There's been no shortage of new highs on the New York Stock Exchange lately -- but the thing is, very few of those new highs have been actual common stocks. Instead, a glut of preferred stocks and various fixed-income securities have been artificially inflating the annual-high figures on the Big Board.

Against this backdrop, it's even more impressive that Silver Wheaton (SLW) tapped the latest in a string of new annual highs today. The stock cruised up to $22.84 earlier, marking an all-time peak for the U.S.-traded shares of the Canadian commodity concern.

Continue reading How Long Can Silver Wheaton Keep Climbing?

How Long Can Silver Wheaton Keep Climbing? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading NYSE suspends $1 rule

NYSE suspends $1 rule originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

New York Court lets Dick Grasso off the hook originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Italian clothing retailer Benetton Group (NYSE: BNG) gained more than 8% yesterday, closing up $2.58 at $33.23 on news that Deutsche Bank upped BNG to Buy. While good news, this is not the biggest Benetton news. The Board of Directors of the company recently announced the company will voluntarily deregister and delist from the NYSE and will no longer offer American Depositary Shares (ADS) on the NYSE. The decision is not an indication that Benetton Group, known as much for its provocative advertising as for its fashions, is in any financial trouble. Far from it. The company recently issued first-half 2007 results that were positive all the way through the numbers. Revenues are up 10%, volume of sales is up 13% to 74 million garments. The company has benefited from a good product mix in its stores and the dollar's continued weakness against the euro.

What drove Benetton's Board of Directors to deregister and delist was the fact that the company simply does not do enough business in ADS to justify the expense of keeping a full set of books in compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. As Italian stock exchanges, particularly Milan, have grown more international in their offerings, American shareholders have begun to trade directly rather than through ADS. Benetton indicated it will still provide financial information and press releases in English, but will keep its books according to international standards.

Benetton senior management does not think delisting from the NYSE will have any adverse impact on the company's growth or earnings, which it forecasts to be in the 7-9% range.

The most troublesome aspect of Benetton's decision to delist may be the idea that foreign companies feel they do not need access to U.S. equity markets, still the biggest in the world. Perhaps the trading floor is leveling internationally. How many other foreign-registered companies are going to take a look at Benetton's decision and begin to do their own cost/benefit analysis on continued NYSE or Nasdaq listings?

Benetton Group (BNG) to NYSE: bye-bye originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Sep 2007 08:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Trading curbs are in effect, or were at any rate originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

LaBranche (NYSE: LAB) is one of the largest floor trading specialists on the New York Stock Exchange. While this

LaBranche: Moving in the right direction? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is not that big of a deal, but nevertheless I think it's silly. Federated Department Str. (NYSE:FD) is changing its name to Macy's, and the ticker symbol for its stock will now be "M". While the costs of doing this will be a drop in the bucket for a company of Macy's, nee Federated's size, it doesn't seem like a good use of money: Changing all the signs, all the stationary, the legals fees, etc. So what is their rationale for doing this? According to the Associated Press, "The moves are part of Federated's strategy to focus on building Macy's as a national brand."

Huh? Isn't Macy's already a national brand? The Macy's day parade and all that. It's probably as iconic as any American retailer, with the possible exception of Wal-Mart. Isn't this sort of like Berkshire Hathaway changing its name to "Warren Buffett's Company" to try to enhance Buffett's reputation as a great investor?

This change just seems silly, and I'm surprised that Macy's management doesn't have more important issues to deal with.

Federated plays alphabet soup originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Federated Department: That's M to you, investors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

New York Stock Exchange holds ground while Nasdaq tumbles originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 13:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is written as part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst 2006. You can vote for Martha Stewart as the magnate you'd like to see lose all her money.

Some might wonder whether domestic diva Martha Stewart has already lost her fortune, but the answer is a resounding no.

In 1995 New York Magazine declared this business magnate, author, editor, and commercial spokesperson to be the "definitive American woman of our time." In September 1997, Stewart secured funding to consolidate the various television, print, and merchandising ventures related to the Martha Stewart brand into a new company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE:MSO). Stewart served as chairwoman, president, and CEO, and when the initial public offering rallied by $20 per share, Stewart became a billionaire. She continues to be the majority shareholder, with a commanding percentage of voting power in the company.

In 2002 Stewart sold shares of a pharmaceutical company days before the company's patent application for a new drug was denied. Accusations of insider trading resulted in Stewart's conviction in 2004 for obstruction of justice, and she served five months in prison. She had to step down from her executive positions at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and she lost her seats on the boards of Revlon and the New York Stock Exchange.

Since her release from prison, her time has been spent reviving her empire. She hosts the day-time Emmy-nominated television program Martha, is again involved in her magazine, Martha Stewart Living, and has published new books. The price of her company's stock has rebounded significantly.

Best & Worst: Should Martha Stewart be kicked off the comeback trail? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Dec 2006 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With a "bewildering array" of financial instruments to choose from, Nathan Slaughter, the editor of Half-Priced Stocks notes that investors often forget the potential of investing directly in those exchanges themselves.

For long term growth and value investors, Slaughter says, "These exchanges take a small cut from every market transaction." In other words, he explains, "think of these highly profitable companies as 'toll keepers,' charging a fee to anyone who wants to drive on their trading network."

So which exchanges should you invest in? First, he considers the NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE: NYX), which he notes is the world's largest and most liquid stock exchange, with about 2,700 listed companies valued at more than $23 trillion.

Continue reading NYSE, NASDAQ & Chicago Merc: Investing in exchanges

NYSE, NASDAQ & Chicago Merc: Investing in exchanges originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Dec 2006 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

1. hybrid systems rollout is speeding up trades
   
2. the exchange won't have to get into a bidding war over Euronext
3. while it was archaic and poorly run, it is now well-run, with massive improvements
4. Euronext savings will be $600 million
5. working deals in India and Japan, and
   
6. he hybrid system will help trim that $350 million in floor operation expenses.
   

Cramer calling for a Triple in NYSE shares originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Nov 2006 18:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What does it take to move this stock price? A lot apparently. Today General Electric closed at $33.93, down four cents on volume of 16.4 million shares -- making it the eighth most actively traded stock on the Big Board.

A lot of buying and selling going on, but the stock stayed in a narrow range of $33.80 to $34. Of the top ten most active stocks on the NYSE, it had by far the smallest percentage point change in share price.

How do you spell stability? G-E

Closing bell for GE: Lots of buying and selling nets out at a 4 cent price drop originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 24 Apr 2006 17:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.