Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK -1.5%) slides post-earnings after slashing its quarterly dividend by 50% to $0.04/share amid a continuing interest margin squeeze. NIM fell to 1.78% from 1.97% in Q4, and 2.15% a year ago. The company provided no update on regulatory approval for its still-in-limbo merger with M&T Bank (MTB). [View news story]
I foolishly followed Cramer's propaganda /advice on this. One of the worst investment decisions of my life. HCBK barks, wags its tail and pees on the rug.
CenturyLink: How A 7% Yielder Hit Into A Triple Play [View article]
Very solid article. And, some very astute comments. I bought @$33.90. Will dump ASAP on the premise that when I can't understand management strategy I have no reason to own it.
CenturyLink Shocks The Market With Its Dividend Cut [View article]
I was surprised when my Good To Cancel buy @&33.90 was accepted this morning. Not sure whether I should cry or smile a wee bit. I must now be in CTL for appreciation rather than dividend. Learning a lesson! Oh, well!
Apple Stores Must Not Lose Sight Of Why They Became Successful [View article]
I was in both the Apple store and the Microsoft store at the Danbury(http://bit.ly/OHxEIB) Fair Mall the other night. The Apple store was typically jammed with a happy vibe. FWIW, I am long APPL and a happy user of several of its products.
The MS store was literally empty. My family was there for about 30 minutes. The kids had a nice time playing games. We did not spend a cent. We were the only non-employees there. Then, more kids arrived to play video games ( free, of course) while their parents shopped elsewhere. The empoyees were uncommonly attentive as they literally had nothing else to do. The store is about 2-3x bigger than the Apple store and is very sharp looking, although I could not figure out what the merchandising focus was as the bulk of inventory and display was games and Dell computers. They have copied Apple slavishly in terms of how the staff looks and acts, etc, etc. It simply does not work as MS is no Apple in terms of product offering, What's the import? Apple should continue emphasize the retail experience as it as much as a marketing tool as it is a revenue generator. It is fun to go there. That feeling is priceless in marketing terms.
Annaly (NLY) CEO Mike Farrell exercises options to purchase 112K shares of company stock at $15.61 each (current price $16.59). His stake in the company is upped 4.3% to 2.7M shares. Earlier: Annaly gets another downgrade. [View news story]
If Farrell puts more skin in the game at that price. I will as well. Putting in a limit of 1000 more . I now have 5000.
Annaly Capital (NLY -1.1%) is downgraded to Sell at Morgan Stanley. No details are yet available, but with MBS yields falling, it's crystal clear more dividend cuts are on the way for the mREIT sector (though rising MBS prices may delay that for another quarter). On absolute terms mREITs may be overpriced, but relative to other income opportunities they still look to have value. [View news story]
I hope you are right, getll and Capt. I continue to buy on dips. Hoping that divs, will help pay my bills when I quit the rat race in a few short months.
Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK -1.5%) slides post-earnings after slashing its quarterly dividend by 50% to $0.04/share amid a continuing interest margin squeeze. NIM fell to 1.78% from 1.97% in Q4, and 2.15% a year ago. The company provided no update on regulatory approval for its still-in-limbo merger with M&T Bank (MTB). [View news story]
CenturyLink: How A 7% Yielder Hit Into A Triple Play [View article]
CenturyLink Shocks The Market With Its Dividend Cut [View article]
PNC Financial: A Regional Bank Deserving Greater Investor Attention [View article]
Long PNC (but not as long as I was).
Philip Morris: Valuation Analysis [View article]
Is Annaly Capital Management Moving Forward? [View article]
Wait Before You Buy Reynolds American's 5.6% Dividend Yield [View article]
A Rebuttal To 'Philip Morris International: 20% Overvalued' [View article]
Apple Stores Must Not Lose Sight Of Why They Became Successful [View article]
Why We're Huge Fans Of Philip Morris's Dividend [View article]
Apple Stores Must Not Lose Sight Of Why They Became Successful [View article]
The MS store was literally empty. My family was there for about 30 minutes. The kids had a nice time playing games. We did not spend a cent. We were the only non-employees there. Then, more kids arrived to play video games ( free, of course) while their parents shopped elsewhere. The empoyees were uncommonly attentive as they literally had nothing else to do. The store is about 2-3x bigger than the Apple store and is very sharp looking, although I could not figure out what the merchandising focus was as the bulk of inventory and display was games and Dell computers. They have copied Apple slavishly in terms of how the staff looks and acts, etc, etc. It simply does not work as MS is no Apple in terms of product offering,
What's the import? Apple should continue emphasize the retail experience as it as much as a marketing tool as it is a revenue generator. It is fun to go there. That feeling is priceless in marketing terms.
Philip Morris International: 20% Overvalued [View article]
Annaly (NLY) CEO Mike Farrell exercises options to purchase 112K shares of company stock at $15.61 each (current price $16.59). His stake in the company is upped 4.3% to 2.7M shares. Earlier: Annaly gets another downgrade. [View news story]
Annaly Capital (NLY -1.1%) is downgraded to Sell at Morgan Stanley. No details are yet available, but with MBS yields falling, it's crystal clear more dividend cuts are on the way for the mREIT sector (though rising MBS prices may delay that for another quarter). On absolute terms mREITs may be overpriced, but relative to other income opportunities they still look to have value. [View news story]
Apple Insider Trading History: Interesting, In A Non-Obvious Way [View article]