• Biomet’s Press Release
    Posted by on April 6th, 2006 at 3:02 pm

    Biomet (BMET) confirms that it has hired Morgan Stanley.

    Biomet, Inc. confirmed today that Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated is assisting it in exploring strategic alternatives focused on enhancing shareholder value. The Company stated that no decisions have been made and there is no assurance that this exploration will result in any specific action. Daniel P. Hann, interim President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We believe that this review is a prudent exercise and is consistent with management’s commitment to our shareholders and Team Members.”
    The Company also stated that it does not expect to disclose developments with respect to its exploration of alternatives unless required.

    Or in the event the story is leaked to CNBC.

  • Link-A-Rama
    Posted by on April 6th, 2006 at 2:49 pm

    If you haven’t had a chance, please check out my fantabulous blogroll. It features some of the interweb’s most bestest and brightest.
    Here are a few items I’ve been reading. At 10Q Detective, David Phillips has a self-help column. Jeff Matthews looks at the labor shortage in China.
    Wall Street Folly can’t wait for Overstock’s next earnings. My advice is to ignore the stock and go long tinfoil.
    Tim Iacono looks at the recently released Fed transcripts. Jay Walker has some wise words from Warren Buffett.
    Mark Mahorney looks at exchange outsourcing. I think we’re going to see more of this. At Deal Breaker, MBP writes on being an ambassador for the firm.
    Enjoy. I’ll be here when you get back.

  • The Midday Market
    Posted by on April 6th, 2006 at 12:40 pm

    It’s a down day so far as oil is looking to make a run at $68 a barrel. The 30-year Treasury has been as high as 4.98% today. The S&P 500 is currently at 1303, which is a loss of about 0.6%.
    The Buy List is holding up well mostly thanks to Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY). The stock is trading about 6% higher after the company reported strong earnings yesterday. The stock is getting a slew of upgrades today.
    Also, two economists look at why beautiful people earn more money.

  • “As Long as It’s a Commodity.”
    Posted by on April 6th, 2006 at 9:25 am

    The commodity markets are soaring again. Gold is over $600 an ounce, the highest since 1981. In London, oil made a new high. Silver is over $12 an ounce. Interestingly, the gold/silver ratio is still pretty high at 50-to-1. The Mint Act of 1792 pegged the ratio at 15.1-to-1.
    From Bloomberg this morning:

    “Commodities are the flavor of the month,” David Gornall, head of foreign exchange and bullion at Natexis Commodity Markets Ltd. in London, said in an interview today. “Gold, silver, zinc or copper, it doesn’t really matter what it is, as long as it’s a commodity.”

    From Karl Marx in 1867:

    A commodity appears at first sight an extremely obvious, trivial thing. But its analysis brings out that it is a very strange thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties.

    Heck, even Harvard is investing in timber.

  • Merck Gets Split Decision in Vioxx Trial
    Posted by on April 6th, 2006 at 9:16 am

    Yesterday, a jury awarded a man $4.5 million after finding that Vioxx contributed to his heart attack, but two plaintiffs received almost nothing. Today, the punitive phase of the trial begins.
    Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) looks to open at $41 a share. Lehman Brothers (LEH) finally announced a 2-for-1 stock split. Bonds are lower this morning, especially the long-end of the yield curve. The 30-year yield is up to 4.94%.
    In Slate, Daniel Gross looks at the stock market and presidential approving ratings: “Stocks did better when presidents were doing poorly, and they did worse when presidents were more popular.” Strange.

  • Bad Stock Tip Leads to Classroom Brawl
    Posted by on April 6th, 2006 at 8:21 am

    From Saudi Arabia:

    A bad stock tip led to a fistfight in a classroom, reported Al-Madinah recently. The fighters weren’t the students, but rather the teachers. The fight broke out when two teachers entered the classroom of another teacher to confront him on a bad stock tip that resulted in financial losses. The argument escalated into a fight. The Ministry of Education is investigating the incident and has pledged to punish the behavior. Education officials have been confronting a problem in recent months of teachers skipping class to invest in the stock market. Now, it seems, some teachers think they’re not only qualified to give stock tips, but also to engage in violent behavior when the tips turn out to be bad.

    Probably a Catholic school. I hear those places are rough.

  • Bed Bath & Beyond Earns 67 Cents a Share
    Posted by on April 5th, 2006 at 4:21 pm

    Hey Linens ‘n Things, STFU!

    Home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. on Wednesday reported a 9 percent rise in quarterly earnings, beating both its own and Wall Street’s expectations, due in part to strong sales at established stores.
    The company’s stock rose more than 5 percent in after-hours trade following the announcement.
    Net income for the fourth quarter ended February 25 rose to $197.9 million, or 67 cents per share, from $181 million, or 59 cents per share, a year ago.
    Wall Street analysts had expected the company to report earnings of between 64 cents and 67 cents per share with an average view of 65 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
    Bed Bath & Beyond in December forecast fourth-quarter earnings of 64 cents a share.
    Sales for the quarter rose 14.8 percent to $1.69 billion. Analysts had been expecting sales of $1.637 billion, according to Reuters Estimates. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key retail measure known as same-store sales, rose 6.3 percent.
    Bed Bath & Beyond shares were up $1.93, or over 5 percent, at $40.25 on the Inet electronic brokerage. The stock closed at $38.32 on Nasdaq.

    Up to $40.37 after-hours.

  • Got My Mind on My Lawyer’s Money, My Money on My Lawyer’s Mind
    Posted by on April 5th, 2006 at 3:18 pm

    nice braclet.jpg
    Suge Knight files for Chapter 11.
    On the bright side, personal bankruptcy filings are at a 20-year low.

    The quarter’s filings fell 73 percent to 102,949 compared with 381,743 in the year-ago period, according to data released Tuesday by Lundquist Consulting Inc., a financial research outfit based in Burlingame, Calif.
    That means, on an annualized basis, one in every 261 households filed bankruptcy in the quarter, as opposed to one in every 73 households a year ago.

    In other bankruptcy news, Bill Ford rules it out.

    Ford Motor Co. Chairman and CEO Bill Ford said Wednesday that bankruptcy isn’t an option for the nation’s No. 2 automaker, which is struggling to return its North American division to profitability.
    Ford said the company has strong liquidity — with about $20 billion in cash — and that regions outside North America are performing well. Ford earned $2 billion last year, down 42 percent from a year earlier but still its third consecutive yearly profit.
    Nonetheless, Ford’s North American division lost $1.6 billion last year, and the automaker’s debt rating has been slashed to below investment grade. Ford also is steadily losing U.S. market share. The company now has around 18 percent of the U.S. market, down from 26 percent a decade ago.

    And finally, GM’s Wagoner: Now is not time to panic.

    When asked whether anybody had been disciplined for the new accounting problems, he said, “I’ve never been a big believer in public executions. Having said that, we have a pretty proactive woodshed.”
    However, no executives have lost their jobs, GM spokesman Jerry Dubrowski said.

  • Sorry Florida….
    Posted by on April 5th, 2006 at 3:03 pm

    Your homes are too Florida-y. Atlantic Preferred Insurance will cancel coverage for 140,000 homeowners this summer.
    I blame global warming.

  • Another Good Day
    Posted by on April 5th, 2006 at 2:12 pm

    Today is shaping up to be another good day. If the S&P 500 (^SPX) holds up, we’ll finish at our highest close since May 21, 2001. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) will close at its highest level in over five years. Of course, the index is less well less than of peak its value of six years ago. Thanks to a big small-cap rally this decade, the Wilshire 5000 Total Return Index (^DWCT) is now only about 2% from a new all-time high.
    The S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index (^MID) made a new all-time high today, and the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index and Russell 2000 (^RUT) are just short of new all-time highs.
    From our Buy List, Brown & Brown (BRO), Expeditors (EXPD) and Danaher (DHR) are all at new highs.
    Over the last 10 weeks, the yield curve has started to widen. In late January, the five-year Treasury was yielding only two basis points more than the 90-day T-Bill Today, it’s about 27 points higher.
    Two years ago, the 10-year Treasury was over 100 basis points higher than the five-year note. Today, they’re virtually tied. In fact, for a few days in February and March, the five-year yield was higher.
    The change is that the long-end of the yield curve has been rising faster than the Fed has been lifting the short end. Perhaps the economy is stronger than people think. The Cyclical Index (^CYC) has roughly doubled the S&P 500 over the last six months.