Morning News: November 7, 2014
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on November 7th, 2014 at 6:52 am

Draghi Stoking Investor Bets on Stimulus

Russian Rouble Fall Stokes Currency Crisis Worries

In Ukraine Crisis, U.S. Businesses Face Tit-for-Tat Response to Sanctions

Australia Leads Asian Shares Higher

Japan Nuclear Reactors Approved For Restart

Mexico Suddenly Canceled Its Multi-Billion-Dollar Deal For A Bullet Train

Fannie Mae Official Details Plans on Low-Down-Payment Mortgages

Most Weekly Money Flow to Tech Since ’13 Signaling Growth

Lessons From Home Depot: Expect Hackers To Crack More Retailers This Holiday Season

Arcelor Counting on U.S. Demand as Europe, China Weaken

Bank of America Taking $400 Million Litigation Charge

Coke Takes Cue From Narendra Modi’s Suggestion; May Launch Fizzy Fruit Drink By Next Summer

Disney Profit Meets Estimates With Help From ‘Guardians’ Film

Credit Writedowns: China, Europe, and Optimal Currency Zones

Cullen Roche: Fake Growth, Fake Money, Fake Jobs, Fake Financial Stability, Fake Inflation Numbers??????

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DirecTV Earns $1.33 per Share
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on November 6th, 2014 at 11:13 am

DirecTV ($DTV) just reported Q3 earnings of $1.33 per share which was three cents better than expectations.

The provider of satellite TV services posted revenue of $8.37 billion in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Analysts expected $8.31 billion, according to Zacks.

DirecTV shares have risen 27 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has risen 9.5 percent. The stock has risen 38 percent in the last 12 months.

Look at how closely DTV has tracked AT&T over the last several weeks.

Morning News: November 6, 2014
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on November 6th, 2014 at 6:33 am

Draghi Tests Limits of Power as ECB Enters 2014 Endgame

German Factory Orders Rise Less Than Forecast as Growth Stalls

Credit Agricole Slams Government Policy as Weak France Drags on Q3 Banking Results

Companies Sign Secret Tax Deals With Luxembourg

John Sfakianakis on Falling Oil Prices’ Impact on the Middle East

Time Warner Profit Beats Third-Quarter Estimates

America’s Big Car Comeback and the Twilight of Pure Driving

Tesla Pledges to Boost Output as Loss Widens

Whole Foods Shares Are Soaring

Siemens Says Profits Jump 25% in Year Ended September

Chinese PC Maker Lenovo Reports 19% Rise in Profits

AstraZeneca Lifts Sales Forecast as Nexium Keeps on Giving

Qualcomm Says FTC Is Investigating It

Roger Nusbaum: Will Robo Advisors Kill The Financial Services Industry?

Cullen Roche: Thoughts on the Inherent “Unfairness” of Capitalism

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Ireland Isn’t in the UK
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on November 5th, 2014 at 5:40 pm

For the record, the Republic of Ireland is not part of the UK.

Qualcomm Misses Earnings
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on November 5th, 2014 at 4:28 pm

Qualcomm ($QCOM) just reported fiscal Q4 earnings of $1.26 per share. That’s five cents below estimates. Revenue rose 3% to $6.69 billion which was below consensus estimates of $7.016 billion. For the year, Qualcomm earned $5.27 per share which was an increase of 17% from last year.

For this quarter (ending in December), Qualcomm sees EPS ranging between $1.18 and $1.30. Wall Street had been expecting $1.43 per share. They expect sales to be between $6.6 billion and $7.2 billion.

For this current fiscal year, Qualcomm expects earnings between $5.05 and $5.35 per share, and revenue between $26.8 billion and $28.8 billion.

Q3 Earnings Season Calendar
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on November 5th, 2014 at 10:08 am

We’re now in third quarter earnings season. Sixteen of our 20 Buy List stocks have quarters that ended in September. Here’s a list of each stock’s projected earnings date along with Wall Street’s current estimates and the earnings results. Please note that some of these dates may change.

Cognizant Tech Earns 66 Cents per Share
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on November 5th, 2014 at 8:45 am

Good earnings news this morning from Cognizant Technology Solutions ($CTSH). The company earned 66 cents per share which was seven cents more than expectations. Quarterly revenues rose 11.9% to $2.58 billion.

For Q4, Cognizant sees earnings of at least 63 cents per share. Wall Street had only been expecting 59 cents per share. That would bring full-year earnings to at least $2.57 per share. CTSH also said they expect revenues to range between $2.61 and $2.64 billion. That was above the Street’s forecast of $2.59 billion. When CTSH was hit three months ago, it was due to concerns about their top-line growth.

“Revenue growth was slightly ahead of our revised forecast and, as expected, non-GAAP operating margins were within our target range of 19-20% as we absorbed the impact of annual wage increases during Q3,” said Karen McLoughlin, Chief Financial Officer. “Our balance sheet remains strong as cash and short term investments increased during the quarter by almost $500 million to $4.6 billion. Later this quarter, we anticipate utilizing $1.7 billion of this cash, in addition to $1 billion of floating rate debt through a syndicated term loan, to fund the previously announced acquisition of TriZetto.”

The shares have been up by as much as 6% today. That’s on top of the 11% rally over the 11 days going into earnings season.

Morning News: November 5, 2014
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on November 5th, 2014 at 7:09 am

Dollar Up After U.S. Elections, Euro Weakness to Test SNB’s Floor

Euro Area Limping Toward Deflation Fuels QE Calls as ECB Meets

Russian Central Bank Moves Towards Rouble Float With Intervention Cap

WTO Impasse Due to Unreasonable Posturing By Rich Nations: FM Jaitley

Republicans Gain From Voter Dissatisfaction Over Economy

Invesco Fund Treads Risky Path as Major Investor in Distressed Corporate Debt

Eldorado Gold Said to Weigh $1.5 Billion Sale of China Mines

Alibaba’s Revenue Up 54% in First Quarter as Publicly Traded Company

Sysco Reports First Quarter Diluted EPS of $0.47

ING Group Moves Up Final Payment of Bailout Money to Dutch Government

Toyota Raises Full-Year Profit Forecast

CVS Revenue Rises on Strength at Pharmacy

Hannover Re ‘Confident’ of Meeting Full-Year Target

Cullen Roche: What if the Fed Isn’t the Wizard Behind the Economic Curtain?

Joshua Brown: Corporate America Goes to the Polls

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Morning News: November 4, 2014
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on November 4th, 2014 at 6:46 am

ECB’s Coeure Presses Euro Zone Governments to Reform Economies

EU Cuts Growth Outlook as Inflation Seen Below ECB Forecast

Santander Profit Rises

Korean Dividend Worries Spur $2 Billion Foreign Outflows

Macau Oct Gaming Revenues Set For Worst Drop on Record

U.S. Deficit Decline to 2.8% of GDP Is Unprecedented Turn

Oil Just Crashed To A 3-Year Low

J.P. Morgan Being Probed by Justice Department

Dish Posts Revenue Below Estimates As It Loses Pay-TV Users

Sprint to Cut 2,000 Jobs as Mobile Customers Keep Leaving

Sysco Shares Fall As Merger Hits a Snag

SUV Sales Help BMW Earnings

Hollywood Works to Maintain Its World Dominance

Jeff Carter: Big Business Embraces The Crowd

Credit Writedowns: Home Prices Since 1870: No Price Like Home

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The Falling Yen
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on November 4th, 2014 at 12:11 am

Nothing profound to say here, just stunned by the dramatic fall of the yen versus the dollar.