Stocks & Markets

February 13, 2009

Stock Screen: Oil and Gas Transport Plays

Quick: name an industry group where the average dividend yield is hovering around 11%. If you guessed utilities, real estate investment trusts (REITS), or banks, ...

February 13, 2009

S&P Picks and Pans: Wells Fargo, Cognizant, PepsiCo, GM, Wyndham, Barnes &

S&P MAINTAINS HOLD OPINION ON SHARES OF WELLS FARGO (WFC; 15.68): WFC says that as a result of credit events after its January 28 earnings announcement, it will record...

February 13, 2009

Analyst Actions: Texas Instruments, RIM, Mastercard, Visa

UBS FINANCIAL UPGRADES TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TO BUY FROM NEUTRAL UBS Financial analyst Uche Orji says his sum of parts (SOP) analysis for Texas Instruments (TXN) points to...

February 13, 2009

Stocks Finish Lower

U.S. stocks closed lower Friday in moderate trading ahead of the extended holiday weekend. Weakness in financial issues gradually spread into the broader market as the...

February 13, 2009

Movers: Netgear, Cognizant, Wyndham, PepsiCo

Netgear (NTGR) posts $0.08 fourth quarter non-GAAP loss per share, vs. $0.41 EPS a year ago, on 19% revenue decline, narrowed gross and operating margins. Sees first ...

February 12, 2009

Ways to Profit from the U.S. Savings Surge

A growing sense of insecurity about jobs, future income, household debt, and falling home values is driving American consumers back to an activity that's rarely been ...

February 12, 2009

Analyst Actions: NYSE Euronext, NetApp, Gildan Activewear

CITIGROUP DOWNGRADES NYSE EURONEXT TO HOLD FROM BUY Citigroup analyst Donald Fandetti says he is downgrading NYSE Euronext (NYX) after its investor day due to: 1) lack...

February 12, 2009

S&P Picks and Pans: Sirius XM Radio, Viacom, NetApp, Alcoa, Activision Blizzard

S&P MAINTAINS HOLD OPINION ON SHARES OF SIRIUS XM RADIO (SIRI; .07): Unconfirmed WSJ report says SIRI seeks funds from Liberty (LINTA) to rebuff Echostar (SATS) bid. ...

February 12, 2009

Movers: Viacom, Coca-Cola, NetApp, Terex, Gildan

Viacom (VIA.B) posts $0.76, vs. $0.84 a year ago, fourth quarter adjusted EPS from continuing operations on flat revenue. Says adjusted results exclude the impact of ...

February 12, 2009

Stocks Finish Mixed

U.S. stocks finished mixed Thursday after news reports indicated that the U.S. government is working on a program to subsidize some mortgage payments for troubled ...

February 11, 2009

A Changed World for Financial Advisers

Financial advisers are looking themselves in the mirror these days, and they don't always like what they see. A year like 2008 was enough to shake the confidence of ...

February 11, 2009

Should You Manage Your Own Portfolio?

If retail investors were disgruntled about the performance of financial advisers in the past few years, those feelings have likely been exacerbated by the losses ...

February 11, 2009

Analyst Actions: RIM, XL Capital

MORGAN KEEGAN KEEPS OUTPERFORM ON RESEARCH IN MOTION Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt notes Research In Motion Limited (RIMM) sees fourth quarter revenues at the ...

February 11, 2009

S&P Picks and Pans: RIM, Morgan Stanley, Great Plains Energy, Petsmart, ...

S&P MAINTAINS HOLD OPINION ON SHARES OF RESEARCH IN MOTION (RIMM; 50.08): RIMM provided updated February-quarter guidance this morning that includes net subscriber ...

February 11, 2009

Finding an Adviser You Can Trust

More investors change financial advisers in down markets than in rising markets. If you're planning a change, what should you consider? BusinessWeek's personal finance...

February 11, 2009

Movers: RIM, Sirius XM Radio, Nvidia, Great Plains Energy

Research In Motion Limited (RIMM) expects fourth quarter EPS and gross margin to be at the low end of previously guided ranges, revenue to be at or near mid-point of ...

February 10, 2009

Analyst Actions: Kroger, Safeway, Forward Air, Veeco Instruments

CITIGROUP DOWNGRADES KROGER, SAFEWAY Citigroup analyst Deborah Weinswig says she is downgrading Kroger (KR) to hold from buy and cuts her $32 price target to $23. She ...

February 10, 2009

S&P Picks and Pans: Forward Air, Verigy, Qwest, DirecTV

S&P REITERATES STRONG SELL OPINION ON SHARES OF FORWARD AIR (FWRD; 20.38): FWRD posts fourth quarter EPS of $0.29, vs. $0.43, in line with reduced guidance and our ...

February 10, 2009

Movers: Bank of America, GM, Intel, Dow Chemical

Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC) and other banks traded significantly lower, as investors apparently dissatisfied with Treasury Secretary ...

February 10, 2009

Stocks: A Bronx Cheer for Geithner

Timothy Geithner unveiled the government's revised financial-sector rescue plan on Tuesday, and investors turned an emphatic thumbs down on the eagerly awaited ...

February 9, 2009

The Stock Market Waits on Washington

While the Standard & Poor's 500 and other equity indexes have managed to put in brief advances in recent weeks, the "500" veered uncomfortably close to the 800 level ...

February 9, 2009

S&P Picks and Pans: GM, Whirlpool, AGCO, Hasbro, Insight Enterprises

S&P REITERATES SELL OPINION ON SHARES OF GENERAL MOTORS (GM; 2.84): Based on an unconfirmed WSJ report, GM may take back assets from its key supplier Delphi. Part of ...

February 9, 2009

Analyst Actions: Biogen Idec, Hibbett Sports

BARCLAYS DOWNGRADES BIOGEN IDEC TO UNDERWEIGHT FROM EQUAL-WEIGHT Barclays analyst Jill Birchenough says Biogen Idec's (BIIB) $0.93 non-GAAP fourth quarter EPS is in ...

February 9, 2009

Movers: Whirlpool, NYSE, GM, McDonald's, Viropharma

Whirlpool (WHR) posts $0.60, vs. $2.38 a year ago, fourth quarter EPS on 19% sales decline. Excluding forex, fourth quarter sales declined about 13%. It cites sharply ...

February 8, 2009

The Potential for Absolute Returns in an Uncertain World

After declining sharply in 2008, global equities got off to a rough start in 2009 — the S&P 500 index declined 6.4%, and the MSCI EAFE index fell 7.9% year-to-date ...