• Merger to Create World’s Largest Bankrupt Airline
    Posted by on November 21st, 2006 at 10:23 am

    From Scrappleface:

    If the U.S. Airways buyout of Delta receives regulatory approval, industry experts said it would make the resulting company the largest of the world’s bankrupt airlines and a strong candidate for a future government bailout.
    U.S. Airways yesterday announced it would offer Delta’s creditors $8 billion in stock, cereal boxtops and S&H Green Stamps and would name the merged firm Delta Airlines, which the source called, “one of the most recognizable brand names in the non-profit airline industry.”
    “The synergies are incredible,” said an unnamed spokesman for U.S. Airways, “There’s a lot of overlap in areas of incompetence, customer dissatisfaction, mismanagement and hubris. Thanks to economies of scale, together we can achieve new levels of mediocrity.”
    The source assured investors that the new Delta Airlines stock would make “an excellent tax write off, and a great way to add balance to your portfolio of growth stocks.”

  • Medtronic Earned 59 Cents a Share
    Posted by on November 20th, 2006 at 4:23 pm

    Medtronic (MDT) just reported earnings of 59 cents a share, three cents more than Wall Street was expecting. Revenues also came in higher than expectations.

  • Today’s News
    Posted by on November 20th, 2006 at 2:53 pm

    Here’s a few quick items of note today.
    Lowe’s (LOW) cut its full-year forecast. If you thought that would hurt the stock, you’d be wrong. Not only is Lowe’s rallying, but so is Home Depot (HD). Home Depot also rallied after its poor earnings report, so for the time being, bad news is good news for the home improvement sector.
    The big news today is that Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX) is going to buy Phelps Dodge (PD) for $25.9 billion in cash and stock. Phelps Dodge is in the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index (^CYC) so that index has having a huge day. Will anyone stop Big Copper? Incidentally, The Wall Street Journal recently hosted a debate on ditching the penny.
    On our Buy List, Harley-Davidson (HOG) made another new high today. The stock is up over 43% for the year. Medtronic‘s (MDT) earnings are due out after the close. Lastly, the Economist recently had a good story on the growth of the hedge fund industry.

  • Toothpaste for Dinner
    Posted by on November 18th, 2006 at 6:00 am

    toothpaste for dinner
    toothpastefordinner.com

  • What’s Been Pushing Stocks Higher
    Posted by on November 17th, 2006 at 11:54 am

    Make no mistake, this rally is for real. The reason I feel comfortable saying that is that stocks have been marching higher right along side bonds. As long as those two stay together, the bull can keep charging. The time to get nervous is when you see stocks and bonds part company.
    Here’s a chart of the S&P 500 and my bond market proxy, the BTTRX mutual fund:
    image293.png
    The long-end of the yield curve has dropped about 60 basis points in the last five months.

  • The Milton Friedman Choir
    Posted by on November 17th, 2006 at 11:39 am

    Enjoy.

  • Johnson & Johnson
    Posted by on November 17th, 2006 at 10:22 am

    Tempting. Very tempting.
    Check out the plunging P/E ratio.
    JNJ.gif

  • CNBC Is a No-Fly Zone for WSJ Reporters
    Posted by on November 16th, 2006 at 3:45 pm

    In a brave defense of symbolism, reporters at the Wall Street Journal have stopped making unpaid appearances on CNBC. They’re doing this to protest the Journal‘s position in its contract talks.
    Fight the power, fellas!
    According to the AP:

    Browning, who has worked at the paper for 27 years, said the company told union negotiators that they were unwilling to discuss any of the proposals made by the union.
    “To go into a meeting and be told there’s not a single proposal they’re willing to discuss is a pretty nasty way to start negotiations,” Browning said.
    In addition to suspending unpaid appearances on CNBC by Journal reporters, Browning also said union members would no longer do podcasts or Webcast interviews for the newspaper’s Web site.

    I’m not sure if this has already taken effect, or maybe it’s up to each reporter to decide. Already today, Gregory Zuckerman, Bob O’Brien, David Wessel and Vauhini Vara have been on CNBC. Perhaps they’re getting paid. Hmmm…will CNBC turn to bloggers?
    Charlie Gasparino has already stood up for the working class. He hasn’t updated SquawkBlog in over three months. OK, that was mean.

  • Home Depot Raises Dividend
    Posted by on November 16th, 2006 at 3:17 pm

    Home Depot (HD) increases its dividend by 50%. This is the second 50% increase this year.

  • S&P 500: 1400!
    Posted by on November 16th, 2006 at 2:30 pm

    The market hit another new high today, and oil is having its biggest fall of the year.
    big.gif