Archive for June, 2010
(HOT) Hotels & Lodging Stock Review – June 2010 – Industry Outlook
With a gradual recovery of the global economy, the hotels and lodging industry is experiencing an increase in demand. The operating metrics are looking up, and year-over-year comparisons are becoming easier as the operating environment was significantly stressed in the prior...
25Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BP) Oil Majors Eye South China Sea
The South China Sea is currently the center of attention for exploration and production (E&P) activity. Despite battling the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) oil spill, BP plc (BP) joined with Chevron Corp. (CVX) to bid for a South China Sea exploration block. This was followed by CNOOC...
25Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RHT) Red Hat Announces Partnership with Cisco on Virtualization Technology
Red Hat Inc. (RHT) has entered into a partnership with the premier networking company, Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), to expand their virtualization offerings. Red Hat, a leading provider of open source solutions, and Cisco will work together in integrating Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization...
24Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Goldman Sachs Group Company and Some Corporate Officers Charged with Securities Fraud
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is in the news again for all the wrong reasons. The company and some of its top officers and directors have been charged with securities fraud, and a class action lawsuit has already been filed by the Pomerantz Haudek Grossman & Gross LLP in...
24Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AIG) U.S. Treasury Announces That Banks Have Paid Back 75% of TARP
Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner said earlier this week that out of the total Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds given to banks, about 75% have been repaid. Also, taxpayers have gained $21 billion from the government’s investments in those banks. In total, the Treasury gave...
24Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BMC) BMC Software Announces Alliance With Salesforce.com For Enterprise Cloud Computing
Leading large enterprise software company BMC Software Inc. (BMC) recently announced that its strategic alliance with enterprise cloud computing company Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) has led to the rapid adoption of the cloud platform by IT professionals. BMC Software noticed that...
24Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BA) Boeing Wins U.S. Air Force Contract to Upgrade KC-10 Fleet
The U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing Company (BA) a contract worth $216 million to upgrade the 59-jet KC-10 tanker fleet with a new communication, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) system. The duration of the contract is five years. Armed with the upgrade,...
24Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(IT) CSC Corporation Awarded Two More U.S. Navy Task Orders
Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) major, CSC Corp. (CSC) has been awarded two more task orders by the U.S. Navy worth a combined value of $56.0 million. The two task orders, with individual values of $24.0 million and $32.0 million, respectively,...
23Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PC) Panasonic Interates Technology with LodgeNet
Panasonic Corp. (PC) entered into a licensing agreement with LodgeNet Interactive Corp. (LNET). LodgeNet is a leading provider of unique media and connectivity solutions. To serve the hospitality industry, Panasonic will integrate LodgeNet’s b-LAN (broadband local area...
23Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BTU) Coal Industry Review & Outlook – June 2010 – Industry Outlook
Our near-term (6-18 months) outlook for the coal industry has improved somewhat from our previous neutral sentiment to a more positive undertone. Various recent economic indicators suggest that the U.S. economy appears to be stabilizing. According to the U.S. Energy Information...
22Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AIG) American International Group Delays Sale Date For Taiwan Unit
On Monday, American International Group Inc. (AIG) and a Hong Kong-led consortium agreed to extend the deadline for completing the sale of AIG’s Taiwanese unit, Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd., by three months to October 2010. The consortium comprises Primus Financial Holdings...
22Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(C) U.S. Treasury Reports TARP Repayments on Track
In its monthly report to Congress earlier this month, the Treasury stated that repayments of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) fund have exceeded the total amount of outstanding TARP funds by $4 billion until the end of May. At the end of May, TARP repayments totaled...
22Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(V) Visa Announces Lobbying Charges
On Friday, Visa Inc. (V) reported that it spent $1.12 million during the first quarter 2010 on issues related to credit card regulations. The lobbying charges were down 27% from the $1.54 million spent during the first quarter of 2009 and declined 30% from $1.6 million spent...
21Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) JPMorgan Chase & Co In Preliminary Negotiations to Buy Hedge Fund
On Monday, the Financial Times reported that JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) is undergoing preliminary negotiations to acquire a large Brazilian investment and hedge fund with Gávea Investimentos. The company is going ahead with the talks despite the fact that the impending Volcker...
21Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Goldman Sachs Group Faces Lawsuit
On Wednesday, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) was faced with a $1 billion lawsuit by an Australian hedge-fund manager, who accused the investment banking giant of incorrectly selling a financial instrument that shrunk in value when housing prices tumbled in 2007. Basis Yield Alpha...
21Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) In 2010 U.S. Bank Failures Rise to 83
U.S. regulators on Friday shuttered Reno, Nevada-based Nevada Security Bank, pushing up U.S. bank failures to 83 so far in 2010. This compares with a total number of 140 bank failures in 2009, 25 in 2008 and only 3 in 2007. Although the economy is showing signs of a gradual...
21Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BHI) U.S Drilling Rig Count Continues Moving Up
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 in Texas. This was partly offset by the growing oil...
21Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DAL) Airline Unit Revenue Looks Set To Take Off
The recovery in the global economy is expected to benefit the airline industry with unit revenues slated to rise in the second quarter of 2010. Rising fares, an improvement in international traffic and an overall recovery is expected to drive this growth. Last year’s economic...
20Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RTN) Raytheon Wins Contract For Patriot Air and Missile Defense System of Taiwan and Kuwait
Raytheon Co. (RTN) received a $73 Million contract for providing spares for an up gradation to Configuration-3 of the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System of Taiwan and Kuwait . The contract is the first of its kind for international Patriot partners. The spares will support...
20Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CSC) Computer Sciences Corporation Wins Navy Contract
Virginia-based software major Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) recently announced that it has received a U.S. Navy work order under the SeaPort Enhanced indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (“IDIQ”) contract signed in April 2004. The $135 million work order for...
20Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SPWRA) SunPower Is Selected By Teams Participating In Decathlon Europe
SunPower Corporation (SPWRA) was selected by six of the 17 university teams participating in Solar Decathlon Europe, to be held at Madrid in June 2010. The Solar Decathlon is one of the world’s most prestigious solar home-building competitions. SunPower generated 53% of...
20Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NOC) Northrop Grumman Corporation Authorizes Share Buyback
The board of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) approved a new share buyback program authorizing the repurchase of up to $2 billion worth of shares. The proposed repurchase represents approximately 11% of the company’s current market capitalization. The Los Angeles-based...
19Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) Financial Giants Restructure Debt and Issue Notes
On Thursday, Reuters reported that financial behemoths JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) have issued fixed interest notes moving ahead with their debt restructuring strategies. Accordingly, JPMorgan reportedly vended off its five-year notes worth...
19Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Bank of America Announces Plans For New Online Brokerage
On Thursday, Bank of America Corp. (BAC) announced that it expects to start an online trading service on June 21, which will likely attract young and new investors. The new service, Merrill Edge, is supposed to give tough competition to other online trading services. The existing...
19Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HAL) Energy Information Administration Reports Natural Gas Supplies Expand Less Than Expected
The federal government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a slightly lower-than-expected increase in natural gas supplies, reflecting warmer-than-normal temperatures, the deepwater drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), and the start of the hurricane...
18Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BCE) Telecom Industry Outlook – June 2010 – Industry Outlook
An improving U.S. economy together with fabulous demand for mobile data and value-added services (VAS) has been the silver lining for the telecommunication industry in an otherwise tough environment. While our overall view is neutral for the industry, the recent sell-off has...
18Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PRE) PartnerRe Ltd. Earns Debt Rating From A.M. Best
On Thursday, PartnerRe Ltd. (PRE) got its issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a-” and debt ratings affirmed by rating agency, A.M. Best, reflecting a stable outlook for all. Alongside A.M. Best has also affirmed the ICR of “aa-” and the financial strength rating...
18Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BLK) BlackRock Announces Plans to Double Mexican Asset Portfolio
On Wednesday, BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) said that the company intends to double its $13 billion asset portfolio in Mexico in the next three years. The company enjoys huge demand for Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) by many foreign and institutional investors. Black Rock’s major business...
18Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(EU) JPMorgan Chase Gets EU Okay to Buy RBS Sempra Commodities LLP
The European Union (EU) regulator on Thursday approved JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) to acquire Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC‘s (RBS) non-U.S. commodities joint venture RBS Sempra Commodities LLP for $1.7 billion. The proposed deal was announced by JPM in February 2010,...
18Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JNPR) Juniper Networks’ Security Now Extends To The Mobile Network
Leading networking infrastructure products and services provider Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) recently announced the launch of the Junos Pulse software, specially designed to maintain the same standard of security across a network, even when some of the connected devices such...
17Jun2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued