Switch cell phone carriers, Gasparino, Bonuses, Magna Carta
– It will not be as expensive to switch carriers soon
– This is just funny.
– This is the very least they could do, considering what they have done to shareholders.
– Of all the things to do with your money, this is just one of the best.
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Google (GOOG) and Research in Motion (RIMM) have solved the problem stopping most Blackberry users from using Google calendar.
Blackberry users may now download a “sync” function for their devices that syncs the calendar on their Blackberries with their online Google calendar.
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Much has been said about Bernanke & Co. the past four months. Despite it all, this is the truest test of his Chairmanship to date.
On Friday consumer inflation numbers were released. The CPI jumped 0.8% in November, crushing October’s 0.3% rise. It was largest increase since September 2005. The core CPI, excluding volatile food and energy prices, advanced 0.3%, it biggest rise since January. The results passed Wall Street forecasts of a 0.6% headline CPI increase and 0.2% core gain.
Now, IF the Fed is truly in a neutral stance and is not being told what to do by the markets, then they CANNOT cut rates again in January, barring a dramatic deterioration of the economic landscape.
Recent numbers portray an economy that is growing faster than expectation with jobs and output ahead of expectations. That being said inflation now becomes the primary concern for all and it is getting to the point it is a problem.
Energy prices it seem have finally crept into the picture outside of our gas tanks and heating systems. Now that they have, they cannot be ignored.
Should Bernanke opt to cut rates in the face of the current situation is January, all creditability will be lost. It will then be clear he is taking his direction from the markets which ALWAYS want lower rates, whether is is the right thing or not. That being said we will have to update this again as we get closer to decision day but it is unlikely recent numbers are aberrations.
Investors ought to get in the right frame of mind going into the new year…
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Yeah, I know it has only been one day, but at least Sprint’s (S) new CEO knows what the company’s #1 problem is.
New CEO Dan Hesse said his first priority will be to tackle the customer-service problems and customer defections that have plagued the company in the past year saying, “I read the magazines and Consumer Reports like everyone else.” Good
An internal Sprint document recently disclosed described the company’s “inferior results” in customer service. It pointed out that Sprint resolved just 53% of problems on the first call, compared with 71% for Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile USA despite Sprint having nearly 3X’s as many customer service reps.
Hesse was the pioneer of AT&T’s (T) “Digital One Rate” plan, which introduced flat-rate pricing to U.S. wireless consumers in the late 1990s. Prior the “One Rate” plan, most Americans were accustomed to paying for wireless service by the minute, incurring extra charges for roaming or long-distance calling. In short, they revolutionized the cell phone industry. Hess has the experience and a proven track record, if he complete step two below, he has a chance at success.
The second thing he can do is chop heads. Sprint and Nextel have never merged on a corporate level and until they do, real success will be elusive. I have no idea whose fault it is and two full years after the merger was completed it really no longer matters. Anyone from either side who stands in the way, see ya’.
Fortunately for potential shareholders, both of these steps will take time to accomplish. The evidence that they are being implemented will become apparent before their results show up in earnings and that gives those who wish to buy shares plenty of time to wait.
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Here is the list:
UPGRADES
PS Business Parks PSB KeyBanc Capital Mkts Underweight » Hold
Home Prop of NY HME KeyBanc Capital Mkts Hold » Buy
Watsco WSO BB&T Capital Mkts Hold » Buy
Buckeye Partners BPL SMH Capital Sell » Neutral
Applied Signal APSG BB&T Capital Mkts Underweight » Hold
Verint Systems VRNT Lehman Brothers Equal-weight » Overweight
American Medical AMMD Piper Jaffray Neutral » Buy
Corel CREL Piper Jaffray Neutral » Buy
GSI Commerce GSIC Piper Jaffray Neutral » Buy
Take-Two TTWO Citigroup Hold » Buy
NYMEX NMX Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Amdocs DOX Cantor Fitzgerald Hold » Buy
Celera Genomics CRA JMP Securities Mkt Perform » Mkt Outperform
Blue Nile NILE Citigroup Hold » Buy
Agrium AGU CIBC Wrld Mkts Sector Perform » Sector Outperform
Maxim Integrated MXIM Citigroup Hold » Buy
Plantronics PLT Robert W. Baird Neutral » Outperform
DOWNGRADES
Kingsway Fin KFS Ferris Baker Watts Neutral » Sell
Force Protection FRPT Dougherty & Company Buy » Neutral
United Dominion UDR KeyBanc Capital Mkts Buy » Hold
SL Green Rlty SLG KeyBanc Capital Mkts Buy » Hold
Post Properties PPS KeyBanc Capital Mkts Hold » Underweight
First Potomac Realty FPO KeyBanc Capital Mkts Buy » Hold
Mack-Cali Realty CLI KeyBanc Capital Mkts Buy » Hold
AvalonBay AVB KeyBanc Capital Mkts Hold » Underweight
Diebold DBD Wedbush Morgan Buy » Hold
Darden Restaurants DRI Banc of America Sec Buy » Neutral
Tribune TRB Deutsche Securities Buy » Hold
Tecumseh Prods TECUA Robert W. Baird Outperform » Neutral
Golden Telecom GLDN JP Morgan Overweight » Neutral
BP BP JP Morgan Overweight » Neutral
Grant Prideco GRP Banc of America Sec Buy » Neutral
Exelon EXC Jefferies & Co Buy » Hold
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Thursday’s Picks
Jeff Macke likes Disney (DIS). Open $32.26
Guy Adami prefers Sallie Mae (SLM). Open $22.89
Tim Seymour recommends Cameco (CCJ). Open $36.70
Pete Najarian says Morgan Stanley (MS) is a buy. Open $50.08
Wednesday’s Picks:
Jeff Macke recommends Best Buy (BBY).Open $51.62 Close $51.20 LOSS
Guy Adami likes Oracle (ORCL).Open $21.25 Close $20.76 LOSS
Pete Najarian prefers Cypress (CY). Open $34.83 Close $35.61 GAIN
Results since 6/21/2007:
Guy Adami= 56-45 = 59%
John Najarian= 13-4 = 76%
Jeff Macke= 58-40 = 62%
Pete Najarian= 46-40 = 54%
Tim Seymore= 6-7 = 57%
Karen Finerman= 37-30 = 55%
Stacey Briere-Gilbert= 3-0 = 100
Ned Riley= 1-0 = 100%
Carter Worth= 0-1 = 0%
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SBUX Starbucks Corp 20.04
SAVB The Savannah Bancorp Inc 19.25
S Sprint Nextel Corporation 13.50
RL Polo Ralph Lauren Corp 63.12
M Macy’s, Inc. 26.67
LCI Lannett Company Inc 3.27
KSS Kohl’s Corporation 45.70
IHP IHOP Corp 38.22
IHG Intercontinental Htls … 17.54
DD E.I. du Pont de Nemou … 42.69
DBD Diebold, Incorporated 30.82
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I become a bigger and bigger fan of Whitney every time I hear or read his thoughts. Here he discusses housing inventory.
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Here are the notable events forthcoming for Sherwin Williams (SHW) and NL Industries (NL)
– Rhode Island Supreme Court schedule finally released
– Responses the RI “lead free” abatement plan filed.
Short list? Sure is….
Essentially that is what lead paint litigation has been reduced to. When you throw into the mix the recent RI Supreme Court lead paint related ruling, one has to think that these dates are now reduced to the day “this stuff is finally behind us” not “hopefully we prevail”.
It what has become a colossal waste of time, the lead paint litigation saga is virtually over. The true irony here? The only company that will actually contribute to any abatement will be DuPont (DD), who settled with RI to avoid what at the time was thought to be a more costly legal outcome. Now, before we feel sorry for DuPont, we need to remember that both they and RI AG Patrick Lynch did their best to assure this money never “went to the children” as it was donated to Boston Hospitals and a Washington DC DuPont controlled charity.
One can only assume recent public filing in court by the defendants lead to the recent “release” of funds to the state.
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Blogystyle, Best Deals, Raising emotionally healthy kids, Bosses
– What do Jessica Simpson and investing have in common?
– What was the best deal of 2007?
– Parents, check this out
– Dumb bosses
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Airlines are making a move to fill pilot ranks that to be honest, really do not make me want to run out and jump into a plane. As a matter of fact, they make me want to avoid them.
Faced with competition for pilots from overseas carriers and private companies, airlines including American Airlines (AMR), United (UAUA) and US Airways (LCC) have announced several measures to address the shortage.
*They are lowering the flight hour requirements for pilots from 1500 to 500, with only 50 of those hours in multi-engine planes.
*Raising the mandatory retirement age for pilots from 60 to 65.
*Partnering with flight schools to offer “accelerated” educational programs.
Now, correct me if I am wrong, but aren’t the most likely people to get into an accident in an automobile the young & inexperienced and the elderly? Is it really the best move to place those very demographics behind the wheel of a DC-10? Perhaps a better move to become more competitive when hiring would be to raise the starting salary from the $24,000 a year it sits at now? Essentially there is not really a shortage of pilots, just pilots that will work for that money when better money is available elsewhere.
When CVS (CVS) needed additional pharmacists in order to accomplish its expansion plan, they began a program that paid for schooling for applicants in return for a 5 year commitment after graduation.
Is there anything stopping airlines from enacting a similar program?
Would you feel safe if CVS lowered the standards for those dispensing your medicine?
Admittedly the younger hires will be co-pilots, not pilots out of the gate but as the airlines continue to lower the experience requirement, these folks will eventually find themselves behind the controls with potentially thousands of hours less flying time than their predecessors had.
If we had a shortage of heart surgeons, would any of us be rushing to get in line for an operation from a doctor who was allowed to graduate with a GPA below 2.0 or only required to have 1 year rather than 3 of residency? Me either.
The move to raise the retirement age alone is estimated to net 1,500 additional pilots in the first year alone. That means 1500 people who last year and this year were considered to have a skill set that the unstoppable aging process would have deteriorated to the point that it was no longer safe to have them pilot airlines.
Now, because we need more folks, we can just move the needle? I am sure the vast majority of these pilots, and let’s not forget, these folks will be pilots, not co-pilots, who will be just fine flying. But, if say 15 of them aren’t, isn’t that a huge problem?
Lowering the standard to accomplish a goal is never the best choice, more often than not the results can be tragic…
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What do Turkey, The European Union, China, Russia, Mexico, Morocco, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Egypt, Philippines, Taiwan, Bangladesh, India, Nigeria, Ghana and Peru all have in common?
The have all dramatically slashed tariffs on food in recent months. Turkey, for instance announced a reduction on wheat tarrifs from 130% to 8%, corn from 130% to 35% and scrapped the previous 100% duty for barley.
This follows moves by Morocco cutting its wheat import tariff from 130% to 2.5%, China cutting its soyabean import tariff from 35 to 1%, Russia cutting its import tariff for soya oil and rapeseed oil from 15% to 5% and Nigeria cutting its rice import tax from 100% to just 2.7%.
The cuts come as cereals and soyabean prices have risen to new highs and a warning by the US Department of Agriculture recently that insatiable demand from emerging countries is denting inventories dramatically.
As an investor, who benefits? Food processors. The top choices will be Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) with processing, distribution and trading operations in over 35 countries and privately held Cargill. As demand rises exponentially throughout the world, ADM’s distribution and trading segments are poised to reap the benefits.
The virtual elimination of tariffs will only serve to increase the demand as prices for imports of the affected products drop by half in most cases. Aside from the demand increase, the moves will also increase traffic in the goods. As these goods are moved from producers to end-user, ADM profits.
Between the recently passed energy bill and this news, ADM’s major segments are both poised for prolonged growth.
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UPGRADES
Prospect Energy PSEC
Quicksilver Resrcs KWK Canaccord Adams Hold » Buy
Ceragon CRNT Ferris Baker Watts Neutral » Buy
Ingersoll-Rand IR Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Adobe Systems ADBE Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Symantec SYMC Bear Stearns Underperform » Peer Perform
DaVita DVA Oppenheimer Neutral » Buy
Intl Paper IP Credit Suisse Neutral » Outperform
Embarq EQ JP Morgan Neutral » Overweight
Fairport Comms FRP JP Morgan Underweight » Neutral
Occidental Petro OXY Friedman Billings Underperform » Mkt Perform
Royal Gold RGLD HSBC Securities Neutral » Overweight
Equity Res EQR Lehman Brothers Equal-weight » Overweight
Cirrus Logic CRUS Jefferies & Co Hold » Buy
Atwood Oceanics ATW Banc of
Gulfmark Offshore GLF Banc of
DOWNGRADES
Adobe Systems ADBE
ACI Worldwide ACIW Janney Mntgmy Scott Buy » Neutral
Starent Networks STAR JP Morgan Overweight » Neutral
Tempur-Pedic TPX William Blair Outperform » Mkt Perform
Embraer SA ERJ Credit Suisse Outperform » Neutral
Carrier Access CACS Needham & Co Buy » Hold
Asta Funding ASFI Kaufman Bros Buy » Hold
TransTech TT KeyBanc Capital Mkts Aggressive Buy » Hold
AvalonBay AVB Robert W. Baird Outperform » Neutral
Associated Estates AEC Robert W. Baird Outperform » Neutral
Trident Microsystems TRID Roth Capital Buy » Hold
Zymogenetics ZGEN Banc of
Nestle NSRGY UBS Buy » Neutral
Lincare LNCR Oppenheimer Buy » Neutral
Windstream WIN JP Morgan Neutral » Underweight
Cousins Prop CUZ Lehman Brothers Overweight » Equal-weight
Allianz AG AZ Lehman Brothers Overweight » Equal-weight
Mack-Cali Realty CLI Lehman Brothers Equal-weight » Underweight
TransTech TT Lehman Brothers Overweight » Equal-weight
Grant Prideco GRP Citigroup Buy » Hold
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Wednesday’s Picks:
Jeff Macke recommends Best Buy (BBY).Open $51.62
Guy Adami likes Oracle (ORCL).Open $21.25
Pete Najarian prefers Cypress (CY). Open $34.83
Tuesday’s Results
Guy Adami prefers Holly Corp (HOC) as a refiner play.Open $50.20 Close $51.13 GAIN
Karen Finerman likes kidney dialysis provider DaVita (DVA). Open $55.72 Close $56.99 GAIN
Pete Najarian thinks ASML Holdings (ASML) is a short. Open $33.05 Close $32.87 GAIN
Results since 6/21/2007:
Guy Adami= 56-44 = 59%
John Najarian= 13-4 = 76%
Jeff Macke= 58-39 = 62%
Pete Najarian= 45-40 = 53%
Tim Seymore= 6-7 = 57%
Karen Finerman= 37-30 = 55%
Stacey Briere-Gilbert= 3-0 = 100
Ned Riley= 1-0 = 100%
Carter Worth= 0-1 = 0%
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Goldman Sachs (GS) had it usual fantastic quarter and appears to be the only financial institution that will walk unscathed through the credit crisis, and shares fall.
Goldman announced:
* They will repurchase over 15% of outstanding shares
* Announced CDO exposure of only $400 million
* Investment banking revenues jumped 47% from last year to $1.97 billion,
* Q4 net earnings of $3.166 billion or $7.01 per share vs $6.59 last year.
* Earned $24.73 a share on revenue of $11.407 billion, a 26% increase in 2007.
What did the market seize on today? David Viniar, its chief financial officer said “The markets are pretty dislocated. In the near term we are more cautious, not pessimistic, just cautious.”
And for that, $4.4 billion was shaved off Goldman’s market cap at one point today. Let’s not forget that Goldman trades at a scorching PE of 7 times trailing earnings. I would say the market not only has “pessimistic” baked into the price, they have “disastrous” factored in it.
It is ok, Goldman at or under $200 is a screaming buy and those of us who can see through the fear are getting this institution at dollar store prices. This is how negative the markets are on anything financial, even good news is sold.
As earnings news come out from the other financials over the next few weeks like Merrill (MER) and Lehman (LEH), people will actually realize just how good this quarter was.
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