Market Currents

• Wednesday, November 25, 2009

• 14:33 PM Clearwire (CLWR +5%) gathers another $920M in financing for a recent total of $2.8B, more than enough to reach its goal of providing 120M people with wireless 4G Internet by the end of next year. The funding adds fuel to an ambitious bet on WiMAX by Clearwire backers Sprint Nextel (S), Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), Comcast (CMCSA), Time Warner (TWX) and others. Comment!

• Tuesday, November 24, 2009

• 13:32 PM Dow leaders: VZ +1.8%. T +1.4%. GE +0.9%. JNJ +0.6%. INTC +0.3%.
  Dow laggards: JPM -2.1%. HPQ -1.8%. BA -1.6%. AA -1.5%. MRK -1.3%. 1 Comment

• Friday, November 20, 2009

• 17:10 PM With a billion-dollar-plus settlement with Intel (INTC) inked, [[AMD]] reverses earlier salary cuts for top executives, returning hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation. 3 Comments

• Thursday, November 19, 2009

• 13:19 PM Dow leaders: MRK +0.8%. WMT +0.2%. KO +0.1%.
  Dow laggards: INTC -5%. AA -4.8%. GE -2.7%. DD -2.5%. JPM -2.4%. Comment!
• 10:48 AM BofA Merrill downgrades eight chip stocks, noting inventory levels will soon overshoot demand, increasing the risk of a supply chain correction. Downgraded to Neutral: Intel (INTC -5.5%), LSI Logic (LSI -3.9%), Marvell Tech (MRVL -6.6%) and TI (TXN -3.6%). Cut to Underperform: Microchip Tech (MCHP -5.1%), Maxim Integrated (MXIM -5.3%), National Semi (NSM -6%) and Power Integrations (POWI -4.1%). 1 Comment
• 10:30 AM Dow leaders after one hour: MRK +0.3%.
  Laggards: INTC -5.5%. AA -3.9%. GE -2.6%. DD -2.5%. CAT -2.4%. DIS -2.2%. CVX -1.9%. BA -1.8%. UTX -1.8%. CSCO -1.8%. JPM -1.7%. Comment!

• Wednesday, November 18, 2009

• 10:33 AM Dow leaders after one hour: BAC +3%. HD +0.4%. JPM +0.4%.
  Laggards: HPQ -1.7%. DIS -1.3%. INTC -1.1%. CSCO -1%. BA -0.8%. Comment!

• Tuesday, November 17, 2009

• 11:41 AM Intel (INTC) CFO Stacy Smith expects a recovery in corporate spending on PCs in the next 18 months, as "ingredients are being put in place" for a large-enterprise refresh cycle. The release of Windows 7 (MSFT) has had only a slight net positive impact so far, he said. 1 Comment

• Monday, November 16, 2009

• 10:30 AM Dow leaders early on: XOM +2.9%. AA +2.7%. MRK +2.5%. BA +2.4%. CAT +2.1%. INTC +2%. DDD +2%. GE +1.9%. CVX +1.9%. AXP +1.8%. HD +1.7%. Comment!
• 09:06 AM Intel (INTC) boosts its quarterly dividend by 12.5% to $0.1575. "With one of the highest dividend yields in the technology industry, the dividend increase is another sign of our confidence in business prospects going forward," CEO Paul Otellini says. (PR) Shares +1% premarket. 3 Comments

• Thursday, November 12, 2009

• 09:10 AM AMD (AMD) and Intel (INTC) settle their antitrust and patent disputes, resulting in a new 5-year cross license agreement, and a $1.25B payment from Intel to AMD. Both will forgo any previous claims. Premarket: INTC -0.4%. AMD +24%. (PR) Comment!

• Wednesday, November 11, 2009

• 15:13 PM Late Dow leaders: BAC +2.3%. INTC +1.6%. HD +1.6%. CSCO +1.1%.
  Dow laggards: MRK -1.1%. JNJ -0.7%. AA -0.7%. Comment!
• 13:16 PM Dow leaders: BAC +2.4%. HD +1.7%. INTC +1.3%. AXP +1.1%. CSCO +1.1%.
  Dow laggards: MRK -0.9%. JNJ -0.7%. HPQ -0.2%. Comment!
• 10:36 AM Dow leaders early on: BAC +2.8%. AXP +2.1%. BA +2%. AA +1.9%. INTC +1.8%. HD +1.6%. JPM +1.4%. DD +1.4%. CSCO +1.4%.
  Laggards: JNJ -0.5%. MRK -0.3%. Comment!

• Tuesday, November 10, 2009

• 10:32 AM Dow leaders after one hour: BAC +2.3%. INTC +1%. MMM +1%. JNJ +1%. KFT +0.8%. AA +0.8%. KO +0.8%. IBM +0.8%.
  Laggards: DD -1.6%. BA -1.4%. CSCO -0.9%. GE -0.8%. Comment!
• 09:58 AM Clearwire (CLWR +1.4%) confirms it's raising another $1.5B. Sprint Nextel (S) will put up $1.18B; Comcast (CMCSA) $196M. Time Warner Cable (TWC) $103M. Intel (INTC) $50M. Eagle River $20M. And Bright House Networks $19M. Google (GOOG), also a key JV partner, took a pass. Clearwire will also sell $1.45B in senior secured notes to pay off an existing facility. Comment!