Archive for April, 2010
(HWD) Harry Winston Diamond Corporation Fourth Quarter Loss Narrows
Harry Winston Diamond Corp. (HWD) reported fiscal 2010 fourth-quarter results after the closing bell on Thursday. The company posted a narrower net loss of $3.6 million, or 4 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $73.0 million, or $1.19 per share in the year-ago quarter,...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CFSG) China Fire & Security Group Reports Below Estimates
China Fire & Security Group, Inc. (CFSG) reported results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2009. Earnings During the quarter, China Fire reported a net income of $2.9 million, down from $6.8 million in the same period of 2008. EPS for the quarter was...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(KMX) CarMax’s Earnings Report Clears Estimates
CarMax Inc. (KMX) showed a net income of $48.8 million or 26 cents per share (excluding special items) in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2010 ended February 28, 2010 compared to $38.5 million or 17 cents per share (excluding special items) in the same quarter a year ago....
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CTIC) Cell Therapeutics Seeks FDA Approval of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Candidate
April is crucial for Cell Therapeutics (CTIC), as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decides on the approvability of pixantrone by April 23, 2010. The company is seeking approval of its lead candidate, pixantrone for the treatment of relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin’s...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TEG) Integrys Energy Group Actively Downsizing
Integrys Energy Services Inc., a non-regulated subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group Inc. (TEG) announced the sale of nearly all of its wholesale electric marketing and trading business to Macquarie Cook Power, a subsidiary of Macquarie Group Limited. Earlier last week, Integrys...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(VNO) Institute for Supply Management Index Surges
The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing, or service, sector rose to 55.4 in March, up 2.4 points from February, and was above consensus expectations of a 54.0 reading. This is the third straight month that the index has been above the magic 50.0 level which...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(XEL) Xcel Energy Subsidiary Plans to Buy Calpine Assets
Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo), a subsidiary of Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL), has agreed to buy two Colorado power plants of Calpine Corporation (CPN) for $739 million. The two power plants near Denver currently provide power to PSCo under power purchase agreements. The...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(FCN) FTI Consulting Makes Aquisition to Expand in Asia
On April 1, FTI Consulting Inc. (FCN) announced the acquisition of Baker Tilly Hong Kong Business Recovery Ltd. (BTHKBR), a Hong Kong based forensic and litigation consulting company. Post the acquisition, BTHKBR will be merged with the Forensic and Litigation Consulting segment...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(APD) Air Products and Chemicals Extends Offer for Airgas
Industrial gas producer Air Products and Chemicals (APD) has extended the expiration date of its tender offer for all outstanding shares of Airgas Inc. (ARG). Air Products’ latest offer stands at $60 per share ? all in cash ? and has been extended from April 9 to June 4, 2010....
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BHP) Iron Ore Market – A New Pricing System Ushers In The End of an Era
For decades, mining iron ore was exceedingly unglamorous. But beginning in the early 2000s, China’s vast steel needs began to transform all of that. Prices began to soar, and all of a sudden, the industry lost its stigma. As that happened, people began questioning the annual...
5Apr2010 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(C) Citigroup’s Primerica IPO Raises $320 Million
Taking its restructuring initiatives a step ahead, on Wednesday, Citigroup Inc. (C) announced the initial public offering (IPO) and spin-off of a part of Primerica Inc., its insurance unit. The company raised $320.4 million from the IPO by selling 21.4 million shares at a price...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(IBM) International Business Machines Sells Product Lifecycle Management Operations
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) announced the completion of the sale of its sales and client support operations to Dassault Systèmes (DS), a leading provider of 3D software and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions. The acquisition will fetch IBM approximately...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DT) Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom Unite UK Operations
After a prolonged drama European telecom giants Deutsche Telekom (DT) and France Telecom (FTE) have officially merged their UK operations in a 50-50 joint venture. This follows the recent approval from the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union (EU), and...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HSP) Hospira Settles Sanofi-Aventis Patent Dispute
Hospira (HSP) has reached an agreement with Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) to settle a patent dispute for the US sales of oxaliplatin injection, a generic version of Sanofi-Aventis’ Eloxatin. Per the settlement, Hospira will not sell oxaliplatin injection in the US until June 30,...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MMC) Marsh & McLennan Company Acquires HSBC Insurance
Expanding its insurance portfolio, Marsh & McLennan Co. Inc. (MMC) announced on Wednesday the completion of its acquisition of HSBC Insurance Brokers Ltd (HIBL), a London-based wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Bank (HBC). The company arrived at this agreement with HIBL in...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ISIS) Isis Pharmaceuticals Signs Deal with GlaxoSmithKline
Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ISIS) recently inked a major deal with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) under which Isis ’ antisense drug discovery platform will be used for the development of new treatments for rare and serious diseases Incorporatedluding infectious and ocular diseases. Isis...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WU) Fifth Third Bancorp Joins Western Union’s Network
Last week, Western Union Co. (WU) announced the completion of its previously announced service offering through Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB). Western Union entered into an agreement with Fifth Third Bank last year to provide money remittance service to its customers. The service...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(VIP) VimpelCom to Proceed With Wireless Operator in Laos
Russian wireless carrier VimpelCom (VIP) reported its plans to proceed with the acquisition of a majority stake in Millicom Lao Co. Ltd., a wireless operator with operations in Laos. This clears the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the completion of the deal, which was originally...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BHI) U.S. Oil and Gas Rig Count Hits Fourteen-Month High
In its weekly release, Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) reported a rise in the U.S. rig count (number of rigs searching for oil and gas in the country), reflecting intensified drilling activity by the producers. Rigs exploring and producing in the...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RCI) Rogers Analyst Downgrades Stock to Neutral
We downgrade our recommendation for Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI) to Neutral as a result of increased competition in the Canadian wireless market. Canadian wireless rates are among the highest in the world. In a bid to improve service and prices through competition, the Canadian...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TM) U.S. Automobile Sales Hit Seven-Month High
Light vehicle sales in the U.S. auto industry surged 24.3% to 1.07 million units (10.8 million units at seasonally adjusted annual rate) in March 2010. This was driven by an aggressive incentive policy adopted by the safety-recall hit Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) to woo back its lost...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CLNE) My Plan for Eliminating America’s Dependence on Foreign Oil
Why isn’t the U.S. government doing more to get us off foreign oil? Great question. It’s one I ask myself all the time. It was clearly on the minds of many attendees at the Investment U Conference in San Diego a couple of weeks ago, too. I lost count of the number of times...
5Apr2010 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(ENDP) Endo Pharmaceuticals – PEG Ratio Also Shows a Bargain at 0.7
Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) continues to trade at great valuations and have plenty of earnings momentum. Company Description Endo Pharmaceuticals makes branded and generic drugs to treat and manage pain. The Pennsylvania-based company has about 1,200 employees and a market cap...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(KELYA) Breakdown of the Employment Report In-Depth
EDITOR’S NOTE: We are breaking up this analysis of today’s BLS report into 2 parts. This is Part 1. In March, the overall official unemployment rate held steady at 9.7%, even as the economy added 162,000 jobs Incorporatedluding 123,000 in the private sector. While...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AES) AES Solar Energy Gets Financing From Riverstone Holdings
AES Solar Energy Ltd., a joint venture between AES Corporation (AES) and private equity firm Riverstone Holdings LLC, announced that it has received a financing deal for about $233 million to fund the construction of a solar energy project in Italy. AES Solar will construct the...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TTEK) Tetra Tech Wins Defense Department Orders
Tetra Tech Inc (TTEK) announced that one of its subsidiaries has obtained a contract to clean up radioactive contamination at selected Navy and Defense Department locations. Tetra Tech said it was one of five contractors to have got the work, which covers locations within the...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NYT) New York Times Company Lowers Stake in New England Sports Ventures
The New York Times Company (NYT), a diversified media company, recently declared the sale of a portion of its minor stake in New England Sports Ventures (NESV) to Henry F. McCance, Chairman of Greylock Partners, a venture capital firm. The New York Times Company sold 50 of its...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CEG) Constellation Energy Group Signs Deal With NYSE Euronext
Constellation Energy Group Inc.’s (CEG) subsidiary, Constellation NewEnergy Inc., has entered into a green electricity purchase agreement with the New York Stock Exchange, a unit of NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYX). NYSE Euronext is a leading global operator of financial markets and...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(FDO) Family Dollar Stores – The Need for Clean Pants
We read an article last week on the CNN Money site last week that reinforced why we think the markets are creating another stock bubble. Then yesterday we noticed an article at the New York Times site that talked about the excessive risks that have been taken, and are still being...
5Apr2010 | Wax | 0 comments | Continued(RRD) R.R. Donnelley & Sons Analyst Downgrades Stock
We are downgrading R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (RRD) to Neutral from our previous Outperform rating and lowering our price target to $23.00. Our target is based on a P/E multiple of 15.2X our 2010 EPS estimate. R.R. Donnelley’s fourth quarter results beat the Zacks Consensus...
5Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued