Obama taps Geithner for Treasury - AZCentral.com
WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama intends to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as his Treasury secretary to confront the nation’s intense economic turmoil, senior Democratic officials stated Friday. Word of

Wal-Mart names Duke its new CEO - Arizona Daily Sun
NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, unexpectedly announced Friday that its chief executive will retire in February and be replaced by the head of its international division. The surprise change in leadership right

Investor fear remains deep despite one-day rally - MSN MoneyCentral
Citigroup Inc ( C ) Stock Quote , Chart , News , Add to Watchlist NEW YORK (AP) - Since the Nov. 4 election, investors have been abandoning stocks in a kind of slow-motion crash that experts state underlines just how anxious they’re about what’s

U.S. Stocks Fall for 3rd Week on Recession, Citigroup Concerns - Bloomberg
Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks dropped for a third week on signs of a deepening recession and growing concern about the fate of Citigroup Inc. and the nation’s automakers. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rallied from an 11-year low yesterday

Obama economic plan aims for 2.5M new jobs by 2011 - San Francisco Examiner
7 days ago: Obama urges Congress to move on economic plan President-elect Barack Obama and his adviser Valerie Jarrett decide on lunch during a stop at Manny’s Coffee Shop and Deli in Chicago, Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. WASHINGTON ( Map , News

Don’t Buy These Stocks This day - MSN MoneyCentral
American Express Co ( AXP ) Stock Quote , Chart , News , Add to Watchlist This time last year, when I ran a screen for cheap stocks, one market segment kept popping up over and over again: small banks. I found 27 trading for less than 2 times book

Citigroup could replace Pandit as CEO: NYT - New Kerala
New York, Nov 22: Vikram Pandit, the Indian-American CEO of Citigroup, could well be on his way out as the banking giant is looking at various options, including his sacking, to infuse confidence among its investors and tide over the worst-ever

Europe Stocks Dip to Five-Year Low This Week on Profit Concern - Bloomberg
Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) — European stocks had their second- worst week this year as concern deepened that a worsening economy is stifling profits. The region’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index slumped 12 percent to a five-year low. BASF SE , the world’s

Understanding cyclical stocks - Business Standard
Recently, a friend of mine asked, “How on Earth does one find stocks that have the potential to go triple (3x) or quadruple (4x) in this market?” There’s both a difficult and an simple answer to this question. Assuming that the investor is prepared to

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Google (GOOG), Dell (DELL), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Schlumberger Limited (SLB), Consolidated Edison (ED), Corning Inc (GLW), Research in Motion (RIMM), Stocks to Purchase, Stocks to Sell, Intuitive Surgical Inc (ISRG), Northrop Grumman (NOC)

The question on everybody’s mind this week was when will the declines end? Was that the so much talked about capitulation? Have the stock markets bottomed?

Well, I can’t answer that, and suffice it to say that many market analysts, fundamental and technical, are still quite gloomy. Pretty much all we have the ability to do in this time is hope for flat performance from a few select stocks, which perhaps would yield good returns once the economy starts rebounding and the bear market has finished its course.

Here are some picks and pans from the past week from BloggingStocks contributors:

Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) — Steven Halpern brought a recommendation from one of The Forbes Wireless Stock Watch advisors, Nikhil Hutheesing. In Hutheesing’s words: “In the long run, smart investments this day will lead to profits down the road. One of those companies, that I now think looks attractive, is the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry.” Not only is RIMM’s corporate business strong, it is also working on getting its phones to consumers. In addition, it has lots of cash and tiny to no long-term debt and great prospects, what the advisor is looking for in addition to value and fundamentals in this environment.

Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) is an auto parts supplier. Jamie Dlugosch bets on a bailout for the auto industry here. Today, Lear has a $110 million market capitalization, down from its peak within the last 52 weeks of $2.6 billion. If the bailout finally happens, owners of LEA could benefit greatly.

Continue reading Stock picks and pans for troubled times: RIMM, ED, ISRG, GLW, LEA, SLB, GOOG …

Stock picks and pans for troubled times: RIMM, ED, ISRG, GLW, LEA, SLB, GOOG … originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Good news, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), AT and T (T)

With Yahoo, Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) stock in the dumper, the CEO spot looking for a newcomer and musings about the future of the company underway, perhaps there’s a small bright light for the internet pioneer. Wireless provider T-Mobile will use Yahoo!’s mobile search as the default on all its phones’ mobile web browsers.

While that may not be the biggest victory one can think of, it does help. Mobile search and web browsing has been increasing in usage (though still small), and even though T-Mobile USA is only the nation’s fourth-largest mobile provider, just the fact that Yahoo!’s services will keep the largest wireless providers from using competitive mobile search products is a blessing for Yahoo!

Making money from mobile web search is another matter. Even though Yahoo! and T-Mobile said they’ll share revenue from the new arrangement, the question is this: are any mobile search companies and wireless providers making any significant revenue from mobile search partnering? At this point in time, it’s hard to see that just based on skimpy usage. While it might not be that way in the future. T-Mobile International, which replaced Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) mobile search with Yahoo!’s solution earlier in 2008 and Yahoo! also has its fingers in mobile search with the largest wireless provider in the U.S., AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T). Perhaps Yahoo!’s rebirth will be around mobile technology after all. It’s just a question of when.

Yahoo! gets boost from wireless provider T-Mobile originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read

Share This

Share This

Wall Street struggles to climb back - International Herald Tribune
NEW YORK : After two days of panicked selling brought Wall Street to its worst point in more than a decade, markets fought to keep from sinking any lower on Friday. Stock markets opened up sharply in New York but slipped in morning trading as

Stocks waver after steep two-day sell-off - MSNBC
NEW YORK - Wall Street moved in and out of positive territory Friday, with investors taking a breather from the heavy selling of recent days. Energy, utility and technology stocks showed some advances, but bank stocks declined sharply. Energy names

Wall Street Journal Invades News York Times’ Ad Turf (Update1) - Bloomberg
Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) — The Wall Street Journal is invading the New York Times’ advertising turf as competition intensifies in a souring U.S. economy. Saks Inc., a Times advertiser since 1924, recently selected to promote a new Chanel boutique and made

The Wall Street Journal Eats The Times’ Advertising Lunch - Wired
As if dealing with crumbling revenues, stalled cash flow and slashed dividends wasn’t enough, The New York Times is now seeing a chunk of its print advertising stolen away by The Wall Street Journal . Milton Pedrazza, chief executive officer of

Wall Street and the Rise of Obama - Canada Free Press
Joe Biden made headlines by talking about a “generated crisis” for President Obama. But is the current financial meltdown another “generated crisis?” Why did this crisis suddenly occur only six weeks before the election? Is it just a

Capital’s Inaction Rattles Wall Street - AOL
(Nov. 21) - Wall Street isn’t feeling much love from Washington these days. With the lame-duck Congress and the Bush administration unable to agree on any action to boost the economy or ease the financial crisis, the markets have nosedived. The Dow

NYMEX-Crude up midday as Wall St bounces, eyes OPEC - Reuters
NEW YORK, Nov 21 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures were above unchanged at midday on Friday, recovering amid higher U.S. stock values and signs OPEC will take more action to bolster prices. Crude fell to 3-1/2-year lows on Thursday. Heating oil futures

Wall Street’s having a better day: Dow, S&P and Nasdaq rally in - New York Daily News
After being beaten up for two straight days, a punch drunk Wall Street tried to find its feet Friday as it opened with a modest gain. In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 25.56 - a minute 0.34% - to 7,577.85.  Broader stock

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Bargain stocks, Stocks to Buy

In the early part of this decade, I was the president and CEO of a very successful asset management firm. As one of the few firms focused on value investing, we’d a field day finding stocks to purchase in the collapse of the dot com boom.

This day, we face a collapse of a different sort, and it is leaving a landscape littered with value.

One of my former analysts stated to me the other day that an investor could do very well buying 100 cheap, blue chip quality stocks that can be expected to do well as the economy bottoms and ultimately recovers.

He’s right. The large number of deals allows for a great degree of selectivity. A value investor today can buy the ideal of the best in a diversified portfolio that will mitigate risk. It does not eliminate risk, but the strategy seems quite rational to me.

One of the best-of-the-best names that I think should be a core holding in any portfolio is Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). This technology behemoth dominates the search space and is expanding its reach to World wide web navigation and software. It is taking the fight directly to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and it appears to be making headway. MSFT has been trying desperately to catch up with moves, including the failed takeover attempt of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO).

On Tuesday, MSFT seemed to indicate that it was no longer interested in buying YHOO. That’s a major mistake that greatly benefits GOOG. A deal in search only would be a complete and utter mess. MSFT had been willing to pay $33 per share for the entire company a few short months ago. Now it’s not interested. Such a statement shows hubris and ego at Microsoft. MSFT should be focusing on how to compete with GOOG, and while the attention is on search at the moment, the larger issue is navigation and software. That’s why buying all of Yahoo makes the most sense to me — buying search does not guarantee success. The managerial distraction is allowing GOOG to operate in the shadows, slowly but surely building more power.

Continue reading Google (GOOG) is a steal at these prices

Google (GOOG) is a steal at these prices originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), AT and T (T)

The conventional wisdom is that the next field where the search engine wars will be waged is mobile devices. The theory behind that’s that PC users have already decided what search company they want to use. In about 70% of the cases in the US, that’s Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).

With the personal market pretty much gone, if Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) wants to pick up any market share from Google, it has to aim to make deals with handset companies and cellular service providers. It is going down that path, but the success of the move is apt to be modest.

According to Reuters, “Yahoo Inc announced an expansion of its mobile Web portals to T-mobile, so its smart phone users who get data will have Yahoo search by default.” Yahoo! also has a deal with AT&T (NYSE:T). The partnerships give the carriers a piece of the search advertising from the mobile service.

Unfortunately, the new deal with T-Mobile will probably not work well. Being the default search engine does not mean much. Almost each person who has a cellphone knows how to set the mobile browser to use Google. In most cases, PCs come with a default browser, and if it is not Google a lot of consumers simply change the setting.

Google does not do well on the PC because it is set up as the first option by the manufacturer. It does well because it is the most effective search engine. People getting T-Mobile phones already know that.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

Yahoo! struggles to grow mobile business originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read

Share This

Share This

S&P downgrades Ambac unit on mortgage debt risks - CNBC
NEW YORK - Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services on Wednesday cut its financial strength rating for the bond insurance unit of Ambac Financial Group Inc., and also cut a pair of the holding company’s debt ratings. Ambac’s recently battered shares lost

Large Three automakers beg Congress for $25 billion - Dubuque Telegraph Herald
WASHINGTON (AP) — Detroit’s Large Three automakers pleaded with a reluctant Congress Tuesday for a $25 billion lifeline to save the once-proud titans of U.S. industry, pointedly warning of a national economic catastrophe should they collapse. Millions

On the internet Money: Finding top dividend-paying stocks - MSN MoneyCentral
Bank of America Corp ( BAC ) Stock Quote , Chart , News , Add to Watchlist BOSTON (AP) - Dividend-paying stocks have never been considered sexy. But the prospect of owning a stock that reliably makes regular payouts holds a certain allure when most

MARKETS-AUSTRALIA-STOCKS (UPDATE 1) - ninemsn
SYDNEY, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 4.1 percent on Thursday, dragged down by banks and miners, on growing worries of about a prolonged global recession. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO> was down 144.4 points to 3,355.2 by 2310 GMT

Jerry Yang reflects on Microhoo deal - ZDNet
At the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, John Battelle of Federated Media Publishing questions Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang about Microsoft’s bid to purchase Yahoo for $33 dollars a share earlier in 2008. Yang states the companies weren’t far from agreeing on terms

STOCKS NEWS ASIA-Shares to suffer on Wall St dive - CNBC
WELLINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Asian shares are set to plunge on Thursday after U.S. stocks hit a five-and-a-half year low, as investors now expect a lengthy recession to grip the globe. Sentiment in the market was dire, compounded by U.S. automakers

Thomson Financial News - Forbes
WELLINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Asian shares are set to plunge on Thursday after U.S. stocks hit a five-and-a-half year low, as investors now anticipate a lengthy recession to grip the globe. Sentiment in the market was dire, compounded by U.S. automakers

Stocks Turn Lower on Housing News - MSN MoneyCentral
U.S. stocks struggled for direction Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program [TARP] before Congress. Traders eyed a record low reading on the National Assn. of

Dow drops 427 points; closes below 8,000 - Crain’s Chicago Business
(AP) — Wall Street sank Wednesday, as investors, already nervous about the fate of the nation’s top automakers, scoured more discouraging economic data. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 427.47 points, or 5 percent, to shut at 7,997.28

Oil drops below $54 as demand from Jan.-Oct. fell 5% vs. year ago - USA Today
Oil prices over 6 months. HOUSTON (Reuters) — Oil slipped below $54 a barrel Wednesday as U.S. inventories rose and demand weakened due to the global economic slowdown. Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 77 cents to settle at $53.62 a

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Google (GOOG), Marketing and advertising, Procter and Gamble (PG)

Maybe it is one of the reasons that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) are among the best managed companies in America. They will go to nearly any legitimate lengths to improve their knowledge of businesses that’ll help them expand and prosper.

P&G would like to know more about how to sell its scores of products on the web. Google wants to know more about Television advertising. The search company has been trying to break into the television commercial brokerage business for over a year, with little success.

According to The Wall Street Journal, “So far, about two-dozen staffers from the two companies have spent weeks dipping into each others staff training programs and sitting in on meetings where business plans get hammered out.” That should worry other media that make money from P&G’s $8 billion plus annual marketing budget. Google may not be sending people to learn about TV; it may simply trying to sell its own product.

While P&G may learn something about how to use search ads to get more people into stores, Google stands to pick up a decent piece of the packaged goods company’s product sales budget. Magazine publishers, Television executives, and radio managements are not being brought in for similar gatherings. They don’t have such an intimate platform for making their cases.

Google has always been remarkably clever. Now it is hurting the competition by climbing into the customer’s tent.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

To gain marketing knowledge P&G and Google swap staff originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Earnings reports, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Citigroup Inc. (C), Boeing Co (BA), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Amer Intl Group (AIG), News Corp’B’ (NWS), Trina Solar ADS (TSL)

General Motors (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F) and Chrysler executive will return to Congress on Wednesday. After facing less than a receptive Senate Tuesday, they’ll appear before a House committee today to plead for a “bridge loan” to give them a massive infusion of cash they need to stay afloat in their race against the clock. GM’s CEO Wagoner “warned that the failure of the U.S. auto industry could lead to a loss of 3 million jobs within the first year and ripple throughout communities around the country,” saying it would be a “catastrophic collapse.” GM shares traded 2.9% lower and Ford’s 2.4% lower in premarket action (8:04 am). GM shares have been plunging over 15% by midday trading and Ford’s by nearly 25% as Senate lowers bailout expectations, seeking to compromise.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is delaying jet deliveries by as much as 10 weeks as it attempts to recover from a strike by its machinists, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. BA shares were down 2.6%, with the market, by midday trading.

Toyota (NYSE: TM) — The troubles in the auto industry don’t affect just American carmakers.Toyota stated Wednesday it will reduce production in the U.S. to cope with slowing sales there. It will stop production at all its plants in the U.S. and Canada for two extra days next month, and cut about half of 500 temporary workers at a plant in Georgetown, Kentucky by March. It will also reduce production of two models. TM shares were down 4% by midday trading.

Continue reading Stocks in the news: GM, BA, TM, LDK, KLAC, FNM, C, AIG, YHOO … (update)

Stocks in the news: GM, BA, TM, LDK, KLAC, FNM, C, AIG, YHOO … (update) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Earnings reports, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Citigroup Inc. (C), Boeing Co (BA), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Amer Intl Group (AIG), News Corp’B’ (NWS), Trina Solar ADS (TSL)

General Motors (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F) and Chrysler executive will return to Congress on Wednesday. After facing less than a receptive Senate Tuesday, they will appear before a House committee this day to plead for a “bridge loan” to give them a big infusion of cash they need to stay afloat in their race against the clock. GM’s CEO Wagoner “warned that the failure of the U.S. auto industry could lead to a loss of 3 million jobs within the first year and ripple throughout communities around the country,” saying it would be a “catastrophic collapse.” GM shares traded 2.9% lower and Ford’s 2.4% lower in premarket action (8:04 am).

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is delaying jet deliveries by as much as 10 weeks as it attempts to recover from a strike by its machinists, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Toyota (NYSE: TM) — The troubles in the auto industry don’t affect just American carmakers.Toyota stated Wednesday it will reduce production in the U.S. to cope with slowing sales there. It will stop production at all its plants in the U.S. and Canada for two extra days next month, and cut about half of 500 temporary workers at a plant in Georgetown, Kentucky by March. It will also reduce production of two models.

Continue reading Stocks in the news: GM, BA, TM, LDK, KLAC, FNM, C, AIG, YHOO …

Stocks in the news: GM, BA, TM, LDK, KLAC, FNM, C, AIG, YHOO … originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Share This

Share This