Paris Hilton, who rose to fame as an heiress, is less than 3% the heiress she could have been. Her grandfather, Hilton Hotels patriarch Barron Hilton is leaving 97% of his $2.3 billion personal fortune to charity, leaving approximately $69 (what an appropriate number!) million available for everyone else, including Paris.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "The contribution to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, to come from the sale of Hilton Hotels Corp. and the pending sale of Harrah's Entertainment Inc. after the money is placed in a trust, is the largest in the foundation's history and will bring its value to about $4.5 billion."

But don't feel too bad for Paris. Even if she won't really be much of an heiress, she has already built her own empire based on her grandfather's wealth -- well, that and going to jail and such.

But still, it's refreshing to see Barron Hilton giving his money to people who deserve it. It's hard to imagine anyone less deserving than Paris Hilton, and maybe this will encourage her to stop acting like such a spoiled brat.

Poor Paris! Barron Hilton leaves 97% of fortune to charity originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: Cage Match: Alicia Silverstone vs. Paris Hilton

Continue reading Cage match: How Alicia Silverstone whooped Paris Hilton with a hen

Cage match: How Alicia Silverstone whooped Paris Hilton with a hen originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) volatility Elevated into Macao Resort Hotel opening. LVS opened the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel today. Sheldon Adelson, chairman & chief executive officer, said "it is no overstatement to say that the opening of Venetian Macao represents a massive paradigm shift for Macao and the future of tourism development in Asia." Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) says "the scale is enormous and the detail impressive." LVS over all option implied volatility of 44 is above its 26-week average of 39 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA) implied volatility Elevated at 43. ASCA, a Las Vegas based gaming and Entertainment Company, is recently down $0.55 to $28.39. ASCA has a market cap of $1.6 billion with long term debt of $878 million. ACSA over all option implied volatility of 43 is above its 26-week average of 37 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risks.

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

Option update: volatility Up as Sheldon Adelson opens Venetian Macao originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Stifel downgraded Hilton Hotels (NYSE: HLT) to Hold from Buy at Stifel based on the recent acquisition.

• TD Newcrest cut TransAlta (NYSE: TAC) to Sell from Hold and doesn't consider an LBO of the company likely.

• Rodman cut Cascade (NYSE: CAE) to Market Underperform from Market Perform based on valuation.

• Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at JP Morgan based on valuation and the competitive environment.

• AG Edwards believes Atheros Communications (NASDAQ: ATHR) has a less favorable risk/reward and cut shares to Hold from Buy...

• Needham downgraded Kyphon (NASDAQ: KYPH) to Buy from Strong Buy.

• UBS downgraded Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM) to Neutral from Buy.

• Deutsche Bank cut Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings (NYSE: CME) to Hold from Buy.

• Roche Holding Ltd (OTC: RHHBY) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.

Analyst downgrades 7-11-07: ATVI, CME, HLT and TSM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Jul 2007 10:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

No June gloom for hedge funds originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Jul 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A pair of lawsuits seeking class-action status accuse Hilton Hotels (NYSE: HLT) management of breaching their fiduciary responsibility to shareholders when they agreed to sell the company to The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) for $20.1 billion. The investors claim the size of the offer was inadequate, and the $560 million break-up fee Hilton will have to pay Blackstone if it backs our of the deal is excessive. The amount is so large they contend, that it effectively guarantees that the private equity firm will go home with the prize.

There are a couple of interesting things about this. First, the break-up fee does seem excessive. The idea of a break-up fee, ideally, is to compensate the prospective buyer for its time/use of resources if a deal fails to go through. The $560 million figure would give Blackstone a huge windfall if the deal fails to go through. While the lawsuit is unlikely to go anywhere, I would ask Hilton why such a large break-up fee was necessary.

Second, this shareholder angst may be one of the factors that will lead to the decline of the buyout boom. In recent months it seems, shareholders have grown increasingly feisty in taking on buyout offers they deem too low. This wave of shareholder activism, which often leads to higher buyout prices, can cut into the private equity firms' margin for error.

But this is probably a good thing: If a private equity firm can take a company private and make a ton of money, it might make more sense for the company to stay public and provide that value to shareholders.

Hilton Hotels sued over sale to Blackstone originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 08 Jul 2007 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Goldman cut shares of Ruth's Chris Steak House (NASDAQ: RUTH) to Sell from Neutral following the company's preliminary Q2 sales, as they expect relative underperformance over the near-term. Goldman believes macro headwinds could weigh on Ruth's client base and keep traffic negative for the rest of the year.

• Hilton Hotels (NYSE: HLT) was downgraded by a number of firms after the Blackstone Group (BX) takeout offer: Jefferies and Citigroup cut shares to Hold from Buy, Calyon downgraded shares to Neutral from Buy, Raymond James downgraded shares to Market Perform from Strong Buy, Suquehanna cut shares to Neutral from Positive and Bear Stearns downgraded Hilton Hotels to Peer Perform from Outperform.

• B. Riley downgraded shares of Champps Entertainment (NASDAQ: CMPP) to Neutral from Buy to reflect the buyout offer from F&H Acquisition Corp...

• B. Riley downgraded shares of ACR Group (AMEX: BRR) to reflect the company's merger agreement with Watsco Inc (WSO).

• Jefferies cut Dobson Communications Corp (NASDAQ: DCEL) to Hold from Buy.

• Piper Jaffrey downgraded Selective Insurance (NASDAQ: SIGI) to Market Perform from Outperform.

• Kaufman downgraded Parametric Technology (NASDAQ: PMTC) to Hold from Buy.

Analyst downgrades 7-06-07: DCEL, HLT and RUTH originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Jul 2007 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Bear Stearns cut General Motors (NYSE: GM) to Peer Perform from Outperform based on valuation and growing fundamental headwinds.

• HSBC downgraded Aluminum Corp of China (NYSE: ACH) to Underweight from Neutral as they believe prices of lightweight metal have peaked.

• Greenbrier Cos (NYSE: GBX) was cut at Bear Stearns to Peer Perform from Outperform on valuation.

• Matrix USA downgraded Monsanto (NYSE: MON) to Buy from Strong Buy on valuation...

• Sandler cut Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE: WAL) to Hold from Buy.

• UBS cut Arris Group (NASDAQ: ARRS) to Neutral from Buy.

• AG Edwards downgraded Hilton Hotels (NYSE: HLT) to Sell from Buy. Gabelli cut Hilton Hotels to Hold from Buy.
  

Analyst downgrades 7-05-07: ACH, ARRS, GM and HLT originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 05 Jul 2007 10:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hilton (NYSE: HLT) volatility and volume elevated prior to Blackstone paying $26 billion. HLT announced Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) will acquire all the outstanding common stock of HLT for $47.50 per share. HLT closed at $36.05. I reported near the close of trading on 7/3/07 "option volume & volatility Elevated as HLT rallies 6%." HLT total volume of 32,490 contracts and HLT July option implied volatility of 39 was aggressive, above its 26-week average of 31 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

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

Option update 7-3-07: Blackstone purchasing Hilton originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Jul 2007 06:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Blackstone reserves $26 billion for Hilton buyout originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

CBS wins ad war, but NBC scores Paris Hilton interview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Jun 2007 09:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

1. Canada
2. Mexico
3. U.K.
4. Japan
5. Germany
6. France
7. South Korea
8. Australia
9. Italy
10. Brazil

U.S. tourism down by 60 million visitors since 9/11 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Mar 2007 10:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• According to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the situation, Las Vegas casino company Station Casinos Inc (NYSE: STN) has entered into a definitive agreement with Fertitta Colony Partners to be acquired by the company for about $5.5B and taken private.
• The Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street" column reported that many investors are getting cautious on REITs, saying "If Sam Zell is selling, I should too." The article advises to be cautious, and not to flood the REIT market, but not to be too worried by these signs.

• In more Sam Zell related news, the Chicago real estate billionaire who just sold his office development company for $39B wants to buy the Tribune Company (NYSE: TRB), according to the New York Times.
• Also according to the New York Times, Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) is expected to name Gary Crittenden as its new CFO, replacing Sallie Krawcheck.
• According to Bloomberg, Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) is expected to receive an LBO offer of up to $54B, or $60 per share, from a private equity consortium.
• According to the Sunday U.K. Times, EQT is close to acquiring Hilton Hotels Corporation (NYSE: HLT) Scandic Hotels for around $1B.
• The Associated Press, citing an Iranian State-run radio, is reporting that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran will move forward with its nuclear program despite international demands to halt the uranium enrichment.

Newspaper wrap-up 2-26-07: Sam Zell interested in Tribune originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Feb 2007 09:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Paris Hilton: In-N-Out craving has her on the outs with Carl's Jr. originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

Sony Corp (NYSE: SNE) and the Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) top today's extensive list of downgrades.

• Sony was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, citing concerns over the gaming business and the competitive electronics environment.
• Dell was downgraded by American Technology to Neutral from Buy, citing risk to 2007 estimates given the competitive pressures from Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ), Apple Computer (AAPL) and Lenovo (LNVGY).

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

Goldman Sachs downgraded the Lodging Sector to Neutral from Attractive, citing the expected industry-wide deceleration of 2007 RevPAR growth.

• In addition, Goldman noted that Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR), Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) and Hilton Hotels Corp. (NYSE: HLT) historically underperform after reporting Q3 earnings.
• The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Banc of America. The firm cited valuation, a mixed outlook for specialties and the company's reluctance to accelerate share buybacks for the downgrade.
• Finally, Wachovia downgraded T.Rowe Price Group Inc. (NASDAQ: TROW) to Market Perform from Outperform, citing valuation, highlighting shares trading at a 10% premium to its peers.

Downgrade summaries provided courtesy of TheFlyOnTheWall.com.

Analyst downgrades 10-3-06: Sony and Dell cut to Neutral originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Oct 2006 11:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.