Archive for September, 2011
(RIMM) What’s Behind the Market Gains?
Stocks have made steady gains in recent days as some of the more exaggerated Europe-centric fears have started easing. There is also a growing realization that the U.S. economy may be able to muddle through without slipping into another recession. Everybody understands that Europe...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SNDK) Sandisk Unveils New Products
Storage solutions company Sandisk Corporation (SNDK) recently rolled out a number of retail products and introduced a new preservation solutions category. SanDisk’s product portfolio addresses all market segments—from mobile phones and cameras to notebooks and tablets—and...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MDT) Medtronic Grows Spinal Portfolio
Leading medical devices player, Medtronic’s (MDT) TSRH Spinal System has received 510 (k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) with pedicle screws. The system, developed in collaboration with Texas Scottish...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) Major Credit Card Companies Report Delinquency Drop Continues
Regulatory filings by major credit card companies for the month of August revealed mixed results in credit card defaults and delinquency rate. According to the respective regulatory filing, four of the nation’s top six credit card companies reported a decline in card defaults,...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NFLX) Netflix Lowers Subscriber Forecast
Netflix Inc.’s (NFLX) shares plummeted almost 19% in yesterday’s trade after the company cut down on the projected subscriber base for its third quarter of fiscal 2011. Estimates for the total subscriber base declined by a million. The new estimate pins the company’s DVD-only...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(LMT) Lockheed Martin Earns IT Support Contract From U.S. Air Force
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) received a contract from the U.S. Air Force worth $791 million to provide Information Technology (“IT”) related services on the Global Combat Support System program (“GCSS”) of the Air Force (“AF”). The current contract entails support...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CAR) Avis Budget Group – Bull of the Day
Continued focus on productivity and cost containment initiatives coupled with better travel trends and lower fleet costs drove Avis Budget Group (CAR) to post better-than-expected financial results for second-quarter 2011. The quarterly earnings of $0.63 per share surpassed the...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CTRN) Citi Trends Incorporated – Bear of the Day
Citi Trends, Inc. (CTRN) falling comparable store sales, coupled with rising input costs and operating expenses battered the second-quarter 2011 results. The company witnessed a quarterly loss of $0.69 per share that broadened 17 folds from the prior-period loss of $0.04. The...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AAPL) Apple Leads Tablet Market
Apple Inc. (AAPL) continues its success story with the iPad 2, as it has emerged as the leading tablet maker in the second quarter of 2011 in terms of global shipments. Research firm IDC confirmed that 9.3 million units of Apple’s iPad 2 being shipped during the quarter, netting...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Market Outlook Murky – Valuations Compelling
The Earnings Picture Second quarter earnings season is over; the attention now shifts to the third quarter. With the exception of a handful of financials, most notably Bank of America (BAC), which had a $12 billion negative swing in net income from last year, this has been another...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BRKA) Berkshire Hathaway Closes Lubrizol Acquisition
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA) (BRKB) has completed the timely acquisition of The Lubrizol Corp., a chemical company headquartered in Ohio. The acquisition will cost the company $9.7 billion, at $135 per share. The purchase consideration includes $0.7 billion of the acquired...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DAL) Delta Air Lines and Virgin to Share Codes
The second largest U.S. airline Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) will start codesharing its flights with Virgin Australia on the trans-Pacific route from November. The move is part of the joint venture between the two airlines that received all necessary approvals in June. Per the...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Volcker Rule Extension Risks Jobs?
The controversial Volcker Rule that restricts proprietary trading of U.S. banks may also be enforced on foreign banks with operations in the country, Bloomberg reported on Friday, following communication with four people familiar with the matter. The legislation is part of the...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BMC) BMC Software Solves Insurance Issues
BMC Software Inc. (BMC) announced that China Pacific Insurance Co. (“CPIC”) recently deployed its Business Service Management (BSM) platform. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The CPIC Group holds the second largest position in property insurance and the third...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GM) General Motors Strikes 4-Year Deal with UAW
General Motors Co. (GM) reached a tentative four-year agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW) that covers 48,500 workers of the automaker. The company reached the agreement after nearly seven weeks of bargaining with UAW. Under the new agreement, GM will hike the entry-level...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BMY) Bristol-Myers Squibb Presents HCV Data
Recently, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) presented encouraging data from a phase II study (n=48) which evaluated its candidate BMS-790052 in combination with peginterferon and ribavirin (standards of care) for treating patients suffering from the hepatitis C virus (HCV)....
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JCI) Johnson Controls Builds Battery Plant in China
Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) plans to invest $100 million for building an automotive battery plant in China. The plant will manufacture start-stop batteries and supply to global and local automakers in Asia. It is expected to begin production in early 2013. Start-Stop system is...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(STO) Statoil ASA to Upgrade Troll Capacity
Statoil ASA (STO) has contracted Norway’s engineering group, Aibel, for the upgrade of a gas compression capacity on the Troll A platform in the North Sea. The contract is worth NOK 2.7 billion ($483 million). Per the agreement, Aibel is responsible for engineering, procurement,...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WMGI) Wright Medical Group to Restructure
International orthopedic devices company Wright Medical Group (WMGI) recently reported that it is exercising a cost restructuring initiative to improve profitability, promote growth and strengthen cash flow, leading to enhanced shareholder value. The company believes that the...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RTN) Raytheon Company Gets U.K. Ministry of Defense Contract for Boomerang
Raytheon BBN Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon Company (RTN), has been selected by the U.K. Ministry of Defense (MoD) for the supply of Boomerang shooter detection systems. Raytheon Company had acquired BBN Technologies in October 2009 for approximately $350...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CAG) ConAgra Foods Sets Deadline for Ralcorp Holdings
ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) reaffirmed its $94 a share all-cash offer for the acquisition of Ralcorp Holdings Inc. (RAH), setting a deadline for the proposal, which was previously rejected by Ralcorp without a dialogue with ConAgra Foods, on August 12, 2011. ConAgra Foods has sent...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(QCOM) Qualcomm Collaborates With Microsoft on Windows 8
Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) received a shot in its arm from the upcoming Windows operating system of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). Qualcomm is collaborating with Microsoft to develop chipsets from its state-of-the-art next-generation Snapdragon platform for notebook and tablets that will...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HWAY) Gallup-Healthways Report Well-Being
Healthways (HWAY), the well-being enhancement company, and statistical research services provider Gallup recently announced the results of the monthly Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (“WBI”) for August 2011. The overarching WBI measure remained on the higher side at 66.1. The...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(LUV) Southwest Airlines Hopeful on Holiday Travel
Southwest Airlines (LUV) is mulling over raising airfares for fall-winter season travel. After the losses post Hurricane Irene,the airline industry is looking at potential benefits fromhigher travel demand during the holidays and Southwest Airlines is no exception. During late...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GD) General Dynamics Gets Army Contract
General Dynamics C4 Systems Inc., a business unit of General Dynamics Corporation (GD) was awarded a contract for the Common Hardware Systems-4 (CHS-4) program by the U.S. Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. The competitively awarded 5-year indefinite-delivery,...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RTN) Raytheon Wins Korean Contract
Defense contractor Raytheon Company (RTN) won a $65.5 million contract to deliver five Phalanx Block 1B Close-In Weapon Systems to the Korean Navy. The direct commercial sale calls for the systems to be installed on the 2,300-ton frigate-class ships starting in April 2013, and...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Bank of America to Dismiss 30,000 Workers
In a statement released on Monday, Bank of America Corp. (BAC) confirmed its plan to retrench about 30,000 workers under the first phase of its ongoing cost-cutting initiative –– Project New BAC. This will reduce BofA’s 288,000 work force by 10%. According to the company,...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ERTS) Electronic Arts Set to Revive Syndicate
Video game developer and publisher, Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS), popularly known as EA, recently unveiled the first-person shooter franchisee Syndicate. This is a remake of the original game by Bullfrog productions, which was last published in 1996. The new game is expected to...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MON) Monsanto to Push Price Amid Food Crisis
World’s largest seed company, Monsanto Co. (MON), announced to raise prices for its DeKalb brand of corn seeds in 2012 by an average of 5% to 10% amid the present worldwide food crisis. The price rise reflects higher cost of production for the high-yielding corn genes. These...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DVN) Energy Information Administration Reports Bearish Gas Build
The U.S. Energy Department’s weekly inventory release showed a larger-than-expected build-up in natural gas supplies on the back of higher production, as well as benign fall temperatures that restricted the commodity’s demand for power burn. The Weekly Natural Gas Storage...
20Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued