Buy some dividends for yourself for the new year. The stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends' has generated a lot of interest from investors. This 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.

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.com has compiled a free downloadable and sortable Excel list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. WSNN.com came up with many dividend paying companies companies all with market caps over $500 million. Here are some examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

I was reviewing my Top 20 Model Portfolio as well as a foundation that I manage, and I was kind of surprised to see how many of my names fall into the Consumer Discretionary space. I started 2009 with a big chunk of the portfolio in several different names in the sector but sold every name into the strength. Lately, we have added several names, including Buckle (BKE), Family Dollar (FDO), Foot Locker (FL), National Presto (NPK) and re-added Timberland (TBL). We have maintained a position in Dorman Products (DORM) since late March. At year-end, we held America's Car-Mart (CRMT), Bed Bath Beyond (BBBY), Men's Wearhouse (MW), Shoe Carnival (SCVL) and Timberland (TBL). We also traded some Thor Industries (THO) early in the year.

We are up over 63% YTD in the Top 20 Model portfolio thanks in part for our heavy exposure to the out-of-favor Consumer Discretionary stocks early in the year. As then, I am not particularly bullish on domestic spending and wouldn't own the sector blindly. Still, I am very optimistic that the names we are in now could fare well, at least relative to the market. Most have a value appeal to their customers and/or a value appeal to investors as well.

Foot Locker Inc. (FL) swung to a GAAP net loss of $6 million during its fiscal 2009 third quarter, from a GAAP net income of $24 million in the year-ago period. The quarterly result included a $22 million impairment charge associated with the company’s long-lived assets in the U.S. Excluding the charge, earnings per share came in at 10 cents, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 23%, or 3 cents.

The company posted a 7.3% decline in net sales to $1.2 billion during the quarter, compared to $1.3 billion in the year-ago period. The decline was primarily caused by an 8.2% reduction in same-store sales, a key performance metric for retailers, coupled with the closure of 113 stores in the last one-year period.

F3Q09 Earnings Call

November 20, 2009 9:00 am ET

• Geithner pressured to resign over AIG. Loud calls for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's resignation continued on Thursday, over his handling of the AIG (AIG) bailout in particular, and for his management of the financial crisis in general. Geithner, then chairman of the New York Fed, was blamed in a special inspector's report [.pdf] for not being tough enough with AIG's creditors. During hearings in the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday, several Republican Congressmen claimed that Geithner was too "cozy with big banks." Geithner defended his position, saying, "The U.S. ... came into this crisis without anything like the basic tools countries need to contain financial panics. Coming into AIG, we had basically duct tape and string."
• House panel gives green light to Fed audit. The House Financial Services Committee gave the Fed a slap in the face on Thursday when it approved an amendment to the financial services reform bill that would allow the General Accounting Office to audit the bank. Many lawmakers don't approve of the Fed's role in and handling of the financial crisis. Rep. Ron Paul, who has been trying for decades to obtain greater congressional control over the Fed, sponsored the provision. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker voiced opposition to the provision in a letter (.pdf) to the House Financial Services Committee early this month and made public yesterday, saying that the measure would destroy the central bank's independence. Fed chief Ben Bernanke told Congress in June that Paul's provision "would effectively be a takeover of policy by the Congress and would be highly destructive to the stability of the financial system, the dollar and our national economic situation."
• Goldman shareholders nix big bonuses. Some of the largest shareholders in Goldman Sachs (GS) are peeved about the $717,000-average bonuses that the bank's staff are to get this year, sources say. Shareholders believe more earnings should go to investors, especially since, despite record net income, analysts expect Goldman's 2009 earnings per share to be 22% lower than in 2007. A spokesman for the bank pointed out that, since going public in 1999, the company has generated a total return of 159%, and Goldman shares have more than doubled this year.
• BOJ keeps rates on hold. The Bank of Japan kept its key interest rate at 0.1% on Friday, despite pressure from the Japanese government to take action on deflation. Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said there’s a sense of crisis about falling prices - deflation was one of the causes of Japan's 'lost decade' in the 1990s. The government would like the BOJ to cut rates further and to step up its support of debt markets with asset purchases. Governor Masaaki Shirakawa warned that increasing liquidity would not help to push prices higher. The BOJ is expected to maintain the key interest rate at its current level well into 2010.
• Fed has biggest balance sheet since December. The Fed's balance sheet swelled to its largest point since December as its holdings in agency and mortgage-backed securities increased, data released Thursday showed. Balance sheet liabilities had expanded to $2.19T as of Nov. 19, the highest point recorded since liabilities hit $2.25T on Dec. 31, 2008. The Fed's holdings of mortgage-backed securities increased to $847B, from $776B a week earlier, while its agency debt ownership rose to $153B from $150B. The Fed has said it will continue its support for markets with ongoing purchases of securities, buying $1.25T worth of mortgage-backed securities and $175B in bonds issued by Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE) and the Federal Home Loan Bank System.
• Treasury frees banks from TARP. The Treasury announced Thursday that it will auction warrants that the government received from banks as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, meaning that JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Capital One Financial (COF) and TCF Financial (TCB) will no longer have obligations under TARP, and will no longer be subject to any restrictions linked to it. The warrants are expected to fetch about $2.75B for the Treasury, and will include a tidy profit, according to professor Linus Wilson. Goldman Sachs (GS) bought back its warrants from the Treasury for $1.1B in July to avoid share dilution, but the Treasury could have earned $1.24B by auctioning the warrants instead. In the auctions, which will be run by Deutsche Bank (DB), banks provide determinations of market value for the warrants, and then the Treasury fixes the prices using independent appraisers.
• Deutsche Telekom seeks U.S. partner. Deutsche Telekom (DT) is reportedly seeking a partner for T-Mobile, its U.S. mobile communications business, one that could help it finance investments in networks with fast data transfers. MetroPCS (PCS), Clearwire (CLWR) and AT&T (T) are all potential candidates, but the company might also look for a purely financial investor from outside the sector. T-Mobile has been losing market share to competitors. Other plans for growing T-Mobile that the company had been considering, including a share sale and a takeover of rival Sprint-Nextel (S), have been abandoned, according to media reports.
• FDIC wants performance-linked pay for rating agencies. The FDIC wants the underwriters of securitized instruments and the agencies that rate them to be paid based on how those issues perform, a key adviser says. "The underwriters get all their cash upfront, the ratings agencies get all their cash upfront, and nobody really has a strong incentive to make sure the loan performs in the long term," FDIC adviser Michael Krimminger said in an interview Thursday. Securitization was at the heart of the credit crunch, as packages of securitized loans with high ratings turned out to be unsound. Other FDIC proposals include requirements for greater disclosure on debt rolled up in securitizations, limits to the amount of debt that can be bought from other companies and a demand that asset-backed issuers retain a certain amount of the credit risk from the pools, Krimminger added.
• Fed's Fisher wants action on "too-big-to-fail" companies. Action must be taken on companies deemed "too-big-to-fail," Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said on Thursday, but he stopped short of calling for them to be broken up. Fisher wants to force banks to spin off some of their high-risk operations, as the "basic pathology" of these companies must be "treated," if the Fed is to return to traditional policy making. Operations such as proprietary trading, that place the deposit and lending function at risk and otherwise present conflicts of interest, should be stripped away. Fisher also wants to change the regulatory structure so that such firms can no longer come into existence, and to do that he would remove parts of the government safety net to end the moral hazard threat.
• Ferrero, Hershey would break up Cadbury. Ferrero and Hershey (HSY) would probably break up Cadbury (CBY) into separate businesses if the takeover bid that the two companies are mulling for the U.K. candy maker should succeed, an Italian newspaper reported on Friday. Ferrero is reportedly interested in Cadbury's lucrative candy and gum business. The pair would have to beat out U.S. rival bidder Kraft (KFT), whose 9.9B pound ($16.5B) bid has been decisively rejected by Cadbury's board.
• Google unveils Chrome OS. Google (GOOG) aired its new Chrome operating system on Wednesday in a move calculated to compete directly with market-leader Microsoft (MSFT). The new system, which will be available on netbooks for the 2010 holidays, acts more like a web browser than a traditional operating system, which will enable Google to push through advertising to application users. Netbooks running Chrome OS will only be able to run web applications and the user's data will automatically be stored in Google's cloud of internet servers. Google claims the system can boot up in seven seconds, almost as fast as a TV.
• Foreclosures keep rising. Home foreclosures hit a record at the end of September, with one out of seven home loans going bad, and the number is likely to keep growing through next year, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in its Q3 Delinquency Survey Thursday. The record number of foreclosures, up from 1/10 homes at the beginning of the year, shows the housing market isn't close to recovery, the association said. Applications for mortgages to buy homes have declined for six straight weeks despite interest rates below 5% on 30-year fixed-rate loans. And housing starts were down 10% in October, from the previous month, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. The association blames high unemployment for the trend, but analysts said adjustable-rate mortgages, which cost owners much more now than they did when they were taken out, are equally at fault.
• Dell sees increasing demand. Even though third-quarter results were down 54% - with shipments tumbling 6.7% to 10.3M units year-on-year - Dell (DELL) said on Thursday that demand for its PCs picked up "pretty substantially" following the launch of Microsoft's (MSFT) new Windows 7 operating system in October. Dell CEO Michael Dell said that the company will see increased benefits from the launch of Windows 7 in Q4. Dell also expects its Asia business to return to revenue growth in the near future.
• China to tighten monetary policy. Chinese officials said on Friday that moves to cautiously tighten the country's loose-money policy would begin at the end of the year. Chinese legislator Wu Xiaoling said hikes in the reserve ratio may begin next year. But Wu said that the changes would be small, and the overall accomodative stance of the central bank would not change, noting the government is also concerned about the dangers of an asset bubble. Separately, the government cited progress in stimulating economic growth. Beijing is also closely monitoring surging housing demand. Separately, Senator Charles Schumer asked the Commerce Department to launch an investigation on whether the yuan's peg to the dollar constitutes currency manipulation.

Earnings: Fri. Before Open

• D.R. Horton (DHI): FQ4 EPS of -$0.73 misses by $0.43. Revenue of $1.01B (-34.6%) vs. $1.11B. Backlog of 5,628 homes vs. 5,297 last year. Net sales of 5,008 homes vs. 3,977 last year. (PR)
• J.M. Smucker Company (SJM): FQ2 EPS of $1.22 beats by $0.18. Revenue of $1.28B in-line. Sees full-year EPS of $3.95-4.05 vs. $3.83 consensus. (PR)

Earnings: Thur. After Close

• Dell (DELL): Q3 EPS of $0.23 misses by $0.05. Revenue of $12.9B (-15%) vs. $13.2B. "We are seeing improvement in overall underlying IT demand that is continuing into the fourth quarter. The same is true with momentum in Dell's business, specifically in our Large Enterprise and SMB segments." Shares -6.1% AH. (PR)
• Dress Barn (DBRN): FQ1 EPS of $0.38 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $404M (+7%) vs. $390M. Same-store sales up 4%. Shares +6% AH. (PR)
• Foot Locker (FL): Q3 adjusted EPS of $0.10 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $1.2B (-7%) in-line. Same-store sales down 8.2%. Sales in U.S. lower than anticipated; sales trend improvement in Europe and continuing sales gains in Asia/Pacific. Shares -4.6% AH. (PR)
• Gap (GPS): Q3 EPS of $0.44 in-line. Revenue of $3.6B (+1%) in-line. Same-store sales flat. Announces stock buyback of up to $500M. Shares -1.2% AH. (PR)
• Intuit (INTU): FQ1 EPS of -$0.10 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $493M (+2%) vs. $488M. Sees Q2 EPS of $0.29-0.32 vs. $0.37. Reaffirms full-year guidance. Shares -2.5% AH. (PR)
• Wet Seal (WTSLA): Q3 EPS of $0.04 in-line. Revenue of $141.5M (-3%) vs. $140.6M. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.03-0.07 vs. $0.08, on revenue of $149M-155M vs. $156M. Shares -6.1% AH. (PR)

Today's Markets

Asian markets were mixed Friday, but Europe stocks and U.S. futures have moved lower.

If there is anyone under 30 in your household, just ask them about Skechers USA (SKX).

This company has captured the hearts and minds of the youth of America and should catch your interest as an investment, too. It makes shoes that kids (and the young at heart) want, marketing through Nordstrom (JWN), Macy's (M), Dillard's (DDS), J C Penny (JCP) and Foot Locker (FL). Just look at any sales circular in the newspaper and you will see ads for their product.

Those who follow my work know that I spend way too much time running screens on the weekends. My goal is to find new ideas. I run various types of screens, looking across broad market capitalization ranges or within sectors or even narrow industries. Many of the screens are value-focused, others pursue growth. I tweak my screens, and I try to come up with new ones. The screen I ran today extends upon some screening I was doing at the end of last year within the Consumer Discretionary sector, which was laden with companies trading below tangible book value.

Today, I applied several of those parameters to the broad market and tried to hone in on companies that not only have strong balance sheets but that appear to have weathered the storm. While the 8 names I am about to share are up a lot this year, they were down a lot last year and appear to be cheap yet. Lots of people like to buy value stocks when they are beaten down, but prices 50% higher aren't necessarily bad prices. In the case of this group, they fell pretty much with the market last year, about 47% on average. While they have rallied 57% on average in 2009, they are still down over the past 21 months. While I know only one of these companies very closely, the group certainly appears to be worth investigating.

Spotlight On: Retail-Apparel

The U.S. retail clothing industry includes approximately 11,000 stores nationwide and accumulates a combined $150 billion in revenues each year. The retail clothing industry is very concentrated and the 50 largest companies bring in 65% of the total industry revenue. Most companies in the retail clothing industry are specialized and have found a niche market of customers to appeal to such as women's wear, sporting apparel, maternity, men's clothing, or children's clothing. The size of retail clothing companies range from small independently owned boutique shops to large department stores.

Q2 2009 Earnings Call

August 21, 2009 9:00 am ET

• Clunkers grinds to a halt. The White House will end its cash-for-clunkers program sooner than expected, setting a deadline for 8PM on Monday so as not to exceed the program's $3B budget. As of yesterday, the program had generated over 457,000 auto sales, though the Transportation Department had only handled 37% of those dealer requests.
• AIG in no rush to sell. Shares of AIG (AIG) rallied over 21% yesterday, lifted by positive comments from CEO Robert Benmosche who said he plans to repay the government and still turn a profit for shareholders. In a townhall employee meeting earlier this month that came to light yesterday, Benmosche also said he won't rush to sell AIG's assets at unfavorable prices because, "I don’t liquidate things, I build them." Benmosche will continue to evaluate the company over the next several weeks and decide which units to offload and on what timetable.
• Dollar General to go public. Discount retailer Dollar General filed for a $750M initial public offering. Private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts took the company private in 2007 but is hoping to take advantage of a rebound in equity markets and is serving as one of the main underwriters, along with Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS) and six other banks. Dollar General plans to pay KKR and other shareholders a $200M special dividend with proceeds from the sale.
• FDIC eases up on failed bank bidders. The FDIC is expected to loosen restrictions on private-equity firms that want to buy failed banks, as its dwindling budget forces it to look for more bank buyers. The FDIC's original proposal required buyout firms bidding on failed institutions to maintain a larger capital base than banks must, a decision private-equity firms said was too stringent and would be a deterrent. With 77 bank failures so far this year, the FDIC will likely soften its stance as soon as next week.
• AT&T, Verizon face FCC probe. The Federal Communications Commission intends to investigate whether AT&T (T) and Verizon Wireless (VZ) are unfairly hurting competitors by denying them connections and making it hard for subscribers to switch providers. A probe into the wireless policies of the two companies, which share a combined 60% of the U.S. market, could signal the start of a broader government push for antitrust scrutiny.
• GM to decide Opel fate. General Motors' board will convene today to discuss the bids received for the firm's Opel unit and will reportedly weigh the two bids against the option of insolvency. Magna International (MGA) is the frontrunner of the two bidders, primarily because its bid is favored by Germany, but GM has been concerned that Magna may exploit GM's intellectual property in Russia.
• Tech biggies team up against Google. Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO) and Amazon (AMZN) have joined a coalition taking aim at Google's (GOOG) book publishing settlement. Google settled a class-action lawsuit last October by agreeing to share revenue from scanned books with authors and publishers. However, a growing group of authors, publishers, privacy advocates and now technology giants argue the settlement gives Google an unfair copyright immunity in digital books that other companies will find difficult to match.
• More mortgage woes. Delinquent mortgages hit 13.16% in Q2, MBA said Thursday, the highest percentage on record. Mortgages in the foreclosure process are now 4.3% of all mortgages, up from 3.85% in Q1, but new loans entering the foreclosure process were down one point to 1.36%. While the increase in delinquencies from Q1 was marginal, the mix changed dramatically, with a significant drop in foreclosures on subprime loans offset by increases in prime loans and other fare. Prime loans now account for one in three foreclosure starts, up from one in five a year ago.
• Firms scoop up own debt. Recent regulatory filings reveal that companies are quietly buying back their own bonds on the cheap. Bankers say the trend may signal executives believe the worst of the credit crisis is over, but it also reflects the need for companies to delever as quickly as possible and not risk coming up against debt they're unable to refinance.
• Tribune ownership shake-up. Tribune Co. said its ownership is likely to change as it emerges from bankruptcy protection, with sources saying the company will likely end up in the hands of its lenders in a move that would reduce its primary debt by over 90%. A small amount of equity would be reserved for management, employees and unsecured debtholders. Samuel Zell, who led the 2007 buyout of Tribune, will likely see his $500M warrant wiped out and his future role in a post-bankruptcy company is unclear.
• Euro zone on brink of growth. The decline in the euro-zone services sector almost reversed itself in August, while future expectations soared to their highest level in more than two years, according to Markit's PMI survey released this morning. Markit's Services Index climbed to 49.5, the highest since last May, from 45.7 in July and well ahead of the 46.5 consensus (below 50 indicates contraction). Expectations leapt to 66.5 from 61.4.
• China jitters spark outflow. Fears over China set off a huge outflow from emerging market funds, with $946M going out the door - the lion's share of that ($810M) from Asia ex-Japan - the worst week since early 2008. "Doubts about the quality of the loans doled out at breakneck speed by Chinese banks during H1 prompted investors to book profits," fund tracker EPFR Global says.
• Securities sinking banks. With the imminent failure of Guaranty Financial Group (GFG), the banking crisis is poised to enter a new phase: banks failing not due to the bad loans they made, but those they bought. Thousands of banks invested in securities backed by subprime mortgages over the past decade, and analysts say the boomerang effect that killed Guaranty could cripple many small and regional banks.
• News Corp. shutters free paper. News Corp. (NWS.A) is closing The London Paper, a money-losing free tabloid that was aimed at young commuters. The paper was started three years ago but "has fallen short of expectations" and posted a recent pre-tax loss of $21M for the year.
• Jobless claims increase. Initial jobless claims came in at 576K, up 15K from a week ago (revised) and worse than the 550K consensus. Continuing claims rose 2K to 6.241M.
• Leading indicators rise. Conference Board's Leading Indicators index rose 0.6% in July vs. +0.7% consensus, the fourth increase in as many months. Unemployment claims, the interest rate and average workweek made large positive contributions to the index. Consumer expectations, real money supply, and building permits made negative contributions.
• Philly business outlook improves. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Business Outlook Survey rose 4.2 points in August vs. -7.5 in July and consensus of -2, marking the highest reading since November 2007. Of the firms that shrank inventories, 15% expect to begin rebuilding in Q3, 27% said next year, and 19% said the reductions are permanent.

Earnings: Friday Before Open

• J.M. Smucker Company (SJM): FQ1 EPS of $0.92 beats by $0.12. Revenue of $1.05B (+58.4%) in-line. Affirms full-year guidance. (PR)

Earnings: Thursday After Close

• Aeropostale (ARO): Q2 EPS of $0.57 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $453M (+20%) vs. $452M. (PR)
• Brocade Communications Systems (BRCD): FQ3 EPS of $0.12 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $493M (+35%) vs. $504M. (PR)
• Foot Locker (FL): Q2 EPS of $0.00 misses by $0.07. Revenue of $1.1B (-16%) vs. $1.2B. (PR)
• Gap (GPS): Q2 EPS of $0.33 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $3.25B (-7%) in-line. Same-store sales declined 8%. (PR)
• Harris Stratex (HSTX): FQ4 EPS of $0.09 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $135M (-28%) vs. $142M. Sees Q1 revenue of $120M-140M vs. $153M. (PR)
• Intuit (INTU): FQ4 EPS of -$0.10 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $476M (+0%) vs. $470M. Sees full-year EPS of $1.89-1.96 vs. $2.00. (PR)
• Pacific Sunwear of California (PSUN): Q2 EPS of -$0.22 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $243M (-22%) vs. $240M. Sees Q3 EPS of -$0.16 to -$0.23 vs. -$0.09. Expects Q3 same-store sales percentage decline in high teens to low 20s. (PR)
• Salesforce.com (CRM): Q2 EPS of $0.17 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $316M (+20%) vs. $313M. (PR)
• Wet Seal (WTSLA): Q2 EPS of $0.03 in-line. Revenue of $136M (-9%) in-line. Same-store sales down 10.6%. Sees Q3 EPS of $0.02-0.05 vs. $0.06 and sales of $142M-147M vs. $141M. (PR)

Today's Markets

Asia markets were mixed Friday, but Shanghai - in focus for much of the week - ended things off with a vote of confidence. Europe has resolved strongly to the upside, and futures are trading near overnight highs.

If you want to try the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends,' which 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, 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. WallStreetNewsNetwork has compiled a free downloadable and sortable Excel list of the stocks going ex dividend during the last half of July. They 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:

So it looks like FL finally confirmed the speculation that started in April about Matt Serra retiring as CEO. I celebrated a birthday a week ago - let's just say it was a number between 35 and 40. FL is one of the few stocks in retail that you could have bought circa 1970 (in a 'diworsified form' as Woolworth/Venetor etc...). Had I been gifted a share way back then, my return would be a big fat goose egg. Yes, Foot Locker is the retail equivalent of Japan.

This company's management culture is one that strives for mediocrity - whether it knows it or not. In its best form, it succeeded in being slightly below average, but all along remained squarely on the investment community's 'least respected management team' list.

F1Q09 Earnings Call

May 22, 2009 9:00 am ET

• Couldn't even wait until Friday: In the biggest bank collapse of 2009, regulators seized Florida thrift BankUnited yesterday afternoon, a failure which could cost the FDIC $4.9B. For the current crisis, only IndyMac's failure ($11B) has been bigger. The bust brings into focus recent rumblings that extending government stress test results to smaller banks could result in another $24B or even $100-200B in losses. (table: banks gone bust)
• Geithner pledges to shave deficit. Treasury chief Geithner said Thursday he's committed to trimming the bulging budget deficit and maintaining the U.S.'s pristine AAA sovereign rating: "It's very important that this Congress and this president put in place policies that will bring those deficits down to a sustainable level over the medium term." Treasurys and stocks came under heavy selling yesterday, which influential bond trader Bill Gross said was due to concerns over America's AAA rating, after S&P downgraded the U.K.'s outlook to Negative.
• So long fat profits. Taxpayers could be left to absorb a $10B loss on stock warrants being sold back to banks who are repaying their TARP loans. So far, 17 financial institutions have repaid TARP funds, but only one - Old National Bancorp (ONB) - has come to terms with the Treasury. ONB gave the Treasury $1.2M for warrants that may have been worth $5.81M. If other banks can finagle similar terms, they could walk away with 80% of the profits taxpayers were hoping for.
• Next sucker? AIG (AIG) Chairman and CEO Edward Liddy says he'll step down as soon as a replacement is found, noting the company has reached an 'inflection point' and needs a CEO who's ready to commit long term. Sources say a search could take 3-6 months, which seems optimistic considering the job description includes coming out of a comfortable retirement to put up with congressional buffoonery on an almost weekly basis for a $1 pre-tax salary. AIG also said it will split the two jobs, and proposed a 20:1 reverse stock split, which would bring shares back on to the radar screens of institutional investors. AIG -1.7% premarket to $1.77.
• Card companies brace for big losses. Analysts say companies that pitch credit cards to riskier customers and those that issue cards for retailers will be hardest hit by new legislation being signed into law today. Major players include Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Capital One (COF), HSBC (HBC), GE (GE), and Target (TGT). Some analysts estimate the new laws - which restrict fees, limit rate increases, and require more transparency - will lop $10B in revenue off the industry's top line.
• GM, union strike deal. UAW reached a tentative deal with GM (GM) and the Treasury to modify its labor agreement, including enabling GM to contribute shares instead of cash to a new, union-managed healthcare plan. On Tuesday, GM said it didn't envision reaching a deal with the UAW before May 26, when an offer to bondholders to exchange $27B in debt for a 10% stake expires. The deal, which must still be ratified by workers, will not necessarily allow GM to avoid bankruptcy. A story in the WaPo says the Obama administration is steering GM to file for bankruptcy protection as early as the end of next week, but Reuters sources say otherwise.
• Citi looks to slice IT costs. Citigroup (C) is ramping up efforts to slash IT costs, and sources say it believes it can save more than $1B 2009 through a massive systems integration.
• Opel draws another vulture. A Chinese automaker expressed interest in GM's (GM) Opel and Vauxhall operations in Europe, bringing potential bidders to four: unnamed Chinese firm, Fiat, Magna International (MGA) and RHJ International, a buyout firm with automotive assets.
• Leading indicators show signs of growth. The Conference Board's Leading Indicators rose 1% in April, in-line with consensus. It was the first increase in seven months, and indicates the recession will be less intense - at least in the near-term - and give hope for growth in H2. "The question is how long before declines in activity give way to small increases. If the indicators continue on the current track, that point might be reached in the second half of the year," Conference Board's Ken Goldstein said. (Conference Board's release)
• Factory sector still struggling. The Philly Fed's Business Outlook Survey edged up to -22.6 in May from -24.4 in April. The increase was substantially less than consensus estimates of -15. Although clearly indicating continued overall decline, the reading was the highest since last September. New orders remained negative, but shipments and the future activity index improved notably. "The survey does suggest that the rebound from the post-Lehman shock is not yet morphing into a sustained recovery story," Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics says. (Philly Fed's release)
• U.S. still bleeding jobs. Initial Jobless Claims fell 12,000 from last week to 631,000 - just worse than the consensus of 625K. Continuing claims rose by 75,000 to 6,662,000. The report failed to satisfy bulls or bears, offering neither proof that job losses have topped, nor clarity that they're headed higher.

Earnings: Thursday After Close

• Aeropostale (ARO): Q1 EPS of $0.49 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $408M (+21.3%) vs. $405M. Issues upside EPS guidance for Q2 of $0.46-0.48. Same store sales for Q1 increased 11% vs. 10% a year ago. (PR)
• Alkermes (ALKS): FQ4 EPS of -$0.14 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $44M (-29.7%) vs. $45M. Issues downside guidance for FY '10, sees revenue $182-197M vs. $205.84M consensus. (PR)
• Aruba Networks (ARUN): FQ3 EPS of $0.01 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $46M (+7.5%) vs. $43M. (PR)
• Autodesk (ADSK): Q1 EPS of $0.18 beats by $0.10. Revenue of $426M (-28.9%) vs. $419M. (PR)
• Dress Barn (DBRN): FQ3 EPS of $0.39 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $376M (+6.6%) vs. $362M. Issues upside EPS guidance for FY '09 of $1.00-1.05 vs. $0.88 consensus. (PR)
• Excel Maritime Carriers (EXM): Q1 EPS of $2.42 beats by $1.73. Revenue of $222M (+218.2%) vs. $109M. (PR)
• Foot Locker (FL): Q1 EPS of $0.20 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $1.2B (-7.1%) in-line. (PR)
• Gap (GPS): Q1 EPS of $0.31 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $3.1B (-7.6%) in-line. (PR)
• LDK Solar (LDK): Q1 EPS of -$0.21 misses by $0.13. Revenue of $283M (-33.6%) vs. $240M. (PR)
• Pacific Sunwear of California (PSUN): Q1 EPS of -$0.13 beats by $0.16. Revenue of $223.5M (-16.3%) vs. $214.5M. (PR)
• Salesforce.com (CRM): Q1 EPS of $0.15 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $305M (+23.1%) in-line. (PR)
• Zumiez (ZUMZ): Q1 EPS of -$0.06 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $77M (-2.4%) vs. $76.5M. (PR)

Today's Markets

Asia was mostly lower following a difficult session in the U.S. Thursday, but Europe stocks have moved up from early lows. Futures are up.

Additional screening criteria included:

Q4 2008 Earnings Call

March 5, 2009 9:00 am ET

• Underwater homeowners get a rescue. The White House launched its $75B foreclosure relief plan yesterday as new data showed 20% of homeowners with mortgages are "under water," or owe more than their house is worth. The program, which could help as many as 1 in 9 homeowners, offers cash incentives to loan servicers to cut monthly payments, will modify mortgages on single-unit homes up to $729,750 (with a higher limit for multiple-unit properties) and will apply only to loans originated before January 1. In the past, being under water ruled out the possibility of refinancing, but the new plan will allow homeowners with negative home equity to modify their loans. Still, as with any broad effort, the foreclosure relief plan creates distinct winners and losers among homeowners. Obama is also pushing for legislation to allow bankruptcy judges to alter loan terms; the House of Representatives is expected to pass a bill today allowing these mortgage "cramdowns."
• UBS stays mum. UBS (UBS) has refused to provide the U.S. government with the details of 52,000 clients as part of a tax evasion probe, arguing that doing so would violate Swiss law. Last month, UBS agreed to pay $780M and disclose around 300 client names as part of a separate tax evasion settlement. Testifying in the Senate yesterday, UBS exec Mark Branson said bank officials "believe that UBS has now complied with the summons to the fullest extent possible without subjecting its employees to criminal prosecution in Switzerland," as the Swiss government recognizes only tax fraud, not tax evasion, as a crime. UBS therefore suggested the dispute should be resolved through diplomacy, not a legal suit. However, a top Justice Department official warned the agency may prosecute senior UBS executives.
• Fed okays CDS clearinghouse. The Federal Reserve approved a credit-default swap clearinghouse plan presented by IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), leaving SEC approval as the final hurdle for the futures clearinghouse. Intercontinental has been competing with three rivals, including CME Group (CME), to back the $27T CDS market; the winner stands to gain up to $400M annually in revenue. An SEC spokesman said Intercontinental's proposal is 'under active consideration' but he didn't know when the agency would make a decision.
• Beige book sees long recession. The Fed's Beige Book noted consumer spending remained sluggish on the whole, although many districts saw some improvement in January/February after a dismal holiday season. Travel and tourism fell noticeably, and manufacturing declines were pronounced. A near-term recovery looks unlikely, "with a significant pickup not expected before late 2009 or early 2010." (Read the Fed's summary or full report)
• Subpoenas for Merrill's merry millionaires. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has issued subpoenas to seven top Merrill Lynch executives who received over $10M in cash and stock last year. Among the execs are top investment banker Andrea Orcel, global sales and trading chief Thomas Montag and former head of strategy Peter Kraus, each of whom made more than $25M apiece in 2008. Cuomo is investigating whether the bonus payments violated securities laws, and will ask the execs about their individual bonuses, their communications with John Thain and the timing of the bonuses. Bank of America (BAC) has filed a petition in New York state court to keep the pay data confidential.
• Ford's new debt plan. Ford (F) launched a major debt restructuring and plans to cut up to $10.4B, or around 40% of its debt, by offering cash and new shares to creditors. The automaker will make up to $2.2B in cash available for the restructuring, and is paying between $0.30-$0.55 on the dollar as an incentive to convert debt. Following the announcement, S&P cut Ford's credit rating to CC from CCC+, calling the move a distressed debt exchange but noting the downgrade does not reflect an increase in Ford's risk of bankruptcy. Fitch left its rating unchanged at CCC.
• Hartford may sell life unit to Sun Life. Sources say Hartford Financial Services (HIG) is in talks to sell most of its unprofitable life insurance unit to Canada's Sun Life Financial (SLF). Hartford has suffered from three credit-rating downgrades, and has watched its share price plunge 72%. As recently as this week, S&P cut the company's rating to BBB, saying losses at the life division, which has $247.9B of assets, are threatening the other half of the company. Hartford had previously held talks with MetLife (MET) but no agreement was reached.
• MGM loan talks collapse. MGM Mirage (MGM) and Dubai World failed to reach an agreement with Deutsche Bank (DB), according to people close to the situation, and talks on a $1.2B loan to complete the Las Vegas CityCenter project have collapsed. Deutsche had been seeking equity and debt stakes in the $11.2B Las Vegas development. MGM Mirage and Dubai World are now said to be holding talks with other parties. Yesterday, MGM Mirage also warned it may breach its debt covenants this year if economic conditions worsen.
• Wyeth loses key drug case. Wyeth (WYE) lost a key court case, as the Supreme Court ruled drugmakers can be sued in state court over alleged drug defects, even if the FDA has already approved a medicine's use and the attached warning label. The decision eases the way for liability lawsuits, and could have significant implications for industries beyond pharmaceuticals. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote on behalf of the court that with 11,000 drugs on the U.S. market, the FDA's own advisory panels have said they lack the resources to protect the public.
• YouTube said to be in talks on music website. YouTube (GOOG) is said to be in talks with Vivendi's Universal Music Group to create an online music website with the working title "Vevo." Universal approached YouTube at the end of last year and proposed a site that would include videos from all the major music labels, with YouTube providing the technology to sell ads accompanying the videos. Discussions are in an advanced stage but could still fall apart.
• China holds back from new stimulus. The Shanghai Composite Index gained over 6% yesterday on expectations that new Chinese stimulus measures would be announced today, but investors were left disappointed when no such announcement came. In his annual speech to China's parliament, Premier Wen Jiabao said an 8% growth target is within reach this year, signalling the government sees an additional stimulus as unnecessary. The IMF forecasts just 6.7% growth for the country, the slowest rate in nearly 20 years.
• Germany provides corporate credit. Germany created a €100B ($126B) fund to help corporations struggling with tight credit conditions. The fund will offer €75 billion in liquidity guarantees and €25 billion in direct loans. GM's (GM) German unit Opel could be one of the first companies to tap the fund, after GM Europe warned it needs €3.3 billion in aid.
• Job cuts. Challenger reported that firing announcements fell 23% in February vs. the month before, to 186,350, but were up 158% Y/Y. "The decline in job cuts last month offers some hope that January was the peak and we will now see layoffs begin to fall or at least stabilize." However, ADP reported (.pdf) that the private sector shed 697,000 jobs in February, worse than the -630,000 economists expected and a big drop from January's -614,000 (revised from -522,000). Monster's online employment index edged up 4 points in February to 122, but is down 26% Y/Y. "The gain in the February Index is the first since October of 2008.... suggests that traditional annual hiring cycles remain somewhat intact."
• BoE rate cut. As expected, the Bank of England cut its key rate by half a percentage point this morning to 0.5%. BoE said lowering its key rate probably won't suffice, and resolved to take further actions to boost money supply, including buying up £75B of public- and private-sector debt - mainly the former - over the next three months.
• More non-mfg contraction. Economic activity in the non-manufacturing sector contracted in February, registering 41.6% on the ISM Index vs. January's 42.9%. This is the fifth month in a row of sector contraction.

Earnings: Thursday Before Open

• Canadian Natural Resource (CNQ): Q4 EPS of $1.29 beats by $0.53. Revenue of $2.5B (-21.5%) vs. $2.1B. (PR)
• Ciena (CIEN): FQ1 EPS of -$0.09 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $167M (-26.4%) vs. $172M. (PR)
• Talisman Energy (TLM): Q4 EPS of $0.53 beats by $0.16. Revenue of $2.20B (-8.1%) vs. $2.25B. (PR)
• Urban Outfitters (URBN): Q4 EPS of $0.24 misses by $0.04. Revenue of $508M (+9.2%) vs. $515M. (PR)

Earnings: Wednesday After Close

• Adobe (ADBE): Sees FQ1 EPS of $0.44-0.45 vs $0.42 consensus and revenue of $783-786M vs. $792M. Sees FQ2 revenue of $675-725M vs. $776M consensus. Shares +8.8% premarket. (PR)
• Foot Locker (FL): Q4 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $1.32B vs. $1.37B. Shares -3.7% AH. (PR)
• Gymboree (GYMB): Q4 EPS of $1.00 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $289M in-line. Sees Q1 EPS of $0.18-0.25 vs. consensus of $0.76, and negative comps in the range of 20-25%. Shares -32.1% AH. (PR)
• Jackson Hewitt (JTX): FQ3 EPS of $0.74 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $97.8M vs. $104.7M. Sees 2009 EPS of $1.00-1.10 vs. $1.48 consensus and revenue of $250-255M vs. $295M. Shares -3% AH. (PR)
• PetSmart (PETM): Q4 EPS of $0.62 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $1.36B in-line. Sees 2009 EPS of $1.40-1.50 vs. $1.49 consensus and revenue growth in mid-to-high single digits. Shares -4.4% AH. (PR)
• Sigma Designs (SIGM): Q4 EPS of $0.38 beats by $0.20. Revenue of $1M (-38%) vs. $47.3M. "The IPTV market is showing resiliency to the current economic turmoil and we are confident that it will continue to demonstrate strength throughout this year." Shares +9.7% AH. (PR)
• Weight Watchers International (WTW): Q4 EPS of $0.56 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $338M (-1.6%) vs. $356M. 2009 guidance in-line with Street. Shares +6.6% AH. (PR)

Today's Markets

• Asia markets were mixed Thursday after China Premier Wen reaffirmed the country's 8% growth goal for 2009, but was silent on the much-rumored extra stimulus money that sent Shanghai soaring Wednesday. Nikkei +1.95% to 7,433. Hang Seng -0.97% to 12,211. Shanghai +1.04% to 2,221. BSE -2.94% to 8,198.
• In Europe, markets are sagging at midday. London -2.5%. Paris -2.2%. Frankfurt -2.6%.
• U.S. stock futures failed to carry Wednesday's strength into the overnight session. Dow -1.3% to 6740. S&P -1.7% at 697. Nasdaq -0.8%. Crude -2.7% to $44.15. Gold +1.1% to $917. 30-year Tsys +1.01%.

Thursday's Economic Calendar

• 6:00 Chain Store Sales
  6:00 Monster Employment Index
  7:00 BoE Announcement
  7:45 ECB Announcement
  8:30 Jobless Claims
  8:30 Productivity and Costs
  9:00 RBC CASH Index
  10:00 Factory Orders
  10:00 Fed's Kohn testifies on AIG
  10:30 EIA Natural Gas Report
  4:30 PM Money Supply
• Notable earnings before Thursday's open: CIEN, CNQ, TLM, URBN
• Notable earnings after Thursday's close: IPI, MRVL

Seeking Alpha editor Eli Hoffmann contributed to this post.