WCI Communities (NYSE: WCI), a Florida condo developer struggling to stay afloat, has managed to get through another round of negotiations with lenders without bankruptcy. The company reduced (subscription required) the amount of its credit line and agreed to "increase the pricing of the loans," but few details are available for now.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who owns about 14% of the company, certainly wasn't predicting this mess when he began to acquire shares in the company more than a year ago. The WCI stake has given the legend's hedge funds their first quarterly loss in history.

But WCI Communities impacts the entire industry, not just Mr. Icahn. Yesterday's Wall Street Journal described (subscription required) the shock waves that a bankruptcy would have sent through the housing market: "If WCI is forced to seek bankruptcy protection, it would become the largest publicly traded builder to fail, sending shudders through an industry that has remained largely in the good graces of its lenders."

But with the housing market in trouble, banks simply don't want to take ownership of half-built condos and vacant land. They'd rather play nice rather than risk jolting a housing market that is already more fragile than it's been at any time in recent memory.

WCI Communities lives to fight another day originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Buckingham cut Christopher & Banks (NYSE: CBK) to Underperform from Neutral.

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• RBC cut Paychex, Inc (NASDAQ: PAYX) to Sector Perform from Outperform.

• Matrix USA downgraded EarthLink, Inc (NASDAQ: ELNK) to Sell from Hold and WCI Communities, Inc (NYSE: WCI) to Strong Sell from Hold on valuation.

Analyst downgrades 3-30-07: Ameristar Casinos, Paychex & Earthlink downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 30 Mar 2007 11:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) speculated that Carl Icahn's bid for WCI Communities Inc (NYSE: WCI) may be the start of home-builder buyouts. Other possible LBO targets, according to some Wall Street firms, include Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE: TOL), Ryland Group Inc (NYSE: RYL), Beazer Homes USA Inc (NYSE: BZH) and KB Home (NYSE: KBH).
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) is looking to push deeper into the subprime lending business at a time when the subprime mortgage market is suffering a "meltdown."
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Cerberus Capital Management, one of the leaders in the bid to buy DaimlerChrysler AG's (NYSE: DCX) Chrysler unit, has signed Wolfgang Bernhard to an advisory contract. Bernhard helped restructure Chrysler five years ago.

• The U.K. Times reported that a CVC-led private equity group is planning to bid above GBP9.5B for Sainsbury's plc ADR (OTC: JSAIY).
• The U.K. Times also reported that Cadbury Schweppes ADS (NYSE: CSG) is considering spinning off and selling its profitable drinks business, which includes Dr. Pepper and 7-Up, as a way to defend against a takeover bid for the entire group.

Newspaper wrap-up 3-14-07: Goldman Sachs to push deeper into subprime lending originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Mar 2007 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal's (subscription required) "Heard on the Street" column wrote that activist investor Carl Icahn has his eyes set on WCI Communities Inc. (NYSE:WCI).
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reports that BAE Systems Plc. ADR (OTC:BAESY) faces a court challenge from anti-arms groups that want to know how private documents belonging to them ended up in the company's hands.

• Aviation Week reported that Iran said it is set to attempt a space launch. There is speculation it could be a cover for Iran testing longer-range missile strike technologies.
• Investor's Business Daily's "New America" column focused on Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc. ADR (NASDAQ:HMIN), China's top budget hotel chain. The company went public in October and is in the midst of a building boom, leasing properties and adding franchises in fast growing cities across China.
• BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column highlighted three companies:
• The Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS) recently hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) to explore strategic alternatives. With sales continuing to deteriorate this puts Goldman Sachs analyst Margaret Mager in an awkward position as she has a "Sell" recommendation on Gap.
• Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (NYSE:LPX) is up from $18 in September to $23.33 now, buoyed by rumors that it's a buyout target and by "signs of a bottoming" in homebuilding.
• Intelli-Check Inc.'s (AMEX:IDN) ID-Check technology has been ordered by the U.S. Defense Dept. and will be embedded in handheld computers used by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.
  

Newspaper wrap-up 1-26-07: Iran to attempt space launch originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Jan 2007 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.