Archive for September, 2009
(PX) Praxair: This Company Has Gas
Back in February in this column, I reviewed Praxair (NYSE: PX), one of the dominant players in the specialty gas sector. You may recall that Praxair – a global, Fortune 300 company – is the largest industrial gases company in the Americas, and the world. With 27,000 employees...
1Sep2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(AIV) Apartment Investment and Management Company Continues to Sell Assets
Aimco Properties LP, a division of Apartment Investment and Management Co. (AIV), recently sold its Palencia Apartment Homes asset in Tampa for $23.3 million. This is the second multifamily sale in the region in 2009. The real estate investment trust plans to sell seven more...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PLD) ProLogis Reduces Japan Distribution Risk
ProLogis (PLD), a leading global provider of distribution facilities, recently agreed to jointly manage, own and develop its distribution properties in Japan with a local company. The move is chiefly aimed at reducing its operating risk in the country, given continued weakening...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BBY) Best Buy Plans to Open 22 New Stores
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) recently announced its plan to open 22 new U.S. stores in its fiscal third quarter. The stores will be opened in Virginia, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, California, Wisconsin, Puerto Rico, Arkansas, New Jersey, Massachusetts...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RIMM) RIMM to Launch Blackberry Storm2 into Smartphone Market
Research In Motion (RIMM) is likely to introduce its BlackBerry Storm2 in September. Yesterday, Verizon Wireless (VZ) slashed the price of the currently available BlackBerry Storm 9530 smart-phone to $50 with a two-year service contract. Industry sources infer that this may...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NOK) New CEO for Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks, the telecom-equipment joint venture of Nokia Corp. (NOK) and Siemens AG (SI) appointed Rajeev Suri as its new CEO, replacing Simon Beresford-Wylie from Oct 1. Beresford-Wylie who decided to step down will support Suri during a transition period through...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AZN) Good News for AstraZeneca on Crestor, its Cholesterol-Lowering Drug
Yesterday, AstraZeneca Plc (AZN) announced that Crestor, its cholesterol-lowering drug (statin) reduced the risk of heart attacks, strokes, artery-clearing procedures and death in elderly patients. The results from the JUPITER study (Justification for the Use of statins in Primary...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ZION) Zions Completes New Common Stock Offering
On August 27, Zions Bancorp (ZION) successfully completed a $250 million offering of new common stock. During the third quarter, the bank holding company issued 7.6 million common shares at an average price of $16.13 each, for gross proceeds of $123.5 million. During the second...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(UTX) United Technologies’ Carrier Corporation Acquires StrionAir
Carrier Corp., a division of United Technologies Corp. (UTX), acquired StrionAir, a producer of proprietary air purification systems employing patented “capture and kill” technology. StrionAir developed and patented advanced electronic filtration methods and products...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(C) Citigroup Sells Partnered Credit Card Portfolio
Citigroup Inc. (C) announced on Monday the sale of ownership of three North American partnered credit card portfolios, representing approximately $1.3 billion in managed assets. The sale constitutes the divesture initiatives taken by Citigroup to offload weak businesses and...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(X) Steel Output Peaks in July
According to data released by the World Steel Association, global steel output reached its highest level in July on the back of moderate rise in demand and resumption of idled facilities by producers. Total output of 103.9 million tons was an improvement of 4% from 99.8 million...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CF) CF Industries Sues Terra Industries to Force a Shareholder Meeting on Combining
Deerfield-based CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) filed a lawsuit against Terra Industries Inc. (TRA) to force the company to convene a shareholder meeting for a business combination being pushed by CF. Fertilizer maker Terra responded that its board has decided to hold an annual...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(UBS) U.S. Asks UBS for Detailed Taxpayer Data
The United States has officially started the process of gathering account details on 4,450 American clients of UBS AG (UBS) who have allegedly evaded paying taxes. This formal request has been made after Switzerland agreed to provide the relevant client details. Over the years,...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SNE) Sony Sells Television Factory
As a measure to control losses from its television business, Sony Corp. (SNE) recently announced that it would sell its television factory situated at North America to Hon Hai Precision Industry. As per the purchase agreement, 90% of Sony’s Tijuana plant will be taken over...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AG) Trouble for Farm Equipment Makers
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture updated its 2009 outlook for net farm income. The department forecasts a 38% decline in net farm income to $54 billion in 2009 from an estimated $87.2 billion last year. This is lower than the last 10 year average farm income of $63.2...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ABT) Abbott Unveils XIENCE PRIME
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) yesterday announced the launch of its next-generation XIENCE PRIME Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System for the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD). XIENCE PRIME is now available in Europe and other countries throughout Asia-Pacific and Latin...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CRMT) America’s Car-Mart Q1 Beats Estimates by 46.3%
America’s Car-Mart Inc. (CRMT) reported fiscal first-quarter results before the opening bell today. The company posted GAAP net income of $7.02 million, compared to $5.29 million in the year-ago period. Earnings per share came in at 60 cents, compared to 45 cents in the...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PTR) PetroChina Grabs Majority Stake in Two Canadian Oil Sands Projects
Yesterday, PetroChina Company Ltd. (PTR), the largest integrated oil company in China, agreed to pay C$1.9 billion ($1.7 billion) to acquire a majority stake in two oil sands projects in western Canada. As per the terms of the agreement with Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. (a privately...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(VOD) Vodafone Accelerates 3G
Vodafone (VOD) reportedly upgraded its 3G mobile broadband network to offer maximum theoretical download speed of 14.4 megabits per second (Mbps). However, users will get a practical download speed of up to 10.8 Mbps. The upgraded service will be initially available to the customers...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MGM) MGM Mirage Delays Debt Repayment
MGM Mirage (MGM) has offered to exchange a part of its $782 million 8.5% senior notes due next year for up to $500 million of 10.00% Senior Notes due 2016. This swapping would harness liquidity and also allow the company to extend the time to repay its debt at the cost of a somewhat...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PLXS) Plexus Cut to Neutral
Plexus Corp. (PLXS) is a leading provider of electronic manufacturing services (EMS) to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and serves customers of mid-to-low volume, higher margin and high growth segments of the EMS market. We recently downgraded the stock from Outperform...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MAT) Mattel Granted Permission to Perform its Own Toy Safety Tests
Mattel Inc. (MAT) is not required to submit its toys to independent laboratories for safety tests. However, other toy-makers, clothing manufacturers and companies selling products for young children need to send their samples for third-party testing. The third-party testing law...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(STO) Statoil Wins New Drilling Permit
Recently, Norway-based energy firm StatoilHydro ASA (STO) gained a permit from the country’s top petroleum resources regulatory agency, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, to drill wellbore 25/2-17 in production license 442. The company plans to drill “wildcat”...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RSG) Republic Services Announces Private Note Offering
Earlier today, Republic Services Inc. (RSG) announced the commencement of a private offering of $500 million of senior notes due 2019. The company said that the net proceeds from the offering will be used for certain outstanding senior notes maturing in 2010 and 2011 to reduce...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DE) Deere & Company Invests for Growth in Russia
Earlier today, Deere & Company (DE) announced that its Board of Directors has approved an investment plan for setting up a manufacturing and parts center near Moscow. The company said that the new plant will have the capability to manufacture a broad range of John Deere products...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TLAB) Tellabs to Connect US Army Bases With Optical Networking
Tellabs Inc. (TLAB) recently agreed to supply its secure and highly reliable 7100 Optical Transport System to the US Army. Leading defense contractor General Dynamics (GD) selected Tellabs’ 7100 series transport level router. This system will be implemented between the two...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MAA) Mid-America Apartment Communities’ CFO to Retire
Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. (MAA), a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), recently announced the retirement of its CFO Simon Wadsworth as part of the long-term succession-planning program. The company’s Executive Vice President,...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AZN) AstraZeneca’s Brilinta Drug Stomps Plavix
AstraZeneca (AZN) recently said that results from a phase III head-to-head trial showed that its Brilinta (ticagrelor) achieved greater efficacy in the primary endpoint, reduction of cardiovascular events, compared to Sanofi-Aventis (SNY)/Bristol-Myers’ (BMY) Plavix (clopidogrel). Brilinta...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(C) Citi Gets Bids for Japanese Arm
Citigroup Inc.’s (C) Japanese private equity arm has restarted efforts to sell the country’s largest call center company, Bellsystem24, by market share, with the first round of bidding due to close September 1st. Global buyout firms including Permira and KKR are set...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ACI) Arch Coal Extends Credit Line
Arch Coal (ACI) recently extended the size and maturity of its senior secured revolving credit facility. The existing drawing limit under the credit line was raised to $860 million from $800 million through June 2011. From June 2011, the company will have borrowing right of...
1Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued