcoa (AA), Barrick Gold (ABX) (with the yellow metal trading at $1,117) and Exxon Mobil (XOM), all of whom look likely to benefit from the equity friendly news from China overnight. Other stocks likely to be active include Adobe Systems (ADBE) who are shedding 9% of their workforce, and builder Toll Bros. (TOL) who said that Q4 contracts have risen.

]]> Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:58:30 -0500 The Mole The Mole submits:

Risk markets continue to trade in the sweet spot on a flock of Fed comments (after someone let the doves out) and a slew of bullish Chinese economic data. Looking across markets, most prices are sitting not too far from where they were this time yesterday. Clearly, investors have seen, on balance, little surprise in the latest data and information flow. This included a wall of Fed speakers, several whom took the time to point out that neither inflation nor unemployment were presently indicating a need for the Fed to exit its ultra-easy policy stance. The Dallas Fed’s Fisher did indicate a worry that the Fed’s policy would stoke a destabilising Dollar Carry Trade. Talk is cheap but Treasury Secretary Geithner did say that he “deeply believes” a strong Dollar is important for the US and he has responsibility to implement policies to shore up confidence.

Some US stocks to watch Wednesday include GE (GE), Caterpillar (CAT), Alcoa (AA), Barrick Gold (ABX) (with the yellow metal trading at $1,117) and Exxon Mobil (XOM), all of whom look likely to benefit from the equity friendly news from China overnight. Other stocks likely to be active include Adobe Systems (ADBE) who are shedding 9% of their workforce, and builder Toll Bros. (TOL) who said that Q4 contracts have risen.


Complete Story »]]> AA ABK ABX ADBE AIB BAC BCS BHI BHP CAT CELG CRARY.PK DB DHR DIS DSGIF.PK EONGY.PK GE HCMLF.PK HPQ ING RBS RTP RUK SCGLY.PK SMFTF.PK SU TOL TXT UBS UNP XOM The Mole In 2010 It'll Be Jobs, Jobs, Jobs http://seekingalpha.com/article/172767-in-2010-it-ll-be-jobs-jobs-jobs?source=feed 172767 Soon the Democrats will have their healthcare victory. It may be a hollow victory that barely resembles their initial goals, but it will be declared momentous and beneficial to all Americans. We will have more laws and taxes for the sake of illusive healthcare improvements. Any consequences of the legislation, such as debt, increased taxation and job losses, will be several years away, so the celebration can begin.

With some sort of a healthcare victory behind Obama and the Democrats, they can turn their attention to what Americans are really concerned about. That is the economy and job creation. The party in power has been slow to realize that healthcare reform is not the voters' number one priority. In 2010 the Democrats will innundate us with job creation legislation.

]]> Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:40:59 -0500 William Kabourek William Kabourek submits:

Soon the Democrats will have their healthcare victory. It may be a hollow victory that barely resembles their initial goals, but it will be declared momentous and beneficial to all Americans. We will have more laws and taxes for the sake of illusive healthcare improvements. Any consequences of the legislation, such as debt, increased taxation and job losses, will be several years away, so the celebration can begin.

With some sort of a healthcare victory behind Obama and the Democrats, they can turn their attention to what Americans are really concerned about. That is the economy and job creation. The party in power has been slow to realize that healthcare reform is not the voters' number one priority. In 2010 the Democrats will innundate us with job creation legislation.


Complete Story »]]> CAT DE TRN VMI William Kabourek Report from Europe: Stocks Tread Water Ahead of Veterans Day Holiday http://seekingalpha.com/article/172517-report-from-europe-stocks-tread-water-ahead-of-veterans-day-holiday?source=feed 172517

Risk appetite was back with a vengence Monday as the Dow made new year highs on back of Wells Fargo upgrading chipmaker forecasts, merger news (Comcast (CMCSA) and NBC) and even the return of LBOs (Northrop Grunman (NOC)). General Electric (GE), Caterpillar (CAT). Barrick Gold (ABX) and Intel (INTC) gained at least 2.1%, while the dollar weakened against 15 of 16 major currencies. The VIX has lost nearly 10 points in a week. The MSCI Emerging markets index has gained 6% in four days, its best run since July.

In the absence of any significant economic news (and in particular, any significant bad news), it seems that markets have just reverted back to auto pilot risk-seeking mode. To some extent, markets seem to have been comforted by the communique from G20 Finance Ministers over the weekend, which noted that “to restore the global economy and financial system to health, we agreed to maintain support for the recovery until it is assured.”

]]> Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:44:27 -0500 The Mole The Mole submits:

Risk appetite was back with a vengence Monday as the Dow made new year highs on back of Wells Fargo upgrading chipmaker forecasts, merger news (Comcast (CMCSA) and NBC) and even the return of LBOs (Northrop Grunman (NOC)). General Electric (GE), Caterpillar (CAT). Barrick Gold (ABX) and Intel (INTC) gained at least 2.1%, while the dollar weakened against 15 of 16 major currencies. The VIX has lost nearly 10 points in a week. The MSCI Emerging markets index has gained 6% in four days, its best run since July.

In the absence of any significant economic news (and in particular, any significant bad news), it seems that markets have just reverted back to auto pilot risk-seeking mode. To some extent, markets seem to have been comforted by the communique from G20 Finance Ministers over the weekend, which noted that “to restore the global economy and financial system to health, we agreed to maintain support for the recovery until it is assured.”


Complete Story »]]> ABX AIG BCS BZH CAT CBY CMCSA CRH CSCO FLR GE GS HBC INTC JAVA JJC JPM KFT MBI NOC ORCL PCLN SDX VLKAY.PK VOD VXX The Mole Cramer's Lightning Round - The Ideal Recovery Stock (11/6/09) http://seekingalpha.com/article/171980-cramer-s-lightning-round-the-ideal-recovery-stock-11-6-09?source=feed 171980 Stocks discussed on the lightning round session of Jim Cramer's Mad Money TV Program, Friday November 6.

Bullish Calls:

Caterpillar (CAT): "This is the ideal recovery stock. I can't tell you not to buy it right here."

]]> Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:29:25 -0500 SA Editor Miriam Metzinger Stocks discussed on the lightning round session of Jim Cramer's Mad Money TV Program, Friday November 6.

Bullish Calls:

Caterpillar (CAT): "This is the ideal recovery stock. I can't tell you not to buy it right here."


Complete Story »]]> CAT FCS HAIN INTC NVDA SBUX SA Editor Miriam Metzinger 4 Earnings Season Option Strategies http://seekingalpha.com/article/171844-4-earnings-season-option-strategies?source=feed 171844 In my last three blog posts, I listed some stocks which I would be willing to go long by selling the puts right before the stock reported earnings. Keep in mind, these were companies which I believed would have a positive reaction to the earnings. However, if the stock moved sideways on the number. this strategy would still likely return a gain the following day. This is because I am taking advantage of the increased levels of implied volatility factored into the option premium before earnings.

If you missed them, be sure to check out my October 19 blog post here, October 21 blog post here and my October 26 blog post here. So far this earnings season, the overall results have been very positive, even on eBay (EBAY), which sold off nearly 10% after earnings. I was able to purchase back the put options (closed the position) for a $4 per contract gain the following day. The best results are of course when the stock has a very positive reaction to the report and pops.

]]> Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:41:45 -0500 Marco Hickey Marco Hickey submits:

In my last three blog posts, I listed some stocks which I would be willing to go long by selling the puts right before the stock reported earnings. Keep in mind, these were companies which I believed would have a positive reaction to the earnings. However, if the stock moved sideways on the number. this strategy would still likely return a gain the following day. This is because I am taking advantage of the increased levels of implied volatility factored into the option premium before earnings.

If you missed them, be sure to check out my October 19 blog post here, October 21 blog post here and my October 26 blog post here. So far this earnings season, the overall results have been very positive, even on eBay (EBAY), which sold off nearly 10% after earnings. I was able to purchase back the put options (closed the position) for a $4 per contract gain the following day. The best results are of course when the stock has a very positive reaction to the report and pops.


Complete Story »]]> AAPL AMZN BNI BWLD CAT EBAY GOOG KWK MSFT NSC PCLN PWRD RAX SNDK TXN V YHOO Marco Hickey Agriculture Machine Makers: Layoffs and the Equity CDS Ratio http://seekingalpha.com/article/171128-agriculture-machine-makers-layoffs-and-the-equity-cds-ratio?source=feed 171128 Heading off the farm this morning but still staying out where you can count the number of traffic lights in town on one hand; driving along in ‘ole MacDonald’s brand spanking new John Deere (DE) and with climate control, GPS and an eight speaker sound system, there is nothing that “runs like a Deere”. The company recently announced they were bringing back 452 of the workers it laid off at its Ottumwa, Iowa factory which makes the equipment used by livestock producers. This also gives a little support to all the pig press from Monday.

Back to work is good but it should also be noted that the Deere facility in question employed 980 people before the full on freeze in the global economy hit so over half the original workforce is still walking, not running.

]]> Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:35:31 -0500 Jim Delaney Jim Delaney submits:

Heading off the farm this morning but still staying out where you can count the number of traffic lights in town on one hand; driving along in ‘ole MacDonald’s brand spanking new John Deere (DE) and with climate control, GPS and an eight speaker sound system, there is nothing that “runs like a Deere”. The company recently announced they were bringing back 452 of the workers it laid off at its Ottumwa, Iowa factory which makes the equipment used by livestock producers. This also gives a little support to all the pig press from Monday.

Back to work is good but it should also be noted that the Deere facility in question employed 980 people before the full on freeze in the global economy hit so over half the original workforce is still walking, not running.


Complete Story »]]> CAT CMI DE Jim Delaney The DJIA's Dangerous Indexing Philosophy http://seekingalpha.com/article/171075-the-djia-s-dangerous-indexing-philosophy?source=feed 171075 While doing some research on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, I was disappointed to discover how skewed it is toward just a few of its components and how dangerous it is for the world to use it as a benchmark for the American markets. The DJIA is a price weighted index, which simply means that the weighting of the index is based on the price of each component. By price I do not mean Market Capitalization but I mean the actual price it is trading at. Please look at the table below to see what I mean:

Dow Jones Industrial Average Components
STOCK % WEIGHTING PRICE
IBM 9.31 $120.56
Chevron 5.92 $ 76.64
3M 5.73 $ 74.28
ExxonMobil 5.57 $ 72.15
United Technologies 4.84 $ 62.66
Johnson & Johnson 4.59 $ 59.49
McDonalds 4.57 $ 59.16
Procter & Gamble 4.55 $ 58.95
Caterpillar 4.28 $ 55.49
Coca-Cola 4.15 $ 53.72
Wal Mart 3.88 $ 50.28
Travelers 3.88 $ 50.20
Boeing 3.73 $ 48.27
Hewlett Packard 3.72 $ 48.16
JPMorgan Chase 3.29 $ 42.58
American Express 2.75 $ 35.68
Dupont 2.49 $ 32.27
Merck 2.41 $ 31.26
Verizon Communications 2.27 $ 29.41
Microsoft 2.15 $ 27.88
Kraft Foods 2.13 $ 27.64
Disney 2.12 $ 27.41
AT&T 1.98 $ 25.59
Home Depot 1.93 $ 25.06
Cisco Systems 1.78 $ 23.00
Intel 1.47 $ 19.01
Pfizer 1.31 $ 16.95
Bank of America 1.13 $ 14.63
General Electric 1.12 $ 14.47
Alcoa 0.96 $ 12.48

As you can see from the table above, the top 10 companies on the list represent 53.51% of the Index , so for example if all those 10 companies have a terrible day and the rest of the 20 have a decent day, the DJIA Index will still show a large loss.

]]> Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:01:32 -0500 Peter Mycroft Psaras While doing some research on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, I was disappointed to discover how skewed it is toward just a few of its components and how dangerous it is for the world to use it as a benchmark for the American markets. The DJIA is a price weighted index, which simply means that the weighting of the index is based on the price of each component. By price I do not mean Market Capitalization but I mean the actual price it is trading at. Please look at the table below to see what I mean:

Dow Jones Industrial Average Components
STOCK % WEIGHTING PRICE
IBM 9.31 $120.56
Chevron 5.92 $ 76.64
3M 5.73 $ 74.28
ExxonMobil 5.57 $ 72.15
United Technologies 4.84 $ 62.66
Johnson & Johnson 4.59 $ 59.49
McDonalds 4.57 $ 59.16
Procter & Gamble 4.55 $ 58.95
Caterpillar 4.28 $ 55.49
Coca-Cola 4.15 $ 53.72
Wal Mart 3.88 $ 50.28
Travelers 3.88 $ 50.20
Boeing 3.73 $ 48.27
Hewlett Packard 3.72 $ 48.16
JPMorgan Chase 3.29 $ 42.58
American Express 2.75 $ 35.68
Dupont 2.49 $ 32.27
Merck 2.41 $ 31.26
Verizon Communications 2.27 $ 29.41
Microsoft 2.15 $ 27.88
Kraft Foods 2.13 $ 27.64
Disney 2.12 $ 27.41
AT&T 1.98 $ 25.59
Home Depot 1.93 $ 25.06
Cisco Systems 1.78 $ 23.00
Intel 1.47 $ 19.01
Pfizer 1.31 $ 16.95
Bank of America 1.13 $ 14.63
General Electric 1.12 $ 14.47
Alcoa 0.96 $ 12.48

As you can see from the table above, the top 10 companies on the list represent 53.51% of the Index , so for example if all those 10 companies have a terrible day and the rest of the 20 have a decent day, the DJIA Index will still show a large loss.


Complete Story »]]> AA AXP BA BAC CAT CSCO CVX DD DIA DIS GE HD HPQ IBM INTC JNJ JPM KFT KO MCD MMM MRK MSFT NYC PFE PG T TRV UTX VZ WMT XOM Peter Mycroft Psaras October Overview: The Goblins Came Home to Roost http://seekingalpha.com/article/170660-october-overview-the-goblins-came-home-to-roost?source=feed 170660 What a crazy month we had!

The Dow began the month of October at 9,712 and finished the month of October at EXACTLY 9,712. Now I don’t want to say the market is manipulated but… No, I’ve got nothing, there are no buts - the market is totally manipulated! Either that or you believe that the random outcome of tens of millions of traders around the globe trading hundreds of billions of shares of stock would just so happen to begin and end the month within .50 after going as low as 9,378.77 (on the 5th) and as high as 10,157.94 (on the 21st). So that is literally a 1 out of the 779-point swing coincidence to hit that 9,712 nail on the head.

]]> Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:23:33 -0500 Philip Davis Phil Davis submits:

What a crazy month we had!

The Dow began the month of October at 9,712 and finished the month of October at EXACTLY 9,712. Now I don’t want to say the market is manipulated but… No, I’ve got nothing, there are no buts - the market is totally manipulated! Either that or you believe that the random outcome of tens of millions of traders around the globe trading hundreds of billions of shares of stock would just so happen to begin and end the month within .50 after going as low as 9,378.77 (on the 5th) and as high as 10,157.94 (on the 21st). So that is literally a 1 out of the 779-point swing coincidence to hit that 9,712 nail on the head.


Complete Story »]]> AAPL AM AMZN BIDU BKE BMY CAL CAT CERN COF CREE CS CVX CY DD DDM DIA DXD EBAY ELN EMC ERX FAZ FSLR FXP GE GMCR IBM ICE INTC IYT JPM KO MS MSFT NFLX PALM PCLN PFE POT QLD RIMM SKF SO SPG SPY SRS SWM T TNA TRLG TXN TZA UHS URBN USB UTX V VZ WFMI XOM Philip Davis Cramer's Mad Money - You're Doing Fine Oklahoma (10/30/09) http://seekingalpha.com/article/170312-cramer-s-mad-money-you-re-doing-fine-oklahoma-10-30-09?source=feed 170312 Stocks discussed on the in-depth session of Jim Cramer's Mad Money TV Program, Friday October 30.

Cummins (CMI), Caterpillar (CAT), 3M (MMM), Goldman Sachs (GS), Wells Fargo (WFC), IBM (IBM), Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Macy's (M), Home Depot (HD), Family Dollar (FDO), J.C. Penney (JCP), J.Crew (JCG)

]]> Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:48:39 -0500 SA Editor Miriam Metzinger Stocks discussed on the in-depth session of Jim Cramer's Mad Money TV Program, Friday October 30.

Cummins (CMI), Caterpillar (CAT), 3M (MMM), Goldman Sachs (GS), Wells Fargo (WFC), IBM (IBM), Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Macy's (M), Home Depot (HD), Family Dollar (FDO), J.C. Penney (JCP), J.Crew (JCG)


Complete Story »]]> AAPL CAT CHK CMI DVN FCX FDO GS HD IBM INTC JCG JCP M MMM MSFT WFC SA Editor Miriam Metzinger What's the Fair Value for the Dow Jones Industrial Average? http://seekingalpha.com/article/170336-what-s-the-fair-value-for-the-dow-jones-industrial-average?source=feed 170336 This week the market is all gloom and doom. PIMCO’s Bill Gross thinks that the Dow’s fair value should be 7,000. GMO Chairman Jeremy Grantham also believes that the U.S. stock market is almost 25% above fair value.

I went through all DJIA component stocks (Dow 30) to find out what the fair value the Dow is.

]]> Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:32:47 -0500 Hao Jin Hao Jin submits:

This week the market is all gloom and doom. PIMCO’s Bill Gross thinks that the Dow’s fair value should be 7,000. GMO Chairman Jeremy Grantham also believes that the U.S. stock market is almost 25% above fair value.

I went through all DJIA component stocks (Dow 30) to find out what the fair value the Dow is.


Complete Story »]]> AA AXP BA BAC CAT CSCO CVX DD DIS FAZ GE HD HPQ IBM INTC JNJ JPM KFT KO MCD MMM MRK MSFT PFE PG QID SDS SH Hao Jin Earnings Season Option Plays for Tuesday and Wednesday http://seekingalpha.com/article/168752-earnings-season-option-plays-for-tuesday-and-wednesday?source=feed 168752 In my latest two blog posts Monday and Wednesday, I listed some stocks which I would be willing to go long by selling the puts right before the stock reported earnings. Keep in mind these are companies which I believed would have a positive reaction to the earnings, however if the stock moved sideways on the number this strategy would still likely return a gain the following day. This is because I am taking advantage of the increased levels of implied volatility factored into the option premium before earnings. If you missed them, be sure to check out Monday's blog post here, and Wednesday's here. So far this earnings season, the overall results have been very positive, even on eBay (EBAY), which sold off nearly 10% after earnings; I was able to purchase back the puts options (closed the position) for a $4 per contract gain the following day. The best results are of course when has a very positive reaction to the report and pops. My best trades so far this earnings season include the trades indicated in the two previous blog posts on the following companies:

The put options sold on the stocks above were quickly closed within 2 hours after market open following the earnings report (some for as low as $1 per option contract). In most of the cases, the call options purchased were also sold the following day, but I continue to hold both the Google and Apple call options. In this post, I will lay out some trades for Tuesday and Wednesday (October: 27 and 28).

]]> Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:48:52 -0400 Marco Hickey Marco Hickey submits:

In my latest two blog posts Monday and Wednesday, I listed some stocks which I would be willing to go long by selling the puts right before the stock reported earnings. Keep in mind these are companies which I believed would have a positive reaction to the earnings, however if the stock moved sideways on the number this strategy would still likely return a gain the following day. This is because I am taking advantage of the increased levels of implied volatility factored into the option premium before earnings. If you missed them, be sure to check out Monday's blog post here, and Wednesday's here. So far this earnings season, the overall results have been very positive, even on eBay (EBAY), which sold off nearly 10% after earnings; I was able to purchase back the puts options (closed the position) for a $4 per contract gain the following day. The best results are of course when has a very positive reaction to the report and pops. My best trades so far this earnings season include the trades indicated in the two previous blog posts on the following companies:

The put options sold on the stocks above were quickly closed within 2 hours after market open following the earnings report (some for as low as $1 per option contract). In most of the cases, the call options purchased were also sold the following day, but I continue to hold both the Google and Apple call options. In this post, I will lay out some trades for Tuesday and Wednesday (October: 27 and 28).


Complete Story »]]> AAPL AKS AMZN BAC BP BWLD CAT COP DIA EBAY ESRX FSLR GLD GOOG IWM MSFT NSC PCU PCX QQQQ SNDK SPY SQM TLT TXN TXT UA V WLT X XLF XLK YHOO Marco Hickey Dover: A Better than Expected Q3 http://seekingalpha.com/article/168565-dover-a-better-than-expected-q3?source=feed 168565 Industrial conglomerate, Dover Corporation (DOV), announced third quarter results. The company reported earnings of 58 cents per share for the quarter, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 48 cents. However, third quarter EPS was down 43% year-over-year.

Quarterly revenue fell approximately 24% to $1.5 billion, from $2.0 billion reported last year. The revenue decline was due to a 24% decline in core business revenue and 2% negative impact of foreign exchange, partially offset by a 2% contribution from acquisitions.

]]> Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:47:43 -0400 Zacks.com Zacks.com submits:

Industrial conglomerate, Dover Corporation (DOV), announced third quarter results. The company reported earnings of 58 cents per share for the quarter, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 48 cents. However, third quarter EPS was down 43% year-over-year.

Quarterly revenue fell approximately 24% to $1.5 billion, from $2.0 billion reported last year. The revenue decline was due to a 24% decline in core business revenue and 2% negative impact of foreign exchange, partially offset by a 2% contribution from acquisitions.


Complete Story »]]> CAT DOV Zacks.com 21 Breakout Stocks to Watch, And How to Generate Income with Apple LEAP Options http://seekingalpha.com/article/168437-21-breakout-stocks-to-watch-and-how-to-generate-income-with-apple-leap-options?source=feed 168437 Here is a list of 21 stocks which traded higher Thursday on unusually higher volume. I have added all 21 of these stocks to my watch list (and invite you to as well), but chose only one to write about in detail in this post. This post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows the company, ticker, Thursday's per share % increase, and Thursday's volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.

]]> Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:02:40 -0400 Marco Hickey Marco Hickey submits:

Here is a list of 21 stocks which traded higher Thursday on unusually higher volume. I have added all 21 of these stocks to my watch list (and invite you to as well), but chose only one to write about in detail in this post. This post requires the knowledge of stock options. To learn more about the option strategies outlined in this post, risks, pricing, calculations, other strategies, and options in general, click here.

The table below shows the company, ticker, Thursday's per share % increase, and Thursday's volume increase (% increased compared to 50 day average). For your convenience I have ranked the stocks in order from greatest to least volume % change.


Complete Story »]]> AAPL ALXN AXP BAC BQI CAT CHRS DIA ECTX EW EWBC FFIV GE GLD GOOG GR GS IWM JCG JEF LEI LZ MA MDY NVLS NYT PNC QQQQ SKX SPY TLT TMRK TNB TNS V XLE XLF XLK Marco Hickey Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News http://seekingalpha.com/article/167806-wall-street-breakfast-must-know-news?source=feed 167806

  • King: Break up the banks! Bank of England Governor Mervyn King stepped up his call to break apart Britain's largest banks, saying more stringent capital requirements won't shield taxpayers from having to bail out more too-big-to-fail banks in the future. "The massive support extended to the banking sector around the world, while necessary to avert economic disaster, has created possibly the biggest moral hazard in history," King said in a speech (.pdf) late Tuesday. His comments were at odds with those of Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, who said yesterday focusing on capital rules may be enough to ward off future crises. Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic, Paul Volcker keeps pounding the desk to split up banks, but no one's listening.
  • State Street slapped with fraud suit. The California AG's office charged State Street (STT) with fraud Tuesday, accusing it of bilking the state's two largest pension funds - Calpers and Calstrs - of $57M, and seeking $200M in overcharges and penalties (complaint (.pdf)). The lawsuit stems from an inquiry launched after a whistleblower claimed State Street secretly and substantially marked up the price of its currency trades. State Street beat Q3 earnings estimates Tuesday, but shares dived 8.4% on news of the lawsuit and a sobering outlook.
  • Yahoo defies bears. Shares of Yahoo (YHOO) are up 4.6% premarket after the internet giant beat Q3 earnings estimates handily with the help of some serious cost cutting ($0.13/share vs. $0.06), while revenue was steady from last quarter at $1.13B. "There's a change occurring in Yahoo," CFO Tim Morse said on Yahoo's earnings call (transcript), "that will value that kind of work - that good old-fashioned, get-your-hands-dirty kind of find ways to take costs down or make sure that they don't go up as much as they otherwise would have - type work." Analysts were impressed with the quarter, but said the real test of Yahoo's massive branding initiative would come in Q4. Bernstein's Jeffrey Lindsay summed it up: "The patient is off life support and back in the recovery ward. But it is certainly not out playing soccer again."
  • Shedding light on the dark pools. In an effort to bring transparency to famously opaque "dark pool" off-exchange trading cliques on which Wall Street firms execute some of their largest trades, the SEC will reportedly today propose slashing the percent of daily volume in a company's shares that can be executed on the systems before quotes must be publicized to 0.25% from 5%. The move would force dark pools to either bring their prices in line with open markets, or risk losing their order flow. Trading executives warn sweeping rule changes could ultimately hurt the investors regulators are trying to empower.
  • AT&T sues LCD makers over price fixing. AT&T (T) sued Samsung Electronics, LG Display (LPL), AU Optronics (AUO) Corp. and other LCD manufacturers, claiming they colluded to fix prices of panels sold in the U.S. "The conspiracy included communications and meetings in which defendants agreed to eliminate competition and fix the prices of LCD panels that were ultimately incorporated into LCD products that they knew would be sold in California and the U.S.," according to the complaint.
  • Logi offer: does it make sense? An obscure hedge fund - logi Energy - said it offered to buy $1B of CIT Group's (CIT) debt, but wouldn't identify its source of capital. Logi said the deal could give CIT "wiggle room" as it works to sidestep bankruptcy. CIT wouldn't comment on whether it was seriously considering the offer.
  • Volvo sale hits snag. Sources say China carmaker Geely's $2B attempt to buy Ford's (F) Volvo unit is in danger of stalling over disagreements about intellectual property rights. The impasse centers on Ford's concerns about sharing its proprietary technology and plans for new products.
  • Morgan mulls giving away Crescent. Sources say Morgan Stanley (MS) may hand over its Crescent Real Estate Equities unit to Barclays (BCS), to whom the business owes $2B which comes due Nov. 2. Morgan bought Crescent for $6.5B in August 2007, and had planned to put its assets into real estate investment funds, but was left holding the bag when markets seized up.
  • IRS watchdog says homebuyer plan fraught with fraud. The IRS's internal watchdog will warn the agency again about fraud in the multibillion dollar homebuyer tax credit program. The IRS faces significant challenges in preventing individuals from scamming the tax credit program.
  • JPMorgan, Goldman cornering the M&A market. According to a study by Bloomberg News, JPMorgan (JPM) edged out Goldman Sachs (GS) in M&A advisory fees ($1.26B vs. $1.22B) for the first time since 2000. By deepening relationships with corporate clients, the two have created a deep moat around M&A counselling. "It's going to be very difficult for upstart or broad-based firms to come in and usurp what many believe are the insurmountable leads that Goldman and JPMorgan have over competitors," one analyst says.
  • Business spending perks up. Industrial bellwether Caterpillar (CAT) joined the ranks of those who say the worst is behind us, as corporate buyers slowly begin reinvesting in their businesses. While Caterpillar's sales were 44% lower than a year ago, CFO David Burritt said he sees "encouraging signs that indicate a recovery may be under way," and predicted sales could rise 10-25% next year (read Caterpillar's Q3 earnings call transcript). Business spending accounts for about 9.5% of U.S. GDP - a fraction of the 68.2% accounted for by consumer spending - but still a potential catalyst for recovery.
  • Get ready for pay as you play internet. Internet service providers including AT&T (T) and Time Warner Cable (TWC) are considering returning to usage-based pricing for internet, amid a surge in traffic as more people watch videos online, and after a push by the FCC to force ISPs to treat all web traffic equally. "Some type of usage-based model, for those customers who have abnormally high usage patterns, seems inevitable," an AT&T spokesman said, declining to provide details on the company's exact plans.

Earnings: Wed. Before Open

  • Air Products and Chemicals (APD): FQ4 EPS of $1.14 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $2.13B (-21.6%) in-line. (PR)
  • AirTran (AAI): Q3 EPS of $0.08 in-line. Revenue of $597M (-11.3%) vs. $600M. Shares -0.9% premarket. (PR)
  • Allegheny Technologies (ATI): Q3 EPS of $0.01 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $698M (-49.9%) vs. $738M. Says the worst appears to be behind us, but many customers remain cautious due to the uncertain global economy and are keeping inventories low. Shares -8.8% premarket. (PR)
  • Altria (MO): Q3 EPS of $0.48 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $4.32B (+0%) vs. $4.66B. Shares -1.4% premarket. (PR)
  • Boeing (BA): Q3 EPS of -$2.23 misses by $0.11. Revenue of $16.69B (+9.1%) vs. $17.16B. Sees full-year EPS of $1.35-1.55 vs. $1.54 consensus. "The 787 cost reclassification and the 747 charge for increased costs and difficult market conditions clearly overshadowed what continues to be otherwise solid performance across our commercial production programs and defense business, We look forward to getting the 787 and 747-8 in the air soon and moving forward with flight test and certification for these two important programs." Shares -2.5% premarket. (PR)
  • Deutsche Bank (DB): Q3 net income of €1.4B vs. consensus of €811M and last year's €435M. Pretax profit of €1.3B vs. consensus of €1.19B. Tier 1 capital ratio rose to 11.7% from 11% in Q2. Shares -2.3% premarket. (Bloomberg)
  • Continental (CAL): Q3 EPS of $0.02 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $3.32B (-20.2%) in-line. (PR)
  • Elan (ELN): Q3 EPS of -$0.06 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $399M (-19.5%) vs. $382M. (PR)
  • Eli Lilly (LLY): Q3 EPS of $1.20 beats by $0.18. Revenue of $5.56B (+6.8%) vs. $5.41B. Gross margin as a percent of total revenue increased by 3.7% to 81.1%. Shares +0.4% premarket. (PR)
  • FLIR Systems (FLIR): Q3 EPS of $0.38 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $286M (+3.2%) vs. $281M. Shares +2.9% premarket. (PR)
  • Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold(FCX): Q3 EPS of $2.07 beats by $0.73. Revenue of $4.14B (-10.2%) vs. $4.24B. Reinstates dividend due to strong performance. Shares -0.1% premarket. (PR)
  • KeyCorp (KEY): Q3 EPS of -$0.50 misses by $0.09. Takes a $733M provision for loan losses, which KEY says drove the miss. Average deposits were +6% (+$3.6B). Shares -4.7% premarket. (PR)
  • Knight Capital Group (NITE): Q3 EPS of $0.32 misses by $0.07. Revenue of $300M (+24.5%) vs. $282M. Shares -6.4% premarket. (PR)
  • Manpower (MAN): Q3 EPS of $0.26 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $4.19B (-26%) vs. $3.95B. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.17-0.27 vs. $0.28. "We continued to experience sluggish demand for our services as the labor markets throughout the world were hampered by lack of demand for companies' products and services... the uptick in revenue is muted at this time compared to previous recoveries." Shares -5.3% premarket. (PR)
  • Morgan Stanley (MS): Q3 EPS of $0.38 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $8.7B vs. $6.99B. Assets under management $386B vs. $483B last year. Declares $0.05 quarterly dividend. Shares +0.9% premarket. (PR)
  • Northern Trust (NTRS): Q3 EPS of $0.72 misses by $0.12. Revenue of $928M (-1.2%) vs. $985M. Shares -5% premarket. (PR)
  • Northrop Grumman (NOC): Q3 EPS of $1.29 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $8.73B (+4.1%) vs. $8.58B. (PR)
  • Omnicom Group (OMC): Q3 EPS of $0.53 in-line. Revenue of $2.83B (-14.4%) in-line. (PR)
  • Penn National Gaming (PENN): Q3 EPS of $0.33 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $620M (+0.4%) vs. $642M. Shares -8.2% premarket. (PR)
  • St. Jude Medical (STJ): Q3 EPS of $0.59 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $1.16B (+7%) in-line. Sees Q$ EPS of $0.61-0.63 vs. $0.66. "We are lowering our expectations for our fourth quarter results to accommodate the issues we are experiencing from a limited portion of our customer base in the U.S., but we are confident that our long term growth program is on track." Shares -0.9% premarket. (PR)
  • U.S. Bancorp (USB): Q3 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $4.25B (+2.2%) vs. $4.12B. Says credit deterioration moderated somewhat. Shares +0.8% premarket. (PR)
  • Wells Fargo (WFC): Q3 EPS of $0.56 beats by $0.19. Revenue of $22.47B (+116.5%) vs. $21.63B. Q3 chargeoffs of $5.1B, up from $4.4B in Q2. Sees credit losses peaking in 2010, "with consumer losses potentially peaking in first half of the year and gradually declining, absent further economic deterioration." Shares -1% premarket. (PR)

Earnings: Tue. After Close

  • Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN): Q3 EPS of -$0.19 beats by $0.10. Revenue of $211M (-3%) vs. $219M. Shares -1.1% AH. (PR)
  • Canadian National Railway Company (CNI): Q3 EPS of C$0.94. Revenue of C$1.85B (-18%) in-line. Shares -1.6% AH. (PR)
  • C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW): Q3 EPS of $0.57 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $1.95B (-16%) vs. $1.96B. Shares -0.8% AH. (PR)
  • Cree (CREE): FQ1 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $169M (+20%) vs. $165M. Sees Q2 EPS of $0.28-0.30 vs. $0.23 and revenue of $180M-190M vs. $173M. Shares +3.6% AH. (PR)
  • Gilead Sciences (GILD): Q3 EPS of $0.78 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $1.8B (+31%) vs. $1.75B. Shares -2.2% AH. (PR)
  • Infinera (INFN): Q3 EPS of -$0.03 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $83M (+3%) vs. $80M. Shares +2.5% AH. (PR)
  • Intuitive Surgical (ISRG): Q3 EPS of $1.64 beats by $0.16. Revenue of $280M (+19%) vs. $258M. Shares -5.9% AH. (PR)
  • Nabors Industries (NBR): Q3 EPS of $0.18 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $804M (-44%) vs. $820M. Shares flat AH. (PR)
  • Polycom (PLCM): Q3 EPS of $0.31 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $243M (-16%) vs. $236M. Shares -5.2% AH. (PR)
  • SanDisk (SNDK): Q3 EPS of $0.75 beats by $0.49. Revenue of $935M (+14%) vs. $788M. Shares +0.2% AH and halted. Updated 4:30 p.m.: Shares resume trading, +10.2% AH. (PR)
  • Seagate Technology (STX): FQ1 EPS of $0.58 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $2.66B (-12%) vs. $2.62B. Shares -2.9% AH. (PR)
  • SLM Corp. (SLM): Q3 EPS of $0.26 beats by $0.22. Net interest income after provision for loan losses of $204M (-29%). Shares +7.8% AH. (PR)
  • STMicroelectronics (STM): Q3 EPS of -$0.23 misses by $0.14. Revenue of $2.28B (-16%) vs. $2.25B. Shares +3.7% AH. (PR)
  • Stryker (SYK): Q3 EPS of $0.69 in-line. Revenue of $1.65B (+1%) vs. $1.62B. Shares +3.5% AH. (PR)
  • Tupperware (TUP): Q3 EPS of $0.54 beats by $0.12. Revenue of $514M (flat) vs. $486M. Raises full-year EPS guidance to $2.84-2.89 from $2.59-2.64, vs. $2.73. Shares +4.5% AH. (PR)
  • Walter Industries (WLT): Q3 EPS of $0.45 beats by $0.18. Revenue of $278M (-10%) vs. $223M. Shares +1.7% AH. (PR)

Today's Markets

Overseas markets sustained losses Wednesday. U.S. futures moved lower overnight.

]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:19:53 -0400 SA Editor Eli Hoffmann

  • King: Break up the banks! Bank of England Governor Mervyn King stepped up his call to break apart Britain's largest banks, saying more stringent capital requirements won't shield taxpayers from having to bail out more too-big-to-fail banks in the future. "The massive support extended to the banking sector around the world, while necessary to avert economic disaster, has created possibly the biggest moral hazard in history," King said in a speech (.pdf) late Tuesday. His comments were at odds with those of Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, who said yesterday focusing on capital rules may be enough to ward off future crises. Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic, Paul Volcker keeps pounding the desk to split up banks, but no one's listening.
  • State Street slapped with fraud suit. The California AG's office charged State Street (STT) with fraud Tuesday, accusing it of bilking the state's two largest pension funds - Calpers and Calstrs - of $57M, and seeking $200M in overcharges and penalties (complaint (.pdf)). The lawsuit stems from an inquiry launched after a whistleblower claimed State Street secretly and substantially marked up the price of its currency trades. State Street beat Q3 earnings estimates Tuesday, but shares dived 8.4% on news of the lawsuit and a sobering outlook.
  • Yahoo defies bears. Shares of Yahoo (YHOO) are up 4.6% premarket after the internet giant beat Q3 earnings estimates handily with the help of some serious cost cutting ($0.13/share vs. $0.06), while revenue was steady from last quarter at $1.13B. "There's a change occurring in Yahoo," CFO Tim Morse said on Yahoo's earnings call (transcript), "that will value that kind of work - that good old-fashioned, get-your-hands-dirty kind of find ways to take costs down or make sure that they don't go up as much as they otherwise would have - type work." Analysts were impressed with the quarter, but said the real test of Yahoo's massive branding initiative would come in Q4. Bernstein's Jeffrey Lindsay summed it up: "The patient is off life support and back in the recovery ward. But it is certainly not out playing soccer again."
  • Shedding light on the dark pools. In an effort to bring transparency to famously opaque "dark pool" off-exchange trading cliques on which Wall Street firms execute some of their largest trades, the SEC will reportedly today propose slashing the percent of daily volume in a company's shares that can be executed on the systems before quotes must be publicized to 0.25% from 5%. The move would force dark pools to either bring their prices in line with open markets, or risk losing their order flow. Trading executives warn sweeping rule changes could ultimately hurt the investors regulators are trying to empower.
  • AT&T sues LCD makers over price fixing. AT&T (T) sued Samsung Electronics, LG Display (LPL), AU Optronics (AUO) Corp. and other LCD manufacturers, claiming they colluded to fix prices of panels sold in the U.S. "The conspiracy included communications and meetings in which defendants agreed to eliminate competition and fix the prices of LCD panels that were ultimately incorporated into LCD products that they knew would be sold in California and the U.S.," according to the complaint.
  • Logi offer: does it make sense? An obscure hedge fund - logi Energy - said it offered to buy $1B of CIT Group's (CIT) debt, but wouldn't identify its source of capital. Logi said the deal could give CIT "wiggle room" as it works to sidestep bankruptcy. CIT wouldn't comment on whether it was seriously considering the offer.
  • Volvo sale hits snag. Sources say China carmaker Geely's $2B attempt to buy Ford's (F) Volvo unit is in danger of stalling over disagreements about intellectual property rights. The impasse centers on Ford's concerns about sharing its proprietary technology and plans for new products.
  • Morgan mulls giving away Crescent. Sources say Morgan Stanley (MS) may hand over its Crescent Real Estate Equities unit to Barclays (BCS), to whom the business owes $2B which comes due Nov. 2. Morgan bought Crescent for $6.5B in August 2007, and had planned to put its assets into real estate investment funds, but was left holding the bag when markets seized up.
  • IRS watchdog says homebuyer plan fraught with fraud. The IRS's internal watchdog will warn the agency again about fraud in the multibillion dollar homebuyer tax credit program. The IRS faces significant challenges in preventing individuals from scamming the tax credit program.
  • JPMorgan, Goldman cornering the M&A market. According to a study by Bloomberg News, JPMorgan (JPM) edged out Goldman Sachs (GS) in M&A advisory fees ($1.26B vs. $1.22B) for the first time since 2000. By deepening relationships with corporate clients, the two have created a deep moat around M&A counselling. "It's going to be very difficult for upstart or broad-based firms to come in and usurp what many believe are the insurmountable leads that Goldman and JPMorgan have over competitors," one analyst says.
  • Business spending perks up. Industrial bellwether Caterpillar (CAT) joined the ranks of those who say the worst is behind us, as corporate buyers slowly begin reinvesting in their businesses. While Caterpillar's sales were 44% lower than a year ago, CFO David Burritt said he sees "encouraging signs that indicate a recovery may be under way," and predicted sales could rise 10-25% next year (read Caterpillar's Q3 earnings call transcript). Business spending accounts for about 9.5% of U.S. GDP - a fraction of the 68.2% accounted for by consumer spending - but still a potential catalyst for recovery.
  • Get ready for pay as you play internet. Internet service providers including AT&T (T) and Time Warner Cable (TWC) are considering returning to usage-based pricing for internet, amid a surge in traffic as more people watch videos online, and after a push by the FCC to force ISPs to treat all web traffic equally. "Some type of usage-based model, for those customers who have abnormally high usage patterns, seems inevitable," an AT&T spokesman said, declining to provide details on the company's exact plans.

Earnings: Wed. Before Open

  • Air Products and Chemicals (APD): FQ4 EPS of $1.14 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $2.13B (-21.6%) in-line. (PR)
  • AirTran (AAI): Q3 EPS of $0.08 in-line. Revenue of $597M (-11.3%) vs. $600M. Shares -0.9% premarket. (PR)
  • Allegheny Technologies (ATI): Q3 EPS of $0.01 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $698M (-49.9%) vs. $738M. Says the worst appears to be behind us, but many customers remain cautious due to the uncertain global economy and are keeping inventories low. Shares -8.8% premarket. (PR)
  • Altria (MO): Q3 EPS of $0.48 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $4.32B (+0%) vs. $4.66B. Shares -1.4% premarket. (PR)
  • Boeing (BA): Q3 EPS of -$2.23 misses by $0.11. Revenue of $16.69B (+9.1%) vs. $17.16B. Sees full-year EPS of $1.35-1.55 vs. $1.54 consensus. "The 787 cost reclassification and the 747 charge for increased costs and difficult market conditions clearly overshadowed what continues to be otherwise solid performance across our commercial production programs and defense business, We look forward to getting the 787 and 747-8 in the air soon and moving forward with flight test and certification for these two important programs." Shares -2.5% premarket. (PR)
  • Deutsche Bank (DB): Q3 net income of €1.4B vs. consensus of €811M and last year's €435M. Pretax profit of €1.3B vs. consensus of €1.19B. Tier 1 capital ratio rose to 11.7% from 11% in Q2. Shares -2.3% premarket. (Bloomberg)
  • Continental (CAL): Q3 EPS of $0.02 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $3.32B (-20.2%) in-line. (PR)
  • Elan (ELN): Q3 EPS of -$0.06 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $399M (-19.5%) vs. $382M. (PR)
  • Eli Lilly (LLY): Q3 EPS of $1.20 beats by $0.18. Revenue of $5.56B (+6.8%) vs. $5.41B. Gross margin as a percent of total revenue increased by 3.7% to 81.1%. Shares +0.4% premarket. (PR)
  • FLIR Systems (FLIR): Q3 EPS of $0.38 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $286M (+3.2%) vs. $281M. Shares +2.9% premarket. (PR)
  • Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold(FCX): Q3 EPS of $2.07 beats by $0.73. Revenue of $4.14B (-10.2%) vs. $4.24B. Reinstates dividend due to strong performance. Shares -0.1% premarket. (PR)
  • KeyCorp (KEY): Q3 EPS of -$0.50 misses by $0.09. Takes a $733M provision for loan losses, which KEY says drove the miss. Average deposits were +6% (+$3.6B). Shares -4.7% premarket. (PR)
  • Knight Capital Group (NITE): Q3 EPS of $0.32 misses by $0.07. Revenue of $300M (+24.5%) vs. $282M. Shares -6.4% premarket. (PR)
  • Manpower (MAN): Q3 EPS of $0.26 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $4.19B (-26%) vs. $3.95B. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.17-0.27 vs. $0.28. "We continued to experience sluggish demand for our services as the labor markets throughout the world were hampered by lack of demand for companies' products and services... the uptick in revenue is muted at this time compared to previous recoveries." Shares -5.3% premarket. (PR)
  • Morgan Stanley (MS): Q3 EPS of $0.38 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $8.7B vs. $6.99B. Assets under management $386B vs. $483B last year. Declares $0.05 quarterly dividend. Shares +0.9% premarket. (PR)
  • Northern Trust (NTRS): Q3 EPS of $0.72 misses by $0.12. Revenue of $928M (-1.2%) vs. $985M. Shares -5% premarket. (PR)
  • Northrop Grumman (NOC): Q3 EPS of $1.29 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $8.73B (+4.1%) vs. $8.58B. (PR)
  • Omnicom Group (OMC): Q3 EPS of $0.53 in-line. Revenue of $2.83B (-14.4%) in-line. (PR)
  • Penn National Gaming (PENN): Q3 EPS of $0.33 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $620M (+0.4%) vs. $642M. Shares -8.2% premarket. (PR)
  • St. Jude Medical (STJ): Q3 EPS of $0.59 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $1.16B (+7%) in-line. Sees Q$ EPS of $0.61-0.63 vs. $0.66. "We are lowering our expectations for our fourth quarter results to accommodate the issues we are experiencing from a limited portion of our customer base in the U.S., but we are confident that our long term growth program is on track." Shares -0.9% premarket. (PR)
  • U.S. Bancorp (USB): Q3 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $4.25B (+2.2%) vs. $4.12B. Says credit deterioration moderated somewhat. Shares +0.8% premarket. (PR)
  • Wells Fargo (WFC): Q3 EPS of $0.56 beats by $0.19. Revenue of $22.47B (+116.5%) vs. $21.63B. Q3 chargeoffs of $5.1B, up from $4.4B in Q2. Sees credit losses peaking in 2010, "with consumer losses potentially peaking in first half of the year and gradually declining, absent further economic deterioration." Shares -1% premarket. (PR)

Earnings: Tue. After Close

  • Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN): Q3 EPS of -$0.19 beats by $0.10. Revenue of $211M (-3%) vs. $219M. Shares -1.1% AH. (PR)
  • Canadian National Railway Company (CNI): Q3 EPS of C$0.94. Revenue of C$1.85B (-18%) in-line. Shares -1.6% AH. (PR)
  • C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW): Q3 EPS of $0.57 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $1.95B (-16%) vs. $1.96B. Shares -0.8% AH. (PR)
  • Cree (CREE): FQ1 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $169M (+20%) vs. $165M. Sees Q2 EPS of $0.28-0.30 vs. $0.23 and revenue of $180M-190M vs. $173M. Shares +3.6% AH. (PR)
  • Gilead Sciences (GILD): Q3 EPS of $0.78 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $1.8B (+31%) vs. $1.75B. Shares -2.2% AH. (PR)
  • Infinera (INFN): Q3 EPS of -$0.03 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $83M (+3%) vs. $80M. Shares +2.5% AH. (PR)
  • Intuitive Surgical (ISRG): Q3 EPS of $1.64 beats by $0.16. Revenue of $280M (+19%) vs. $258M. Shares -5.9% AH. (PR)
  • Nabors Industries (NBR): Q3 EPS of $0.18 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $804M (-44%) vs. $820M. Shares flat AH. (PR)
  • Polycom (PLCM): Q3 EPS of $0.31 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $243M (-16%) vs. $236M. Shares -5.2% AH. (PR)
  • SanDisk (SNDK): Q3 EPS of $0.75 beats by $0.49. Revenue of $935M (+14%) vs. $788M. Shares +0.2% AH and halted. Updated 4:30 p.m.: Shares resume trading, +10.2% AH. (PR)
  • Seagate Technology (STX): FQ1 EPS of $0.58 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $2.66B (-12%) vs. $2.62B. Shares -2.9% AH. (PR)
  • SLM Corp. (SLM): Q3 EPS of $0.26 beats by $0.22. Net interest income after provision for loan losses of $204M (-29%). Shares +7.8% AH. (PR)
  • STMicroelectronics (STM): Q3 EPS of -$0.23 misses by $0.14. Revenue of $2.28B (-16%) vs. $2.25B. Shares +3.7% AH. (PR)
  • Stryker (SYK): Q3 EPS of $0.69 in-line. Revenue of $1.65B (+1%) vs. $1.62B. Shares +3.5% AH. (PR)
  • Tupperware (TUP): Q3 EPS of $0.54 beats by $0.12. Revenue of $514M (flat) vs. $486M. Raises full-year EPS guidance to $2.84-2.89 from $2.59-2.64, vs. $2.73. Shares +4.5% AH. (PR)
  • Walter Industries (WLT): Q3 EPS of $0.45 beats by $0.18. Revenue of $278M (-10%) vs. $223M. Shares +1.7% AH. (PR)

Today's Markets

Overseas markets sustained losses Wednesday. U.S. futures moved lower overnight.


Complete Story »]]> AAI AMLN APD ATI AUO BA BCS CAL CAT CHRW CIT CNI CREE DB DIA ELN F FCX FLIR GILD GLD GS INFN ISRG JPM KEY LLY LPL MAN MO MS NBR NITE NOC NTRS OMC PENN PLCM QQQQ SLM SNDK SPY STJ STM STT STX SYK T TUP TWC USB USO WFC WLT YHOO SA Editor Eli Hoffmann Cramer's Stop Trading! CAT and Iraq (10/20/09) http://seekingalpha.com/article/167776-cramer-s-stop-trading-cat-and-iraq-10-20-09?source=feed 167776 Stocks discussed on Jim Cramer's Stop Trading! TV Segment, Tuesday October 20.

Buoyed by its earnings beat of 64 cents per share compared to the Street's estimates of just 6 cents per share, Cramer thinks Caterpillar (CAT) needs to start hiring again to cope with the rise of demand on the falling dollar. Caterpillar's CEO Jim Owens discussed opportunity in Iraq, and Cramer said many investors are looking for a trade in Iraqi currency, the dinar, but do not have a vehicle. He does not recommend a proposed mutual fund deal between Babylon Fund, Auerbach Grayson and Northern Gulf Partners. Cramer called for the creation of an Iraqi ETF; "The one that sets it up first is going to have a lot of dollars in it."

]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:48:16 -0400 SA Editor Miriam Metzinger Stocks discussed on Jim Cramer's Stop Trading! TV Segment, Tuesday October 20.

Buoyed by its earnings beat of 64 cents per share compared to the Street's estimates of just 6 cents per share, Cramer thinks Caterpillar (CAT) needs to start hiring again to cope with the rise of demand on the falling dollar. Caterpillar's CEO Jim Owens discussed opportunity in Iraq, and Cramer said many investors are looking for a trade in Iraqi currency, the dinar, but do not have a vehicle. He does not recommend a proposed mutual fund deal between Babylon Fund, Auerbach Grayson and Northern Gulf Partners. Cramer called for the creation of an Iraqi ETF; "The one that sets it up first is going to have a lot of dollars in it."


Complete Story »]]> CAT SA Editor Miriam Metzinger Cramer's Mad Money - Apple's Unbelievable Price Target (10/20/09) http://seekingalpha.com/article/167777-cramer-s-mad-money-apple-s-unbelievable-price-target-10-20-09?source=feed 167777 Stocks discussed on the in-depth session of Jim Cramer's Mad Money TV Program, Tuesday October 20.

Apple's (AAPL) Unbelievable Price Target: Motorola (MOT), Nokia (NOK), Microsoft (MSFT), Dell (DELL)

]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:47:44 -0400 SA Editor Miriam Metzinger Stocks discussed on the in-depth session of Jim Cramer's Mad Money TV Program, Tuesday October 20.

Apple's (AAPL) Unbelievable Price Target: Motorola (MOT), Nokia (NOK), Microsoft (MSFT), Dell (DELL)


Complete Story »]]> AAPL CAT DE DELL MOT MSFT NOK OXPS SA Editor Miriam Metzinger 5 Company Results Underscore Corporate Boom, Real Economy Bust http://seekingalpha.com/article/167769-5-company-results-underscore-corporate-boom-real-economy-bust?source=feed 167769

We’ve been more and more amazed at the strength of the rally.

You have to listen to and respect the market. Sometimes the market just wants to go up.

]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:51:17 -0400 Greg Feirman Greg Feirman submits:

We’ve been more and more amazed at the strength of the rally.

You have to listen to and respect the market. Sometimes the market just wants to go up.


Complete Story »]]> BBY CAT CSX DD ETN PG TM UTX Greg Feirman 22 More Earnings Season Option Strategies http://seekingalpha.com/article/167767-22-more-earnings-season-option-strategies?source=feed 167767 In my blog post Monday I listed a few stocks which I would be willing to go long by selling the puts right before the stock reported earnings. If you missed it you can view the details here. As indicated I took positions on Apple (AAPL), Caterpillar (CAT), Texas Instruments (TXN), SanDisk (SNDK), Walter Energy (WLT), and Yahoo! (YHOO). The first three have been closed for quick profits (excluding the Apple calls), and I will look to close my positions on the latter three Wednesday Morning. In this post, I will lay out some trades for Thursday, Friday, and Monday (October: 22, 23, and 26).

To reiterate my previous blog post:

]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:30:22 -0400 Marco Hickey Marco Hickey submits:

In my blog post Monday I listed a few stocks which I would be willing to go long by selling the puts right before the stock reported earnings. If you missed it you can view the details here. As indicated I took positions on Apple (AAPL), Caterpillar (CAT), Texas Instruments (TXN), SanDisk (SNDK), Walter Energy (WLT), and Yahoo! (YHOO). The first three have been closed for quick profits (excluding the Apple calls), and I will look to close my positions on the latter three Wednesday Morning. In this post, I will lay out some trades for Thursday, Friday, and Monday (October: 22, 23, and 26).

To reiterate my previous blog post:


Complete Story »]]> AAPL AMZN AXP BAC BIDU C CAT CELG CMG DECK DIA DOW F FAS FAZ GE GLW GOOG HON IWM IWN JNPR MCD MDY MMM MRK MSFT NLY POT QQQQ SLB SNDK SOHU SPY T TLT TRA TXN UPS VZ WLT XLF YHOO Marco Hickey Equities Update: Economy Trumps Earnings http://seekingalpha.com/article/167669-equities-update-economy-trumps-earnings?source=feed 167669 4:20 PM, Oct 20, 2009 --



  • NYSE down 55.19 (0.76%) to 7,167.02.
  • DJIA down 47.76 (0.47%) to 10,044.43.
  • S&P 500 down 5.65 (0.51%) to 1,092.26.
  • Nasdaq down 8.83 (0.41%) to 2,167.49.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

]]> Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:32:04 -0400 Midnight Trader Brooks McFeely submits:

4:20 PM, Oct 20, 2009 --



  • NYSE down 55.19 (0.76%) to 7,167.02.
  • DJIA down 47.76 (0.47%) to 10,044.43.
  • S&P 500 down 5.65 (0.51%) to 1,092.26.
  • Nasdaq down 8.83 (0.41%) to 2,167.49.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT


Complete Story »]]> AAPL BSX CAT DD TXN YHOO Midnight Trader Tuesday Options Recap http://seekingalpha.com/article/167661-tuesday-options-recap?source=feed 167661 Sentiment

Stocks are trading broadly lower late Tuesday after the latest round of earnings news failed to spark another round of buying interest in the equity market. Better-than-expected results from Apple Computer (AAPL) and Texas Instruments (TXN) helped lift stock index futures late Monday. A number of Dow stocks -- United Technologies (UTX), Pfizer (PFE), and Caterpillar (CAT) -- reported better than expected results Tuesday morning.

However, after a 96-point advance Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average failed to extend the gains Tuesday morning. The day's economic data didn't help. A report released before the bell showed housing starts increasing by 3,000 to an annualized rate of 590,000 in September. Economists were looking for an increase to 610,000. Building permits, a better gauge of future activity, fell to 573,000 from 580,000. Economists were expecting 595,000. Meanwhile, the Producer Price Index [PPI] took an unexpected dip in September. After increasing 1.7 percent in August, the gauge of prices on the wholesale level fell .6 percent. Economists were looking for no change in the PPI.

]]> Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:53:46 -0400 Frederic Ruffy Frederic Ruffy submits:

Sentiment

Stocks are trading broadly lower late Tuesday after the latest round of earnings news failed to spark another round of buying interest in the equity market. Better-than-expected results from Apple Computer (AAPL) and Texas Instruments (TXN) helped lift stock index futures late Monday. A number of Dow stocks -- United Technologies (UTX), Pfizer (PFE), and Caterpillar (CAT) -- reported better than expected results Tuesday morning.

However, after a 96-point advance Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average failed to extend the gains Tuesday morning. The day's economic data didn't help. A report released before the bell showed housing starts increasing by 3,000 to an annualized rate of 590,000 in September. Economists were looking for an increase to 610,000. Building permits, a better gauge of future activity, fell to 573,000 from 580,000. Economists were expecting 595,000. Meanwhile, the Producer Price Index [PPI] took an unexpected dip in September. After increasing 1.7 percent in August, the gauge of prices on the wholesale level fell .6 percent. Economists were looking for no change in the PPI.


Complete Story »]]> AAPL BA CAT CCJ CECO EWZ HSY NDAQ PFE UTX Frederic Ruffy