Continue reading Tell-Tale Stat: Modigliani Nude Fetches Record $68.9 Million

Tell-Tale Stat: Modigliani Nude Fetches Record $68.9 Million originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After a dismal 2009, there is hope for the art auction segment. There was reason for optimism at in the past quarter, as the major houses started to move impressive pieces again, and momentum continued through the beginning of this year. Now, we're getting ready to move into the busy months of May and June. Unlike last year, auctioneers, collectors and dealers seem to be ready to play.

May 2008 was essentially the last hurrah of an art market rally that had lasted several years and created incredible amounts of paper canvas and bronze wealth. It was at this point that Sotheby's (BID) sold a fairly late triptych by artist Francis Bacon for an incredible $86 million to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, a transaction that has become the poster child for the excesses of the art market.

Continue reading Sotheby's Betting on Matisse and Warhol

Sotheby's Betting on Matisse and Warhol originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The art market spent a year and a half circling the drain. Signs of life at the end of 2009, however, have become a reality, with recent auctions at Sotheby's (BID) and Christie's (CRUPF) exceeding expectations and showing triple-digit growth from comparable auctions last year.

Overall, art prices last year were off around 50%, with the contemporary art sector suffering even more severe declines of up to 70%. With prices this low and a recovery taking shape, it's time for investors to get in, and it looks like we'll see an art rally this year.

Continue reading Five Reasons to Watch Art Stocks in 2010

Five Reasons to Watch Art Stocks in 2010 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Craig Newmark testified on Thursday that he regretted getting into bed with auction site eBay (EBAY) almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. The founder of Craigslist, the online classified site that has decimated large chunks of the newspaper industry, sold 28% of his company to eBay in August 2004. Within months, he recounted, eBay began to pull back on its promises, causing him to regret the decision.

During the negotiations more than five years ago, Meg Whitman, who was the CEO at the time, told Newmark that eBay would be happy to sit back as a minority shareholder for several years and use Craigslist as its exclusive venue for classified ads. Yet, shortly after the deal closed, eBay pushed for a bigger piece of the company and acquired an online classified company outside the United States. Both Whitman and company founder Pierre Omidyar testified that eBay was clear about its intentions.

The lawsuit, filed by eBay against Craigslist, involves the size of the former's minority stake in the privately held, relatively low-tech and highly popular classified site. eBay claims that Newmark diluted its share to 24% through a "self-dealing" scheme to issue more equity.

Craig Newmark: eBay wasn't worth it originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What do you get for the person who has everything? Well, maybe you buy him a piece of history. The U.S. Marshals Service has done all the hard work, and now you can take advantage of it... maybe even at discount prices! Possessions seized from Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff are set to go under the gavel in New York City on Saturday, so bring your checkbook and your appetite for luxury. The money will be used to compensate the victims of Madoff's crimes.

Continue reading Holiday shopping Madoff-style

Holiday shopping Madoff-style originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) had a great night this week, tripling the performance of competitor Christie's (OTC: CRUPF). But, it didn't come soon enough to help the company's third quarter results.

The auction house suffered from the art market slump that was exacerbated by the global financial crisis, posting a net loss of $57.8 million (89 cents a share). This is worse than the $47 million loss (73 cents a share) it delivered a year earlier. Three analysts that Bloomberg surveyed expected a loss of 29 cents a share. Revenue was off 41% to $44.9 million for the quarter.

Continue reading BIDding down for Sotheby's, but high hopes for Q4

BIDding down for Sotheby's, but high hopes for Q4 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

An embittered Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) has turned in its first quarterly profit in a year, showing signs that the worst of the art market slump may be over. The company, which has seen contemporary art auction prices fall 76.2% from May 2008 to today, reported a decline of 87% in earnings for the second quarter, but company CFO William Sheridan says that the worst of this market is behind us. Sell-through rates are up, with more inventory moving likely to help with sagging revenues.

But commission revenue seems to be headed in the wrong direction. For Q2, Sotheby's reported commission revenues at 21.3%, up from 41% year-over-year. Unfortunately, this isn't the measure you want to go up. Lower-priced pieces tend to have higher commission rates, meaning that the auction house's Q2 performance was dragged down by less desirable inventory.

Continue reading Sotheby's reports loss but hopes for recovery

Sotheby's reports loss but hopes for recovery originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Amazon (AMZN) second quarter earnings preview

Amazon (AMZN) second quarter earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading eBay jumps following first quarter earnings

eBay jumps following first quarter earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading eBay (EBAY) first quarter earnings preview

eBay (EBAY) first quarter earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading eBay (EBAY) shares hit a seven-year low

eBay (EBAY) shares hit a seven-year low originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Sotheby's withdrawal of Picasso painting from auction seen as bearish signal

Sotheby's withdrawal of Picasso painting from auction seen as bearish signal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Famed online auction platform eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), whose Internet colleagues include Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), will be reporting earnings for the third quarter on Wednesday after the market closes up shop. What should shareholders expect from the company?

Well, according to data posted by Trey Thoelcke, shareholders shouldn't expect much. While the top line is expected to rise by double digits (around 13%) to $2.1 billion, nothing is really cooking in terms of the bottom line. The call is for $0.41 per share. eBay booked $0.41 per share in the year earlier period. As you can see, that's a 0% growth rate, and that's never good (well, unless you're a financial company, in which case that's actually great). However, there is one silver lining to the earnings story for shareholders. If you take a look at past earnings data, you'll notice that eBay has a snazzy reputation for beating estimates issued by analysts. So, I'd be willing to bet we'll see an easy beat this week.

As to whether or not this particular stock will rally upon such news, that's difficult to say. If Monday's rallying sentiment makes another visit on Wednesday, then I'd say eBay could be an interesting earnings trade, mostly because it isn't far from its 52-week low. Unfortunately, I think any rally that we get in the market right now is not to be trusted. It just can't be. Profit-taking is always going to be waiting to sap the power out of any rally, simply because we know the economy isn't going to be great for many months to come. So, even though I like the technical set-up to some degree vis a vis eBay's earnings-beating history, I personally wouldn't be buying. For me to trust any rally, I'd need to see some confirmations and additional up days.

Continue reading Earnings preview: eBay all the way?

Earnings preview: eBay all the way? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Is high-end art slump a harbinger?

Is high-end art slump a harbinger? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Do you like auctions? Personally, I don't. Sure, the stock market is essentially an auction, but it's an auction without a lot of noise (at least on my end). Anyway, this brings me to a BusinessWeek piece on eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) and its evolution. It looks like auctions are no more fit to survive than the dinosaurs were. Research overwhelmingly shows that users of the most famous online auction destination in the world would rather pay a fixed price for an item than haggle over it like a frantic trader at a busy bazaar.

Now, as one commenter made clear in the article, this changes the essential gene structure of eBay's DNA. But is mutation necessarily bad in this case? Not to my way of thinking. To be honest, I haven't done any eBaying directly; I usually use a friend to acquire an item for me if I'm looking for something. Not only am I too lazy to open an account, but I dread having to play the auction game. Why put up with such nuisance? When I want to buy something, I don't want to compete and see values change. Think about it: when you go to Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), do you want to barter over a bar of soap?

Okay, so we're not talking about bars of soap. We're talking about items that, to be fair, do lend themselves to the auction motif. Comic books, autographed photos, rare recordings, and so forth, are definitely fair game for the electronic gavel. Still, it's annoying. Wouldn't you rather know that a rare copy of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the Atari 2600 is $200, take it or leave it, and that you didn't need to get down in the pits to start bidding for it?

Continue reading Will changes at eBay hurt the business model?

Will changes at eBay hurt the business model? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Banc of America gives eBay a lift

Banc of America gives eBay a lift originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you head over to eBay's auction site and search for Bear Stearns, you will currently find 201 items listed for auction. Items include all sorts of memorabilia of the soon to be devoured financial institution. You can pick up t-shirts, coffee mugs, stuffed animals, and even a nice lunch with a friendly Bear Stearns employee (current bid only $1.99, reserve not yet met)!

The lunch really caught my attention, and if I lived in New York I think I would be willing to bid up to at least $10 for this adventure. The seller is also including in the deal a menu and souvenir cafeteria card. Not a bad deal if you are the lucky winner. The seller promises "Huddled whispering, shell-shocked expressions and dazed employees." Of course the buyer will be responsible for transportation to and from Bear Stearns.

Continue reading Bear Stearns (BSC) items fetching good money on eBay (EBAY)

Bear Stearns (BSC) items fetching good money on eBay (EBAY) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Sotheby's just loves the next word after 'Going once, going twice...'

Sotheby's just loves the next word after 'Going once, going twice...' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading eBay (EBAY) sellers already planning next boycott

eBay (EBAY) sellers already planning next boycott originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading eBay (EBAY) future blogger Richard Brewer-Hay gets ready for eBay Ink launch

eBay (EBAY) future blogger Richard Brewer-Hay gets ready for eBay Ink launch originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.