• Biomet’s Earnings
    Posted by on June 28th, 2006 at 9:33 am

    Biomet (BMET) reported earnings of 41 cents a share for their fourth quarter. Excluding a few charges, the company earned 46 cents a share which match Wall Street’s estimates. Sales rose 7.3% to $539.9 million, which was slightly above the Street’s forecast.

    Looking ahead, Biomet said it remains “comfortable” with analysts’ sales and earnings estimates of $513 million to $530 million and 43 cents to 45 cents per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2007, and $2.15 billion to $2.22 billion and $1.85 to $1.95 per share for fiscal 2007.
    The company’s guidance does not incorporate stock-based compensation costs. On average, Wall Street is looking for first-quarter profit of 45 cents per share on sales of $524.2 million, and fiscal 2007 earnings of $1.69 per share on sales of $2.02 billion.

    Biomet’s shares have been hit for the past two days but the stock is doing well this morning.
    Seeking Alpha has the conference call.

  • The Chief Investment Strategist Derby
    Posted by on June 27th, 2006 at 2:13 pm

    Who’s the best chief investment strategist on Wall Street? I decided to compare, but instead of the normal criteria, I looked at what they’re really supposed to do–get their name in the paper.
    Number of mentions this year in the Wall Street Journal:
    Richard Bernstein, Merrill Lynch: 12
    Jeffrey Saut, Raymond James: 11
    Henry McVey, Morgan Stanley: 9
    Joe Battipaglia, Ryan Beck: 4
    Sam Stovall, Standard & Poor: 3
    Abby Joseph Cohen, Goldman Sachs: 3
    Liz Ann Sonders, Charles Schwab: 3
    Francois Trahan, Bear Stearns: 2
    Art Hogan, Jefferies: 2
    Al Goldman, AG Edwards: 0
    Michael Metz, Oppenheimer: 0

  • The Dumbest Reason for a Stock to Fall
    Posted by on June 27th, 2006 at 1:53 pm

    FactSet‘s (FDS) stock is down because the co-founder, Charles Snyder, sold 1 million shares. Note tense. He already sold the shares. If anyone is keeping track, the company has about 49 million shares outstanding. Synder’s sale represents a tiny portion of the company.
    It was only a week ago that the stock jumped on its earnings news. There’s nothing wrong with Mr. Snyder cashing in. Afterall, there are a zillion reasons to sell a stock. Myabe he wants to diversify. It’s not necesarily because management thinks that the shares going to tank. Snyder still owns over 4 million shares.
    It’s very easy to draw the wrong conclusions from insider selling.

  • Take-Two Taken Down 20%
    Posted by on June 27th, 2006 at 12:02 pm

    These are hard times for the video game stocks. Electronic Arts(ERTS) is down about 30% in the past few weeks. The company had a rotten earnings report in May.
    Today we learn that Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) has been subpeonad. According to the New York Times, the grand jury is “seeking information about a range of its business practices dating back to 2001 and the inclusion of sexually explicit material in one of its games.” The shares are down about 20%.

  • Top 20 S&P 500 Stocks This Year
    Posted by on June 27th, 2006 at 11:50 am

    Ticker Company Name Industry YTD
    ATI Allegheny Technologies Steel & Iron 81.8%
    OMX OfficeMax Wholesale, Other 65.9%
    ADM Archer Daniels Midland Food – Major Diversified 62.0%
    KMG Kerr-McGee Independent Oil & Gas 57.8%
    NUE Nucor Steel & Iron 55.6%
    CIEN Ciena Processing Systems & Products 49.2%
    GM General Motors Auto Manufacturers – Major 42.9%
    X United States Steel Metal Fabrication 37.4%
    R Ryder System Rental & Leasing Services 37.3%
    BLI Big Lots Discount, Variety Stores 35.6%
    HPC Hercules Incorporated Synthetics 34.8%
    Q Qwest Communications Telecom Services – Domestic 34.5%
    SHLD Sears Holdings Department Stores 33.2%
    WFT Weatherford International Oil & Gas Equipment & Services 32.2%
    BLS BellSouth Telecom Services – Domestic 31.0%
    CTXS Citrix Systems Internet Software & Services 30.4%
    CSX CSX Corporation Railroads 30.1%
    MOLX Molex Diversified Electronics 28.8%
    NTAP Network Appliance Data Storage Devices 28.2%
    BHI Baker Hughes Oil & Gas Equipment & Services 26.5%

  • Rosneft Goes Public…Sort Of
    Posted by on June 27th, 2006 at 11:42 am

    From the WaPo:

    On sale now, for a limited time only: shares of a company whose secretive chairman is a former KGB member who steers clear of foreigners; whose crown jewel was, in effect, expropriated from another company; and whose future hinges on the power of Russian politicians scheduled to leave office in two years.
    Despite all that, investors are lining up to get in on the deal. And some of the biggest names in international banking — J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, ABN AMRO Rothschild, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Goldman Sachs — are helping to bring it to market.
    The company is OAO Rosneft, a Russian state-owned oil and gas company with assets that have been estimated at more than $60 billion and which is chaired by Igor Sechin, deputy chief of staff to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yesterday in Moscow, the company’s president, Sergei Bogdanchikov, met with investors and released details of a draft prospectus to raise $11.6 billion in an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.
    The offering would be the fourth-biggest ever, but its significance goes far beyond mere investment decisions. The sale of Rosneft marks another step in the evolution of Russia, which has gone from Communism to a period dominated by freewheeling corporate oligarchs to an era in which Putin has overseen a reconsolidation of state power over the economy, especially the oil sector.

  • Twinkie Lasagna!
    Posted by on June 27th, 2006 at 11:32 am

    Twinkies.jpg
    I’m not sure about this:

    Twinkies — they’re not just for dessert anymore. The new “Twinkies Cookbook” has recipes for everything from a Twinkie Burrito to Twinkie Lasagna.
    Theresa Cogswell compiled about 50 recipes for the book.
    Many were submitted to Hostess, as part of Twinkies’ 75th anniversary celebration last year.
    Cogswell tells Illinois’ Daily Southtown newspaper that one of her favorites is a berry-laden Patriotic Twinkie Pie.
    It’s red, white and blue.
    Cogswell says it makes a great centerpiece for a Fourth of July picnic, which you can also eat for dessert.

    Twinkies are owned by Interstate Bakeries (IBCIQ.PK), which isn’t looking too hot lately.

  • EU Upholds Anheuser’s Right to “Bud”
    Posted by on June 26th, 2006 at 1:59 pm

    From AP:

    The Board of Appeal for the European Union’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (the what??) ruled that Anheuser-Busch can register it’s trademark “Bud” beer throughout Europe, the company announced in a news release.
    The ruling is just one piece of a massive legal fight in several European courts between Anheuser-Busch and the Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar. At issue is the famous Budweiser brand, which both companies claim an historical right to use.
    The Czech brewery was founded in 1895 in a town called “Budweiser” by the German immigrants who founded it, while Anheuser-Busch launched its own U.S. Budweiser brand in 1876.

    Do they really think Europeans will buy Budweiser? Dear lord! They’re in worse shape than I thought.

  • J&J Buys Pfizer’s Consumer Health Unit
    Posted by on June 26th, 2006 at 1:39 pm

    Losing Guidant to Boston Scientific was one of the best things that could have happened to Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). That merger had troubled written all over it. It’s usually a bad sign when the company you’re thinking of buying sues you. Yep, you want to avoid that.
    The wait was worth it. Today we learn that JNJ is buying Pfizer’s consumer health division (Listerine, Sudafed, Nicorette). This is a much better move for JNJ. The company has been sitting on a mountain of cash (nearly $6 a share).
    At the end of last year, I wondered if a good paired trade would be to go long Merck (MRK) and short Pfizer (PFE). It was (at least so far). The troubles for Pfizer are still pretty bad. They needed this deal.

  • Expeditors Splits 2-for-1
    Posted by on June 26th, 2006 at 10:36 am

    Shares of Expeditors (EXPD) split 2-for-1 this morning. For Buy List track record purposes, I’ve adjusted the cost basis to $33.755.