Continue reading Nike Third Quarter Earnings Preview

Nike Third Quarter Earnings Preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading McDonald's February Same-Store Sales Increase

McDonald's February Same-Store Sales Increase originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As you may know, I am a rabid hockey fan. My team is the Columbus Blue Jackets, but I have come to appreciate good hockey as a whole. Last night, I hunkered down with my wife and brother-in-law to watch the USA take on Canada in the Olympics. What a game. Some are calling it the biggest upset since 1980's Miracle on Ice. I will play into the hype, although these were pros versus pros and anything can happen.

That said, I have to express a few opinions about the game. First, let's start with NHL Commissioner (or should I say uber-villain) Gary Bettman. Bettman believes that NHL players shouldn't compete in the Olympics because it takes away from the NHL itself. Really? The fact that your games are on Versus and once a week on NBC doesn't? How many times can the American public be force-fed Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin? Great players, but there are other players in the NHL.

Continue reading JockStocks: Wrapping Up the USA/Canada Hockey Game

JockStocks: Wrapping Up the USA/Canada Hockey Game originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading PhoCusWright Sees Hotel Industry Strength in Latin America

PhoCusWright Sees Hotel Industry Strength in Latin America originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Olympics are coming! The Olympics are coming to Brasil Telecom (BTM) -- well actually to Rio de Janeiro, where BTM is headquartered, in the summer of 2016.

This company came to my attention while screening mid-caps for yield, currently a healthy 7.81% (not distributed quarterly) and a very low price-to-sales ratio of 0.52. This first glance was followed by more scrutiny with an interest in Brazilian companies for potential growth and diversification.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2010 -- #9 Brasil Telecom

Chasing Value: 2010 -- #9 Brasil Telecom originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Would Michael Phelps's compromising picture mean less sponsorships?

Would Michael Phelps's compromising picture mean less sponsorships? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is ending its 16-year old program that supported U.S. Olympians.

The Olympic Jobs Opportunities program provided part-time work, flexible hours and full-time benefits to 600 athletes who went on to win 145 medals. Spokeswoman Jean Neimi told (subscription required) The Wall Street Journal that "At this economic time, we are looking more closely at all our programs and marketing sponsorships. . . This is being done with some sadness."

The program cost the company about $15 million to $20 million over four years, but seems to have been a successful marketing tool, and the Olympians were featured prominently in Home Depot ads.

This seems like a budget cut that comes at the expense of some pretty bad publicity, and it suggests that Home Depot is doing even worse than most people are already anticipating.

Home Depot ends program supporting Olympians originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Winners of 2008. See all 20.

It wasn't like Michael Phelps hadn't done well for himself by the time he got into the swimming pool at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was pulling in between $4 and $5 million a year after winning six gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics. And was already a sports marketer's wet dream, so to speak.

But then he went and broke Marc Spitz's 36-year record by winning eight gold medals, and the real race was on: to break out as the first $100 million Olympian.

Or at least that's what his managers and agent were saying. Measuring the precise wealth of sports stars is something of an art. Most of their great wealth comes from corporate endorsement deals, which are often heralded more as approximations than exact hard figures.

Continue reading Money winners of 2008: Michael Phelps, the golden boy of Beijing

Money winners of 2008: Michael Phelps, the golden boy of Beijing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Nike (NKE) first quarter earnings preview

Nike (NKE) first quarter earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Olympics were supposed to be NBC's big profit engine for this year. The unit has been something of a disappointment to parent General Electric (NYSE: GE), but one event could have changed that.

Indeed, NBC's ratings for its Olympic programming seem to have been outstanding and its broadcast revenues for the event may set a record for TV ad income for sports programming.

But internet revenue for NBC's coverage may be remarkably small. According to The Wall Street Journal, "NBCOlympics.com will generate just $5.75 million in video-ad revenue from the Games, according to estimates from research firm eMarketer Inc." Some of the disappointing numbers could come from the decision to run only a modest amount of coverage on the website, but the problem may by much greater than that.

Web video may be a bust, at least from a revenue standpoint. There is more and more evidence that points in that direction. YouTube has certainly been a huge disappointment for Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). Viacom has struggled with making big money off the online version of MTV. Video has done very little to bring extra revenue to Facebook and MySpace.

The problem with selling video commercials on the internet could be that consumers have come to expect that everything online is free. Banner ads and search ads are easy to avoid as there is nothing active or intrusive about them. Video ads often start to play whether the person online wants to see them or not. That may lead to a rejection of the experience altogether.

Making cash on web video may never work. The media companies just don't want to admit it.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

An online failure for NBC at the Olympics originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Olympics advertisers are nervous about sparse crowds originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Will GE get rid of NBC Universal following a strong Olympics? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Media World: GE's Olympic hype might not match reality

Media World: GE's Olympic hype might not match reality originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"For the next two-and-a-half weeks, almost all you'll hear in the news will be related to the 29th Olympiad in Beijing," points out Brandon Clay, who focuses on a China ETF as his latest investment idea.

In his All Star Investor newsletter, he explains, "Beyond this, in 2010, we will see the World Expo in Shanghai and the Asian Games in Guangzhou." So is now a good time to invest in China? Here's the advisor's assessment and his top pick for exposure to the region.

"China has been gearing up for the Games for the past few years. Finally, with a dozen new sports stadiums and a cross-city underground railway to ferry visitors to different venues, China will be on display to the world.

"If you've been investing internationally, you're no stranger to China. Depending on when you bought, you may either love it or hate it. For instance, in 2007 Chinese stocks rocketed up the charts 97%.

"In 2006, the gains were even more impressive at 130%! But it hasn't been all fun and games in the past two years. China peaked at the same time U.S. stocks in October 2007.

Continue reading Olympic gains for China stocks? Look at FXI to play the games and beyond

Olympic gains for China stocks? Look at FXI to play the games and beyond originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Nike (NKE) gearing up for summer Olympics

Nike (NKE) gearing up for summer Olympics originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) is still trying to convince investors that it can offset slow growth and some weak divisional results by doing well in emerging markets. So far, the stock market has not bought in.

The market has actually been hostile to the message. GE shares are just above $34, which is not far from their 52-week low and down considerably from their high of $42.15. Over time, earnings from regions like India and China may help the stock, but the company is going to have to push harder to mark its case. It will use the Olympics in Beijing as a spring-board.

"We want to humanize G.E. even as we show worldwide investors that G.E. is a major player in the world," said Don Schneider, executive creative director at BBDO New York, the Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) unit that is G.E.'s longtime advertising agency, told the The New York Times

GE is a major player in the world but the politics in countries such as China may not make growth there as easy as investors would hope. A global recession could also slow infrastructure building in Asia and the India sub-continent.

To some extent, the large marketing budget for this Olympics is a waste of money. Wall Street wants to know that GE is willing to deal with its slow-growing medical and industrial units either by selling them or cutting costs. Tickets to the Olympics won't help.

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

GE uses Olympics to pitch emerging markets push originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN)'s unbelievable quarter, which saw the company best earnings estimates by $0.12, may mean that investors pay attention to CTRIP.com (NASDAQ: CTRP) numbers due out next week. While numbers were up across the board international bookings surged.

Priceline's gross bookings growth momentum continued in the fourth quarter with international growth accelerating to 113.0% year-over-year and the domestic growth rate increasing sequentially to 24.2% led by increasing retail airline ticket bookings," said Jeffery H. Boyd, Priceline's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Internationally, we believe that our wide geographic reach, new market initiatives and extensive inventory are providing sustained impetus for growth. We believe that in the United States, our value positioning and brand promotion through offline and online channels is driving above-category growth rates in an uncertain economic environment.

CTRIP.com is the Chinese equivalent of Priceline. The company has also seen earnings grow nicely, and with a growing Chinese middle class, leisure activities are becoming more and more in demand. Throw in the Olympics this summer, and CTRIP may very well benefit from all this as it is the leader in bookings fields in China. With the stock beaten down, investors may want to take a closer look at this interesting Chinese travel play.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer has no position in any stock mentioned as of 2/18/08.

What does Priceline's amazing quarter mean for CTRIP.com originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Clicksoftware (CKSW) going for gold in Beijing Olmpics originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Could there be any worse fate for an Olympic level athlete than to be stripped of their statistics and medals? Yes, there could be worse things. Just ask former Olympic track star Marion Jones which is worse, losing your medals or being forced to tell your mother you have to sell her house.

Are these professional quality athletes really so stupid as to believe that if they get pinched for using banned performance enhancing drugs they'll get away with just a slap on the wrist? I don't think it's that simple. I'm sure that Marion Jones knew what she was doing was seriously wrong and I feel certain that she knew if she got busted, the truth would come with a very high price. Now, amid all the investigations and scandal, she's finding out just how high priced skirting the truth can really be.

For her misdeeds, Marion Jones has been required to forfeit all five of her medals from the 2000 summer Olympics and has been told to repay approximately $700,000 of her prize money. All of her standings and statistics beginning at September 1, 2000, shall be red-lined in the record books and her medals from other competitions have been taken away also.

Continue reading Money Losers of 2007: Marion Jones is last out of the blocks

Money Losers of 2007: Marion Jones is last out of the blocks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• While United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) is preparing for the busiest time of the year, high costs and a slowing economy are set to present big challenges for the Atlanta company once the holiday season is over, the Wall Street Journal reported.

• BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column reported that shares of Abiomed Inc (NASDAQ: ABMD) have recovered nearly to its 52-week high of $15, rallying on buzz that the FDA could approve the company's chief product, Impella, a miniature pump at the end of a catheter, within 12 months.
• The "Inside Wall Street" column also reported that Focus Media Holding Limited (NASDAQ: FMCN), the top advertising company in Internet, Mobile and Poster/Panel Markets, should benefit from the 2008 Summer Olympics.

• According to sources and reported by AppleInsider, there have been additional sightings of an "unfamiliar MacBook model floating around" Apple Inc's (NASDAQ: AAPL) campus perhaps indicating a new Macbook is coming at next month's Macworld Expo.

Newspaper wrap-up: UPS may face post-holiday slump originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Dec 2007 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.