BloggingStocks

U.S. Stock Futures Up as Investors Await Jobless Claims

Jason Raznick — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Before the Bell, International Markets, Earnings Reports, Red Hat Inc (RHT), Oil, Currency

U.S. stock futures are higher Thursday morning as investors await economic data. Crude oil prices surged above $106 a barrel. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44 points to 12,065 and S&P 500 futures gained 5.50 points to 1,297.60. Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 16 points to 2,281.

U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.56% to 12,086, the S&P 500 index inching up 0.29% to 1,298 and the Nasdaq 100 index gaining 0.54% to 2,698.

Data on weekly jobless claims and durable-goods orders for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

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U.S. Stock Futures Up as Investors Await Jobless Claims originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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U.S. Stock Futures Lower as Investors Await Leading Indicators Data

Jason Raznick — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Before the Bell, International Markets, Market Matters, Research in Motion (RIMM), Oracle Corp (ORCL), Commodities, Oil, Take-Two Interactive (TTWO), Currency

U.S. stock futures are lower this morning, as investors await data on leading indicators. Moody's Investors Service downgraded Ireland's credit rating by five notches. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7 points to 11,424, while those for the S&P 500 lost 1.20 points to 1,237.30. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 moved down 3.25 points to 2,216.00.

US stocks closed higher on Thursday, driven by better-than-expected economic reports. The DJIA gained 0.36% yesterday.

Data on leading economic indicators for November will be released 10 a.m. ET.

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The Irish Bank Bailout and Spain's Downgrade

Connie Madon — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Economic Data, Financial Crisis

Just when fears of a eurozone collapse faded from the front page, the news of an Irish bank bailout and of Spain's credit rating downgrade reignited investor concerns, CNN Money reports.

Ireland's central bank had to bail out its Anglo Irish Bank to the tune of $40 billion. The bailout raises its staggering deficit from 11.75% to 32% in 2010, ten times higher that the European Union's guidelines. "We hope to bring closure to this matter and that is what we have done today," Finance Minister, Brian Lenhan said, Reuters reported. "Yes, of course these figures are horrendous but they can be managed over 10 years."

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Options Update: AIG Volatility at 28-Month Lows

Paul Foster — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Amer Intl Group (AIG), Options

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) announced a plan to repay all its obligations to American taxpayers. AIG shares closed up $1.65 to $39.10. Overall option implied volatility of 42 is below its 26-week average of 50, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Spain's credit rating was lowered one level by Moody's on a weak economic outlook. The IBEX 35 Index is recently down 0.03%. MSCI Spain Index ETF (EWP) overall option implied volatility of 29 is below its 26-week average of 35 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

EnCana (ECA) October volume and volatility spiked in the last hour of trading as shares rallied 6%.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: AIG Volatility at 28-Month Lows originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Analyst Calls: BSX, FORM, HPQ, JACK, MCO, NFLX, PPL, RTP, VALE ...

Eric Buscemi — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Boston Scientific (BSX), Analyst Initiations, Rio Tinto plc ADS (RIO)

Analyst Upgrades

JMP Securities upgraded Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to outperform from market perform based on valuation and checks that indicate strength in enterprise PCs, high growth geographies and light laptops. The firm has a $50 target on the stock.
RBC Capital upgraded Rio Tinto (RTP) to outperform from sector perform, citing the company's improving growth plans and attractive risk profile.
Goldman upgraded FormFactor (FORM) to neutral from sell, but lowered its price target to $6 from $10. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade.
MCG Capital (MCGC) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
CRH (CRH) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
Melco Crown (MPEL) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BSX, FORM, HPQ, JACK, MCO, NFLX, PPL, RTP, VALE ...

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Moody's Cuts Portugal's Sovereign Debt Rating

Connie Madon — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Economic Data, Financial Crisis, Currency

Moody's Investors Service cut Portugal's sovereign debt rating. In a statement from the agency, Anthony Thomas said: "The Portuguese government's debt to gross domestic product and debt to revenues ratios have risen rapidly over the past two years."

Moody's also questioned whether Portugal's economic reforms will be sufficient to reverse the deterioration in the country's debt metrics, especially in light of recent labor reforms.

Portugal initiated a program to cut its budget deficit from 9.4% of GDP to 8.3% of GDP this year and to 2.8% of GDP in 2013. Moody's expects the Portuguese economy to be flat to plus 0.5% and to rise to 1.5% in 2011.

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Options Update: US Airways Volatility Elevated; Shares Near 20-Month High

Paul Foster — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: US Airways Group (LCC), Options

US Airways (LCC) closed at $8.35. WTI crude futures are recently down 0.42% to $71.14, according to Bloomberg. LCC overall option implied volatility of 82 is below its 26-week average of 78, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Stocks with implied volatility above 30-day mean: Vivus (VVUS), Rambus (RMBS), Moody's (MCO) according to IVolatility.

SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) overall implied volatility at 24; 26-week average is 23. Gold above $1,248.50.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: US Airways Volatility Elevated; Shares Near 20-Month High originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Jun 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Closing Bell: Market Bounces Back with a Vengeance (AIB, MCO, NBG, GS, PLD)

Jon Ogg — Mon, 10 May 2010 16:00:00 EST

Today wasn't about an Obama Supreme Court nominee, nor was it about reform or other legislation in the center of the known world (America). Today was simply about an E.U. and IMF coordinated E.U. bailout package measuring close to $1 trillion.

Cautious housing survey data about homeowners being buried further in their houses did little to harm the markets. In fact, this was one of the days where you ended up feeling bad if each of your stock picks wasn't up 4% or more.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels from today's massive day:

Dow 10,785.74 +405.31 (3.90%)
S&P 500 1,159.68 +48.80 (4.39%)
Nasdaq 2,374.67 +109.03 (4.81%)

Top Analyst Calls

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Analyst Calls: BA, GR, MCO, RAX, SF, SSNC, SXE, TWC, WAG, YHOO ...

Eric Buscemi — Mon, 10 May 2010 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Analyst Initiations

Analyst Upgrades

Susquehanna upgraded Yahoo! (YHOO) to positive from neutral. The firm, which has a $19 price target on the stock, cites the steep decline in shares for the upgrade.
UBS upgraded Time Warner Cable (TWC) to buy from neutral. The firm believes fears regarding FCC reclassification of broadband are "overblown" and that industry fundamentals are bullish. The firm has a $57 target on the stock.
Keefe Bruyette upgraded Stifel Financial (SF) to outperform from market perform on valuation following the recent pullback in shares. The firm has a $64 price target for the stock.
Boeing (BA) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
RBC Capital upgraded Southern Union (SUG) to sector perform from underperform.
Rubicon Technology (RBCN) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BA, GR, MCO, RAX, SF, SSNC, SXE, TWC, WAG, YHOO ...

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Moody's Warns of Contagion Risk to European Banks

Connie Madon — Sat, 08 May 2010 09:40:00 EST

Filed under: Market Matters, Headline News, Financial Crisis, Currency

With reference to the Greek debt crisis, Moody's said: "banking systems faced very real common threats if doubts were raised about their governments' abilities to pay debts."

Moody's was referring specifically to the UK, Irish, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish banking systems. Banks shares have fallen sharply across Europe. In France, Societe Generale (SCGLY) was the biggest loser, with its share price falling 7%. It holds $3.8 billion of Greek government debt.

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Moody's Warns of Contagion Risk to European Banks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 08 May 2010 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Moody's McDaniel Admits That Banks Pressured Them for Good Ratings

Connie Madon — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 09:40:00 EST

Filed under: Market Matters, Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Headline News, Financial Crisis

The ratings game that was played during the financial crisis was a major factor in bringing down our economy.

Here's how the game was played. Banks like Goldman Sachs (GS) would pay a rating agency to rate their securities. Moody's chief executive, Raymond McDaniel, told a Senate panel on Friday that he was not told by Goldman about the fact that hedge fund Paulson & Co. was betting against Goldman's Abacus securities. He said: "It just changes the whole dynamic -- if the person choosing it wants to blow it up."

Continue reading Moody's McDaniel Admits That Banks Pressured Them for Good Ratings

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Reinsurers Returning Capital Despite Catastrophes

Tom Johansmeyer — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 11:40:00 EST

Filed under: Deals, Industry

With borrowing costs at their lowest levels since 2004, reinsurers are loading up on corporate debt in part to fund stock buybacks. The latest tally, according to Bloomberg News, is $1.34 billion in additional borrowing, with Endurance Specialty Holdings (ENH), a Bermuda-based company, recently selling $85 million in bonds. Other recent transactions include Axis Capital Holdings (AXS) and PartnerRe (PRE) each issuing $500 million in bonds and RenaissanceRe (RNR) adding $250 million to the count.

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Q1 Cats Likely to Have Reinsurance Earnings Impact

Tom Johansmeyer — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:10:00 EST

Filed under: Forecasts, Industry

After weeks of speculation, the financial damage from the Chile earthquake and Windstorm Xynthia in Europe is starting to emerge. According to a recent report by Moody's, 16 global reinsurance companies have reported their net insured losses (before taxes) from the catastrophe event, and the damage has already reached $3.5 billion, increasing an already high tally. The firm expects these events to have a noticeable impact on first quarter results for the industry.

According to the report, the first quarter of 2010's results "will have many moving pieces, including the possibility of favorable loss reserve development." It continues, though, that "we would expect a number of reinsurers to post both operating and net losses for the quarter."

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Q1 Cats Likely to Have Reinsurance Earnings Impact originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sirius XM Radio Selling $800M in Notes to Pay Down Debt

Elizabeth Harrow — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:20:00 EST

Filed under: Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Options, Technical Analysis

Late Friday, Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) expanded the size of its planned senior notes offering from $550 million to $800 million. The sale of senior notes due 2015 was conducted via private placement, with the notes bearing an annual interest rate of 8.75%. Stakeholder Liberty Media (LCAPA) was slated to buy $150 million of the notes.

The offering is intended to provide Sirius the ability to prepay, in full, all of its borrowings under a senior secured term loan that matures in 2012. The satellite radio company will also redeem notes due 2013, and finance the fees and expenses related to the notes offering.

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Closing Bell: Another Wishy-Washy Day of Trading (MCO, MHP, CVX, ITMN, AIG, C, MU)

Jon Ogg — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Citigroup Inc. (C), Chevron Corp (CVX), Amer Intl Group (AIG)

Today's market was described as another wishy-washy day where no directional feel was present because of fluctuations from positive to negative. The closing bell being positive or negative was something that was not certain until the end of the trading day. Unemployment rose in 30 states, but this was a January figure. The notion that February's deficit was a record hardly had any significant dent.

The unofficial closing bell levels were as follows:

Dow 10,565.67 +1.29 (0.01%)
S&P 500 1,145.57 +5.13 (0.45%)
Nasdaq 2,357.90 +17.22 (0.74%)

Top Analyst Calls

Continue reading Closing Bell: Another Wishy-Washy Day of Trading (MCO, MHP, CVX, ITMN, AIG, C, MU)

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More SEC Incompetence: Warnings of Moody's Fraud Ignored

Zac Bissonnette — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Law

Another week, another tale of gross incompetence, bureaucratic bumbling, stupidity, laziness, and arrogance at the SEC.

This time, it comes from Eric Kolchinsky, an executive at Moody's, who called the SEC in September to warn the agency that his company might be committing securities fraud. Ya know, the kind of the thing you'd think the SEC would be interested.

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Retail Sales Fall in December, Surprising Analysts

Tom Johansmeyer — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:20:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Economic Data

Despite all the hype and wishful thinking, retail sales, reported Thursday morning, fell in December. This came as a surprise to analysts, many of whom forecasted increases of 2% or more, though there were some calling for declines of up to 3%. The holiday season wasn't enough to overcome cautious consumer spending, which has been driven largely by an unemployment rate that remains stubbornly high at 10%.

Data from the Commerce Department released Thursday puts the decline in retail sales from November to December at 0.3%, while expectations were for an increase of 0.5%. Excluding auto sales, the drop was 0.2%, still weaker than the 0.3% increase anticipated by analysts. This decline follows an increase of 1.2% in October and 1.8% in November. In September, retail sales fell 2% from August.

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Foreclosures Rise 14% in December

Tom Johansmeyer — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Indices, Economic Data, Housing, Recession

Foreclosure filings spiked in December. The 14% increase from the previous month made the first monthly increase since July -- and a hell of a severe way to break the streak. The double-digit increase, reported by RealtyTrac, brought the number of foreclosures to 349,519 in December. In addition to the increase from November, the result is a year-over-year increase of 15% from December 2008. In 2009, 2.8 million foreclosures were filed, up 21% from 2008 and 120% from 2007.

Foreclosure activity reached a monthly high of 361,000 in July, but loan modifications, state legislation extending the foreclosure process and the volume of homes in the foreclosure pipeline had resulted in a gradual decline from that point. From the third quarter to the fourth, foreclosures fell 7%, though the rate was still up 18% from the fourth quarter of 2008. California posted a 17% decline in foreclosures quarter-over-quarter, though it increased 9% from November to December.

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Lloyd's Amps Up Insurance and Reinsurance Capacity This Year

Tom Johansmeyer — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Forecasts, Industry, Competitive Strategy

Lloyd's of London is poised to take some risks in 2010. In fact, it's ready to put more than $36 billion into the insurance and reinsurance world, according to analysts at reinsurance intermediary Guy Carpenter, a division of Marsh & McLennan (MMC).

The year-over-year increase could be as high as 27% compared to 2009, with the additional capacity coming from lower risk-transfer rates for some lines of business, though much of it is being offered to compensate for the weakness of the British pound relative to stronger currencies, such as the U.S. dollar.

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Consumers Find Credit Trouble in November

Tom Johansmeyer — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:20:00 EST

Filed under: Economic Data, Recession, Financial Crisis

Optimism around holiday spending, strength in the stock market for the second half of 2009 and wishful thinking about the economic climate aren't going to be enough to turn the situation around. And, there's more to the story than the 10% unemployment rate. Moody's Investor Services said Tuesday that more people fell behind on their credit card payments in November.

The charge-off rate on credit cards increased to 10.56% last month, according to the Moody's Credit Card Index. It had fallen in September and October, settling at 10.04% before ticking back up last month. Fortunately, this remains below the June level of 10.76%, a record high.

Continue reading Consumers Find Credit Trouble in November

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