BloggingStocks

Kansas City Wins Google Over

Michael Fowlkes — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Products and Services, Google (GOOG), Technology

There are a lot of upset people today following Google's announcement that Kansas City was the company's choice for its blistering fast 1 Gbps broadband Internet.

When Google (GOOG) announced its desire to find a place to test the development of a 1 gigabit fiber to the home network last February, cities and towns all across the nation started working on their presentations to get Google to come to their area. Google received 1,100 applications, but in the end, it is Kansas City that got the nod.

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Kansas City Wins Google Over originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: Playing the bounce

Jim Cramer — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:20:00 EST

Filed under: Market Matters, Target Corp. (TGT), Cramer on BloggingStocks

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says you can game the psychology of the market if you want, but know the rules.

I see the plan: Every day that the market looks like it is going down we give $10 billion to some bank! It is sure-fire. Did you notice the momentary weakness in France Monday? Quick, cut checks to BNP, SocGen and Agricole. Why not? When ING (NYSE: ING) (Cramer's Take) looked like it was a disaster, giving $13 billion to that one-time conservative bank turned all of Europe around!

Monday, when there was a moment that we looked weak, when it looked like we were going to go from plus 200 to below 100, Treasury let it be known that there is a whole other round of checks coming for the second-tier players. Who knows? Boom. That plus higher oil prices turned the market around in the upside-down world we are now in! No doubt soon Downey (NYSE: DSL) (Cramer's Take) and BankUnited (NASDAQ: BKUNA) (Cramer's Take) might get checks and then everything will go higher.

Oh, and on top of that, we have a new stimulus plan, one specially designed, no doubt, to move Target (NYSE: TGT) (Cramer's Take) back to its moving average and get Macy's (NYSE: M) (Cramer's Take) off the critical list.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: Playing the bounce originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: We need action

Jim Cramer — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:15:00 EST

Filed under: General Motors (GM), Market Matters, Merrill Lynch (MER), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Washington Mutual (WM), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Cramer on BloggingStocks

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the government needs to step in and take charge, and it needs to do it now.

We all know it. All of us. We know that the subprime mortgages that Lehman (NYSE: LEH) (Cramer's Take) wrote in Europe have come back to haunt them. We know that AIG (NYSE: AIG) (Cramer's Take) insured a lot of bad paper over in Europe when it decided to "avoid" the U.S. Subprime financial insurance, if you can call its multi-billion-dollar exposure "avoidance."

We know that Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) (Cramer's Take) can't absorb the losses itself.

We know that Downey (NYSE: DSL) (Cramer's Take) and Corus (NASDAQ: CORS) (Cramer's Take) and BankUnited (NASDAQ: BKUNA) (Cramer's Take) can't raise the money they need.

We know all of these things. I think the federal government does, too. We lived in an unregulated time where everyone acted badly and no one protected anyone, and now these institutions have to be dealt with in a way that is the least painful of all the painful ways.

Of course, though, this government has no desire to deal with things until guys like Bill Gross or the Chinese government say, "We are done buying your paper," when it came to Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) (Cramer's Take). I guess they want a run at the bank of Washington Mutual and they want customers to stop doing business with Lehman before that's sold for scrap, although I must say that the Bear deal worked pretty well for everybody except Bear shareholders.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: We need action originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: This bailout is a big piece of the puzzle

Jim Cramer — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:23:00 EST

Filed under: Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Market Matters, Citigroup Inc. (C), Bank of America (BAC), Merrill Lynch (MER), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Washington Mutual (WM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Cramer on BloggingStocks

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says it doesn't 'solve everything.' No one is saying it does.

The biggest canard of all: "This is not going to be a cure-all, nor will it solve the 'real problems' of the U.S. economy." Why is it a canard?

Because no one -- I repeat, no one -- is saying it is. Not even the biggest bulls.

This bailout of Fannie (NYSE: FNM) (Cramer's Take) and Freddie (NYSE: FRE) (Cramer's Take) is a piece of the puzzle that is meant to stop house price depreciation. It is one of the major pieces. Mortgage rates are being called down big this morning, big, with some mortgage brokers thinking we will lop a full percentage point off of rates. In case you think they are biased, these people had been forecasting a big gain in rates.

What's driving me crazy here is the falseness of the critics. They are all assuming that things won't be happy. It is about being happier.

Let's take Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) (Cramer's Take) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take). These changes are huge for them. If you owned them, you are going to make a lot of money. Why? Because the competition just got diminished, and the company that was making them pay more for money is gone.

No, that doesn't cure their bad loans. It does make it better!

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: This bailout is a big piece of the puzzle

Cramer on BloggingStocks: This bailout is a big piece of the puzzle originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: SEC paints a target on Downey and its ilk

Jim Cramer — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:24:00 EST

Filed under: Industry, Market Matters, Merrill Lynch (MER), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Cramer on BloggingStocks

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says struggling banks can be shorted to oblivion now that the rules won't be enforced.

Memo to the FDIC: Watch your back. The SEC just flipped its allegiance to the bad guys, the guys who want to break not just certain banks, but your bank! That's right, with the scrapping of the emergency rule that eliminated naked shorting, where you don't have to find the stock, and with the end of the vigilance against bear raiding, the SEC may have just caused a run at the FDIC.

I had hoped that the SEC would see that these financials have been manipulated to unreasonable levels, making the confidence in all institutions so low that nobody wanted to give them money. The rule change -- which when you think of it, wasn't much of a rule change as much as an enforcement of the way things are supposed to be, where you actually have to find the stock you sold short first so you don't fail to deliver -- worked!

It gave the system some breathing room. I think the rule change might have saved Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) (Cramer's Take) from being shorted into oblivion so it couldn't have done its deal. Lehman (NYSE: LEH) (Cramer's Take) didn't do a deal, those bad boys be back on the griddle now for unknown European exposure. AIG (NYSE: AIG) (Cramer's Take) wasn't protected in the first place and I believe will need to raise $10 billion to $15 billion in the teens to cover its European exposure. Now there's little hope at all for Fannie (NYSE: FNM) (Cramer's Take) or Freddie (NYSE: FRE) (Cramer's Take), as their stocks will be blitzed into oblivion and Hank Paulson will have to start the planning of cash infusions as opposed to what he said last Sunday -- why did he say that, for heaven's sake? Maybe he's too close to John "We don't need capital" Thain from their Goldman (NYSE: GS) (Cramer's Take) days.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: SEC paints a target on Downey and its ilk originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Analyst downgrades: ANAD, AXL and CAT

Eric Buscemi — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:12:00 EST

Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Washington Mutual (WM)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Anadigics, American Axle and Caterpillar were today's noteworthy downgrades:

Stephens downgraded shares of Anadigics (NASDAQ: ANAD) following the company's Q2 results, as they believe shares could trade sideways until the macro environment improves. The firm lowered their target to $9 from $14. Jefferies downgraded shares to Hold from Buy to reflect the company's lower than expected outlook. The firm lowered their target to $9 from $15.
Deutsche Bank cut American Axle (NYSE: AXL) to Hold from Buy to reflect the risk associated with the company's exposure to General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Chrysler. The firm lowered their target price to $7.50 from $11.
JP Morgan downgraded Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) to Neutral from Overweight based on increasing macro headwinds and likely multiple pressure.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) was cut to Sell from Neutral at Piper.
United Microelectronic (NYSE: UMC) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman.
Downey Financial (NYSE: DSL) and City National (NYSE: CYN) were lowered to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette.

Analyst downgrades: ANAD, AXL and CAT originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: Just a squeeze -- at least for now

Jim Cramer — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:22:00 EST

Filed under: Market Matters, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Housing, Cramer on BloggingStocks

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says if we get fed support for a housing bottom, we can really turn things around.

If I were at Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take), today would be a day where I issued several billion in preferred stock or I issued a multibillion equity offering. Why? Because the deed is done; the shorts panicked and covered and took the stock up where it could now be worth doing a deal.

If things are so great at WFC, why do they have to do a deal? Simple: They have a big increase in nonperformers, and when you have a big increase in nonperformers ,you raise capital. Period.

Yesterday's relief rally was not about housing prices bottoming -- I think that will happen next year, not this year -- it was about getting the shorts. The shorts had had their way all over everything. Suddenly you get this surprise smackdown by Chris Cox of the so-called naked shorts -- it's really not at all about that if these stocks aren't hard to borrow -- and you get a dividend boost, something that shorts don't like to pay.

I think today's "upside surprise" from JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) will generate more short-covering. So will Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) (Cramer's Take) when it declares its dividend.

Which it will.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Just a squeeze -- at least for now

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Just a squeeze -- at least for now originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Profiting from the 150 banks that will fail next?

Peter Cohan — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:37:00 EST

Filed under: Industry, IndyMac Bancorp (IMB)

Last week, the FDIC oversaw the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history -- $32 billion IndyMac Bancorp (NYSE: IMB). I thought more would be on the way and this morning's New York Times estimates that 150 of the 7,500 U.S. banks will fail in the next 12 to 18 months. The FDIC only has $53 billion in its fund to cover bank failures so it is going to be needing much more cash, which it may get from raising insurance rates. No doubt those of us with bank accounts will pay the price.

For those looking to profit from this failure, it's time to get a hold of the FDIC's problem bank list and start estimating the ones that are most likely to get taken over. Here are some hints: look at their mortgages as a percent of total loans, their cash flow, when they have to pay back their debt, and the increase in the rate of their bad loans. The Times mentions two that are probably already on the radar of short sellers:

BankUnited Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: BKUNA) in Florida, which trades at 77 cents a share and is probably too far gone to profit from as a short, went for $20 a share a year ago.
Downey Financial Corporation (NYSE: DSL) in California, which trades at $1.69 today, traded at $65 a year ago.

Continue reading Profiting from the 150 banks that will fail next?

Profiting from the 150 banks that will fail next? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon gives up the phone business, at least for some

Douglas McIntyre — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 05:59:00 EST

Filed under: Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Comcast Cl'A' (CMCSA), Verizon Communications (VZ)

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) had decided that customers do not have to be landline clients to get the company's new fiber broadband and TV service. In other words, it is willing to walk away from its core business to move into the future.

According to the AP, "Surveys point to about one in seven U.S. households now lacking landlines." More people are using their cellphones instead of the traditional home phone connection.

The announcement points to the lengths to which Verizon will go to get customers away from cable companies like Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA). Cable does not require that people use its voice system, VoIP, to get cable television or broadband connections. If Verizon wants to match cable packages, it has to do the same.

To a large extent, the news is an indication that Verizon is not really a traditional "phone company" any more. The revenue from that part of its operations is shrinking. Its growth comes from cellular customers, home fiber subscribers, and DSL.

Alexander Graham Bell is turning in his grave.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Verizon gives up the phone business, at least for some originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 15 Jun 2008 05:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: Things aren't so bad

Jim Cramer — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:22:00 EST

Filed under: Market Matters, IndyMac Bancorp (IMB), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Cramer on BloggingStocks

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says there are problems, but nothing looks dire.

The setup is pretty good here. We've got a mildly oversold market with lots of June money expected to come in as CDs roll over and people realize that the cash rates are so bad. We have no earnings news, which is good, given that unless you do a lot of business overseas without a lot of raw cost escalation (think everything from Emerson (NYSE: EMR) (Cramer's Take) to Heinz (NYSE: HNZ) (Cramer's Take)) or you transport or mine oil, minerals and agricultural goodies, you aren't doing all that well.

We have the possibility of some stability in energy, as $130 has been difficult to punch through, even though we have not been able to build any inventories yet despite all we hear about how people are driving less. And the expectations for the employment number are so weak that if we get any job creation we are going to begin to hear that maybe the economy is on the mend.

Again, that's considered antithetical given the sinking home price/escalating food and oil price one-two punch. But, as I said last week, there is a finite nature to the bad loans.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Things aren't so bad

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Things aren't so bad originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HUGH update: HughesNet puts email back in service

Gary Sattler — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:51:00 EST

Filed under: Good news, Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Internet, Tech for the Rest of Us, Workspace

The recently reported three day e-mail blackout experienced by the consumer internet customers of Hughes Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGH) has ended. Although the system has not swung over to its new enhanced version, it appears that Hughes technical staff has opted to reawaken the previous e-mail application to restore that service to its customers. Personal comment from the company regarding this situation was unavailable as of this writing.

What little preview I received of the attempted e-mail upgrade by HughesNet was enticing. It looked streamlined, intuitive and was definitely appealing to the eye. When the company completes its adjustments and makes the hoped for upgrade available, I'll provide my full assessment of the new service for our readers.

HUGH update: HughesNet puts email back in service originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HughesNet experiencing an ongoing 3 day email outage

Gary Sattler — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:36:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Internet, Competitive Strategy, Tech for the Rest of Us, Personal Finance

A simple 24 hour email outage for a system upgrade has turned into a 3 day technical nightmare for Hughes Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGH). Initially, the company informed customers that email service would be suspended for a 24 hour period, from 6pm Saturday, April 26 through 6pm Sunday, April 27. As of this writing, HughesNet email service is still down.

I guess one can live without email for a few more days, even though some might have important data to transmit via email. It's data which could affect one's career advancement. I guess in my case I could hand it off to my ground based mail carrier. However, because I have become quite accustomed to lackluster performance from Hughes Communications, I'm glad I'm not invested in it.

[Note from the author: Hughes email service fully restored in original format as of 04-30-08]

HughesNet experiencing an ongoing 3 day email outage originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Analyst upgrades: NCC, BRLC and MHS

Eric Buscemi — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:22:00 EST

Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MOST NOTEWORTHY: National City, Syntax Brillian and Medco Health were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of National City (NYSE: NCC) to Buy from Sell on valuation as they believe their $9.00 target is in-line with the company's franchise value.
Baird upgraded Syntax Brillian (NASDAQ: BRLC) to Outperform from Neutral based on recently announced strategic initiatives and valuation.
Jefferies upgraded shares of Medco Health (NYSE: MHS) to Buy from Hold as they believe the company's renewed PBM contract with United Healthcare (NYSE: UNH) removes a major overhang.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Friedman Billings raised Downey Financial (NYSE: DSL) to Market Perform from Underperform.
Volterra (VNASDAQ: LTR) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Piper.
Alliance Data (NYSE: ADS) was raised at JP Morgan to Overweight from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades: NCC, BRLC and MHS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: Nat City is just a travesty

Jim Cramer — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:25:00 EST

Filed under: Scandals, CIT Group (CIT), Merrill Lynch (MER), Wachovia Corp (WB), Washington Mutual (WM), Cramer on BloggingStocks

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says this lender gave money to anyone with a pulse, and the shareholders are left holding the bag.

For pure laughs, go read the National City (NYSE: NCC) (Cramer's Take) conference call yesterday, the one where they destroyed what was remaining of their common shareholder base with the partial takeunder by Corsair, an unknown private-equity fund that surfaced to inject $7 billion to save the bank.

We have had some remarkably poorly run banks in this go-round of subprime, including Downey Savings (NYSE: DSL) (Cramer's Take) (takers anyone?) Wachovia (NYSE: WB) (Cramer's Take) and Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) (Cramer's Take), as well as some nonbank fiascos like E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) (Cramer's Take) and CIT (NYSE: CIT) (Cramer's Take).

But this Nat City takes the cake. They have to be the most stupid and least rigorous lender since the S&L crisis. They have $10 billion in home equity loans that have got to be among the worst ever issued. I swear, I bet that many of these are going to turn out to be out-and-out fraud by the borrowers. Miraculously, Nat City found an even more stupid soul, Merrill's (NYSE: MER) (Cramer's Take) Stan O'Neal, to sell its main originator of this junk to, something that brought O'Neal down and almost brought Merrill down. Some would say that the latter is still in question. I have no idea what would have happened to NCC if they hadn't sold it before the height of the fraud, the first quarter of 2007.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Nat City is just a travesty

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Nat City is just a travesty originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Getting your new triple-play or ISP package -- at Wal Mart

Jon Ogg — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:45:00 EST

Filed under: Time Warner (TWX), Wal-Mart (WMT), Time Warner Cable (TWC)

There was an interesting announcement that came out this week. It seems that the triple-play package of cable, high-speed internet, and telephony are coming to America's largest retailer.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) are partnering up to allow Wal-Mart customers to select and purchase various Time Warner packages at nearly 700 Wal-Mart store locations.

The store offerings will be in the electronics department or "Connection Center" locations inside the stores. These locations will explain and offer the packages, possibly with a joint purchase of a new high-definition television.

Time Warner believes this will give customers convenient and easy access to its broadband, high-definition cable, and digital phone services. After seeing VoIP offerings in the past, this might not be all that unexpected. But the triple- play package isn't exactly a bare-bones pricing, even if it ultimately does save money for consumers who use all three services under one provider.

For the former "Always Low Prices" retailer, it seems that the old dial-up or low-priced DSL internet access would have been the highest priced offering. Either times are a changing, or US web access markets are saturated.

We are still awaiting the final verdict from Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) and Jeff Bewkes regarding its majority stake in the cable operator.

Getting your new triple-play or ISP package -- at Wal Mart originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: Bring in the sheiks

Jim Cramer — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:05:00 EST

Filed under: Market Matters, Citigroup Inc. (C), Merrill Lynch (MER), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Countrywide Financial (CFC), Washington Mutual (WM), SLM Corp (SLM), Bear Stearns Cos (BSC), Cramer on BloggingStocks

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the sheer number of companies that need foreign capital will keep sovereign funds busy. By Jim Cramer

We need more sheiks!

We need some for Citigroup (NYSE: C) (Cramer's Take) and for Merrill (NYSE: MER) (Cramer's Take) and for Bear (NYSE: BSC) (Cramer's Take). And how do you like the fact that Bear says it needs no money and yet everyone else does? How about that for chutzpa?

We need more sheiks for Countrywide (NYSE: CFC) (Cramer's Take) and for Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) (Cramer's Take). We need sheiks for National City (NYSE: NCC) (Cramer's Take) and Key (NYSE: KEY) (Cramer's Take) and Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN) (Cramer's Take). Any sheiks around for Corus (NASDAQ: CORS) (Cramer's Take) or Downey (NYSE: DSL) (Cramer's Take) or for the Gang of Four -- or do people really believe that Warren Buffett wants to buy one of them? (My sources indicate that what he does want to do is provide some extremely profitable reinsurance to the gang of four).

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Bring in the sheiks

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Bring in the sheiks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Buy (BBY) looking to buy Covad Communications?

Brian White — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 10:15:00 EST

Filed under: Deals, Rumors, Best Buy (BBY)

Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY), the largest consumer electronics retail chain in the U.S., may be eyeing another service provider acquisition to follow up on the Speakeasy purchase earlier this year. Speakeasy was a provider of IT services to small businesses, and Covad Communications (AMEX: DVW) is a larger broadband internet service provider. Is Best Buy really staking an offensive in the business world with one completed and one rumored acquisition? You bet.

Best Buy for Business is a division of the retail giant that wants to be the products and service provider for small and medium businesses as the chain branches away from strictly consumer retail to broaden its portfolio and diversify revenues from the vagaries of retail that can change like the wind.

According to Broadband Reports, talks of an acquisition have been on-again, off-again for a while and may not be an acquisition of Covad in its entirety, but perhaps its VoIP business only. This would make sense, as Best Buy has recently stepped up its VoIP business in order to bring more competition to the telecom world. At this time, Covad is valued at about $194 million based on its current stock price of $0.65 per share on the American stock exchange.

Best Buy (BBY) looking to buy Covad Communications? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Oct 2007 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: The cut has changed the market

Jim Cramer — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 10:10:00 EST

Filed under: Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), AT and T (T), Target Corp. (TGT), Sears Holdings (SHLD), Verizon Communications (VZ), Kohl's Corp (KSS), Wachovia Corp (WB), Washington Mutual (WM), Cramer on BloggingStocks

But what about oil?
But what about the dollar?
Is it enough?
Is it too much because of inflation?
Are they behind the curve?
Is it wrong that hedge funds get bailed out?

I have no objections to any boilerplate questions about the Fed and its rate cuts. They make sense. I do, however, occasionally want to suspend suspicion and cynicism and even, yes, skepticism, for the moment after something as monumental as yesterday's half-point cut.

I say that because sometimes my job conflicts with the need to be the skeptical reporter. That's because there's an overriding need on this site and in what I do for a living, which is try to make people money.

People want to know how the market will react, they want to know if it is time to buy, or too late to buy, or okay to buy, or good to sell. Those questions are obfuscators. They are theoretical. They get in the way of making money, and if answered incorrectly, they block the chance for making money.

Of course all of those issues are concerns, chiefly oil. It's not "good" that oil is going higher, even though to anyone with a car, it is obvious that it hasn't filtered through. I paid $2.60 yesterday, a dollar lower than I would think I would have had to pay given the price of crude. Weak dollar, possible inflation flare-up -- all bad.

But the simple answer is that things were not right going into the meeting. Big things. You shouldn't have T-bills so high when the 10-year is so low. That's 105 degrees on the thermometer. Those who fought 50 basis points, thinking it is too much, that it means panic, are the same people who would deny children antibiotics lest they scare the parents! It's all nonsense. Retail, autos and banks are real economy sectors, and everyone knew they were hurting.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: The cut has changed the market

Cramer on BloggingStocks: The cut has changed the market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cramer notes yet another banking merger candidate

Jon Ogg — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:10:00 EST

Filed under: Analyst Reports, Forecasts, Merrill Lynch (MER), Countrywide Financial (CFC)

On today's STOP TRADING! segment on CNBC, Cramer said that he went back over the Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) conference call and he thinks that the other mergers in the sector have gone well enough that he thinks Merrill Lynch will buy Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC). He also noted it might have liked to buy it some 6 months ago, and that it would have been a mistake, but now he thinks this would make sense. This is part of the fact that Countrywide is the last man standing in subprime loans and is the winner. He even made a stock options call on it: buy the JULY CALLS on the stock as it is going higher and he thinks it could fetch $45 to $48.

If Cramer is going to be touting CALL Options on banking mergers, well that's going to be fun for Joe Q. Public trying to learn even more. If we aren't in Merger Mania right now, then just what would merger mania really look like?

Last night he noted Downey Financial Corp. (NYSE: DSL) as a merger pick, and that one is up almost 3% today on almost 4-times normal trading volume because of his stock tout. He noted this one, again, today as a likely candidate.

Cramer notes yet another banking merger candidate originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The FCC is not doing telecoms any favors

Douglas McIntyre — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:03:00 EST

Filed under: Industry, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, AT and T (T), BellSouth Corp (BLS), Comcast Cl'A' (CMCSA), Verizon Communications (VZ)

Step right in and have your head knocked off. The FCC approved a plan to shorten the time it will take for telephone companies to get licenses to offer subscription based TV. Local authorities will only have a few months to approve applications for TV service.

The FCC feels that by letting telephone companies into a business dominated by cable it will keep consumer rates down. That may be true short term.

The fact is that there is still a big question mark whether consumers want to use the telephone pipe to the home for broadband and TV as well as voice service. Consumers don't like the current phone broadband, DSL, because it is usually slower than cable. Now companies will have to convince potential subscribers that the new fiber infrastructure is better than cable.

What makes the process more difficult for the phone companies is that the cable guy has been delivering the TV signal for many, many years and the broadband pipe for the last five or so. And, now they offer VoIP, which is usually cheaper than the phone company phone service.

Now, the telephone company can offer all of these services. Maybe the consumer doesn't want telecoms to do them any favors.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) has about 100,000 subscribers to its new fiber TV operation. It will need to multiply that number by the dozens to pay off the $18 million it is investing in the platform. The cable folks already have their platform. And, they also already have the customers, by the way.

Douglas A..McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

The FCC is not doing telecoms any favors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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