Two days ago we noted that General Electric (GE) had been down eight trading days in a row. After two more days of losses, GE has now crossed into double-digit territory. GE is currently tied for the longest losing streak in the Russell 1,000 along with CNW, GHL, and ISIL.

Since 1980, GE has only had one other losing streak of ten days or more. Way back in August 1985, GE actually went down for eleven straight days before finally registering an up day. Since it's one of the most widely held stocks in the world, both by portfolio managers and General Electric employees, there's no doubt that quite a few people are heading home wondering what it's going to take to see some green next to GE.

• U.S. AAA rating not guaranteed. The U.S. could lose its AAA rating if it fails to reduce its deficit over the next 3-4 years, Moody's says. Steven Hess, Moody's lead analyst for the U.S., acknowledges reducing the gap won't be easy: "Raising taxes is never popular and difficult politically, so we have to see if the government can do that or cut expenditures." Earlier this year, markets were spooked after S&P cut its outlook on Britain to Negative from Stable. Meanwhile, Moody's said today European countries' rising debt won't trigger across-the-board downgrades.
• Deep pay cuts coming to TARP recipients. In a plan to be made public within the next few days, the government will order deep pay cuts at the biggest bailout recipients - Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), AIG (AIG), GM, Chrysler, GMAC and Chrysler Financial. The plan targets the 25 top earners at each company, who will see their compensation decline this year by about 50%, while bonus payments will be slashed by up to 90%, to be replaced by stock that they'll be restricted from immediately selling. The plan does not address firms that didn't receive bailout funds, or that have already repaid their loans.
• South Korea's $3.9B oil buy. State-owned Korea National Oil Corp. agreed to buy Canada's Harvest Energy (HTE) for $3.9B - $1.7B for its outstanding shares and the assumption of $2.2B in debt. Shareholders will receive $9.52/share - a 37% premium to Wednesday's close. The deal is South Korea's biggest outbound cross-border deal ever in the Oil & Gas sector, and ranks seventh in global Oil & Gas sector M&A transactions in 2009. Harvest produced 53K b/d in Q2, 70% of which was crude oil and 30% was natural gas. Shares +29.1% premarket to $9.05.
• Bove drops a bomb. Rochdale Securities analyst Richard Bove sent stocks into a tailspin late Wednesday after he downgraded shares of Wells Fargo (WFC) to Sell, despite a consensus-beating Q3. Bove is concerned by the positive impact mortgage hedges have had on Wells' recent results, which "keep coming through for the company whenever it needs to bolster earnings," but are a nightmare for investors who shouldn't look at such activity as generating predictable or repeatable profits. Bove also called the portfolio Wells acquired from Wachovia 'cancerous.' WFC -5.1% yesterday.
• eBay falters on gloomy outlook. eBay (EBAY) posted Q3 earnings that exceeded expectations, but shares traded lower after-hours after its guidance gave a gloomier vision of the near future than many expected (read eBay's Q3 earnings call transcript). eBay has struggled as online shopping habits have shifted away from auctions to fixed-price purchases on sites such as Amazon.com (AMZN).
• Beige Book sees signs of growth. The Fed said most regional economies are on the mend, as home sales rebound and manufacturers restart idled operations. "Reports of gains in economic activity generally outnumber declines, but virtually every reference to improvement was qualified as either small or scattered," the Fed said in its beige book tally. The report also highlighted how heavily businesses are relying on government spending: "There were several reports that the only 'sure' business will come from government stimulus projects, although funding for such projects has been slow to materialize," it said.
• Microsoft's big day. Microsoft's much-anticipated OS upgrade, Windows 7, goes on sale today. The company hopes Windows 7 will gain more traction among retail and corporate clients than its most predecessor, Vista, which was seen as slow and clunky. Analysts say the new OS isn't likely to cause a sudden spike in PC sales, a point conceded by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who said recently IT budgets "aren't going to rise just because we shipped a new version."
• Twin deals for Twitter. Twitter inked deals to sell the rights to mine its pipeline of 'tweets' with both Google (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT) Wednesday, underscoring the growing importance of real time search. Neither would say how much it's paying for the rights to index the millions of daily tweets, considered to be Twitter's most valuable asset. The deals could be the first meaningful revenue for Twitter since its 2006 inception, and begin to answer the much-explored question of "where's the beef?"
• A strong Q3 for China. China's Q3 GDP came in at 8.9%, just below the 9% economists forecast. Separate reports showed industrial production and retail sales also accelerated. China's return to robust growth continues to raise the question of when policy makers will withdraw record fiscal and monetary stimulus in order to avoid another bubble.
• Galleon wind down begins. Managers of Galleon Group's $500M Asia fund are considering buying the unit, sources say. On Wednesday, Galleon told employees and investors it would wind down the firm after its founder was charged with insider trading. Unless the government intervenes, investors likely won't get their money back until Jan. 1, 2010.

Earnings: Thur. Before Open

• 3M Company (MMM): Q3 EPS of $1.37 beats by $0.20. Revenue of $6.19B (-5.6%) vs. $5.77B. Shares +1.2% premarket. (PR)
• AT&T (T): Q3 EPS of $0.54 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $30.9B (-1.3%) in-line. Wireless subscribers +2M to 81.6M. Shares +2% premarket. (PR)
• AU Optronics (AUO): Q3 EPS of $0.26 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $3.5B (+8.4%) vs. $3.21B. Operating margin 6.8%. Shares -2.3% in Taiwan. (PR)
• Black & Decker (BDK): Q3 EPS of $0.91 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $1.21B (-23%) in-line. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.68-0.78 vs. $0.50 consensus. Shares +2.2% premarket. (PR)
• Bristol-Myers (BMY): Q3 EPS of $0.52 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $5.49B (+4.4%) in-line. (PR)
• Bunge (BG): Q3 EPS of $1.62 beats by $0.15. Revenue of $11.3B (-23.6%) vs. $12B. Sees full-year EPS of $3.10-$3.50 vs. consensus of $4.69. Says fertilizer business continues to be pressured by high-cost inventory and a weak pricing environment. (PR)
• Celgene (CELG): Q3 EPS of $0.56 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $692M (+16.8%) vs. $671M. Shares +5.4% premarket. (PR)
• Check Point Software (CHKP): Q3 EPS of $0.52 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $234M (+17%) vs. $231M. (PR)
• CONSOL Energy (CNX): Q3 EPS of $0.48 misses by $0.18. Revenue of $1.09B (-6.7%) in-line. Shares -3.1% premarket. (PR)
• Cooper Industries (CBE): Q3 EPS of $0.70 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $1.29B (-25.6%) in-line. "Revenue and orders for maintenance and repair items and product lines that declined rapidly at the beginning of the economic downturn are beginning to improve, while the longer cycle products appear to have now bottomed." Shares -0.3% premarket. (PR)
• Danaher (DHR): Q3 EPS of $0.89 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $2.75B (-14.2%) in-line. (PR)
• Delta Air Lines (DAL): Q3 EPS of $0.06 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $7.57B (+32.4%) in-line. (PR)
• Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO): Q3 EPS of $2.62 beats by $0.32. Revenue of $908M (+0.9%) vs. $874M. Declares special dividend of $1.875/share. (PR)
• Dow Chemical (DOW): Q3 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.14. Revenue of $12.05B (+6.4%) vs. $11.85B. "The economic outlook for the rest of 2009 appears to be stabilizing with strong growth in Asia Pacific, especially China, and other emerging geographies. The global economy is now on firmer footing, and, in our view, the U.S. economy is beginning a slow and tenuous recovery, with unemployment continuing to be a drag on consumer spending." (PR)
• EMC (EMC): Q3 EPS of $0.23 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $3.52B (-5.3%) vs. $3.45B. Says customers are signaling more comfort spending their IT budgets. Shares +1.5% premarket. (PR)
• Ensco International (ESV): Q3 EPS of $1.05 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $425M (-31.3%) vs. $439M. (PR)
• Entergy (ETR): Q3 EPS of $2.40 misses by $0.08. Revenue of $2.94B (-25.9%) vs. $3.9B. "We continue to experience the negative effects of the slowed economic recovery." (PR)
• Ericsson (ERIC): Q3 EPS of 0.25kr misses by 0.61kr. Revenue of 46.4Bkr (-5.7%) vs. 49.46Bkr. "Sales of network equipment declined due to lower demand in the current tougher market environment. Despite lower volumes, Network margins remain stable." Shares -8.9% premarket. (PR)
• Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB): Q3 EPS of -$0.20 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $M in-line. "The credit environment remains challenging, and we continue to aggressively work to manage risk in the portfolio." Shares -2.1% premarket. (PR)
• Goodrich (GR): Q3 EPS of $1.12 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $1.65B (-7%) in-line. (PR)
• Hershey Foods (HSY): Q3 EPS of $0.73 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $1.48B (-0.3%) vs. $1.54B. "As we look to 2010, we assume the economic environment for consumers in the U.S. and international markets will continue to be challenging." Shares +2.5% premarket. (PR)
• Huntington Bancshares (HBAN): Q3 EPS of -$0.33 misses by $0.05. Revenue of $M in-line. Shares -2.1% premarket. (PR)
• IMS Health (RX): Q3 EPS of $0.40 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $541M (-5.7%) vs. $522M. (PR)
• Janus Capital Group (JNS): Q3 EPS of $0.05 misses by $0.10. Revenue of $228M (-17.4%) vs. $225M. (PR)
• JetBlue Airways (JBLU): Q3 EPS of $0.04 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $854M (-5.3%) vs. $847M. Shares +1.2% premarket. (PR)
• Kimberly-Clark (KMB): Q3 EPS of $1.40 beats by $0.27. Revenue of $4.91B (-1.7%) in-line. Sees full-year EPS of $4.50-$4.60 vs. consensus of $4.26, citing increased cost savings, better organic sales growth and a further recovery in currency exchange rates. Shares +5.5% premarket. (PR)
• Laboratory Corp. (LH): Q3 EPS of $1.22 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $1.19B (+4.4%) in-line. (PR)
• Legg Mason (LM): FQ2 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $660M (-31.7%) vs. $652M. (PR)
• Logitech (LOGI): FQ2 EPS of $0.11 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $498M (-25.1%) vs. $474M. Sees FQ3 revenue of $575-595M vs. $623M. Shares +7.2% in Zurich. (PR)
• McDonald's (MCD): Q3 EPS of $1.15 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $6.05B (-3.5%) in-line. Comps +3.8%, with U.S. +2.5%, Europe +5.8% and the rest +2.2%. Shares +1.3% premarket. (PR)
• Mead Johnson (MJN): Q3 EPS of $0.53 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $700M (-5.8%) vs. $737M. Shares -8.4% premarket. (PR)
• Merck (MRK): Q3 EPS of $0.90 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $6.05B (+1.8%) in-line. (PR)
• NCR (NCR): Q3 EPS of $0.19 misses by $0.05. Revenue of $1.14B (-17.7%) vs. $1.22B. Sees full-year EPS of $0.45-0.55 vs. $0.67. "The willingness of customers to invest in Q2... did not spill over into Q3. That said, we were more encouraged by the conversations we were having with our customers about Q4 and 2010." Shares -5.9% premarket. (PR)
• New York Times (NYT): Q3 EPS of $0.16 beats by $0.17. Revenue of $571M (-16.9%) vs. $562M. Shares +2.7% premarket. (PR)
• NII Holdings (NIHD): Q3 EPS of $0.69 beats by $0.14. Revenue of $1.14B (-3.5%) in-line. (PR)
• Nucor (NUE): Q3 EPS of -$0.10 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $3.12B (-58.1%) vs. $2.98B. "Our view remains that there has been little improvement in real demand and the uncertainty in our economy is still very high. We also continue to believe that real demand is in for a long, slow recovery." Shares -0.6% premarket. (PR)
• Occidental Petroleum (OXY): Q3 EPS of $1.14 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $4.1B (-41.9%) in-line. Shares +1.2% premarket. (PR)
• Old Republic International (ORI): Q3 EPS of -$0.283 misses by $0.11. Revenue of $959M (+2.4%) vs. $910M. (PR)
• Philip Morris (PM): Q3 EPS of $0.93 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $6.59B (-5.3%) vs. $6.71B. "While we experienced lower organic volume in the quarter, this was largely anticipated given our pricing actions and the on-going impact of the economic crisis on total consumption levels." Shares +0.75% premarket. (PR)
• PNC Financial Services (PNC): Q3 EPS of $1.00 beats by $0.69. Revenue of $4.05B (+144.7%) vs. $3.8B. (PR)
• Potash (POT): Q3 EPS of $0.82 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $1.1B (-64.1%) in-line. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.65-0.85 vs. consensus of $1.18. "The uncertainty among fertilizer buyers has lasted far longer than we anticipated, but cannot continue indefinitely." Shares -2.9% premarket. (PR)
• ProLogis (PLD): Q3 EPS of $0.21 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $274M (-72.3%) vs. $228M. Shares +2.4% premarket. (PR)
• Raytheon (RTN): Q3 EPS of $1.25 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $6.21B (+5.8%) in-line. Shares +0.7% premarket. (PR)
• Reliance Steel & Aluminum (RS): Q3 EPS of $0.57 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $1.24B (-57.1%) vs. $1.34B. Declines Q4 guidance. "We believe that demand is fairly stable at low levels." (PR)
• Reynolds American (RAI): Q3 EPS of $1.24 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $2.15B (-5.3%) in-line. Shares -0.1% premarket. (PR)
• Ryder System (R): Q3 EPS of $0.50 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $1.26B (-20.3%) in-line. Anticipates the weak overall economic environment and protracted freight recession will continue to impact its performance. (PR)
• Schering-Plough (SGP): Q3 EPS of $0.40 in-line. Revenue of $4.5B (-1.7%) in-line. (PR)
• Starwood Hotels (HOT): Q3 EPS of $0.14 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $1.22B (-20.7%) vs. $1.16B. "It is very difficult at this time to provide any definitive point of view on 2010. While business conditions have clearly stabilized, it is very hard to forecast the pace of recovery, especially rate." (PR)
• SunTrust Banks (STI): Q3 EPS of -$0.60 misses by $0.05. Revenue of $1.94B (-21%) vs. $2.11B. Earnings include $131M writedown on debt. Allowance for loan losses +128M to $3.02B. (PR)
• Sybase (SY): Q3 EPS of $0.63 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $293M (+3.3%) vs. $281M. Shares +2.2% premarket. (PR)
• TASER International (TASR): Q3 EPS of -$0.05 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $26.8M vs. $20.9M. Shares -1.2% premarket. (PR)
• Temple-Inland (TIN): Q3 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $885M (-9.3%) vs. $876M. "As we look forward, economic conditions, while still uncertain, have stabilized and appear to be on a slow path to recovery." (PR)
• Terra Industries (TRA): Q3 EPS of $0.45 misses by $0.07. Revenue of $347M (-56.1%) vs. $356M. Shares +0.8% premarket. (PR)
• Thermo Fisher (TMO): Q3 EPS of $0.78 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $2.53B (-2%) in-line. (PR)
• Travellers (TRV): Q3 EPS of $1.61 beats by $0.30. Revenue of $6.3B vs. $6B. Sees full-year EPS of $5.30-5.50 vs. consensus of $5.28. Raises quarterly dividend to $0.33 from $0.30. Authorizes an additional $6B share buyback. "We remain cautious about the magnitude of rate gains that are achievable in the near term given general economic conditions." (PR)
• Union Pacific (UNP): Q3 EPS of $1.02 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $3.67B (-24.2%) in-line. "Business volumes seem to have stabilized, but at very low levels." (PR)
• UPS (UPS): Q3 EPS of $0.55 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $11.15B in-line. Volume of 927M packages, -2.4%. "I'm encouraged by the signs of economic recovery that are becoming apparent, although we still have a long way to go," CEO Scott Davis said. Shares -1% premarket. (PR)
• US Airways (LCC): Q3 EPS of -$0.83 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $2.72B, including $110 from a la carte revenue initiatives, in-line. Shares +3.4% premarket. (PR)
• Xerox (XRX): Q3 EPS of $0.14 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $3.67B (-15.9%) in-line. Sees full-year EPS of $0.55-0.57 vs. consensus of $0.53. (8-K)
• Zimmer (ZMH): Q3 EPS of $0.88 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $976M (+2.5%) vs. $954M. Shares +1.8% premarket. (PR)

Earnings: Wed. After Close

• Alliance Data Systems (ADS): Q3 EPS of $0.83 misses by $0.51. Revenue of $483M (-5%) vs. $500M. Expects 2010 EPS of $6.00 vs. $6.10. Shares -6.3% AH. (PR)
• Amgen (AMGN): Q3 EPS of $1.49 beats by $0.22. Revenue of $3.8B (-2%) in-line. Raises full-year EPS guidance to $4.90-5.05 from $4.80-4.95, vs. $4.88. Shares -3% AH. (PR)
• Ameriprise Financial (AMP): Q3 EPS of $1.03 beats by $0.39. Revenue of $2B (+20%) vs. $2.1B. Debt-to-total-capital ratio of 18.7%. Shares +1.6% AH. (PR)
• Citrix Systems (CTXS): Q3 EPS of $0.43 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $401M (+1%) vs. $400M. Sees full-year revenue up 8-9% sequentially to $1.73B. Shares -3.6% AH. (PR)
• Covanta (CVA): Q3 EPS of $0.28 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $409M (-7%) vs. $388M. Shares +0.3% AH. (PR)
• eBay (EBAY): Q3 EPS of $0.38 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $2.2B (+6%) vs. $2.1B. Shares -4.9% AH. (PR)
• Equifax (EFX): Q3 EPS of $0.57 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $452M (-7%) in-line. Shares -3.2% AH. (PR)
• F5 Networks (FFIV): FQ4 EPS of $0.50 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $175M (+2%) vs. $164M. Shares +8.1% AH. (PR)
• Fidelity National Information Services (FIS): Q3 EPS of $0.46 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $851M (-4%) vs. $870M. Shares -0.4% AH. (PR)
• Fidelity National Financial (FNF): Q3 EPS of $0.32 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $1.5B (+52%) in-line. Shares +0.2% AH. (PR)
• Intersil (ISIL): Q3 EPS of $0.10 in-line. Revenue of $168M (-23%) vs. $162M. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.14-0.17 vs. $0.13. Shares -2.8% AH. (PR)
• Knight Transportation (KNX): Q3 EPS of $0.16 in-line. Revenue of $173M (-17%) vs. $165M. Shares +1.2% AH. (PR)
• Lam Research (LRCX): FQ1 EPS of $0.03 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $319M (+46%) vs. $288M. Shares +3.2% AH. (PR)
• Newfield Exploration (NFX): Q3 EPS of $1.58 beats by $0.24. Revenue of $375M (-45%) vs. $536M. Shares -0.1% AH. (PR)
• Noble (NE): Q3 EPS of $1.63 beats by $0.10. Revenue of $906M (+5%) in-line. Shares +1.1% AH. (PR)
• Novellus Systems (NVLS): Q3 EPS of -$0.03 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $177M (-29%) vs. $172M. Shares +0.9% AH. (PR)
• OSI Pharmaceuticals (OSIP): Q3 EPS of $0.81 beats by $0.49. Revenue of $111M (+18%) vs. $106M. Shares -1% AH. (PR)
• Pactiv (PTV): Q3 EPS of $0.54 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $839M (-9%) vs. $858M. Shares -0.2% AH. (PR)
• QLogic (QLGC): FQ2 EPS of $0.21 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $132M (-23%) vs. $126M. Shares -2.6% AH. (PR)
• Range Resources (RRC): Q3 EPS of $0.26 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $204M (-67%) vs. $261M. Shares -0.2% AH. (PR)
• Skechers (SKX): Q3 EPS of $0.52 beats by $0.17. Revenue of $405M (+1%) vs. $385M. Shares +5.2% AH. (PR)
• Terex (TEX): Q3 EPS of -$0.95 misses by $0.61. Revenue of $1.2B (-51%) vs. $1.3B. Shares -10.5% AH. (PR)
• TriQuint Semiconductor (TQNT): Q3 EPS of $0.10 in-line. Revenue of $173M (-7%) vs. $178M. Shares -19.9% AH. (PR)
• VMware (VMW): Q3 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $490M (+4%) vs. $474M. Sees Q4 revenue of v$540M-560M vs. $523M. Shares +1.6% AH. (PR)

Today's Markets

Asian and European markets followed the U.S. into the red Thursday. Stock futures are marginally lower.

This week will prove to be an important week for the Semiconductors (SMH), a group that has shown leadership through much of the rally. This week we will see earnings from a few key names including ASML Holding (ASML), Xilinx (XLNX), Altera (ALTR), Intel (INTC), Linear Tech (LLTC), Fairchild Semi (FCS), Advanced Micro (AMD), and Cypress Semi (CY).

It could prove to be a challenge beating investor expectations this quarter after many of the firms raised guidance back in early September (SkyWorks (SWKS), Texas Instruments (TXN), MicroChip (MCHP), Xilinx, and Altera), and with shares trading at 52 week highs for many of the semiconductors, we could see profit taking post-earnings.

At the end of each trading week, Hillbent scans the equity market for potential anomalies which exhibit extremely oversold and overbought conditions. Past observations have revealed that such candidates may experience reversal corrections to the upside or downside once the market reconfirms that their fundamentals remain solidly intact or relatively poor. From a contrarian perspective, these lists may also serve as a precursor to changes in institutional sentiment and underlying fundamentals.

(The purpose of this report is not to provide specific recommendations, but instead serve as a time-saving reference tool and starting point for investment ideas as the upcoming trading week unfolds. Of course, the results generated are not always perfect and users are strongly encouraged to perform their own due diligence on these names. Note that overbought and oversold conditions are based upon proprietary algorithms and quantitative models instead of conventional technical analysis indicators. As a supplement to this report, please refer to our ETF Trends Report to determine if market direction trends support a bullish or bearish investment bias over short-term, intermediate, and long-term timeframes.)

• Goldman is TARP-free at last. Goldman Sachs (GS) became the first major bank to completely shed its bailout ties, paying $1.1B to redeem the government's TARP warrants and calling the Treasury's valuation 'full and fair' given the government's support of the financial system. With the warrant redemption and the $318M Goldman paid in dividends on its $10B TARP aid, taxpayers received a 23% annualized return for the nine-month transaction.
• S&P flip-flops on ratings. Standard & Poor's unexpectedly switched its rating of some bonds backed by commercial mortgages, upgrading the bonds to AAA just days after the same bonds had been sharply downgraded. The unusual move further damaged S&P's credibility and unsettled investors in the $700B market for commercial mortgage-backed securities [CMBS]. The reversal came after S&P realized bonds with a shorter lifespan were less risky than similarly structured bonds with a longer lifespan, a mistake that could reflect a basic misunderstanding of the way cash flows are distributed across CMBS.
• Bristol-Myers buys biotech firm. Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) agreed to acquire Medarex (MEDX), the biotech firm it already owns a 2% stake in, for $2.4B in cash. Bristol-Myers said the $16/share deal, which marks a 90% premium to Medarex's closing price on Wednesday, buys it proven antibody discovery technology and rights to an immunotherapy the companies developed. MEDX +89% premarket (7:00 ET).
• Intel fights antitrust fine. Intel (INTC) is fighting back against a record €1.06B ($1.45B) fine levied by EU antitrust regulators in May, saying the fine violates protections granted by European human rights law. Since the EU antitrust body handles both the investigation and judgment of a given case, companies don't have the opportunity to fully defend themselves as they would in a court. However, the appeal is a bit of a long shot as no EU antitrust appeal has ever won on this argument.
• Amazon's shoe-in to online apparel. Amazon (AMZN) will buy online shoe retailer Zappos.com for around $928M, an aggressive expansion into online apparel after Amazon's solo attempts at selling footwear were unsuccessful. Zappos is known for its fiercely loyal customer base, good customer service and free shipping/free returns policy. AMZN +0.6% premarket (7:00 ET).
• Bair wants large firms to pay. FDIC's Sheila Bair is scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking Committee this morning, and will ask lawmakers to impose fees on the country's biggest financial firms. Bair wants Congress to create an industry-supported Financial Company Resolution Fund which will provide working capital and cover unanticipated losses if the government has to wind down a failed firm. In addition to minimizing government outlays, this would also "provide an economic incentive for an institution not to grow too large."
• SEC targets pay-to-play. The SEC voted unanimously to propose rules preventing investment advisers from managing public programs for two years if they make political contributions. The proposal is an attempt to curb pay-to-play practices, in which public contracts are awarded to those who make political contributions.
• Chrysler warns on dealership legislation. Chrysler warned it could face liquidation for a second time if lawmakers move forward with a plan to reinstate terminated dealership agreements. The House of Representatives has already approved a measure to restore contracts with 789 dealerships, but the bill's future in the Senate is less certain.
• Moody's rebuffed in Berkshire sale. Moody's (MCO) fell 10.3% in after-hours trading following a disclosure by Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) that it sold 7.99M shares of the ratings company this week. Though Berkshire remains Moody's largest shareholder, the sale reduced its stake by 17%. Moody's has reported a profit decline for seven consecutive quarters.
• Porsche CEO, CFO resign. Porsche's CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and CFO Holger Haerter both resigned from the company with immediate effect, after coming to "the conclusion that the further strategic development of Porsche... is better off, if they are not on board as acting persons," said a company spokesman. The move is expected to facilitate a merger agreement with Volkswagen (VLKAY.PK).
• eBay beats as Paypal, marketplace show signs of life. eBay (EBAY) managed to beat quarterly earnings expectations (see details below), even as profit fell 29% and revenue fell 4%. The company's PayPal online-payments unit continued to grow strongly and a decline in eBay's core marketplace leveled off.
• ING may sell private banking unit. ING Group (ING) reportedly hired JPMorgan Chase (JPM) to advise it on the possible sale of its private banking business in Europe and Asia. A deal could be worth over $1B.
• House prices rise. The FHFA House Price Index was up 0.9% in May vs. -0.2% consensus, after falling 0.3% in April (revised). Nationwide prices are down 5.6% from a year earlier, and 10.7% from the April 2007 peak.

Earnings: Thursday Before Open

• 3M (MMM): Q2 EPS of $1.20 beats by $0.26. Revenue of $5.7B (-15%) vs. $5.4B. Adjusts guidance for FY '09 - sees EPS of $4.10-4.30 vs. prior guidance of $3.90-4.30. Shares +1.3% premarket (7:40 ET). (PR)
• Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN): Q2 EPS of $0.20 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $92M (+55%) vs. $89M. Shares +1.9% premarket (8:00 ET). (PR)
• AT&T (T): Q2 EPS of $0.54 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $30.7B (-0.4%) in-line. Shares +2.9% premarket (7:45 ET). (PR)
• Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY): Q2 EPS of $0.56 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $5.4B (+3.5%) vs. $5.3B. Issues upside EPS guidance for FY '09 of $1.95-2.05 vs. prior guidance of $1.85-2.00. (PR)
• Bunge (BG): Q2 EPS of $2.28 beats by $1.57. Revenue of $11B (-23.5%) vs. $12B. (PR)
• Celestica (CLS): Q2 EPS of $0.11 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $1.4B (-25%) in-line. (PR)
• Celgene (CELG): Q2 EPS of $0.46 in-line. Revenue of $629M (+10%) vs. $621M. Shares +8.9% premarket (7:45 ET). (PR)
• CME Group (CME): Q2 EPS of $3.37 beats by $0.14. Revenue of $648M (+15%) vs. $652M. (PR)
• Danaher (DHR): Q2 EPS of $0.89 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $2.7B (-19%) vs. $2.8B. (PR)
• Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO): Q2 EPS of $2.79 beats by $0.15. Revenue of $946M (-0.8%) vs. $942M. (PR)
• EMC (EMC): Q2 EPS of $0.18 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $3.3B (-11%) vs. $3.2B. Sees FY '09 EPS of $0.82 vs. &0.78 consensus. Shares +4.8% premarket (7:30 ET). (PR)
• EnCana (ECA): Q2 EPS of $1.22 beats by $0.25. Revenue of $3.8B (-49%) vs. $4.4B. (EnCana news release (.pdf))
• Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB): Q2 EPS of $1.15 vs. consensus of -$0.34 (may not be comparable). Tier 1 ratio of 12.9%. Shares +7% premarket (7:30 ET). (PR)
• FLIR Systems (FLIR): Q2 EPS of $0.35 in-line. Revenue of $278M (+6.5%) vs. $297M. Shares +1.9% premarket (7:50 ET). (PR)
• Ford Motor (F): Q2 EPS of -$0.21 beats by $0.27. Revenue of $27.2B (-34%) vs. $24.8B. (PR)
• Goodrich (GR): Q2 EPS of $1.15 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $1.7B (-8%) in-line. (PR)
• Hershey (HSY): Q2 EPS of $0.43 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $1.2B (+6%) vs. $1.1B. (PR)
• Huntington Bancshares (HBAN): Q2 EPS of -$0.40 misses by $0.22. Increased provision for credit losses 42% from Q1 to $413.7M. Tier 1 capital ratio of 11.86%. Shares -3.1% premarket (7:50 ET). (PR)
• ITT Educational Services (ESI): Q2 EPS of $1.87 beats by $0.14. Revenue of $317M (+29%) vs. $307M. (PR)
• JetBlue Airways (JBLU): Q2 EPS of $0.05 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $807M (-6%) vs. $800M. (PR)
• Kimberly-Clark (KMB): Q2 EPS of $1.16 beats by $0.22. Revenue of $4.7B (-5.6%) vs. $4.6B. Issues upside FY '09 EPS guidance of $4.10-4.25 vs. $4.12 consensus. (PR)
• Newmont Mining (NEM): Q2 EPS of $0.43 misses by $0.04. Revenue of $1.6B (+7%) in-line. (PR)
• NII Holdings (NIHD): Q2 EPS of $0.79 beats by $0.23. Revenue of $1.1B (-4%) vs. $1B. (PR)
• Omnicom Group (OMC): Q2 EPS of $0.75 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $2.9B (-17%) in-line. (PR)
• PNC Financial Services Group (PNC): Q2 EPS of $0.14 vs. consensus of $0.45 (may not be comparable). Revenue of $4B (+95.5%) vs. $3.65B. (PR)
• Potash Corp. (POT): Q2 EPS of $0.62 misses by $0.07. Revenue of $856M (-67%) vs. $981M. Issues downside Q3 EPS guidance of $0.80-1.20 vs. $1.56 consensus. Issues downside FY '09 EPS guidance of $4.00-5.00 vs. $5.24 consensus. Shares -2.3% premarket (6:50 ET). (PR)
• Raytheon (RTN): Q2 EPS of $1.24 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $6.1B (+4%) vs. $6.2B. (PR)
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT): Q2 EPS of $0.22 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $1.2B (-23%) in-line. Issues downside guidance: sees Q3 EPS of $0.06-0.10 vs. $0.21 consensus, FY '09 EPS of $0.65 vs. $0.76 consensus. (PR)
• Terra Industries (TRA): Q2 EPS of $0.81 misses by $0.10. Revenue of $453.5M (-46%) vs. $568M. (PR)
• Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO): Q2 EPS of $0.74 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $2.5B (-8%) vs. $2.4B. (PR)
• Wyeth (WYE): Q2 EPS of $0.94 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $5.7B (-4%) vs. $5.6B. Issues upside FY '09 EPS guidance of $3.48-3.58 vs. prior guidance of $3.33-3.53. (PR)
• Xerox (XRX): Q2 EPS of $0.16 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $3.7B (-18%) in-line. (PR)

Earnings: Wednesday After Close

• Alliance Data Systems (ADS): Q2 EPS of $0.95 misses by $0.07. Revenue of $460M (-9%) vs. $481M. Sees Q3 EPS of $1.34 in-line. Maintains 2009 EPS guidance of $5.15 vs. $5.00. (PR)
• Amdocs (DOX): Q3 EPS of $0.53 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $690M (-16%) vs. $679M. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.47-0.51 vs. $0.48. Sees Q4 revenue of $670M-690M vs. $668M. (PR)
• Citrix Systems (CTXS): Q2 EPS of $0.39 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $393M (+0%) vs. $387M. Sees Q3, FY09 revenues flat vs. 2008. (PR)
• Covanta Holding Corp. (CVA): Q2 EPS of $0.21 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $376M (-11%) vs. $391M. Reaffirms 2009 EPS $0.65-0.80 vs. $0.71 and adjusted EBITDA of $500M-540M. (PR)
• C.R. Bard (BCR): Q2 EPS of $1.23 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $625M (+1%) vs. $634M. (PR)
• eBay (EBAY): Q2 EPS of $0.37 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $2.1B (-4%) vs. $2B. Sees Q3 EPS of $0.34-0.36 vs. $0.35. Sees Q3 revenue of $2.05B-2.15B vs. $2B. (PR)
• Equifax (EFX): Q2 EPS of $0.57 in-line. Revenue of $455M (-9%) vs. $453M. Sees Q3 EPS of $0.52-0.57 vs. $0.59. (PR)
• Equinix (EQIX): Q2 EPS of $0.44 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $213M (+7%) vs. $209M. Sees Q3 revenue of $221M-225M vs. $220M. Sees FY09 revenue of $860M-$875M vs. $861M. (PR)

• E*TRADE Financial (ETFC): Q2 EPS of -$0.22 beats by $0.09. Total loan loss allowance was flat at $1.2B, or 5% of gross loans receivable. (PR)

By Charles Rotblut

Earnings season will hit full stride with reports from nearly 500 companies. Approximately 1 out of every 4 earnings release will be from a firm in the financial sector.

Weekly Babies With Bathwater Watchlist

At the end of each trading week, Hillbent scans for the equity market for potential anomalies which exhibit extremely oversold and overbought conditions. Past observations have revealed that such candidates may experience reversal corrections to the upside or downside once the market reconfirms that their fundamentals remain solidly intact or relatively poor. From a contrarian perspective, these lists may also serve as a precursor to changes in institutional sentiment and underlying fundamentals.

Q1 2009 Earnings Call

April 22, 2009 4:45 pm ET

With tech, including the semiconductors, rallying furiously the last month or so, it is worth keeping in mind how deep the downturn has been in the sector.

I found the following chart at the EETimes.com web site (hat tip to Semiconductors editor Mark Lapedus).

The cable and telecom company, Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR), just filed for bankruptcy, primarily due to their huge debt load. When you hear these stories, you realize how important it is to find stocks that are debt free if you are looking for safer and more secure companies to invest in. In addition, if the stock has a lot of cash, that adds to the level of safety. And if you can find stocks that meet both of these criteria, and the stock also pays a dividend, then maybe it is a stock worth buying.

WallStreetNewsNetwork.com recently uploaded its downloadable Excel database called High Cash No Debt High Yield Stock List. It lists over 30 companies that have a lot of cash, are debt free, and pay decent yields. Over a dozen have yields in excess of 4%. Here are a few examples, all of which have market caps over $1 billion and have no debt.

The chip analysts at UBS turned bullish this morning, raising their ratings on a slew of stocks on the theory that the industry’s historically low utilization rates have likely troughed. UBS thinks year-over-year sales declines will likely hit bottom in the June quarter; the firm notes that “under-shipment of end consumption” should clear excess inventory over the next 1-2 quarters. While UBS sees industry revenues down 35% this year, they expect a rebound of 10% in 2010.

• U.S. chip analyst Uche Orji upgraded Texas Instruments (TXN) to Buy from Neutral, upping his price target to $20, from $15, and asserting that a sum-of-the-parts analysis points to “significant upside.”
• Orji also upgrades Intersil (ISIL) to Neutral from Sell, increasing his target to $10, from $6.75. He writes that “downside risk to fundamentals has subsided with bottoming utilization, stabilizing order trends and potential depletion of channel inventory in one to two quarter timeframe.”
• Semiconductor equipment analyst Stephen Chin upgrades MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) to Buy from Neutral, increasing his price target to $20, from $12.50. He writes that recent checks found that a planned shutdown of its plant in Taisil, Taiwan, will be shorter than expected. He upped his Q1 EPS estimate or 9 cents, from 4 cents.
• Chin also upgraded ATMI (ATMI) to Buy from Neutral, boosting his target to $20, from $13. He says the company’s March wafer starts could increase over February given more copper-related materials sales to its largest foundry customer, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM). For 2009, he now sees a loss of 92 cents a share, versus a previous estimated loss of $1.04. For 2010, he sees profits of 80 cents, up from 40 cents.
• European chip analyst Nicholas Gaudois upped his rating on CSR ((LSE:CSR)) to Buy from Neutral, upping his target to 260 pence from 200. He sees the potential for material upside from the company’s proposed acquisition of SiRF (SIRF).
• Gaudois also upped his rating on STMicroelectronics (STM) to Neutral from Sell, boosting his target to 4.40 Euros from 3.70. He says company specific risks remains, but that the downside appears limited with the stock trading at 0.8x enterprise value/trough-of-cycle ‘09 revenues.
• Asian chip analyst Jonah Cheng upped his ratings on United Microelectronics (UMC), Advanced Semiconductor, also known as ASE (2311.TW) and Siliconware Precision (SPIL) to Buy from Neutral.

• No surprises from FOMC. As expected, the FOMC kept its target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25%, and said the rate is likely to stay at 'exceptionally low levels... for some time.' The committee noted that the economy has weakened since December, global demand is slowing substantially, credit remains tight and a gradual recovery may possibly begin later in 2009. In terms of policy, the Fed will continue to buy agency debt and is prepared to buy longer-term Treasurys "if evolving circumstances indicate that such transactions would be particularly effective in improving conditions in private credit markets." (Read the FOMC's press release)
• Stimulus passes House with lopsided support. The House of Representatives approved Obama's $819B stimulus plan but without the broad bipartisan support the president had hoped for. Despite a week of trying to find common ground with Republicans, the bill passed 244-188 - without a single Republican vote and down 11 Democrats. As one Republican opponent put it, "the strategy under this bill is to throw billions of dollars in every bureaucratic direction, and cross our fingers and hope for the best." The size of the package and the long-term nature of some of its spending could push the deficit to 10%-12% of GDP, roughly double the previous peacetime record. The Senate will vote on their own stimulus bill next week.
• Small steps towards TARP transparency. Under increased pressure from both taxpayers and elements of the government, the Treasury has said it will work to increase the transparency of its TARP program. Its first step is a promise to post all future TARP agreements with financial institutions on its website within 10 business days. Treasury's Geithner said doing so will allow taxpayers to see how their money is being spent. The Treasury has posted nine agreements on its website so far and other past agreements will be posted over the coming weeks. Separately, the Senate is working on a bill that would allow the Government Accountability Office access to the books and records of TARP recipients.
• Bank bailout, part deux. Sources say a revamped bank rescue plan may be on the way and could cost as much as $1T-$2T. The Obama administration could make an announcement within days, but several details of the plan have yet to be determined, including the key issue of how to fix ailing financial institutions without ending up owning them. If a 'bad bank' is created, it could be seeded with $100B-$200B from TARP, with the rest of the $1T-$2T coming from the sale of government-backed debt or Fed borrowing. Despite a desire to avoid nationalizing banks, the government may buy commons shares of struggling institutions, while economists say the government probably can't avoid owning at least some banks for a temporary period.
• CDS crackdown. Congress has been busy lately. Aside from working on the stimulus plan and TARP transparency, there is a movement underway in the House of Representatives to change how over-the-counter derivatives are regulated. The draft bill would ban credit-default swap trading unless investors owned the underlying bonds, potentially prohibiting as much as 80% of the trading in the $29T CDS market. The bill would also force U.S. trading in the $684T over-the-counter derivatives market to go through a central clearinghouse.
• Credit union backstop. Government regulators moved to guarantee $80B of uninsured deposits at corporate credit unions and to inject $1B of new capital into the largest of these wholesale credit unions after an unexpected $1.1B loss on mortgage-backed securities. Credit unions are generally considered to be among the most conservatively managed financial institutions, but regulators wanted to minimize the chances of pain spreading, saying "we are trying to institute confidence in the system, and we think this will do so."
• Mortgage apps plummet. Mortgage applications dropped 38.8% from a week ago, MBA reported, led by a 48% decline in refinances. 30-year fixed mortgages inched down 2bps to 5.22%.

Earnings: Thursday Before Open

• 3M Company (MMM): Q4 EPS of $0.97 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $5.5B (-11.1%) vs. $5.67B. Sees 2009 organic sales volume of -5% to -9% from a previous -3% to -7%. (PR)
• Altria (MO): Q4 EPS of $0.37 in-line. Revenue of $3.83B (+3.5%) vs. $3.87B. (PR)
• American Electric Power Company (AEP): Q4 EPS of $0.59 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $3.5B (+6.1%) vs. $3.1B. (PR)
• AstraZeneca (AZN): Q4 EPS of $1.25 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $8.19B vs. $8.27B. Sees 2009 EPS of $5.15-5.45 vs. $4.97, and sales growth flat. Will cut 15,000 jobs by 2013 (up from 9,000). Shares -4.8% premarket. (PR)
• AutoNation (AN): Q4 EPS of $0.12 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $2.7B (-33.9%) vs. $3.1B. (PR)
• Ball (BLL): Q4 EPS of $0.56 misses by $0.04. Revenue of $1.73B (-1.3%) in-line. (PR)
• Black & Decker (BDK): Q4 EPS of $0.73 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $1.38B (-16.6%) vs. $1.41B. Sees Q1 EPS of $0.05-0.15 vs. $0.74 and full-year EPS of $1.75-2.25 vs. $3.62. Expects double-digit organic sales decline for next three quarters. (PR)
• Celgene (CELG): Q4 EPS of $0.43 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $623M (+52.3%) in-line. Sees 2009 EPS of $2.05-2.15 vs. $2.18 and revenue of $2.6-2.7B vs. $2.85B. (PR)
• Colgate-Palmolive (CL): Q4 EPS of $1.00 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $3.66B (+0.6%) in-line. "The benefits of recently easing commodity and oil prices should begin to flow through during the first and second quarters of 2009." (PR)
• Continental (CAL): Q4 EPS of -$0.84 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $3.5B (-1.5%) in-line. (PR)
• Dominion Resources (D): Q4 EPS of $0.72 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $4.17B (+14.4%) vs. $3.51B. Sees Q1 EPS of $0.85-0.90 vs. $0.99, but full-year EPS of $3.20-3.30 vs. $3.26. (PR)
• Eastman Kodak (EK): Q4 EPS of -$0.08 misses by $0.29. Revenue of $2.4B (-24.4%) vs. $2.8B. (PR)
• Eli Lilly (LLY): Q4 EPS of $1.07 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $5.2B (+0.4%) vs. $5.4B. (PR)
• Fairchild Semi (FCS): Q4 EPS of $0.06 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $321M (-25.7%) in-line. Sees Q1 revenue of $220-245M vs. $289M. Says orders stabilized in January and that it's now building backlog for Q1. (PR)
• Ford (F): Q4 EPS of -$1.37 misses by $0.07. Revenue of $29.2B vs. $27.07B. "Based on current planning assumptions, Ford has sufficient Automotive liquidity to fund its business plan and product investments and does not need a bridge loan from the U.S. government." (PR)
• Fortune Brands (FO): Q4 EPS of $0.68 misses by $0.17. Revenue of $1.79B (-19.4%) vs. $1.85B. Sees 2009 EPS of $2.00-2.50 vs. $3.47. Shares -9.1% premarket. (PR)
• Gentex (GNTX): Q4 EPS of -$0.08 misses by $0.13. Revenue of $122.3M (-28.4%) vs. $131.9M. (PR)
• L-3 Communications (LLL): Q4 EPS of $2.04 beats by $0.10. Revenue of $4.01B (+5.4%) vs. $3.87B. (PR)
• J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT): Q4 EPS of $0.43 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $880M (-6.9%) vs. $950M. Shares -0.7% premarket. (PR)
• Illinois Tool Works (ITW): Q4 EPS of $0.54 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $3.68B (-5.9%) in-line. Sees Q1 EPS of $0.26-0.42 vs. $0.47. Shares -2.6% premarket. (PR)
• International Paper (IP): Q4 EPS of $0.21 in-line. Revenue of $6.5B (+12.1%) vs. $7.0B. (PR)
• Lear (LEA): Q4 EPS of -$8.91 including goodwill impairment of $530M and restructuring costs of $194M vs. consensus of -$1.21. Revenue of $2.6B (-32.6%) vs. $2.8B. (PR)
• Newell Rubbermaid (NWL): Q4 EPS of $0.11 beats by $0.03. "Weakness in consumer spending, compounded by inventory reductions at retail, negatively impacted both sales and productivity." (PR)
• Oshkosh (OSK): FQ1 EPS of -$0.28 misses by $0.16. Revenue of $1.39B (-7.6%) vs. $1.35B. (PR)
• Occidental Petroleum (OXY): Q4 EPS of $1.18 beats by $0.23. Revenue of $4.02B (-27.1%) vs. $4.5B. (PR)
• Petro-Canada (PCZ): Q4 EPS of $1.07 beats by $0.18. "Our production came in at the high-end of our guidance range, largely due to strong reliability at most of our major facilities." (PR)
• Raytheon (RTN): Q4 EPS of $1.13 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $6.2B (+2.6%) in-line. (PR)
• Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL): Q4 EPS of $0.01 misses by $0.06. Revenue of $1.46B (-2.3%) in-line. Sees Q1 EPS of -$0.35 to -$0.30 vs. -$0.08. Shares +1.5% premarket. (PR)
• Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A): Q4 EPS of -$0.44 misses by $2.16. Revenue of $81.1B vs. $89.1B. (PR)
• SEI Investments Company (SEIC): Q4 EPS of $0.25 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $268M (-24.1%) vs. $339M. "The severe downturn in the capital markets made the fourth-quarter a particularly challenging one and had a significant negative impact on both our quarterly and annual results." (PR)
• Smith International (SII): Q4 EPS of $1.00 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $3.06B (+33.0%) vs. $3.04B. (PR)
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT): Q4 EPS of $0.49 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $1.33B (-17.2%) vs. $1.39B. (PR)
• Textron (TXT): Q4 EPS of $0.40 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $3.61B (+0.4%) in-line. Sees 2009 EPS of $1.00-1.50 vs. $2.39 and revenue of $12.5B vs. $13.63B. (PR)
• Timken (TKR): Q4 EPS of $0.07 misses by $0.10. Revenue of $1.21B (-9.7%) vs. $1.25B. Sees 2009 EPS of $1.30-1.60 vs. $1.78. Shares -5.9% premarket. (PR)
• T. Rowe Price Group (TROW): Q4 EPS of $0.31 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $416M (-30.4%) vs. $436M. (PR)
• US Airways (LCC): Q4 EPS of -$1.93 beats by $0.22. Revenue of $2.76B (-0.5%) in-line. (PR)
• Xcel Energy (XEL): Q4 EPS of $0.35 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $2.7B (+4.0%) vs. $2.6B. (PR)
• Zimmer (ZMH): Q4 EPS of $1.00 in-line. Revenue of $1.03B (-4.0%) vs. $1.09B. (PR)

Earnings: Wednesday After Close

• Allstate (ALL): Q4 EPS of $0.97 misses by $0.38. Revenue of $6.57B (-26.9%) vs. $8.46B. $2.4B of realized net capital losses. Suspends share buybacks. Unrealized losses of $8.8B up from $4.1B, primarily due to widening spreads. (PR
• Ameriprise Financial (AMP): Q4 EPS of $0.80 vs. consensus of $0.27. Revenue of $1.4B (-21.1%) vs. $1.73B. "The deteriorating market and economic conditions in the fourth quarter had a significant impact on our results." (PR)
• Airgas (ARG): FQ3 EPS of $0.76 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $1.08B (+7%) in-line. (PR)
• Boston Scientific (BSX): Q4 EPS of $0.21 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $2B (-7%) in-line. Takes $2.7B writedown on Guidant defibrillator unit, but says it will continue to be "a key driver of the company's sales and earnings growth going forward." (PR)
• Compuware (CPWR): FQ3 EPS of $0.15 in-line. Revenue of $269M (-13.1%) vs. $295M. (PR)
• Covance (CVD): Q4 EPS of $0.72 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $439M (+6.7%) vs. $419M. (PR)
• Flextronics (FLEX): FQ3 EPS of $0.16 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $8.15B (-10.1%) vs. $7.99B. Sees FQ4 EPS of $0.02-0.07 vs. $0.14 and revenue of $5.5-6.5B vs. $7.17B. (PR)
• Hanesbrands (HBI): Q4 EPS of $0.50 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $1.03B (-10.7%) vs. $1.08B. Expects soft retail consumer environment to continue and does not expect macroeconomic conditions to be conducive to growth in 2009. (PR)
• Intersil (ISIL): Q4 EPS of $0.11 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $131M (-38.3%) vs. $128M. Sees Q1 revenue of $105-115M vs. $125M. (PR)
• Lam Research (LRCX): FQ2 EPS of -$0.09 misses by $0.04. Revenue of $283M (-53.6%) vs. $277M. "The global semiconductor industry has entered one of the most difficult periods in its history, one that is presenting severe challenges to our customers and thus severely limiting investment in wafer fab equipment." (PR)
• LSI Logic (LSI): Q4 EPS of $0.06 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $610M (-17.7%) vs. $588M. (PR)
• Murphy Oil (MUR): Q4 EPS of $0.83 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $4.43B vs. $5.79B. (PR)
• Qualcomm (QCOM): FQ1 EPS of $0.31 misses by $0.16. Revenue of $2.51B (+3%) vs. $2.42B. Sees 2009 revenue of $9.3-9.8B vs. $10.25B. EPS were dragged down by "other-than-temporary impairments" to its securities portfolio. (PR)
• Robert Half International (RHI): Q4 EPS of $0.26 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $990M (-18.9%) vs. $1.04B. (PR)
• Ryland Group (RYL): Q4 EPS of -$1.40 misses by $0.34. Revenue of $528M (-38.6%) vs. $540M. (PR)
• Starbucks (SBUX): FQ1 EPS of $0.15 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $2.62B (-5.5%) vs. $2.69B. Increases 2009 cost reduction target to $500M from $400M. New U.S. stores target lowered to 140 from 200. Store layoffs could equal 6,000. (PR)
• Sepracor (SEPR): Q4 EPS of $0.92 beats by $0.36. Revenue of $370M (+8.7%) vs. $353M. Will reduce workforce by 20%, or about 540 jobs. (PR)
• Symantec (SYMC): FQ3 EPS of $0.42 beats by $0.10. Revenue of $1.54B (+0.6%) vs. $1.48B. (PR)
• Western Digital (WDC): FQ2 EPS of $0.55 beats by $0.24. Revenue of $1.82B (-17.3%) vs. $1.75B. "Against a backdrop of unprecedented global economic turmoil and a rapid intra-quarter fall off in demand for hard drives, WD acted swiftly to align production and operating expenses with significantly lower-than-originally planned unit volumes." (PR)

Today's Markets

• Asia markets closed mostly up. Nikkei +1.8% to 8,251. Hang Seng +4.6% to 13,154. Shanghai closed. BSE -0.2% to 9,236.
• In Europe at midday, London -2.2%. Paris -1.6%. Frankfurt -1.4%.
• U.S. futures: Dow -1.1%. S&P -1.2%. Nasdaq -0.9%. Crude -2.5% to $41.12. Gold -1.1% to $878.80.

Thursday's Economic Calendar

• 8:30 Durable Goods Orders
  8:30 Jobless Claims
  10:00 New Home Sales
  10:30 EIA Natural Gas Report
  4:30 PM Money Supply
• Notable earnings before Thursday's open: AEP, AMB, AN, AZN, BC, BDK, BLL, CAL, CELG, CL, CNX, D, EK, EQT, ERIC, F, FCS, FO, GNTX, HOT, HP, IP, ITW, JBLU, LCC, LEA, LLL, LLY, MMM, MO, MPW, NWL, OSK, OXY, PCZ, RCL, RDS.A, RTN, SEIC, SII, SNE, TKR, TROW, TXT, XEL, YRCW, ZMH
• Notable earnings after Thursday's close: ACF, AMZN, ARBA, BRCM, CA, CB, EMN, IDTI, INFA, JNPR, KLAC, MCHP, MXIM, PKI, PMCS, QTM, RMBS, SPWRA, VAR, VSEA, WMS

Seeking Alpha editor Eli Hoffmann contributed to this post.

Q4 2008 Earnings Call

January 28, 2009 4:45 pm ET

EVENT: AAPL BEATS, GUIDES LOWER

On Wednesday, Apple (AAPL) reported record FQ1 revenues of $10.167B (+4.4% above Street estimate $9.742B). The Q/Q revenue growth of +28.8%, slightly below a wide 7-yr average of +31.5% (ó=26.16). Management guided FQ2 (March) revenues $7.6-8.0B ($7.8B midpoint -4.9% below Street $8.203B; implied Q/Q revenue decline -23.3% well below the 7-yr average of -4.1%, ó=42.11, but in line with last 3 years).

Alcoa Inc. (AA) – Fourth quarter earnings from aluminum producer Alcoa were anything but shining. Reporting a fourth quarter loss of $1.19billion in the past year, times certainly look bleak for the Pittsburgh based behemoth. Citing a laundry list of factors leading to their poor performance, it would seem that Alcoa is far from seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, with decreasing prices of metals and plunging demand for industrial materials, excess capacity seems inevitable. As demand from their major end-users such as automotive giants GM and Ford continue to decline, and Alcoa’s margins increasingly diminish, investors fear that this situation may continue to snowball. While investors knocked a further 5.3% off Alcoa’s market capitalization following last night’s earnings to $9.52, option traders seemed to increase their appetite for put options reserving selling rights at the 7.50 series where they paid a 41 cent premium for more than 7,000 contracts. Open positions there currently amount to 12,776 contracts. Implied volatility subsided by some 15% to stand at 89%.

The next value metric we will add to the current Magic Formula list is the price-to-book ratio. Previously, we've covered Magic Formula stocks with the:

• Highest Dividend Yields
• Strongest Relative Strength
• Lowest Price-to-Sales Ratio

Price-to-book is one of the oldest and most intuitive value investing statistics. The "bible" of value investing, Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor, uses the price-to-book ratio as the main criteria for finding undervalued stocks. Book value is the same thing as net worth: all of a company's assets, minus its liabilities. The net worth is (ideally) what the company's value is when not adding a premium for things like future earnings power. Therefore, a company whose market value is below book value would seem to be an obvious bargain.

Let me quickly admit that everything that follows could be wrong - one possibly shouldn't own ANY stocks or any assets.  With that said, typically there are some stocks that go up even during the worst of bear markets. 

The goal of this article is to consider how one should go about finding the best stocks to own when almost every stock is cheap by most metrics and certainly down a lot in price.  It seems to me that the sellers, seeking liquidity at any cost, are selling what they own en masse and without regard to valuation.  Surely there will be some babies in the bathwater.

• Writedowns, trading losses for Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse (CS) reported a Q3 net loss of 1.26B Swiss francs ($1.08B), its second consecutive quarterly loss, as compared to a profit of 1.3B francs a year ago. The loss stemmed from writedowns on leveraged loans and mortgage-backed securities as well as roughly 1.7B francs of trading losses. CEO Brady Dougan, calling the markets 'very challenging,' warned he's 'cautious' on the outlook for Q4. Shares -3.1% in Swiss trading, bringing the stock to a 34% decline this year.
• Darker forecast for Sony. Sony (SNE) cut its fiscal year profit outlook in half, saying a strong yen and the global slowdown would hurt earnings. The Tokyo-based company, with over 75% of its revenue generated overseas, is particularly vulnerable to foreign exchange moves and a strengthened yen has hurt its exports. The company now expects fiscal year operating profit of ¥200B ($2.05B), 57% less than its July forecast of ¥470B, with full-year net profit of ¥150B, a 38% reduction. The diminished outlook comes just as Sony was beginning to show improvement in its videogame and TV businesses, and had completed a three-year restructuring plan.
• Good news from Nestle. Nestle (NSRGY.PK) posted a better-than-expected rise in nine-month sales to 81.4B Swiss francs ($69.75B) vs. a forecast of 81.07B francs. Adjusting for currency effects and acquisitions, underlying sales rose a strong 8.9% vs. an 8.2% forecast. Nestle, the world's largest food group, raised its organic growth forecast for 2008 to 'about 8%' from an earlier target of at least 7.4%. Nestle's geographic and product diversification have helped it weather the global downturn thus far. Shares +7.1% in Zurich trading.
• Goldman swallows pride, cuts back on staff. Goldman Sachs (GS) will lay off about 10% of its 32,500 workforce, sources say. Goldman, which recently converted to a bank-holding company, has become less willing to risk its capital base, both for itself and its clients, which could result in lower profits - but perhaps a more stable business model - going forward. In September CFO David Viniar said he expected GS's record high headcount to remain stable-to-higher through year end, but that was then. Things look bleak for Wall Street workers.
• OPEC wants non-members to cut too. OPEC is considering cutting back oil production in several stages, President Chakib Khelil said Thursday. OPEC ministers meet in Vienna Friday for an emergency meeting to consider dropping oil output in an effort to arrest a 50%+ drop in crude prices since July. Khelil also said OPEC is asking non cartel members Russia, Mexico and Norway to join it in trimming output. The global financial crisis is already forcing many companies to drop oil projects, he said, adding $90/barrel oil wouldn't curb economic growth. Crude fell more than 7% Wednesday after a larger-than-expected inventory build. It's up 2% to $68.10 in overnight trading.
• Foreclosures slow. Foreclosure filings rose 71% in Q3 from a year ago, but only 3% from Q2 as actions to buffer lending markets appear to be slowing the bleeding. RealtyTrac says foreclosure filings dropped 12% in September from August, due mostly to state-law changes "that have at least temporarily slowed down the pace at which lenders are moving forward with foreclosures." Last month, foreclosure filings were recorded on one out of every 475 housing units. Nevada, Florida and California remain the worst markets in the country; Vermont is the best-performing state. (see also next item)
• Homeowner aid on the front burner. The U.S. government is considering a $40B proposal to help stop foreclosures, one of the problems at the heart of the financial crisis. Meanwhile the Treasury Department has its own plan to employ part of the $700B financial rescue bursary to buy and renegotiate mortgages. At a Senate Banking Committee hearing today, FDIC chief Sheila Bair is expected to suggest the government give banks a financial incentive to turn non-performing loans into more-affordable mortgages, with the government sharing in any future losses, sources say.
• Amazon outlook gloomy. Shares of internet retail giant Amazon.com (AMZN) plunged 13% AH after it predicted a gloomy holiday season, despite beating Q3 consensus estimates (see below) with a 48% rise in earnings. Worries over a slowdown have already sent Amazon's shares down more than 40% this year, and its guidance did little to allay the fear, with the company saying it expects Q4 sales of $6-7 billion, vs. analyst expectations of $7.1B. "All companies have limited visibility right now and we're no different," CEO Jeff Bezos told analysts (transcript). CFO Tom Szkutak said the company saw slower rates of growth in the latter half of the quarter, and noted a strong dollar has hurt the company's businesses overseas.
• Lending rates edge lower. Three-month Libor edged down to 3.535%, the lowest since September 24, from 3.54125% Wednesday. The overnight lending rate climbed to 1.20625% from 1.11875% Wednesday, but is still well below the fed funds target rate of 1.50%.
• No credit, no demand. Mortgage applications fell 16.6% from a week ago, MBA said, to the lowest level in almost eight years. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.28% from 6.47%.
• Oil inventories bulge. Petroleum stocks were much higher than expected as consumers continue to hold back, despite significantly lower gas prices. Crude +3.18M barrels vs. +2.3M consensus. Distillates +2.16M vs. +0.1M consensus. Gasoline +2.71M vs. +2.1M consensus.

Earnings: Thursday Before Open

• 1-800 FLOWERS.COM (FLWS): FQ1 EPS of -$0.08 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $158M (+8.4%) vs. $150M. (PR)
• Altria (MO): Q3 EPS of $0.46 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $4.34B (+6.9%) vs. $4.21B. (PR)
• AU Optronics (AUO): Q3 EPS of $0.03 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $3.23B (-23.1%) in-line. Weak sales and soft pricing. Shares -8.1% in Germany. (PR)
• Avnet (AVT): FQ1 EPS of $0.67 misses by $0.03. Revenue $4.49B in-line. (PR)
• Black & Decker (BDK): Q3 EPS of $1.42 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $1.57B (-3.9%) in-line. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.70-0.90 vs. $1.13. "Considering the recent disruption of credit markets, our cash flow, balance sheet and liquidity are particularly important. We reduced inventory 12% versus the prior year..." Shares -6.2%. (PR)
• Bristol-Myers (BMY): Q3 EPS of $0.46 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $5.25B (+14.2%) in-line. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales rises 1% to 68.9%. Shares +3.8%. (PR)
• Bunge (BG): Q3 EPS of $1.70 vs. consensus of $2.81. Revenue of $14.8B vs. $14.46B. Sees full-year EPS of $11.60-11.90 vs. $11.49. (PR)
• Celgene (CELG): Q3 EPS of $0.40 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $592M (+69.3%) in-line. Shares -1.7%. (PR)
• Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE): Q3 EPS of $0.46 in-line. Revenue of $5.74B in-line. Sees full-year EPS of $1.25-1.29 vs. $1.39. (PR)
• Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO): Q3 EPS of $2.23 in-line. Revenue of $900M (+39.8%) vs. $874M. (PR)
• Dow Chemical (DOW): Q3 EPS of $0.60 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $15.41B (+13.4%) vs. $15.63B. "In our view, we will likely see a global recession through most of 2009," DOW says. (PR)
• Elan (ELN): Q3 EPS of -$0.18 misses by $0.04. Revenue of $270M (+52.9%) vs. $275.5M. (PR)
• Eli Lilly (LLY): Q3 EPS of $1.04 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $5.21B (+14.1%) vs. $5.09B. (PR)
• EnCana (ECA): Q3 EPS of $1.92 beats by $0.14. Revenue of $10.77B (+92.4%) vs. $5.92B. (PR)
• Goodrich (GR): Q3 EPS of $1.33 beats by $0.20. Revenue of $1.77B (+10.7%) in-line. Shares -1.1%. "We assume a soft economic environment for 2009, and that global available seat miles will be approximately flat in 2009," it says. (PR)
• Janus Capital Group (JNS): Q3 EPS of $0.24 in-line. Revenue of $275M (-9.5%) vs. $280M. Shares +0.1%. (PR)
• JetBlue Airways (JBLU): Q3 EPS of -$0.02 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $902M in-line. Shares +5%. (PR)
• Level 3 Communications (LVLT): Q3 EPS of -$0.08 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $1.07B (+0.9%) in-line. Shares +8.9%. (PR)
• New York Times (NYT): Q3 EPS of -$0.01 misses by $0.05. Revenue of $687M (-8.9%) vs. $692M. "In this difficult environment, we are reviewing our uses of cash... our Board of Directors plans to review our dividend policy before the end of this year to determine what is most prudent in light of the overall market conditions." (PR)
• NII (NIHD): Q3 EPS of $0.54 misses by $0.13. Revenue of $1.12B (+34.9%) in-line. (PR)
• Petro-Canada (PCZ): Q3 EPS of C$2.56 misses by C$0.20. Production slipped to 424,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from 436,000 barrels. (PR)
• Potash (POT): Q3 EPS of $3.93 beats by $0.36. Revenue of $3.06B (+136.6%) in-line. Cash flow from operating activities of $1.3B was almost four times last year's. Shares +4%. (PR)
• ProLogis (PLD): Q3 EPS of $0.63 beats by $0.08. Sees full-year FFO of $3.60-3.70 vs. $4.10. "We are assuming the current economic malaise persists throughout 2009, further impacting cap rates and leasing momentum in those markets where liquidity has been most impacted..." Shares -6.3%. (PR)
• RadioShack (RSH): Q3 EPS of $0.39 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $1.02B (+6.4%) vs. $0.99B. "After strong months in July and August, our sales and earnings trends slowed in September. We anticipate that this challenging retail environment will continue." (PR)
• Range Resources (RRC): Q3 EPS of $0.51 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $348M (+62.2%) vs. $325M. (PR)
• Raytheon (RTN): Q3 EPS of $1.01 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $5.9B (+13.5%) vs. $5.66B. Announces new $2B share repurchase plan. (PR)
• R.H. Donnelley (RHD): Q3 EPS of $0.38 beats by $0.44. Revenue of $648M (-3.5%) vs. $641M. Shares +20.7%. (PR)
• Southern Company (SO): Q3 EPS of $1.01 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $5.43B vs. $5.04B. (PR)
• Starwood Hotels (HOT): Q3 EPS of $0.71 beats by $0.18. Revenue of $1.53B (-0.3%) in-line. "While we can’t control the economic environment, we can right-size our organization to offset the effects of slowing travel demand," CEO Frits van Paasschen says. (PR)
• SunTrust Banks (STI): Q3 EPS of $0.49 misses by $0.11. Revenue of $2.46B (+20.7%) vs. $2.12B. (PR)
• TD Ameritrade (AMTD): FQ4 EPS of $0.29 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $649M (+4.1%) vs. $606M. Shares +5.8%. (PR)
• Thermo Fisher (TMO): Q3 EPS of $0.76 in-line. Revenue of $2.59B (+7.8%) in-line. (PR)
• Union Pacific (UNP): Q3 EPS of $1.38 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $4.85B (+15.6%) in-line. "Although today’s freight demand is soft, customers are continuing to realize the value of freight rail transportation," it says. (PR)
• UPS (UPS): Q3 EPS of $0.96 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $13.11B (+7.4%) in-line. "Based on economic forecasts, we anticipate a challenging environment for a number of quarters going forward... We believe the U.S. consumer will be very conservative with spending this year." Shares +1.85%. (PR)
• US Airways (LCC): Q3 EPS of -$2.35 beats by $0.19. Revenue of $3.26B (+7.4%) in-line. It sees its new "a la carte" pricing model contributing $400-500M to 2009 revenue. "Concerns have increased about the impact the global economic crisis may place on demand for air travel." Shares -1.1%. (PR)
• Xerox (XRX): Q3 EPS of $0.29 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $4.37B (+1.6%) vs. $4.47B. Says focus on small and mid-size businesses helped offset the economic challenges affecting U.S. large enterprises. (PR)
• Xcel Energy (XEL): Q3 EPS of $0.51 misses by $0.05. Revenue of $2.85B in-line. Shares -2.7%. (PR)
• Zimmer (ZMH): Q3 EPS of $0.97 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $952M vs. $964M. Shares +0.7%. (PR)

Earnings: Wednesday After Close

• Alliance Data Systems (ADS): Q3 EPS of $0.91 misses by $0.25. Revenue of $511M (+3.9%) vs. $524M. Shares +6%. (PR)
• Allstate (ALL): Q3 EPS of -$0.35 vs. $0.72 consensus. Revenue of $7.32B (-18.6%) vs. $6.32B. "We expect volatile financial markets and tough economic conditions to persist for some time." Shares +3.1%. (PR)
• Amazon.com (AMZN): Q3 EPS of $0.27 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $4.26B (+30.7%) in-line. Sees Q4 revenue of $6-7B vs. $7.05B. Kindle titles now account for more than 10% of unit sales for books that are available in both digital and print formats. Shares -14%. (PR)
• Amerigroup (AGP): Q3 EPS of $0.74 beats by $0.23. Revenue of $1.12B (+8.8%) in-line. Shares +4.7%. (PR)
• Amgen (AMGN): Q3 EPS of $1.23 beats by $0.15. Revenue of $3.88B (+7.3%) vs. $3.7B. Shares +4.4%. (PR)
• Anadigics (ANAD): Q3 EPS of $0.00 in-line. Revenue of $58.1M (-27.9%) vs $62.8M. Sees Q4 EPS of -$0.12 to -$0.14 vs. $0.02. Shares -17.8%. (PR)
• Baidu.com (BIDU): Q3 EPS of $1.47 beats by $0.19. Revenue of $135M (+104.2%) in-line. Shares -3%. (PR)
• Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG): Q3 EPS of $0.59 in-line. Revenue of $340M (+18.9%) in-line. Announces a $100M share repurchase program. Shares +2.2%. (PR)
• Cirrus Logic (CRUS): FQ2 EPS of $0.15 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $53.3M (+13.4%) vs. $52M. Shares +15.5%. (PR)
• Cohen & Steers (CNS): Q3 EPS of $0.20 misses by $0.05. (PR)
• F5 Networks (FFIV): FQ4 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $171M (+3.4%) in-line. Shares +7.7%. (PR)
• Intersil (ISIL): Q3 EPS of $0.44 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $219M (+10.3%) in-line. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.22-0.26 vs. $0.41. Shares +9.9%. (PR)
• Lam Research (LRCX): FQ1 EPS of $0.26 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $440M (-35.6%) in-line. Shares -3.4%. (PR)
• Noble (NE): Q3 EPS of $1.47 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $862M (+8.9%) vs. $871M. Shares +3.1%. (PR)
• Plantronics (PLT): FQ2 EPS of $0.41 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $217M (+4.2%) in-line. Sees FQ3 EPS of $0.25-0.33 vs. $0.46. Shares -8.1%. (PR)
• Pulte Homes (PHM): Q3 EPS of -$1.11 misses by $0.63. Revenue of $1.56B (-36.7%) vs. $1.53B. Impairments and land-related charges of $267M. Backlog = 5,885 homes. Shares -4.5%. (PR)
• Robert Half International (RHI): Q3 EPS of $0.43 in-line. Revenue of $1.16B (-1.6%) in-line. "Our third-quarter results clearly were impacted by the turmoil in the global financial markets... Clients became increasingly cautious with their hiring actions as the quarter progressed." (PR)
• Ryland Group (RYL): Q3 EPS of -$1.15 misses by $0.27. Revenue of $544M (-26.2%) vs. $512M. New orders of 1,284 units is down 31.6% Y/Y. (PR)
• Seagate Technology (STX): FQ1 EPS of $0.26 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $3.03B (-7.7%) vs. $3.16B. Shares -4.7%. (PR)
• SLM Corp. (SLM): Q3 EPS of $0.19 vs. consensus of $0.36. SLM increased its loan-loss provisions amid an increase in private-loan delinquencies. (PR)
• Smurfit-Stone Container (SSCC): Q3 EPS of -$0.08 misses by $0.04. Revenue of $1.88B (-0.3%) in-line. Shares +36.8% after dropping 24% in regular hours. (PR)
• Teradyne (TER): Q3 EPS of $0.09 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $297M (-0.7%) in-line. Sees Q4 EPS of -$0.18 to -$0.07 vs. $0.06 and revenue of $190-220M vs $272M. (PR)
• Terex (TEX): Q3 EPS of $1.08 misses by $0.25. Revenue of $2.51B (+14.5%) vs. $2.43B. Shares -4.3%. (PR)

Today's Markets

• Asia markets were sharply lower Thursday. Nikkei -2.46% to 8,461. Hang Seng -3.55% to 13,760. Shanghai -1.07% to 1,876. BSE Sensex -3.92% to 9,772.
• Europe is trading down at midday. London -1.74%. Paris -3.21%. Frankfurt -3.69%.
• After spending most of the night in positive territory, U.S. futures are now near their lows. Dow -0.48% to 8516. S&P -0.72% to 896.25. Nasdaq -0.9%.
• Crude +1.68% to $67.87. Gold -4% to $705.80.

Thursday's Economic Calendar

• 8:30 Jobless Claims
  10:35 EIA Natural Gas Report
  4:30 PM Money Supply

Seeking Alpha editor Rachael Granby contributed to this post.

Q3 2008 Earnings Call Transcript

October 22, 2008 04:45 pm ET