Continue reading HootSuite Rakes in Close to $2 Million in New Venture Round

HootSuite Rakes in Close to $2 Million in New Venture Round originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Who profited from Bear Stearns' collapse? One insider did, and got away with it

Who profited from Bear Stearns' collapse? One insider did, and got away with it originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Martha Stewart is still money

Martha Stewart is still money originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Could Martha Stewart Living mag be troubled?

Could Martha Stewart Living mag be troubled? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 08:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Martha Stewart does have a sense of humor! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Martha Stewart goes to Wal-Mart originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bad news out of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NASDAQ: MSO) today: CEO Susan Lyne has stepped down after four years as the company's CEO. President of Media Wenda Harris Millard and President of Merchandising Robin Marino will become co-CEOs.

Oh, how quickly things change. Back in April, Martha Stewart Living announced that it was acquiring the Emeril brand for $50 million, with an optimistic Lyne saying, "This acquisition is strategically important to our company as we continue to expand and diversify our business and represents a significant opportunity for us going forward." The company said it expected the acquisition to add $8 million of EBITDA in its first year of operation. Now Lyne is gone without explanation, and the press release didn't even mention the "strategically important" Emeril deal, which has a value of more than 10% of the company's market cap.

Continue reading Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia CEO resigns

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia CEO resigns originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Retailer Macy's (NYSE: M) first fiscal quarter wasn't that bad, at least in terms of the analyst game. The company, which competes with mall colleagues such as J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) and Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD), reported net income of 2 cents per diluted share from continuing operations. The denizens of Wall Street thought the company would lose 2 cents, so management came ahead in this regard by four pennies. Bravo!

However, does this news excite me? Not necessarily. Macy's needs a little help in its sales department. First, the overall top line declined almost 3%, coming in at $5.7 billion. Second, and perhaps even more telling, same-store sales were weak during the quarter, decreasing by 2.6%. And then there's the issue of cash flow. Operational cash flow from continuing operations was excellent compared with last year's quarter since $21 million was generated this time around as opposed to $370 million being used last time around. Nevertheless, when you take into account capital spending, no free cash flow was left over in the first quarter. And cash has been decreasing on the balance sheet. Oh, and gross margin went down, too.

I wasn't too taken by Macy's current earnings report, and I'm not putting the company on my list of investment ideas right now, even though the stock closed up yesterday on the news (heck, the company didn't repurchase any shares last quarter and stated that it didn't see any more share repurchases coming for the rest of the year, so apparently the stock isn't on management's ideas list, either). I think there might be better retail investments out there, such as Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) or Target (NYSE: TGT). Yes, the retailer may have strong associations with Donald Trump and Martha Stewart, but I will not be blinded by such celebrity value.

Disclosure: I don't own shares in any company mentioned here; positions can change at any time.

Macy's Q1 beats analysts, but don't expect me to buy the stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 15 May 2008 09:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia set to buy Emeril empire originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With its stock sitting in a toilet that would make the housekeeping goddess cringe, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) is looking for something to boost its operations.

Fortune reports it has learned that the company "has held recent talks with two prominent tastemakers, the fashion designer Cynthia Rowley and Jonathan Adler, known for his home décor, with the aim of building multifaceted brands around these personalities that span television, publishing and the internet."

The talks have reportedly broken off, but CEO Susan Lyne has said that she is on the prowl for acquisitions. Acquisitions have a bad habit of failing to generate value for the acquirer, and Fortune notes that "The pressure to do a deal will intensify this year, as MSO prepares to take a hit on several fronts." And therein lies the problem.

The company has historically been unable to generate a profit, and that's not going to get any better in the near future. An acquisition driven by what amounts to desperation is unlikely to change that. And signing a big star will cost a lot money, and the value of that star's brand will tend to aggregate to them, not MSO -- that's the nature of licensing deals.

Bottom line: If you want to buy shares of MSO, it should be because you're bullish on the future of the company as it is now, not because you're hoping that a management team that has failed to generate value can make a killer acquisition that will restore the company to its once high-flying status.

Can Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia be saved? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: Blueprint and House & Garden Magazines shuttered

Continue reading 'Blueprint' magazine shut down, following 'House & Garden'

'Blueprint' magazine shut down, following 'House & Garden' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Will Martha Stewart's new wine be a 'good thing?' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Macy's (M) hooks up with Trump, Martha, and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to the Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter, Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC) plans to give its top trader, Warren Spector, the ax.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Kroger (NYSE: KR) announced last week that it would stop selling milk that carried synthetic hormones that are made by Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON), despite the FDA saying the hormones are safe.
• A group of financial experts predicted that the U.S. will enter a recession soon, due to inflation, the economic prescriptions of a Democratic president, and the housing market meltdown, reported Barron's Magazine.

• According to insiders, Martha Stewart is not happy with Lampert's Kmart chain as she feels the company is not doing enough to sell her Martha Stewart products in its stores, which in turn is causing a "drag" on Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc's (NYSE: MSO) earnings, reported the New York Post.
• While shopping on the Internet has always been a 24-hour ordeal, some traditional retailers such as Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS) and Dick's Sporting Goods Inc (NYSE: DKS) are starting to realize the potential of offering online-only discounts when their stores are closed, reported the Chicago Tribune.
• Qatari investment firm Delta Two may have to provide more than GBP1B in additional equity in order to win backing from J Sainsbury's (OTC: JSAIY) board for its offer for Sainsbury, reported the U.K. Times.

Newspaper wrap-up: Bear Stearns to fire top trader originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Paul Tudor Jones runs some of the best managed hedge funds anywhere, averaging over a 24% annual return over the last 20 years, but last month they reported heavy losses, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is speaking with wireless operators , such as T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, as well as phone manufacturers about carrying their products.
• The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is expected to fine Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) a total of $6.1M for alleged overcharging of customers on bond sales totaling $59M, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Barron's "Inside Scoop" section reported that Andrew J. McKelvey, who stepped down as Monster Worldwide Inc's (NASDAQ: MNST) chairman and CEO last October, has sold 1.27M shares for $48.6M on the open market since Friday, according to SEC data.

• Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) is reportedly joining with private-equity partner GTCR Golder Rauner to buy food-crafting company Wilton Industries and paint-by-number specialist Dimension Holdings, reported the New York Post.

• According to DigiTimes.com, Taiwan component suppliers for the iPhone have said they are not seeing any reduction in orders from Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL).

Newspaper wrap-up 8-2-07: Martha Stewart making acquisitions originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) expects to reach an agreement to sell itself to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), ending a months-long soap opera that's tried the patience of media nerds like myself, according to CNBC's David Faber. No word on the final terms.

Looks like all of the chest pounding and teeth gnashing by Murdoch's many detractors, including members of the Bancroft family which owns Dow Jones, failed to stop the Australian media mogul just as I expected. The Bancrofts had no other choice. Saying "yes" to Murdoch, was much more lucrative and less potentially litigious than saying "no." There is no doubt that minority shareholders would have sued the Bancrofts for turning down Murdoch's $5 billion offer since the stock would have beeen sent into a tailspin from which it would never recover.

Worries about Murdoch are justified. You can expect the complaints about the tycoon's meddling in the Journal's editorial practices to surface in about six months to a year, perhaps sooner. It will be subtle and difficult for most readers to notice but it will happen. Though many Dow Jones journalists are cringing at the thought of working for Murdoch, they have little choice but to put up with him. Dow Jones pays well in an industry famous for paying poorly. Plus, most media companies aren't doing much hiring because of the current business conditions.

Since Dow Jones appears to have gotten a ridiculously high price for its company, Wall Street will wonder why small media companies such as the New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT), E.W. Scripps Co. (NYSE: SSP), Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (NYSE: MSO) and Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) can't do the same.

They better come up with an answer quickly.

Dow Jones says yes to Murdoch; pressure mounts on other media companies originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 31 Jul 2007 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Home builders are in trouble. Wall Street just has to look at stock prices for Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV) and Beazer (NYSE: BZH) to see that they and their peers have lost half of their value in a year.

But, builder KB Home (NYSE: KBH) has a bit of a secret weapon. Its homes, designed in part by Martha Stewart, are still selling relatively well. The Stewart homes are only 5% of KB's sales, but as The Wall Street Journal points out [subscription required]: "From March through June 15, the two Martha Stewart developments alone drew 42% of the people who visited KB's 22 subdivisions in the Atlanta metro area."

Some buyers, it seems, want the homes because they believe that Stewart signifies "class". Others think the homes will have better resale values.

The venture may offer a bright spot of the entire industry. Nothing will get home sales back on track except a major upturn in the market. But, the idea of home builders selling new inventory in celebrity partnerships may have a future.

The Elvis Presley model may be on the market sooner than people think.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Martha Stewart comes to rescue the home industry originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Jul 2007 08:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I have to wonder if Martha Stewart asks for anyone's opinion before she attempts some of the moves that she does. I wanted to write a simple post regarding her settlement with shareholders stemming from her ImClone stock shares debacle but then I ran into this other interesting stuff. Now, CBS News reports that Martha Stewart has upset the native American community where she lives by filing an application to trademark a name they revere so she may use it for her own commercial purposes.

Martha would like to trademark the name "Katonah." It's the name of the village where she lives and it was the name of a 17th century Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation tribal chief. Representatives of the tribe find Martha's trademark application offensive and stand in strong opposition to the move. Ms. Stewart explains that she wishes to honor the name by using it in conjunction with a line of home furnishings and interior paint. The tribe however refuses to surrender the name to commercial status. "We welcomed her when she came, but we're frustrated and confused that she would try to exploit the town in this way," said local newspaper editor R.J. Marx in February, when his paper first broke the story.

I'm hoping that Martha will just let this thing die easy. After all, for her it's just a name. For the tribe and for the native American community at large it represents a tangible piece of heritage and I can fully understand why they stand against it being used for profit generation. Perhaps the Wisconsin tribal communities will get the idea from this situation and remove all the native American names from their casinos, but I'm thinking they probably won't.

Martha Stewart might need a couple good advisors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Jun 2007 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MSN's Tim Middleton did a nice job recapping nine of the top ten money messes of the new Millenium: Enron, Arthur Andersen, Worldcom, Tyco, Adelphia, Henry Blodget etc., mutual fund market timing, Freddie and Fannie, and Parmalat. But his tenth pick puzzled me: Martha Stewart's $240,000 profit on insider trading of ImClone stock that she wasn't even convicted of (She was convicted of lying to investigators)?

The amount of money was so small and the whole media frenzy amounted to nothing more than blood-thirsty opportunists relishing the chance to destroy someone they didn't like -- I wouldn't be the first to suggest that sexism played a huge role in the crucifixion of Martha Stewart.

Here are some scandals that I would argue could replace Stewart for the number 10: The collapses of Refco or Global Crossing, the student loans scandals, and the subprime crisis. What are some 21st century scandals that you think could have made the list?

Martha Stewart: Top money mess? More like a media feeding frenzy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 May 2007 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Friedman, Billings, Ramsey upgraded shares of Chico's FAS Inc (NYSE: CHS) to Market Perform from Underperform and raised their target to $25 from $17 on valuation.

• Matrix USA upgraded Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) to Hold from Sell on valuation.

• Sanders Morris upgraded Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU) to Hold from Sell, as the firm believes the disapproval by holders to sell the company will result in shares trading in the $34-$37 range.

• Lehman upgraded PPL Corp (NYSE: PPL) to Overweight from Equal-Weight.

• Friedman, Billings, Ramsey continued to recommend shares of Urban Outfitters, Inc (NASDAQ: URBN) with an Outperform rating as the firm has seen consistent progress at both the company's divisions throughout March. Friedman added Urban Outfitters to its Top Picks list.

• JP Morgan raised Sonic Corp (NASDAQ: SONC) to an Overweight rating from Neutral, and believes shares have priced in softer Q2 sales that were pre-announced late-February.

• Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc (NYSE: MSO) was upgraded at Bear Stearns to Peer Perform from Underperform.

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Mylan Laboratories (NYSE: MYL) to Neutral from Sell.

• Goldman Sachs upgraded the Mortgage Insurance sector to Neutral from Cautious.

Analyst upgrades 3-27-07: Urban Outfitters, Chico's FAS & Martha Stewart upgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.