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Cramer on BloggingStocks: All I'm asking for is rigor

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says you can be bearish, but you have to admit when you're wrong.

Oh boy, I hit a nerve. My last two days of donning the bear suit and imitating the bears has brought on a cacophony of critics, all of whom think that I am attacking them personally! That's right, they think I have read them, seen them and heard them and that I am spoofing them or making fun of them.

Moreover, they think that I am wildly bullish and that I am mocking them for not wanting to buy things here.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: All I'm asking for is rigor

Earnings highlights: Boeing, Coca-Cola, eBay, Microsoft, Pfizer, UAL, Yahoo! ...

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Boeing, Coca-Cola, eBay, Microsoft, Pfizer, UAL, Yahoo! ...

Pfizer reports solid quarterly earnings thanks to cost-cutting maneuvers

On Tuesday, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) stepped into the earnings spotlight, announcing a higher third-quarter profit compared to last year. The pharmaceutical firm earned 43 cents per share, or 51 cents per share in adjusted earnings. A year ago, PFE earned 34 cents per share before item exclusions. The Street expected PFE to report third-quarter earnings of 48 cents per share excluding items.

Quarterly revenue checked in at $11.62 billion, 3% lower than last year's third-quarter revenue. Revenue was pulled roughly 5% lower due to unfavorable foreign exchange rates.

Continue reading Pfizer reports solid quarterly earnings thanks to cost-cutting maneuvers

Stocks set for a mild open amidst a flood of earnings

U.S. stocks stocks are poised for a mild open Tuesday morning, a day after U.S. markets already set new 2009 highs and following solid results from Apple (NYSE: AAPL) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) late Monday. A flood of earnings from such heavyweights as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and DuPont (NYSE: DD) is also due out this morning. In addition, some economic releases, including inflation and housing data, are scheduled for this morning.

More here: Before the bell: Stock futures higher as earnings generally top estimates

Options Update: Pfizer volatility low into EPS and pending merger with Wyeth

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) closed at $17.10. PFE is expected to report Q3 EPS on October 20. Pfizer is expected to close on the acquisition of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) for $33 in cash and 0.985 of a share of Pfizer by the end of 2009. PFE call option volume of 32,111 contracts compares to put volume of 2,590 contracts PFE October and November option implied volatility of 30 is below its 26-week average of 33, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Financial Select Sector (NYSE: XLF) overall volatility at 39; below a level of 129 from November 2008 and above a level of 33 from September 23 according to IVolatility.com.

Options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Closing Bell: Too much, too soon? (FSLR, YONG, ETRM, PFE & MGM)

The market opened sharply lower this morning anticipating, perhaps, unemployment data that was worse than the data turned out to be. The September unemployment rate rose to 9.8%, exactly what most observers had been expecting.

The markets tried to gain back more than all the early losses, with all three major indexes ending slightly down. Crude oil has fallen below $70/barrel again, and gold has broken through $1,000/oz again. It could just be the case that the nearly 60% run-up since March in the S&P 500 was just wishful thinking that the economy was turning around and that consumer spending would would tick up as things improved. That thinking has not been borne out yet, so markets are likely to wobble around until the consumer decides what to do -- save or spend. The holiday season could write the ending to the story.

Here are todays unofficial closing numbers:

Dow 9,487.37 -21.91 (-0.23%)
S&P 500 1,025.18 -4.67 (-0.45%)
Nasdaq 2,048.11 -9.37 (-0.46%)

Continue reading Closing Bell: Too much, too soon? (FSLR, YONG, ETRM, PFE & MGM)

First Solar to join the S&P 500 Index

Late Thursday, Standard & Poor's announced a few changes to its U.S. indices. The reason for the changes are that Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) is being acquired by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), leaving an opening in both the S&P 100 and S&P 500 (SPX). I want to focus on the stock that will replace WYE in the SPX, First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR). In after-hours trading, FSLR jumped more than 6% in response to the announcement.

FSLR manufactures solar modules and is a major benefactor of what I like to call the "green rush" that took place during the past two years. FSLR capitalized nicely on the global environmental consciousness revolution last year, ascending as high as the $310 region. Yes, the stock has backed off quite a bit due to the economic crisis, but it could enjoy a bit of a recovery provided it can parlay this latest news into a breach of some overhead resistance.

Continue reading First Solar to join the S&P 500 Index

Some big names set new 52-week highs Tuesday: WAG, ACS, WYE ...

new 52 week highsAll three of the major indexes finished Tuesday in the red, but there were several big names that moved up to new 52-week highs in Tuesday's trading.

Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG): The drugstore giant had a really good day on Wall Street after posting better than expected earnings in the morning before the market opened. The company posted earnings of 44 cents per share versus analyst estimates of 39 cents. The stock set a new 52-week high of $38.44 and closed the day up 9.2% at $37.35.

Continue reading Some big names set new 52-week highs Tuesday: WAG, ACS, WYE ...

Before the bell: Investors bullish ahead of new reports

Stocks are expected to open modestly higher on Wall Street after a losing week last week. On Friday, stocks fell for the third straight day after reports on new-home sales and durable goods proved weaker than expected, leading investors to believe the economy has not yet emerged from the recession.

Stocks to watch today include pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), which agreed Monday to buy an 18% stake in European drug maker Crucell (NASDAQ: CRXL) for 301.8 million euros ($440 million), as part of a deal to develop flu vaccines.

Continue reading Before the bell: Investors bullish ahead of new reports

Options Update: Merck and Pfizer volatility low into pending acquisitions

Merck (NYSE: MRK) closed at $32.68. The Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) and Merck merger is expected to close before year end. SGP shareholders will receive 0.5767 shares and $10.50 in cash for each share of SGP. MRK October and January option implied volatility of 31 is below its 26-week average of 37, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) closed at $16.77.Pfizer is expected to close on the acquisition of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) for $33 in cash and 0.985 of a share of Pfizer by the end of 2009. PFE October option implied volatility is at 26, December is at 31; below its 26-week average of 36, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Cramer on BloggingStocks: The health care bargain

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says health care has never been this cheap relative to the market in its history.

Health care's not done rallying. As President Obama prepared himself for claiming a great political victory, we are all recognizing that the single-payer, socialized medicine covering cradle-to-grave, 100% paid for by the rich, the fear that left all things health care in the P/E dustbin, is dead. That's not going to happen.

That leaves us with the biggest bargains the market has to offer.

Health care has never been this lowly valued relative to the market in its history. Remember, 98% of the time it trades at a meaningful premium. I think that many believe some of these moves (like the Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) (Cramer's Take) move) is because of gigantic new drug finds. In fact, I think they just got too cheap and the only thing really meaningful about the Celgene rally came because one of its Revlimid studies was stopped for good results, actually a predictable event given how well the drug works on many different kinds of cancers.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: The health care bargain

Not much going on with Merck's Q2

Pharmaceutical company Merck (NYSE: MRK), whose colleagues include Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), issued its Q2 numbers earlier in the week. Quite frankly, I found them to be boring. Of course, maybe boring isn't too bad these days, right? It's a lot better than an exciting ride on a profit-decline express.

Well, actually, Merck did see a decline in its bottom-line profit, but it wasn't an outrageously awful drop or anything like that. Merck made an adjusted 83 cents per share compared to an adjusted 86 cents per share in the comparable period. Three less pennies isn't the worst thing in the world on a relative basis. Plus, revenues increased 3% if you exclude currency effects (including them gives a decrease of 3%).

Continue reading Not much going on with Merck's Q2

Before the bell: Stock futures decline ahead of another earnings wave

U.S. stock futures declined Wednesday morning as investors took some profit off the table following seven straight days of blue chip gains. Some of the positive sentiment regarding corporate earnings faded despite Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) strong showing Tuesday after the close. Yet another wave of bellwether earnings, including more financials, is due today.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) are among companies reporting this morning.

Continue reading Before the bell: Stock futures decline ahead of another earnings wave

Wyeth (WYE) shareholders approve sell to Pfizer (PFE)

Weth Pfizer mergerThe mega pharmaceutical merger between Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) is one step closer to becoming official today after overwhelming approval by Wyeth shareholders.

The shareholder vote to sell Wyeth to Pfizer was not even close. Around 98% of shareholders voted to approve the sale, which is expected to happen by the end of the year.

Continue reading Wyeth (WYE) shareholders approve sell to Pfizer (PFE)

Earnings preview: Johnson & Johnson could surprise Wall Street

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), a company that counts Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) as colleagues, will report results for the second quarter on Tuesday, July 14. JNJ is expected to post a bit of a profit decline. Last year's Q2, according to Earnings.com, saw the health-care business earn $1.18 per share. This time around, analysts are thinking that JNJ will do somewhere around $1.11 per share.

Will JNJ beat the analysts? It's quite possible, since the company has a good record on this count. As a matter of fact, JNJ beat predictions by four cents back in April. Sales, however, came in a little weak. Interestingly enough, the market didn't really care too much about the earnings performance on that day. Shares had rallied a bit in pre-market trading, but they closed slightly down by the end of the regular session. I found a similar situation back in January.

Continue reading Earnings preview: Johnson & Johnson could surprise Wall Street

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Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+17.4610,023.42
NASDAQ+7.122,112.44
S&P 500+2.671,069.30

Last updated: November 08, 2009: 06:57 AM

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