Analysis Topic: Companies Analysis
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Thursday, February 26, 2009
Goldman Sachs and Financials XLF: A Tale of Two Charts / Companies / Banking Stocks
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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...
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Stock Market Investors Searching for a Silver Lining / Companies / Investing 2009
“When people are frightened, they cut their time horizon dramatically, ... Even advisors will say to sell because they see portfolios crumble and they fear people will have nothing left. It's really not rational, but it does happen.”
That's what David Dreman wrote in his book Contrarian Investment Strategies . Now, almost 30 years later, it's looking like it's happening all over again.
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Monday, February 16, 2009
When Banks Are Inflexible, How Does Your Company Survive the Credit Crunch? / Companies / Credit Crisis 2009
How do companies survive the uncertain future when they have to assume that Banks will remain inflexible, at least in the short term? What alternative strategies are available? This article explores some options.Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Business Law Refresher: Useful Legal Definitions Everyone Should Kno / Companies / Business
It's time taxpayers begin thinking less in terms of excuses, justifications, rationalizations, and scapegoating for the current financial mess and more in terms of investigations, indictments, arrests, detentions, prosecutions, penalties, restitutions, “clawbacks”, and punitive-damages. Here in the U.S., RICO LAW comes quickly to mind.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, February 13, 2009
Will HBOS Bankrupt Lloyds TSB into Nationalisation? / Companies / Nationalization
The shot-gun wedding between HBOS and LLoyds TSB last September in the amidst of the financial markets panic following Lehman's bankruptcy to prevent another Northern Rock nationalisation is increasingly blowing up in Lloyds TSB's face as yet again the reassuring words that bankers say one week turn out to be completely untrue. The Lloyds Chairman was congratulating himself barely 3 weeks ago of how the takeover would result in cost savings of £1.5 billion per year. With today's announcement of a £10 billion loss by HBOS for 2008 shatters the Chairman's illusion and Lloyds TSB's balance sheet, as ever it will not be the bankers that pay the price but the tax payer. Already the UK Tax payer has pumped in capital injections of £18 billion into the LLoyds TSB HBOS group.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, February 13, 2009
Dead Bankrupt Banks Stock Prices Diluted Into Oblivion / Companies / Credit Crisis 2009
A hard time came when deciding upon a title today. “Dead Banks Walking” or “Insolvent & Motionless Yet Standing” or “Much Ado About No Credit” or “The Bank Vampires” or “The Primary Dark Syndicates” made sense. But what came to mind when a comment made by the Jackass in June 2008 on the Vancouver stage at a Cambridge House Metals & Mining Conference. My words to close a panel discussion on the banks were “Just wait, in several months you will see the entire US banking system go insolvent, its stock prices dwindle to nothing, as it will be diluted into oblivion!” It happened.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, February 12, 2009
No Transparency In Banking Sector "Stress Test" / Companies / Banking Stocks
The New York times is discussing a "stress test" for banks in Bank Test May Expand U.S. Regulators' Role . Three things stand out.1. A massive audit of the 18 largest banks is underway.
2. There is no transparency in the audit.
3. There are no details on the alleged "stress test". Moreover, an audit can hardly be construed to be a stress test.
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Thursday, February 12, 2009
Profit from the End of Cheap Oil: Petrobras / Companies / Oil Companies
I knew I had made a mistake only seconds after I did it. I had decided to sit down and watch CNBC's Power Lunch with the sound ON for a few minutes while I ate my sandwich. I figured – how many brain cells would I possibly kill off in just a couple of minutes?
However, I had forgotten about my high blood pressure. Bill Griffeth was talking to some oil trader about oil which was up a few pennies on the day. Bill Griffeth began lecturing the trader, “Why in the world is oil up? How can oil possibly be up in the face of deflation, demand destruction, etc.”
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Bankrupt General Motors Sucking Billions Out of the Tax Payer / Companies / Credit Crisis Bailouts
General Motors, having sucked up $9.4 billion of taxpayer cash since Christmas, now desperately craves the remaining $4 billion authorized by President Bush for disbursement in February.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, February 09, 2009
Great Financial and Economic Problems and Great Fortunes to be Made / Companies / Investing 2009
“Peak oil, my a**. I've got hundreds of millions of barrels of the stuff in the Gulf [of Mexico]. We know where the oil is…we just can't get to it. I can't even get a contractor that can do the work to take my call.”
That's what an oil company executive told me (with a Texas drawl and an arm around my shoulder for balance) a little over three years ago.
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