• DJIA 12141.58 (+57.81)
• S&P500 1339.87 (+4.38)
• NASDAQ 2404.35 (+10.34)
• 10YR T-NOTE 4.205% (+0.132%)
• Major list of 52-Week Lows
• Top 10 Analyst Calls
• 2008 IPO's up 50% or more

Continue reading Closing Bell: Despite positive close, oil, fed, mergers disappoint

Closing Bell: Despite positive close, oil, fed, mergers disappoint originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Former Yahoo! CEO Semel leaves board of directors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Does anyone want to buy Yahoo? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post was part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst of 2007. Voting has now closed and, in a close race, readers have chosen Chuck Prince as the best CEO departure of the year. Let us know in the comments if you are pleased with this result.

When looking back at 2007, there were some larger-than-life CEO departures that semi-rocked the business world and brought some investors to the realization of over-the-top compensation yet again. Let's look at a few and then you can decide the winner. Sound good?

First up comes Bill Ford, Jr., from the automotive industry. Under Ford's leadership, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) lost its way in terms of correctly forecasting what kind of vehicles customers actually wanted, in addition to becoming horribly leveraged. As soon as gas prices began shooting up, Ford Motor started spiraling down. Long-time Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) executive Alan Mulally was brought in to replace Ford as the automaker's CEO just in the nick of time. Ford Motor's expected profitability date with Ford now gone: 2009.

How about Bob Nardelli, formerly CEO of Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD)? Nardelli made global headlines by making tens of millions while leading Home Depot shares to the basement and apparently making all kinds of bad decisions that finally led to his ouster this year. On top of that, his severance package made a Brad Pitt paycheck seem like pennies, and Home Depot shareholders paid for it. Did Home Depot stakeholders get a voice in this corporate travesty? A small one, perhaps.

Continue reading Best & Worst of 2007: Best CEO departure of 2007

Best & Worst of 2007: Best CEO departure of 2007 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) recently up $2.40 to $33.74:

www.Alibaba.com, a Chinese internet company, is expected to be IPO'd on the Hong Kong bourse on November 6th. YHOO made a $1.4 billion investment in 39% of Alibaba in 2005. YHOO Chairman of the Board Terry Semel sold 850,000 shares of YHOO at $30.47 October 23-24, according to Dow Jones. YHOO call option volume of 503,701 contracts compares to put volume of 52,600 contracts. YHOO November option implied volatility of 50 is above its 26-week average of 37 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risk.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) recently up $2.91 to $34.90:

Pacific Growth Equities says " Blowout F1Q results; conservative guidance leave room for additional upside if the sales momentum continues." MSFT call option volume of 353,588 contracts compares to put volume of 114,142 contracts. MSFT November option implied volatility of 25 is below a pre-EPS level of 32 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing risk.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Option update 10-26-007: YHOO and MSFT rally with YHOO volatility up, MSFT volatility down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo!'s (YHOO) '100-day review' nears end: Are investors still patient? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo! (YHOO) may sell Kelkoo shopping site originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The official election is more than a year away; but the Democratic party is trouncing the Republics in the CEO money primary. According to Bloomberg News, some of George W. Bush's top 2004 fund-raisers, are now helping Democrats running for president.

Among the 60 executives writing checks to Democrats such as Senators Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois are these formerly pro-Bush CEOs:

• Morgan Stanley's (NYSE: MS) CEO John Mack, a Bush Ranger, held a fund-raiser for Clinton in July. He wrote to his executives "I personally believe that [the best] person [running for president in 2008] is Hillary Clinton."
• Yahoo Inc.'s (NASDAQ: YHOO) former CEO Terry Semel gave $2,000 to Bush in 2004 and $50,000 to the Republican National Committee. Semel has given the maximum, $4,600, to Clinton and $2,300 to Obama.
• News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) CEO Rupert Murdoch, who donated $25,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2004, has given Clinton $2,300.

Continue reading Democrats winning 2008 CEO money primary

Democrats winning 2008 CEO money primary originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After last month's brouhaha when Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) announced that Terry Semel was resigning his CEO post and co-founder Jerry Yang was taking the reigns, the company has gone rather quiet. Can't blame Yahoo for the peace and quiet.

Yang has to wrap his arms around the company and that will take time. Even though he is the co-founder, the role of CEO encompasses the daily grind of evaluating business units, the progress or lack of progress piece by piece. Yahoo could almost be forgiven if it misses its June quarter. In fact, investors would almost welcome the event.

Professional portfolio managers like it when an incoming CEO absolutely cleans house and wipes the slate clean for a new beginning. With that process comes the exercise of lowering near-term expectations, thus allowing for the desired joy of under-promising and over-delivering. The best time for this cleansing is after a new CEO's first quarter on the job. All the bad stuff gets blamed on the ousted CEO, while the new CEO gets to reset the bar.

Yahoo! is far behind Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) in so many areas like search engine, advertising programs, etc. The best course of action that Jerry Yang can take now is to right the ship, set the revenue and earnings expectations to realistic, yet beatable numbers and potentially set up the company for a wealthier parent. Yahoo!, at the end of the day, should merge with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) if either company intends to effectively compete with Google. Otherwise it is game, set and match.

Georges Yared is the Chief Investment Strategist of Yared Investment Research.

Yahoo! in for a quiet period? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here it is, right in front of you, the opportunity of a lifetime for Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). With the Rivals.com deal now in hand, making Yahoo a larger internet sports media interest than ESPN, the iron is hot and ready to strike a working partnership between Yahoo! and ESPN. If the two entities can hammer something out that makes full use of each companies strengths, we would most probably witness the birth of an internet sports composite that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) couldn't touch. Wouldn't it be nice to see Yahoo! as the undeniable leader in something? Admit it to yourself, Yahoo! deserves it.

I have no idea if there have been corporate discussions regarding such a working partnership, but you must consider that Yahoo! and ESPN are more than a little aware of each other, and if there's one thing that Yahoo! must be tired of right about now it would be the concept of vainly slugging it out with other large internet properties.

Let us watch carefully to see if some new strategies start seeping out of Yahoo! Perhaps Jerry Yang has secretly been waiting for Terry Semel to be dislodged before instigating some new ideas. If I held Yahoo! shares right now I'd be very hesitant to sell them, and I'd even consider adding a few. Yahoo! has been floundering, but it is far from being counted out. I repeat my conviction that if Yahoo! will just just try to forget about Google and begin to cut it's own swath, it will do far better in the long run than by continuing to beat its head against the "Great Wall of Google."

Could Yahoo!, Rivals, and ESPN team up to take on Google? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 24 Jun 2007 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A certain number of large cap stock disappoint every quarter. Usually their stocks get punished in the days and weeks after. Solid quarterly numbers with weak guidance can be just as bad. But, there are some companies that give off signal or compete in industries where the competitive trends are working against them.

A few red flag companies:

Ford (NYSE: F): Some members of the Ford family want to retain bankers to see if they can cash out their shares. Sales of the important F-series pick-ups and Explorer lines are falling faster than forecast. Even with labor negotiations coming up, costs may not fall.

Continue reading Slaughterhouse II: Stocks headed for rough Q2 numbers

Slaughterhouse II: Stocks headed for rough Q2 numbers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After yesterday's no-surprise announcement that Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) CEO Terry Semel would resign his post and take the role of non-executive chairman, I was confused as to why Semel even wants to stay with Yahoo!

Semel already has gotten a huge payday, so it looks like he's sticking around so the board can save face, which is disgusting. Yet again, executives are rewarded while shareholders get stiffed. I'm glad I don't own Yahoo or I would have Semel's head on a platter.

Still, you have to wonder what in the world is going on in Sunnyvale. Company co-founder Jerry Yang is stepping in as CEO (for some odd reason) instead of seasoned executive Susan Decker, who is taking over as president, thankfully.

Yahoo! will never regain its former glory.

Continue reading Yahoo! won't be able to catch Google, even with a new CEO

Yahoo! won't be able to catch Google, even with a new CEO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

2001 was a long, long time ago. In the ever-evolving world of technology, six years can be measured in dog-years: one dog year equals seven human years. Terry Semel rode in to Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) as the savior, the professional manager who would move this absolutely cool company to the next level. The space was evolving and revolving in a huge way. Nobody could even put a bona-fide growth rate on the internet search/ marketing/advertising/communication field. Semel thought he had entered a marathon.

In 2001, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) was only three years old, as the company was founded in 1998. The secrecy surrounding Google was legendary, yet weird. Google was formidable, but it was also private. Numbers were never confirmed, but people in the know whispered Google was catching Yahoo and knocking it from its premier position. Google was gathering headlines and believers while Yahoo! was reporting good, not great, or consistent quarterly numbers. The technology media and its close-followers knew Google was catching Yahoo!, it was only a matter of time.

The world realized in 2004 that Google was also running a marathon, but with a sprinter's speed. Google completed its initial public offering in August 2004 and was crowned the winner: game, set and match. Immediately, the market propelled Google to a market capitalization that has surpassed Yahoo!'s. As of this writing, Yahoo! is a faint figure in Google's rear view mirror. Google is worth $160 billion while Yahoo! is a respectable $37 billion.

Continue reading Yahoo's Terry Semel got Googled!

Yahoo's Terry Semel got Googled! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So ... Was CEO Terry Semel really so bad that he had to resign?

In a word, yes.

In my opinion, Terry Semel needed to be shown the door long ago and should have made a quiet, respectful and pride-saving exit from Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). I'm not happy with the way his resignation is now being handled either. He should be moving down the road to new and exciting endeavors, leaving Yahoo! to formulate its own new plans. Instead, he has gingerly stayed in his chairman role, in a non-executive role, hanging around like the brother-in-law who just wrecked your car and says he'll help you fix it.

Don't take my word for it, though. A flood of commentary from all across the web includes such things as:

"...it's safe to say, (the share holders) are not happy at all with the current performance and are sending a message loud and clear, Terry Semel's got to turn things around" - RSS Micro

Continue reading Was CEO Terry Semel really so bad that he had to resign?

Was CEO Terry Semel really so bad that he had to resign? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo's handling of financial blogs says it all originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Yahoo!'s webcast was dull and uninspiring

Yahoo!'s webcast was dull and uninspiring originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 18:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: The faces of Yahoo

Susan Decker passed over for Yahoo! CEO role: Always the bridesmaid originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ; YHOO), which today replaced Terry Semel as chief executive with co-founder Jerry Yang, may be dragged into the battle royale for Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ).

Billionaire Ron Burkle, who the unions have enlisted to save them from the evil clutches of News Corp (NYSE:NWS) Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, is trying to convinced the Internet giant to join him in a bid for the owner of the Wall Street Journal, according to Fortune.

Why the unions think the Burkle is a such a good guy is a little baffling. The supermarket mogul won't get many Christmas cards from shareholders since, as a member of Yahoo's compensation committee, he helped Semel get his outrageous $70 million pay package.

Yahoo should tell Burkle to take a hike. The company's whole strategy has been based on the fact that it DOESN'T NEED TO OWN CONTENT. Executives have made this point to me in person. They've made this point to other journalists. They've made this point to Wall Street analysts. Most importantly, though, Yahoo has made this point to content providers who are nervous about the small amount of original content that the company does produce.

Joining the bidding war for Dow Jones makes no sense for Yahoo. The company has plenty of problems of its own, including how to diplomatically shove Semel out of the door. The theory is that he can do less damage as chairman, until he's given the chance to make a graceful exit, while Jerry Yang gets his feet wet as chief executive.

Susan Decker, who gained kudos on Wall Street during her tenure as CFO, would have made a better choice. She has become president and it wouldn't surprise me if she eventually left the company as well.

Yang has a tough road ahead to convince both Internet users and investors enamored of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) that Yahoo still is relevant.

Yahoo should avoid Dow Jones buyout battle as it fixes company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Finally, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) has ditched its CEO Terry Semel, according to MarketWatch. And the new CEO is Jerry Yang, a co-founder of the company. Former CFO, Susan Decker was named president, positioning her for a chance to take over the top slot.

It is beyond me why Semel held onto his job for so long. He helped stabilize Yahoo after the dot-com crash but has stumbled from one incompetent quarter to the next for years. And he has taken home some truly outrageous pay -- a total of $452 million in salary, bonus and stock-option exercises since April 2001 [subscription] -- during which time Yahoo stock has risen four-fold.

However, in the last year the disconnect between Semel's pay and Yahoo's performance became too much to take. According to the New York Times, his total 2006 pay was $107.5 million during which time Yahoo's stock fell 35%. And directors concluded Yahoo was just not catching up fast enough with Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) so Semel had to go.

Susan Decker had been positioned to take over the company as CEO. But Yahoo's board probably decided that she was not yet ready. However, she is considered to have the inside track during the CEO search to replace Semel. So Yang's appointment could be just a temporary move that will help stabilize the company until she is ready.

Or, with the stock up 8% to $29.62 in after-hours trading, he might just sell it. It would make a nice morsel for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned in this post.

[See our live blog of the web cast in which Terry Semel discusses his resignation here.]

Yahoo dumps Semel. What took so long? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Yahoo! CEO Semel resigning - Liveblogging the webcast

Yahoo! CEO Semel resigning - Liveblogging the webcast originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.