Fortune has released its list of the world's 50 most respected companies and once again Apple Inc. (AAPL) tops the list.

This is the fourth year in a row that the Cupertino based company has grabbed the top slot. Apple's respect comes mainly due to the company's ability to release new products at an amazingly quick pace, often updating its main product lines at least once a year.

Continue reading Apple Still Fortune's Most Respected Company

Apple Still Fortune's Most Respected Company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The mayhem in the media industry continues. The Wall Street Journal, a News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS) property, is closing its Boston bureau and sending nine employees into the wind. The newswire and MarketWatch operations are going to stay open in Boston, however, with no headcount impact.

The Journal doesn't have any plans to close other offices, according to a memo by managing editor Robert Thomson: "there are no plans, nascent or otherwise, to close any other U.S. or international bureau." The WSJ will still support an "investigative function" in Boston, but the New York-based Money and Investing team will cover Boston's mutual fund industry, which boasts such heavy hitters as Fidelity.

At the same time, magazine company Time Inc., owned by Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) is looking to cut $100 million in expenses, and layoffs will undoubtedly figure into the equation. The company that owns Time, Fortune, People and Sports Illustrated - and falls under the same umbrella as AOL, which owns BloggingStocks - is feeling the squeeze of a media recession that's even worse than the regular recession we've all been battling for what feels like decades.

Continue reading Time and WSJ to lay off more

Time and WSJ to lay off more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Fortune Brands sees golf sales slump

Fortune Brands sees golf sales slump originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) may be one of the most admired companies in the world, at least according to Fortune. But, Wall Street hates the company and has driven its stock to multi-year lows. The concerns have been printed dozens of times in the press: GE is too large. It has too many units that do not do well. None of the firm's divisions fit well together.

But, GE now has an attraction all its own. It pays a yield of nearly 5%. The company is still tremendously profitable and has $15 billion in cash.

If the U.S. stock market continues to drop, the successful investing tactics of the last several years, which involve putting money into is stocks because equities in general are rising quickly, may not be a good way to make money this year or next.

There are a handful of companies with iron-clad balance sheets and big dividends. The stocks of these may not go up, but their dividends are likely to stay intact. GE is at the head of this list.

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

General Electric: A buy for yield originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Fortune -- which shares parent Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) with BloggingStocks -- provides a clue about how big of a write-down Lehman Brothers Holdings (NYSE: LEH) needs to take in order to account accurately for its Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) portfolio. By my estimate, that write-down could total roughly $4 billion -- wiping out 20% of Lehman's $20 billion in capital.

How so? I calculated $4.07 billion worth of write-downs -- $1.63 billion of the write-off is from worthless BB and below rated CDOs and another $2.44 billion is from the remaining CDOs that are worth about half their stated value. This is based on Fortune's report that Lehman has $6.5 billion worth of CDOs. The 25% that are rated BB or below it believes are worthless. The remaining 75% it figures are worth 50 cents on the dollar.

But wait, there's more. Lehman has $39 billion worth of Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBSs) which have lost value. A key index has declined in the last quarter -- but I don't know how much. Assuming the decline was 25%, Lehman would need to write down an additional $9.8 billion. If Lehman needed to take the $9.8 billion write-down plus the $4 billion for the CDOs, its capital would decline 75%.

When I think about how Lehman is not the only one to hold these dodgy securities, it becomes clear that our financial system is resting on a very shaky foundation.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

When will Lehman take $4 billion in CDO write-downs? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Fortune, which shares a parent, Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), with BloggingStocks, struck out this week. What I mean is that it published three articles -- each of which I think completely missed the boat. I really like when Fortune gets an in-depth interview with interesting business leaders. But sometimes, it goes too far praising its subjects.

That may have been what happened in the three stories where I think Fortune whiffed:

• Providence Equity Partners. Fortune had a cover story praising Providence Equity Partners for closing the biggest private equity deal ever. Unfortunately, as I posted, that $52 billion deal fell apart this week. To be fair, Fortune updated its online version of the article with this information. Strike One.
• Bernanke saves the day. Fortune posted an article praising Bernanke for stopping the slide in the stock market with his fast interest rate cuts and emergency lending. This week that illusion was burst as the Dow lost 507 points. Strike Two.

Continue reading Fortune strikes out

Fortune strikes out originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 May 2008 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After hitting a one-year low of $23.61 last April, the stock hit a one-year high of $42.22 in November. NOK opened this morning at $33.19. So far today the stock has hit a low of $32.90 and a high of $33.62. As of 12:15, NOK is trading at $33.50, up $1.40 (4.4%). The chart for NOK looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a May bull-put credit spread below the $28 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 7.1% return in just one month as long as NOK is above $28 at May expiration. Nokia would have to fall by more than 16% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

Continue reading Analyst commentary lifts Nokia (NOK)

Analyst commentary lifts Nokia (NOK) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Fortune (which shares parent Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) with BloggingStocks) provides at least two examples which raise questions about whether Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs pushed the Apple board into violating the law.

Two revelations in the article -- that Apple's board decided not to disclose Jobs's pancreatic cancer, for which he delayed surgery because he wanted to try a diet cure, and that Jobs set a backdated options date of January 16, 2001 which the board rubber-stamped, giving recipients a profit of either $1.6 million or $3.9 million -- make me wonder whether Jobs convinced Apple's board to break the law.

As I posted in 2006, Lazard, Ltd.'s (NYSE: LAZ) board may have failed to disclose the illness of its CEO, Bruce Wasserstein, when reports surfaced that he was out of the office with a heart ailment. A lawyer I spoke with said that if a CEO is unable to do his or her job due to illness, the board must disclose it. If Jobs's pancreatic cancer surgery kept him away from doing the CEO's job, how did Apple's lawyers defend the failure to disclose? It surely couldn't have been the lack of materiality -- some estimated that if his illness had been disclosed, Apple stock would have lost 20% of its value.

Continue reading Did Steve Jobs push the Apple board to break the law?

Did Steve Jobs push the Apple board to break the law? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you believe an analysis I posted of a Fortune article last November, the answer is probably yes. This is based on a theory that stock prices needed to adjust downward for something called the equity risk premium.

How did Fortune arrive at the idea that the market needs an 18% drop? (I should note that Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) owns both BloggingStocks and Fortune.) Fortune calculates the current equity risk premium by adding stocks' earnings yield -- which it gets by flipping the market's P/E on its head (calculating E/P) -- to the inflation rate and then subtracts the t-bill yield. Then it compares the current value with the long run equity risk premium to conclude that stocks have a long way to fall before their prices align with that long-run value.

Here are the numbers. The market currently trades at a PE of 16, but based on adjustments to remove short term spikes by Yale market guru Robert Schiller, Fortune uses a PE of 22 -- which is the inverse of the market's earnings yield of 4.5%. Investors expect equity returns of 7% -- calculated by adding expected inflation of 2.5% to that 4.5%. To get the equity risk premium of 3% Fortune subtracted the 10-year treasury rate of 4% from that 7% expected return. Got that?

Continue reading Does the Dow have another 2,668 points to fall?

Does the Dow have another 2,668 points to fall? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ask Vanguard founder John Bogle a question! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Valleywag reports that Fortune's editor, Andrew Serwer, posted a blog entry October 19 about the wedding of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) co-founder Larry Page to his girlfriend Lucy Southworth. (Fortune and BloggingStocks share the same corporate parent, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX)).

But when Valleywag wanted to write about the post, it had disappeared from Fortune's website. When Valleywag went to Google's cache, the reference to the Page/Southworth wedding was gone. Fortunately for those interested in the details of the post, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) had a copy of the original.

By the way, the Serwer post said that Page and Southworth were getting married on December 7, and those attending the blessed event will need passports, which suggests it will be outside the U.S. Valleywag now suggests that the wedding could be held on Richard Branson's Necker Island. But one question remains unanswered: if you know why Fortune and Google removed this post from their sites, please comment below.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Did Google get Fortune to pull Larry Page's wedding announcement? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Time Warner (TWX) unit is pondering the future of ... Time Warner originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) disappointing third quarter brought the bears out of the woodwork. In a recent column, Fortune Magazine's Geoff Colvin makes the case that Google is overvalued.

Sure, it's a great company with terrific management and it has generated tremendous value for shareholders. Colvin essentially argues that Google has been earning extraordinary returns on capital and that, just to maintain its current price level, it will need to earn even better returns in the future. As Charlie Munger has said, few businesses have a future as good as their past.

Anyone who owns shares of Google or is considering buying should read Colvin's insightful article. Given the extraordinary returns, thousands of brilliant young minds are working around the clock hoping to dethrone Google's leadership position.

I would be careful with this stock.

Fortune writer calls Google a 'pipe dream' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Delta Airlines Inc (NYSE: DAL), sprinting to the start as it emerges from bankruptcy, is expected to order about 125 Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) 787 jetliners by the end of 2007, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
  
• HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC) is preparing to push its banking operations into China as part of a move to tap into the emerging wealthy consumer base in Asia, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).
• The Financial Times also reported that AT&T (NYSE: T) is not considering making an offer to buy British mobile telecom company Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD), said AT&T's new CEO, Randall Stephenson, contrary to previous speculation.

• Fortune reported that Billionaire supermarket mogul Ron Burkle may announce a long-shot bid this week for business news and information company Dow Jones and Company (NYSE: DJ), according to a source.
• The Economic Times reported that Accenture Ltd (NYSE: ACN) is in joint venture talks with Indian telecom operator Reliance Communications, which could have an exit clause giving Reliance the opportunity to buy Accenture in the future.

Newspaper wrap-up 6-19-07: AT&T not considering buying Vodafone originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan started Nokia Corp (NYSE: NOK) with an Overweight rating, believing the handset market is strong and expects gross profits to rise in 2007.

• Soleil wants to wait on the sidelines of Fortune Brands Inc (NYSE: FO), initiating shares with a Neutral rating, given the potential acquisition of Sweden's V&S Group along with the softness in the home and hardware segment.

• Soleil also started Whirlpool Corp (NYSE: WHR) with a Hold rating based on valuation, which they believe reflects the company's outlook through 2009.

• Nollenberger expects Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) will continue to outperform its peers, starting shares off with a Buy rating, and believes the recent pullback provides a compelling buying opportunity.

• KeyBanc is positive on Kona Grill's (NASDAQ: KONA) differentiated brand, compelling unit economics, positive SSS opportunity and growth, starting shares with a Buy rating...

• Ceva, Inc (NASDAQ: CEVA) was initiated at CIBC with a Sector Outperform rating.

• Black & Decker Corp (NYSE: BDK) and Briggs & Stratton Corp (BGG) were initiated with Hold ratings at Soleil.

• La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co (NASDAQ: LJPC) was started with a Sell rating at Lazard.

• Aviza Technology, Inc (NASDAQ: AVZA) was initiated with a Hold rating at Needham.

Analyst initiations 6-13-07: BDK, DKS, FO and NOK originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 13 Jun 2007 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The latest issue of Fortune Magazine (article not available online) featured an interview with investing legend Michael Steinhardt. Formely a hedge fund manager with his firm Steinhardt Partnes, he is now retired from investing, and devotes his time to philanthropic endeavors, including Birthright, a program which sends American Jewish youth to Israel for several weeks. His Book No Bull: My Life In and Out of Markets is an interesting read. Here are some of the major points from the Fortune interview:

-Regarding the direction of the market, Steinhardt said he is not comfortable with it and, based on intuition, he is "short a few S&P 500 futures."

-He believes that the hedge fund boom may continue, but questions the number of large hedge funds that survive in spit of mediocre returns. "I would make the case that some long-only, low-cost mutual fund managers should, even in bad markets, achieve better returns than most of the hedge funds," he said.

While Steinhardt is no longer as involved in markets as he once was, his caution in the face of optimism from most of the financial media is something investors may want to pay attention to. Throughout his career, Michael Steinhardt has been right more often than not.

Michael Steinhardt on investing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Jan 2007 12:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This story is more about saving than investing. If your net worth is less than $10,000, you need to save, save and save some more! Future articles will address larger sums.

I have been asked many times in person and in the comments section about how to get started as an investor. Since it is essential to have something to invest besides your time, two things above all are required: Educate yourself, and be thrifty in your spending habits.

Most people reading the AOL Money & Finance section probably have ten grand to invest. If you do not currently have $10,000 to invest you are in trouble and there is no time to waste.

First: Reduce spending on extras, even extras you think you need to live.

Continue reading Your first $10,000: Getting Started

Your first $10,000: Getting Started originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Rupert Murdoch to repay $50,000/month rent to News Corp. originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Oct 2006 13:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Back in August, I suggested that we should perhaps start looking at eBay differently. It is a mature company, I argued, and hence would probably require different valuation methods, lower multiples, etc. At the same time, I noted, the market has a tendency to get there naturally.

Today, Fortune ran a fascinating article about eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), the issues it is facing and its management team. The article naturally focuses on eBay's CEO, Meg Whitman, and on eBay's new president of its marketplaces business, John Donahoe, believed to be Whitman's successor.

eBay's share price has been halved from its December 2004 high of $59, as investors are concerned mostly with the slowing growth rates. While growth rates have been most concerning in eBay's core auction business, the Skype acquisition is also a focus, especially as the promised synergies haven't materialized yet. There is also the fierce competition in Asia, and let's not forget, several key people leaving.

Many note, quite accurately too, that eBay is a highly profitable company with enviable operating margins and still high growth. But most, even eBay's management, realize that the company is changing as it is entering the "grownup" realm of large and mature corporations, where size and age could potentially drag it down.

Continue reading Building eBay 2.0: Whitman and Donahoe on eBay's future

Building eBay 2.0: Whitman and Donahoe on eBay's future originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For years, he resisted giving away his vast fortune until his death. But today he announced that he would start giving it away now. Here's how:

• The Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation will receive 10 million Berkshire Hathaway B shares;
• The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his late wife, will get a million B shares; and
• Each of his three children's foundations will received 350,000 B shares.

Continue reading Bravo Buffett! He's giving away $37 billion

Bravo Buffett! He's giving away $37 billion originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Jun 2006 07:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.