Archive for December, 2010
(AAPL) Sony Gambles on a 3D Future
by Tony D’Altorio, Investment U Research Wednesday, December 22, 2010 Despite high hopes, big-screen 3D TVs are hardly the hottest items this holiday season. Many Wall Street analysts are pessimistic on the technology’s future. They worry about it being just a niche product...
25Dec2010 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(AAPL) How to Play Apple’s Holiday Season Supremacy – iPad iPod iPhone and Profits
by Karim Rahemtulla, Investment U’s Options Expert Tuesday, December 14, 2010: Issue #1407 If you had to put money on one big winner this holiday season, I suggest you head west. Specifically, to Cupertino, California, global headquarters of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). The tech...
25Dec2010 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(RTN) Raytheon Announces Acquisition of Applied Signal Technology
Defense player, Raytheon Company (RTN) has entered into an agreement to acquire a major provider of communications signals, Applied Signal Technology Inc. (APSG). The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors of both the companies. Under the terms of the agreement,...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CPKI) California Pizza Kitchen Expands in Dubai
Los Angeles based California Pizza Kitchen Inc. (CPKI), which currently owns and operates 211 company-owned restaurants and 58 franchised restaurants, announced the opening of a restaurant in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This is the third California Pizza Kitchen restaurant...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AMZN) U.S. Retail Sales Report Better Than Expected in November 2010
Retail Sales were better than expected in November, and the numbers for October were revised sharply higher. Total retail sales rose 0.8%, much better than the 0.5% consensus expectation, and are up 7.7% from a year ago. October was revised up from 1.2% growth to 1.7% growth,...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AIG) American International Group Ratings Affirmed by A.M. Best
Yesterday, A.M. Best Co. affirmed the credit and debt ratings of American International Group Inc. (AIG) and its US property-casualty and life-health subsidiaries namely, Chartis US Insurance Group, AIU Insurance Co., American General Property Insurance Co. and SunAmerica Financial...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PBR) Petrobras Brasileiro Scores Light Oil in Espirito Santo
Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PBR), or Petrobras S.A., announced the discovery of light oil in the country’s Espírito Santo Basin. The new well – the deepest find in the region – is expected to have an important bearing regarding further exploration...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SYK) Stryker Increases Quarterly Dividend
Orthopedic devices major Stryker Corp (SYK) has raised its quarterly dividend to 18 cents a share from 15 cents, representing a 20% hike. This lifts the annual dividend to 72 cents per share from the current payout of 60 cents and equates to a dividend yield of roughly 1.4%....
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(KMX) CarMax Surpasses Quarterly Earnings Estimates
CarMax Inc. (KMX) posted a profit of $82.4 million or 36 cents per share in the third quarter of its fiscal 2011, barely surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 34 cents per share. The profit was higher than $74.6 million or 33 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. CarMax’s...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WMT) Retailers Bloom in Holiday Season
November 2010 recorded the fifth straight month of positive sales trends and the retailers are now gearing up for a big week as time counts down to Christmas. The nation’s retailers experienced a solid start to the holiday season as consumers opened their wallets and stock...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NAV) Navistar International Beats The Street but Profits Fall
Navistar International Corporation (NAV) posted a decline in profit of $49 million or 68 cents per share in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year ended October 31, 2010 from $86 million or $1.19 per share in the same quarter of prior year. In spite of this, the profit was higher...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MS) How to Profit From Merger Mania in 2011
by Matthew Weinschenk, Contributing Editor, Investment U Thursday, December 23, 2010: Issue #1414 Okay, I’m going to get right to the point here: In 2011, we’ll see a surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) that will drive the market higher. If you want to profit from...
25Dec2010 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | ContinuedDec 23: Initial Claims Fall – Economic Highlights
Initial Claims decreased to 420,000, for the week ending 12/18, against the expected decrease to 415,000, after remaining unchanged at 423,000, the revised level for the previous week. The 4-week moving average increased to 426,000 from the previous week’s revised average of...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BBBY) Company News for December 23, 2010
• Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) revised its bid amount for Riversdale Mining, offering $3.9 billion, up from $3.5 billion • Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) posted fiscal third quarter profits of $0.74, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.93, and reported revenues of $2.2...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Stock Market News for December 23, 2010
On Wednesday, markets ended marginally higher and major indices enjoyed record two-year highs. Primarily led by financial stocks and positive economic data, benchmarks ended on the winning side on a trading day with light volumes. As markets near the end of the year, it is to...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Large Banks Soar Since Assange Arrest
Zacks’ Voice of the People Highlights user inthemoneystocks: “Large Banks Soar Since Assange Arrest” from the People & Picks community. For more Voice of the People, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=5851 Featured Post Large Banks Soar Since Assange Arrest This...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JEC) Jacobs Engineering Group Analyst Upgrades Shares to Neutral
We upgrade our recommendation on Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC) from Underperform to Neutral, based on the expectations of modest recovery in the company’s business in the upcoming year after bottoming-out in fiscal 2010. During fiscal 2010, Jacobs came across with the...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TYC) Tyco International Sells Electrical Products Business
Tyco International Ltd (TYC) has completed the sale of a 51% stake in its Electrical and Metal Products businesses to the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC (CD&R). Tyco will receive cash proceeds totaling $720 million. The Electrical and Metal Products...
25Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TM) U.S. Auto Sales Rebound Strongly in November
The light vehicle sales in the U.S. during November rose 17% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 12.3 million units, signaling a strong recovery in the industry. All the major automakers, except Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), posted double-digit gain in sales. The industry witnessed...
24Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PRAA) Portfolio Recovery Associates Expands Credit Facility
Yesterday, Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. (PRAA) announced the expansion of its credit facility to $407.5 million from $365 million, according to the new four-year credit agreement effective December 20, 2010. The revolving credit is part of the existing credit facility of...
24Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MWW) Monster Worldwide Analyst Reiterates Neutral Rating on Shares
We recently reiterated our Neutral recommendation on Monster Worldwide Inc., (MWW). Monster earlier reported better-than-expected results for the third quarter and provided a strong outlook for the fourth quarter and year 2011. Earnings estimates have gone up in the last sixty...
24Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GILD) Gilead Sciences Terminates Letairis Phase III Trial
Gilead Sciences Inc.(GILD) recently announced that it will terminate its phase III trial (ARTEMIS-IPF) studying Letairis (ambrisentan) for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) due to lack of efficacy. The study’s Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) had conducted...
24Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GOOG) Google TV Suffers Setback
Google Inc.’s (GOOG) Google TV has now been around long enough for the geeks to play around with it. And they have come back with disappointing reviews. While most were excited at the concept of wedlock between the TV and Internet, the marriage itself looks destined to be challenging. An...
24Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(XOM) U.S. Crude Stockpiles Report Another Decrease
The U.S. Energy Department’s weekly inventory release showed a larger-than-expected drop in crude and distillate stockpiles, while gasoline supplies continued with their climb. Meanwhile, refinery run-rates were down slightly from the previous week. The Energy Information...
23Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MOT) Motorola Aquires Zecter to Enhance Music Offerings
Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorola Inc. (MOT) yesterday announced that it has acquired privately held Zecter Inc., a provider of synchronization and streaming technologies for on-demand mobile digital content. Zecter’s ZumoCast and ZumoDrive...
23Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PCE) U.S. Gross Domestic Product Revised Up to 2.6%
This is essentially a repost of the report when the second look at third-quarter GDP growth came out on November 23rd. I have put the new revised contributions to (or drags on) growth in bold, with the original numbers immediately following in parenthesis (the 11/23 numbers first...
22Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MAR) Marriott International Expands in Brazil
Marriott International Inc. (MAR), the largest U.S. hotel chain plans to expand its portfolio in Brazil to 54 hotels. Marriott currently manages 4 hotels in Brazil, with one hotel in Rio de Janeiro and three properties in Sao Paulo. The Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott plans...
22Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AIG) American International Group to Sell Rail Unit – Fitch Rates Debt
Going ahead with its asset disposal strategy to repay the U.S. government bailout loan, yesterday, American International Group Inc. (AIG) announced its intention to vend its rail-car leasing wing, AIG Rail Service Inc, according to Wall Street Journal. While the price of sale...
22Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PXP) Plains Exploration & Production Company Advances Plans
Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP) has updated its natural gas derivative positions for 2011 and 2012 and also provided details on its Gulf of Mexico (GOM) divestments. Hedge Positions Plains Exploration & Production announced that its has hedged nearly 200,000...
22Dec2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SCJ) The Best Asian Markets in 2011
by Carl Delfeld, Contributing Editor, Investment U Wednesday, December 22, 2010: Issue #1413 Grab your passport… we’re heading east for the holidays. With the United States and Europe still battling through high debt and low growth struggles (among other things), overseas...
22Dec2010 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued