Analysis Topic: Companies Analysis
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Cigarette Companies Hike Prices Despite Deflationary Recession / Companies / Sector Analysis
By: Oxbury_Research
Most retailers have been left with little choice other than to cut prices as consumers continue to tighten their belts. One company that is going against the grain, and has the muscle to do so, is Altria (MO).Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Lloyds TSB Nationalisation End Game, Another £280 Billion of Tax Payer Liability / Companies / Nationalization
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The government is about to announce the defacto nationalisation of Lloyds TSB as capital of £5 billion is expected to be converted / injected into the bank that takes the governments real stake to 75% (officially 65%). On top of this the government will guarantee an estimated £275 billion of the banks bad debts which will be dumped onto the tax payer by means of the Asset Protection Scheme. It was less than 2 weeks ago that the government committed £400 billion for the insurance of toxic securities, which according to my calculations has so far already committed £325 billion to RBS for its toxic securities, therefore we are well north of the £400 billion limit. The toxic debt insurance scheme is akin to getting your car insured AFTER you have crashed it. Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Healthcare ETFs on Life Support / Companies / Healthcare Sector
By: Oxbury_Research
The markets are reeling once again and there has been plenty of pain to go around amongst healthcare ETFs. So far in 2009 the Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT), PowerShares Dynamic Healthcare Sector Portfolio (PTH) , the PowerShares Dynamic Healthcare Services Portfolio (PTJ) and the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Healthcare Provider Fund (IHF) have seen respective declines of 17.2%, 19.9%, 20.7%, and 23.1%. Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
GM Leads the Way with a 53% Auto Sales Plunge / Companies / US Auto's
By: Mike_Shedlock
Congratulations of sorts go to GM for its industry leading sales effort. Please consider GM's 53% U.S. Sales Decline Leads Industry's February Plunge .General Motors Corp., surviving with federal loans, said its February U.S. sales plummeted 53 percent as the recession pushed industrywide purchases toward the lowest in almost three decades.
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Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Bankrupt European Banks Sitting on $23 Trillion of Impaired Assets / Companies / Euro-Zone
By: John_Mauldin
This week we look at the European bank markets through the eyes of my London partner Niels Jensen, head of Absolute Return Partners. I continue to believe that this is a brewing crisis which could have far more significant implications for the global economy than the Asian Crisis of 1998. In this week's Outside the Box, Niels has compiled a sobering set of data that suggests that only massive government involvement in Europe on a scale that is unprecedented will keep the wheels from coming off in Europe and the global economy.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, March 02, 2009
HSBC Rights Issue, is Britain's Healthiest Bank Now Also in Trouble? / Companies / Banking Stocks
By: MoneyWeek
We're in trouble now. Arguably the healthiest bank in the FTSE 100, HSBC, is now running to its shareholders with its palm outstretched.
The banking giant said this morning that it's looking to raise £12.5bn from shareholders. It also slashed its dividend by nearly a third. Pre-tax profit for 2008 came in at $9.3bn, down 62% on the previous year, reports the BBC.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Warren Buffet's Bubble Bursts as Berkshire Profits Collapse / Companies / Corporate Earnings
By: Mike_Shedlock
Bloomberg is reporting Berkshire Profit Plunges 96% on Stock Market Bets . Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted a fifth-straight profit drop, the longest streak of quarterly declines in at least 17 years, on losses from derivative bets tied to stock markets. Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Citigroup Crashes as U.S. Tax Payers Take on $3trillion Liabilities / Companies / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Mike_Shedlock
Citigroup plunged 39% on Friday to $1.50, a price last seen in 1992.
The plunge was in response to a Citigroup U.S. Accord on a Third Bailout that will convert the government's preferred shares to common, thereby diluting existing common shareholders and exposing US taxpayers to more losses. Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, February 26, 2009
As General Motors Goes, So Goes the Nation / Companies / US Auto's
By: James_Quinn
General Motors was founded in 1908 in Flint , Michigan and grew to be the largest corporation in the world. Its market capitalization reached $50 billion in 2000. In the past week its market capitalization dropped below $1 billion to levels last seen during the 1920's. The story of General Motors is the story of America . In 1953, at the peak of its dominance, its President Charles Wilson declared before Congress that what was good for the country was good for GM and vice versa. Its rise to power and decline towards insolvency parallel the rise and fall of the Great American Republic. Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Goldman Sachs and Financials XLF: A Tale of Two Charts / Companies / Banking Stocks
By: Kingsley_Anderson
Generally, stocks in the same industry move together. If airline stocks are trending higher, logic would dictate each of the stocks within the group should be moving higher as well. Now, some may move faster and higher than others, those are the best in breed. Sometimes, but rarely, a stock will not move at all. These are usually the “cheap” stocks that some may call a value play. Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Investors Plant a Monsanto Seed for Future Portfolio Growth / Companies / Investing 2009
By: Oxbury_Research
I have a friend who really enjoys science fiction. I asked him the other day, “Do you ever watch anything besides the SciFi Channel?” He replied, “I do. I also watch CNBC.”
I know that my friend is not much of an investor so I asked him why the heck he watches this channel.
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Write Covered Calls to Recoup Losses on Financial Stocks / Companies / Options & Warrants
By: Oxbury_Research
We've spoken in this space about Wells Fargo Bank and its (relative) virtues among the financials, and recommended buying WFC on a number of occasions through the autumn of 2008. Sadly, Wells did not escape the fate of the rest of the financials, though it held out somewhat longer (cold comfort for those of us still holding). And at this point, WFC has had its skin peeled and salted, recently falling over 50% in only three weeks! Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Deceitful Bailout of Citigroup and Bank of America / Companies / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Mike_Shedlock
A magic bailout of Citigroup and Bank of America is underway. Supposedly this bailout will not require any new capital. Details can be found in a Joint Statement by the Treasury, FDIC, OCC, OTS and the Federal Reserve on the economy. Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Google GMAIL Email Access Down Across the World / Companies / Google
By: Nadeem_Walayat
GMAIL, Google's worldwide email network has been down for approaching 1 hour as of writing this article. Users are being greeted with server errors when trying to access their email accounts this morning.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, February 23, 2009
Auto Bailout: If You Thought it Was Ridiculous Before… / Companies / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Q1_Publishing
To be honest, I figured General Motors would be in bankruptcy by now. With a monthly burn rate estimated to be between $2 billion and $6 billion (depending on source) it would seem this money hole would have imploded sooner rather than later. Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, February 23, 2009
Insolvent Citigroup Begs For Part Nationalisation for Tax Payers Billions / Companies / Nationalization
By: Mike_Shedlock
Citigroup is in deep trouble. Its share price is $1.95 and the market is recognizing what I said a year ago: "Citigroup Is Insolvent". Of course it is not just Citigroup that is insolvent, the entire global banking system is insolvent. Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, February 20, 2009
Banks Nationalization Revisited / Companies / Nationalization
By: Mike_Shedlock
Previously I expressed some thoughts on nationalization in The Nationalization Train Has Left The Station . Greg Mankiw suggests wait a minute, this is just nomenclature as the FDIC shuttering banks would itself be nationalization. Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Corporate Goodwill, the Next Big Write-off / Companies / Corporate Earnings
By: Hans_Wagner
Corporate earnings are in a tailspin, falling to new lows as we have seen in the latest quarterly reports. As sales falter, companies scramble to shore up their financial statements. Writing off assets is becoming more commonplace. Those companies that have large amounts of goodwill on their books are encountering additional review. Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
U.S. Zombie Banks to Avoid and Hidden Gems / Companies / Banking Stocks
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes: U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last week proposed a series of programs, totaling $1.5 trillion, to bail out the U.S. banking system. Of course, Geithner hasn't told us precisely how he plans to spend the money , or identified which banks require such an enormous outlay.
So I thought it was worth looking at the United States' 12 largest banks to see where the problems might be and identify which banks might need big infusions of government cash. I perused the financial statements of all 12 banks, and also looked at their market valuations.
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Coca Cola (KO) Keeps its Fizz Buy, Sell or Hold / Companies / Investing 2009
By: Money_Morning
Horacio Marquez writes: Continuing with the trend of companies that have blasted through Wall Street's earnings estimates of late, The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO ) last week announced its ninth-straight quarter of double-digit earnings per share (EPS) growth and a third straight year of meeting or exceeding its long-term-growth targets. Excluding one-time items, the Atlanta-based company's earnings per share of 64 cents represented a 10% gain from last year's fourth quarter , beating analysts' expectations by three cents. In addition, Coke's unit-case volume was up 4% in the fourth quarter and 5% for the full year. Read full article... Read full article...