The U.S. House of Representatives passed the tax bill that had already been approved by the Senate, but that did little, if anything, to put a charge into the market today. Better-than-expected earnings reported after markets closed yesterday from Oracle and Research in Motion didn't boost the opening today either. Later in the morning, the report on leading economic indicators from the Conference Board also showed improvement, rising 0.4% in October. The dollar rose slightly on the forex market following Moody's five-notch downgrade of Irish debt. All in all, a day of mixed news with mixed results.

Here are the numbers for late afternoon trading today:

Dow Jones 11,491.98 -7.27 (-0.06%)
S&P 500 1,243.91 +1.04 (0.08%)
Nasdaq 2,642.97 +5.66 (0.21%)

Continue reading Closing Bell: Markets Indecisive as Tax Bill Passes Congress (ITMN, BMO, FCEL, SAPX, DLR)

Closing Bell: Markets Indecisive as Tax Bill Passes Congress (ITMN, BMO, FCEL, SAPX, DLR) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Analogic Corp. (NASDAQ: ALOG) Q1 earnings plunged well below expectations due to costs.
• CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: CKR) solid Q3 earnings were in line with analysts expectations.
• Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) beat Q1 expectations and same-stores sales increased.
• Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) lowered its guidance and announced layoffs and factory closings.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) withdrew its guidance due in part to weak consumer spending.
• Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) lowered its outlook due to weaker-than-expected holiday sales.
• Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) offered a full-year profit forecast that missed analysts' expectations.
• FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) lowered its earnings guidance and announced price increases.
• FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) reported a deeper-than-expected loss but topped sales estimates.
• H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) Q2 net loss was in line with expectations but revenue fell short.
• Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE: HIG) raised its full-year forecast, doubling the share price.
• Hooker Furniture Corp. (NASDAQ: HOFT) shares sold off following disappointing Q3 results and outlook.
• Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) reported a deeper-than-expected Q3 loss on increased costs.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Costco, Kroger, Krispy Kreme, Lululemon, FedEx, P&G and others

Earnings highlights: Costco, Kroger, Krispy Kreme, Lululemon, FedEx, P&G and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Even as the holiday season ramps up and the calendar quarter begins to wind down, earnings reports continue to dribble in. Among the companies scheduled to release quarterly results this coming week, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting BWAY Holding Co. (NYSE: BWY), Powell Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: POWL), and Esterline Technologies Corp. (NYSE: ESL) to be among the biggest earnings gainers.

Atlanta-based packaging and container producer BWAY is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter profits that are 65.6% higher than in the same period of last year, or $0.32 per share on revenues of $265.2 million (+4.9%). BWAY topped estimates in the previous two quarters -- by 44.9% in the third quarter. Those results sent shares to a new 52-week high. But shares have fallen 62.7% in the past three months, and they are now trading near a multiyear low of $4.11 per share.

Houston-based energy equipment maker Powell is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter profits that are 62.7% higher than a year ago, or $0.59 per share. Revenues are forecast to be 14.2% higher, or $171.8 million. Powell beat expectations in the past three quarters -- by 20.2% in the third quarter. The share price has fallen 47.7% in the past three months, and the consensus recommendation is to buy POWL.

Continue reading The week in preview: Early December earnings expectations

The week in preview: Early December earnings expectations originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 07 Dec 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Toyota (TM) improves fuel cell technology to 500 miles per hydrogen fill-up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

GM's Cadillac unveils fuel cell prototype vehicle originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Motors working to commercialize electric fuel cells originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan started Nintendo Ltd (OTC: NTDOY) with an Overweight rating.
• Lazard initiated shares of FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) with a Buy rating and $11 target, as the firm believes the company has the best bookings prospects in its history.

• Discovery Holding Co (NASDAQ: DISCA) was initiated at Pali Research with a Buy rating and $25.50 target. Pali said Discovery now appears committed to developing unique,"on-brand" proprietary content across all its cable networks that it can exploit through an increasing number of distribution platforms; Pali added that this is a company that no longer feels compelled to be in every country around the globe.
• Pacific Crest initiated shares of Vocus, Inc (NASDAQ: VOCS) with an Outperform rating and $28 target, as the firm believes the company has a strong competitive position.
• Cowen initiated Medivation, Inc (NASDAQ: MDVN) with a Neutral rating based on valuation.

Analyst initiations 4-16-07: Nintendo started with an Overweight at JP Morgan originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's probably old news already to most of you but it bears repeating that Mazda, a division of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), has announced that it shall completely scrap all 4,703 vehicles which were on board the ill fated Cougar Ace freighter that ran into trouble off the coast of Alaska on July 23, 2006. Initially, Mazda had announced that the vehicles would not be sold as new but left the matter open for discussion pending investigation by corporate engineers and others.

While this scrapping of vehicles is certainly a kick in the pants to Mazda and its insurers, it shows me that Mazda and its parent company, Ford, don't consider short-term profit to be paramount to long-term company image and consumer perception. It's possible that Mazda could have marketed all those 4,703 vehicles as "not like new" and never had a problem, but it's equally likely that such a move could have come back to bite them in a major way. I applaud this decision. Kudos to Mazda and Ford.

On a different note, Mazda has just made delivery of its first two gasoline / hydrogen rotary powered automobiles. These RX-8 Hydrogen RE cars allow the driver to choose between the two fuels "on the fly." The rotary power plants have long been a staple of Mazda engineering and from what I read in the blogosphere, Mazda enthusiasts are quite pleased with them. The vehicles have been leased to corporate fleet customers in Japan and will be closely monitored as a part of the Japan Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Demonstration Project. Both the manufacturers and the recipients are very pleased with this accomplishment.

Read more about this Mazda accomplishment at www.autoblog.com

Mazda is making some big, bold and responsible moves originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Dec 2006 14:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: American International (AIG), Dow Jones (DJ) and Hilton Hotels (HLT) top today's giant list of initiations.

• Bank of America initiated American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) with a Buy and $86 target; the firm said investors could now focus on improving fundamentals, especially in foreign life operations, following the company's two-year turnaround.
• Bear Stearns started Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (NYSE:DJ) with a Peer Perform rating based on valuation and secular declines.
• Jefferies initiated Hilton Hotels Corp. (NYSE:HLT) with a Buy rating and $38 target; Hilton is Jefferies' top lodging pick given its favorable valuation and potential balance sheet improvements from selling hotels.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Wedbush started Cheesecake Factory, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAKE) with a Buy rating and $38 target, citing expectations for 20%+ revenue growth in 2007.
• CIBC initiated FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCEL) with a Sector Performer rating, citing expectations of a likely liquidity event in July 2008 in order to bolster cash and regulatory uncertainty.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Analyst initiations 11-21-06: AIG and Hilton with Buy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cramer says sell alt.energy names, buy CROX originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.