Short sellers trading stocks listed on Nasdaq made big bets against cable and financial shares, according to data from January 15. The numbers compare to short interest in the same companies on December 15, 2007.

The short interest in cable company Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) moved up 4 million to 99.3 million. Charter's stock has fallen close to $1. It carries $19 billion in debt and there is a growing concern that operating profits will not cover interest. Controlling shareholder Paul Allen may have to put more debt into the company.

Short interest in Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) rose almost 600,000 shares to 45.1 million. After hitting a record high last year, shares of the nation's largest cable company have fallen one-third on concerns that large telephone companies will take its TV and broadband subscribers with their new fiber-to-the-home products.

Short interest in E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) moved up 9.9 million shares to 91.2 million. The market is obviously willing to bet that there are more problems with the company's balance sheet. Short interest in healthier rival TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) fell 5.1 million to 8.6 million shares. The market is not shorting the discount brokerage industry, just the weakest company in the group.

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

Shorts move into financial and cable stocks: CMCSA, CHTR, ETFC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The earnings crunch is in full swing, and here are a few of the highlights of this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) only met earnings expectations despite strong holiday iPhone sales.
• Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) earnings plunged 95% due to mortgage-related write-downs.
• Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) narrowed its fourth quarter loss and beat expectations.
• eBay Inc. (NADSAQ: EBAY) beat low expectations, but the CEO is to step down in March.
• EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD) beat earnings expectations even thought profits fell 37%.
• E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC), posted a bigger-than-estimated fourth quarter loss.
• Fifth Third Bancorp. (NASDAQ: FITB) missed estimates on acquistion costs and a one-time charge.
• Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) missed low expectations, prompting further domestic cost reductions.
• Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) profit declined on weak domestic sales.
• Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) profit sank due to rising costs, competition, and management shakeups.
• Honeywell Internationl Inc. (NYSE: HON) only met estimates, despite growth in all business segments.
• Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) profit slipped bet met expectations, due to increased paper costs.
• Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) reported a record quarterly loss due to the housing slump.
• Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) profit plunged due to loss of market share, and it forcasts a first quarter loss.
• National City Corp. (NYSE: NCC) posted a bigger-than-expected loss, but shares rose anyway.
• Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) profit plunged, but beat estimates, due to increased competition for generics.
• UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA) narrowed its loss despite rising fuel prices and holiday cancellations.
• Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) earnings plunged 98% due to home loan write-downs.
• WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) met earnings expectations and reaffirmed its 2008 outlook.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Bank of America, eBay, Ford, Motorola, Pfizer, and others

Earnings highlights: Bank of America, eBay, Ford, Motorola, Pfizer, and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shares in Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) are up 12% on strong earnings.

E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) is trading higher by almost 9% on better-than-expected earnings.

Shares in Ambac (NYSE: ABK) are up 10% on rumors that the company may be a takeover target.

Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA) is lower by 24% on below expected numbers.

Varian Semiconductor (NASDAQ: VSEA) is trading down almost 9% on weak numbers.

Shares may trade differently in the pre-market than they do in the regular session.

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

Pre-market movers: BRCM, ETFC, ABK ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Among Thursday's quarterly reports were those of Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN), Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB), and E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC), all of which had disappointing news for investors.

One of the nation's largest homebuilders, Lennar, reported a $1.25 billion loss in the fourth quarter -- its largest ever -- as the housing slump drove prices lower and the builder took hefty charges. Lennar also reported a $1.9 billion loss for all of 2007. The Miami-based company said it was aggressively trying generate cash and lower inventory.

Quarterly losses rose to $7.92 per share, from $195.6 million, or $1.24 per share, a year ago. Revenue fell 49% percent to $2.18 billion from $4.27 billion in the same period of 2006, as both home deliveries and new orders fell 50%. The results topped the consensus forcast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who had expected a loss of $1.65 per share on revenue of $2.06 billion (these estimates typically exclude one-time charges such as land write-downs).

For the year ending November 30, Lennar's losses come to $12.31 per share, compared with profits of $593.9 million, or $3.69 per share, in 2006. Shares closed up 8.5%, to $16.21.

Continue reading Thursday earnings recap: Lennar, Kimberly-Clark, E*Trade

Thursday earnings recap: Lennar, Kimberly-Clark, E*Trade originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

ETFC also said it will exit its institutional trading business. Both moves are part of an attempt to give the company added ballast in the wake of write-downs related to the sub-prime crisis. If you think that the company may have finally found the bottom, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on ETFC.

After hitting a one-year high of $26.08 in last January, the stock hit a new one-year low of $2.08 yesterday. ETFC opened this morning at $2.60. So far today the stock has hit a low of $2.35 and a high of $2.60. As of 11:10, ETFC is trading at $2.42, up $0.17 (7.5%). The chart for ETFC looks bearish but improving, while S&P gives the stock a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell rating.

Continue reading E*Trade (ETFC) sells $3 billion in assets

E*Trade (ETFC) sells $3 billion in assets originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) trading up 15% on news that it has sold off some of its troubled debt.

Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN) is trading higher by over 8% on no apparent news.

MBIA (NYSE: MBI) if off 10% on news that it has cut its dividend.

Siemens (NYSE: SI) is selling off over 4% on rumors that the European conglomerate may cut its 2008 outlook.

Stocks may trade differently in the pre-market than they do in the regular session.

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

Pre-market movers: MBI, ETFC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A look at the Nasdaq short interest on December 14, compared to November 30, shows that bets against discount brokers rose sharply. Short interest in E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC): moved up 3.9 million shares to 53.7 million, according to data from the exchange. That might have been expected, given the financial company's problems with mortgage related securities.

But, shares short in TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) jumped 8.2 million shares to 17.8 million, and short interest in Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) moved up by 6.1 million shares to 28.7 million. Both figures are a fairly large percentage increase.

The simple explanation for the rise may be that both stocks have done better than financial shares as a whole and are ready for a pull-back. Schwab's stock is up over 30% this year. Ameritrade is up just under 25%.

But there are two other possible explanations, both a bit more unsettling. One is that a bear market would likely hurt earnings at discount brokers. A recession early next year could cause individual investors to pull in their horns. The other theory is that the two firms could have balance sheet problems of their own. This is less likely, since neither company has made any disclosures to that effect.

Whatever the reason, a fairly large amount of money is being gambled that the discount brokerage stocks have peaked.

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

Short interest grows in discount brokers: SCHW, AMTD originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I've been writing about finance for longer than I care to admit (okay, 15 years, which feels like a long time, even if Floyd Norris might scoff). But one of the most surprising news flashes of my career has to be when I read in mid-November this year that E*Trade was tanking on concerns the company could go bankrupt.

E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC)? Bankrupt? I've seen discount brokerages come and go, but E*Trade has long been one of the survivors. It was up there, knocking on king Schwab's (SCHW) door, leaving competitor TD Ameritrade (AMTD) snapping at it heels. Or so I thought.

But it turns out that was the way things were before the mortgage market went bust. And before CEO Mitch Caplan decided to place a big bet on residential mortgages. Caplan, formerly head of a bank that E*Trade acquired, became CEO in 2002.

Continue reading Money Losers of 2007: E*Trade's Mitch Caplan steps down

Money Losers of 2007: E*Trade's Mitch Caplan steps down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 23 Dec 2007 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that in a list released last night by the FCC, Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG), Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) and other "nontraditional" players are set to compete against more traditional wireless companies like Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) and MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE: PCS) in the federal government's spectrum auction next month.

• Banks that include Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (NYSE: MER) and The Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC) are reportedly in talks to help bail out struggling bond insurer ACA Capital Holdings, which lost $1B in the most recent quarter, according to two people briefed on the situation and reported by the New York Times; ACA Capital has guaranteed $26B in mortgage securities.
• Executives at Tribune Company (NYSE: TRB) were faced with last-minute questioning from bankers that were reluctant to fund the final portion of the $8.2B deal to take the company private, according to sources close to the company, the Chicago Tribune reported.

• Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" reported that analysts are not convinced that the deal with Citadel is enough to save E*Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC), as it does not eliminate E*Trade's $12.4B second-lien mortgage exposure, and the company could potentially face further customer attrition, which many think will continue to pressure the shares.

Newspaper wrap-up: Google, Cablevision to bid for FCC spectrum originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Penny stock promoters sue E*Trade for racketeering

Penny stock promoters sue E*Trade for racketeering originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

E*Trade's not-quite-full disclosure of its deal with Citadel originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer gives you the questions you have to answer about this major issue affecting the market and the economy.

I have long held that there are specific parts of these bad loan amalgams that have made them so elusive to get your arms around, although we should be forever thankful to Citadel for placing a dollar value of 27 cents on this gunk.

Put simply there are five items on any check list of the purchased loans that are awful:

1. Who originated the loan? We know that the sloppiest lenders included NovaStar (NYSE: NFI) (Cramer's Take), New Century Financial, American Home Mortgage, Fremont General (NYSE: FMT) (Cramer's Take) and Ditech (NASDAQ: GM). If your collateralized debt obligation (CDO) has a lot of origination by them, you are in trouble. (I am excluding Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) (Cramer's Take) and Countrywide (NYSE: CFC) (Cramer's Take) loans as we don't know enough about how much was packaged and sent and how much was bad.)

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Five steps to find bad loan answers

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Five steps to find bad loan answers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Dec 2007 09:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.