Samsung pulls the big guns on Nokia, Motorola, Sony and LG originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 18 May 2008 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• ING believes GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) should benefit from the appointment of Andrew Witty as CEO and see limited downside risks. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating.
  
• FreeSeas (NASDAQ: FREE) was started at Oppenheimer with an Outperform rating and $8 target, as they view FREE as an early stage growth company in the smaller dry-bulk vessel segment and finds the valuation attractive at current levels.
  
• Kaufman Bros. initiated SINA Corp (NASDAQ: SINA) with a Buy rating and $4.50 target, and believes China represents a compelling long-term growth opportunity.

• Level 3 Comm (NASDAQ: LVLT) was initiated with a Underperform rating at Wachovia.
  
• Jefferies assumed Savient Pharma (NASDAQ: SVNT) with a Buy rating and $30 target.
  
• Lehman initiated Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO) with an Underweight rating.

Analyst initiations: GSK, LVLT, SVNT, FREE and SINA originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Cantor initiated shares of FreeSeas (NASDAQ: FREE) with a Buy rating and $10 target, as they expect the company to benefit from the continued strength in the dry bulk market.
  
• JP Morgan resumed coverage of Nektar (NASDAQ: NKTR) with an Overweight rating, as they view weakness from the discontinuation of Exubera as a buying opportunity given the company's base royalty business and pipeline opportunities.
  
• Altus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALTU) was initiated with a Buy rating and $19 target at Jefferies. The firm expects news flow from the company's two lead products over the next 6-12 months that should act as catalysts.
  
• AbitibiBowater (NYSE: ABH) was initiated with a Sell rating and $18 target at Banc of America, as they are cautious on newsprint trends; the firm recommends reducing existing positions.

• Caris initiated Collective Brands (NYSE: PSS) with an Average rating and $18 target and Under Armour (NYSE: UA) with an Above Average rating.
  
• Stifel started shares of Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX) with a Hold rating.
  
• PetroChina (NYSE: PTR) was initiated with a Sell rating at Goldman.

Analyst inititations: FREE, NKTR, ALTU and ABH originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Warren Buffett bought a prominent Massachusetts furniture company -- Jordan's Furniture -- in 1999 for between $200 million and $300 million. At the beginning of the season, Jordan's announced it would reimburse the furniture purchases of anyone who bought sofas, dining tables, beds, and mattresses there between March 7 and April 16 if the Red Sox won the World Series this year.

According to the Boston Globe, Jordan's took almost 30,000 orders during the contest. One customer stands to get back $40,000. Jordan's covered this bet through an insurance policy. It would not disclose which company issued the policy, but it would not shock me if it was issued by Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A).

As a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, I am absolutely thrilled that they are in the World Series for the second time in a few years. And last night's blowout victory against Colorado was a great way to start. Unfortunately, my years of being disappointed by the Red Sox are making me wary about whether they can keep pulling off wins.

Continue reading Warren Buffett shouldn't have bet against the Red Sox

Warren Buffett shouldn't have bet against the Red Sox originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

NBC, a division of GE (NYSE: GE), announced late today that it would offer free downloads of its popular TV shows. The programming will be available for PC viewing. TV commercials will remain in the shows and cannot be skipped.

According to The New York Times, the shows can be downloaded for one week after they are broadcast. "The NBC service, called NBC Direct, will begin a testing period in October with plans to be operational in November."

Perhaps it is a coincidence, but the programs will only work on Windows-based PCs. NBC cut its ties with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iTunes at the beginning of the month.

PaidContent writes that eventually, users will be able to freely subscribe to pre-selected NBC programs, which will be sent to their computer right after the first broadcast airing. NBC's plans for the next year may include the ability for consumers to own the content permanently instead of having a file that expires a week after a show airs.

The move by the network, which is likely to be followed by other large content owners, may well be an effective way to break the strangle-hold that iTunes has on digital content. NBC did not want Apple to set the pricing for its shows. Offering the content for free would seem to trump that.

Steve Jobs will not be able to check out the new competition. The offering will not work on his Mac.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 247wallst.com.

NBC announces free downloads, bites Apple (AAPL) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading SpiralFrog's free music: Should Apple (AAPL) worry?

SpiralFrog's free music: Should Apple (AAPL) worry? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Sep 2007 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

My wife and I were at our local Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) branch today and we signed some important papers. The documents we put our names to probably represent the single best investment we have made in our time together. Utilizing a portion of a rather handsome income tax return and some carefully thought out timing, we as a couple today reduced our consumer debt load by approximately 25%.

Being in debt has always made my skin crawl, though I fully understand the reasons why we do it. If you want a nice house and a fine automobile or two, the chances are that the only way you can pull it off is by borrowing the funds to make it possible. That doesn't change the fact though that I hate being in debt, and whenever the opportunities present themselves I do what I reasonably can to reduce my debt level.

Continue reading I made my best investment ever (and didn't consult Jim Cramer about it)

I made my best investment ever (and didn't consult Jim Cramer about it) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 14 Apr 2007 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Giving away free coffee: theft or good for business? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Dec 2006 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

My sister Hannah is the answer to the question, why are AOL's subscriptions falling? A dabbler in the internet, she and her family paid for AOL dialup for years; even though she's now married with a real job, she's kept her AOL address from when she still lived at home with my parents. Last month, she called us to ask about this wonderful world of high-speed internet, and a few days later, Comcast came into her home and switched her over. She cancelled her AOL account.

Many like Hannah have kept their AOL account just for the email address. And though two-thirds of U.S. internet users now have high-speed internet access, AOL's user base is very different; approximately one-third of AOL users are high-speed customers, according to the AP. Yet Time Warner is rumored to be considering a very radical plan: making the coveted aol.com addresses free for users who have switched to other providers' high-speed services.

With Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft all offering a wide variety of free email options, and AOL's content now available to all comers, competitive strategy seems to dictate that Time Warner's decision should be already be made. Is board, who might say yes to the plan in their meeting this Thursday, will have to weigh the potential dollar losses (said to be $1 billion between now and 2009) against the untold customer goodwill and increased "eyeballs."

Continue reading AOL giving away the milk: will anyone pay for the cow?

AOL giving away the milk: will anyone pay for the cow? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 24 Jul 2006 14:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.