Market Currents

• Wednesday, December 2, 2009

• 08:10 AM Stepping up the heat amid some criticism, the SEC has reportedly delivered at least 36 subpoenas to hedge funds and brokerages over the past month alone. One investigation is said to focus on Sears' (SHLD) aborted pursuit of Restoration Hardware in 2007. Another focuses on the role of Goldman Sachs (GS) bankers in roughly a dozen healthcare deals since 2006. Comment!

• Tuesday, December 1, 2009

• 09:39 AM Ahead of Thursday's jobs summit, the government is in early-stage talks with home improvement retailers (HD, LOW, SHLD) about using stimulus dollars to encourage homeowners to replace leaky windows and insulate their walls as part of a broader effort to spur hiring. One option under consideration is to boost the current $1,500 tax credit available to homeowners making energy-efficiency improvements. 7 Comments

• Thursday, November 19, 2009

• 06:11 AM Sears (SHLD): Q3 EPS of -$0.81 beats by $0.28. Revenue of $10.19B vs. $9.92B. Gross margin 27.2% vs. 26.8% last year. SSS -4.6%. Total debt $3.8B vs. $4.5B last year. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable premarket earnings: BKE, DKS, GME, HP, PDCO, PLCE, ROST, SHLD, STP, TSL, WSM Comment!

• Sunday, September 6, 2009

• 17:28 PM Barron's Aug. 24 article discussing Sears (SHLD) was "misleading, inaccurate and poorly researched," Chairman Eddie Lampert writes in a letter to the editor. Author Jonathan Laing exaggerated the extent of Sears' cost-cutting in order to make it appear extreme, while Lampert argues performance would have been significantly worse without management's constraint. Comment!

• Monday, August 24, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: MELA +18%. FNM +16%. SBGI +11%. FRE +9%. SIRI +6%. RTK +6%. AIB +6%. AMD +5%. ABK +5%. LYG +5%. AIG +4%. C +4%. CTIC +4%. LVS +4%.
  Losers: SHLD -4%. Comment!

• Sunday, August 23, 2009

• 12:46 PM Steer clear of Sears Holdings (SHLD), warns Barron's Jonathan R. Laing. The company has failed to provide the profitability it promised and its outlook is increasingly gloomy. 1 Comment

• Thursday, August 20, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: ANPI +16%. SOL +13%. DKS +11%. UBS +6%. AIB +4%. JASO +4%.
  Losers: AVII -25%. PETM -13%. SHLD -13%. GME -6%. NTAP -4%. Comment!
• 06:17 AM Sears (SHLD): Q2 EPS of -$0.17 misses by $0.52. Revenue of $10.5B (-10%) vs. $10.7B. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Thursday's open: BKE, BKS, DKS, GME, HNZ, PDCO, RGS, ROST, SHLD, STP Comment!

• Friday, May 22, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: SHLD +21%. ARUN +19%. AIB +17%. CGRB +15%. EXM +16%. ADSK +15%. ASAY +12%. LEA +10%. FBC +9%. QGEN +8%. CNB +5%. EGLE +5%. KFN +4%. BCS +4%. HEB +4%. AAUK +4%. PBI +4%.
  Losers: RRGB -12%. CRM -9%. LDK -6%. AIG -6%. Comment!

• Wednesday, May 13, 2009

• 13:20 PM Nasdaq leaders: APOL +2%. DTV +1%. Laggards: LINTA -11%. STLD -11%. FLEX -10%. WYNN -9%. LAMR -9%. EXPE -8%. LVLT -8%. SHLD -7%. NVDA -7%. UAUA -7%. DISH -7%. LBTYA -6%. LOGI -6%. AMAT -6%. VMED -5%. AMLN -5%. PCAR -5%. GRMN -5%. JOYG -5%. FAST -5%. WFMI -5%. MICC -5%. EBAY -5%. FWLT -5%. Comment!

• Thursday, April 2, 2009

• 09:44 AM 55% of shoppers say they prefer to shop for electronics at Best Buy (BBY) and Wal-Mart (WMT) - 35% and 20% respectively. Target (TGT) and Sears (SHLD) rank a distant third and fourth. 1 Comment

• Thursday, February 26, 2009

• 06:52 AM Sears (SHLD): Q4 EPS of $2.94 beats by $0.26. Revenue of $13.3B (-11.9%) vs. $14.0B. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Thursday's open: ALO, AMT, BYD, CLR, CVC, DLR, DYN, EME, EP, ESV, FAF, FRO, FTO, GLBL, GM, HRP, HUN, IRM, KG, LAMR, LINE, LKQX, LTD, NDAQ, NIHD, OCR, PCS, RAS, RDC, SHLD, SONS, SUG, SWY, WRC Comment!

• Tuesday, February 10, 2009

• 17:12 PM Even as more companies teeter at the edge of bankruptcy, a number of savvy junk funds are scooping up the riskiest bonds. Debt they like includes Sears (SHLD) ("They've got $1.1B in cash and they've been buying back debt") and Penn National Gaming (PENN) (it has no properties in Vegas). 1 Comment