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Posted
Mar 12 2008, 12:17 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
I've been spending way too much time on Hulu, the new video joint venture from News Corp. and General Electric's NBC Universal that opened to the public today. Now before you gag on word of yet another video site, I dare you to visit Hulu and not get sucked in. It's that easy, and it has set the standard for watching television shows and movies online. Hulu has full-length streaming episodes from around 250 television series, including "Arrested Development" and "Prison Break." So far, it has 100 films. That's not enough content to make it the be all and end all of video sites, but it's a good start. What makes Hulu stand out in a crowded field is its design and ease of use. No wonder the site has been getting so many raves. Shares of News Corp. and General Electric rose slightly more than a percentage point today.
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Posted
Apr 14 2008, 02:58 PM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Early indications from companies like Wachovia and General Electric show that the last half of March may have been tougher on bank earnings than Wall Street expects. Bloomberg recently reported that Citigroup, JP Morgan, and Wells Fargo could all miss consensus estimates. But by how much?
A look at the spread of Q1 estimates gives some hint about how far off actual numbers could be compared with investor expectations. At Citigroup, among 15 analysts polled by First Call the average EPS estimate is a loss of $.95. But, the lowest estimate is a loss of $2.24. At JP Morgan, the average figure from fourteen analysts is $.66, but the worst case is a loss of $.11. For Wells Fargo, twenty-three analysts have an average forecast of Q1 EPS at $.57, but the low number is $.45.
The huge discrepancy among the numbers should be troubling to shareholders because recent information would argue that share prices for most banks and brokerages may still be way too high.
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Posted
Jun 24 2008, 01:05 AM
by
Charley Blaine
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
If you're a GE shareholder, you've probably been pondering the idea since April 11, when the company shocked investors around the world by reporting a first-quarter profit decline that absolutely no one expected.
Since then, there's been chatter in blogs (See this from George Yared) and message boards about whether Immelt's tenure should end. Some posts are on MSN Money.
The New York Times noted on Sunday that Wall Street seems to have fallen out of love with GE. Douglas McIntyre, a Top Stocks partner blogger, says the company is in need of a major change in direction. "It's a dog of a stock," he wrote this week.
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Posted
Sep 09 2008, 06:24 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
In community college Economics 101 students learn that there can be dips in bull markets. Usually these are caused by a single event like a change in the party that runs Congress. The same holds true for bear markets. Suckers jump in on one piece of news or another. The market spikes up. A week later, it's gone.
The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rescue pushed the market higher and may do so for a few days. In Asia, they know better. The rally never made it beyond the first 24 hours. Markets turned down in Day Two.
The overwhelming evidence is that almost no one benefited from the government taking over the agencies. The rest of the economy is in the toilet. A lot of data has come out in the last day underscoring that point.
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Posted
Sep 22 2008, 08:44 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
“You say you want a revolution, well you know. We all want to change the world.” --The Beatles
No, you weren't dreaming. The construct of capitalism forever shifted Friday when short sales of the financials were banned and the government declared martial law.
It was an historic moment that changed the face of free markets and altered the structural integrity of the system.
To be certain, there was—and is—genuine crisis and to fully appreciate the severity of the situation, we must understand how we got here.
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Posted
Sep 25 2008, 07:11 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
GEwas one of the alleged last safe harbors in corporate America. The company said the credit issues facing the economy would not damage GE Financial. The conglomerate indicated that it could make its way through the downturn.
No one lied, but a lot of people at GE must have miscalculated.
Just now, GE offered one piece of good news as it cuts its guidance for the rest of the year. It will maintain its dividend. On the less positive side of the ledger, it will cut its share buyback.
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Posted
Sep 25 2008, 02:10 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
While they’re not deviously plotting the demise of the worlds’ most powerful financial institutions, hedge funds are loading up on another popular trade: Cash.
According to the Financial Times, Citigroup estimates hedge funds have recently squirreled away as much as $600 billion in cash, of which $100 billion is held in money market funds -those same money market funds Washington so graciously propped up last week.
With good risk-reward investment opportunities in short supply, hedge funds -- paid handsomely to manage risk -- are relying heavily on the safety of cash to ride out recent market turmoil. It’s telling that for those whose livelihoods depend on beating the market, the investment du jour is no investment at all.
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Posted
Oct 01 2008, 11:56 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Why pay ever-rising ticket prices for sticky floors, beeping cell phones, overpriced popcorn, and chatty teens when we have 60-inch HDTVs, Blu-ray discs and 700-watt Dolby Digital stereos?
Thanks to technological advances, Hollywood has finally found a way to keep theatres relevant and unique with the advent of digital, 3-D live-action movies.
With the recently hatched deal between a consortium of theatre owners and production studios, a $1 billion financing package will convert half of the nation's 40,000 screens to digital projection.
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Posted
Oct 02 2008, 10:52 AM
by
admin
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
At a time when the country is obsessing over the need for a $700 billion fix for the economy, billionaire investor Warren Buffett is positioning himself to be one of its biggest beneficiaries.
Not that Buffett needs bailing out. Instead, he's doing what he does best: Buying assets on the cheap when he perceives he has an advantage. As BusinessWeek points out, Buffett is doing what investors like John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan have done in crises past, propping up faltering institutions.
But as he does so, Buffett, via his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, is playing salesman to average investors, even as he gets deals they could only dream of. Look at the GE deal: Buffett's buying $3 billion in perpetual preferred stock from General Electric. Buffett's investment has a 10% dividend -- $300 million a year -- and GE can’t undo the deal for three years. Buffett also gets the right to buy $3 billion in GE common shares at a price of $22.25. So he can sit back and watch the GE stock chart, and if it hits $45, for instance, he can double that $3 billion without having risked an extra dime.
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Posted
Oct 04 2008, 11:01 AM
by
Andrew Horowitz
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Overshadowing the start to earnings season is the continuing
slowdown of the world economy. No longer a question of semantics, we are in a
general slowdown that has affected virtually every sector. Even with a massive
pork-barrel, ear-mark infested $850 billion banking bailout package, job losses
coupled with the higher cost of food and fuel has curtailed spending and is
expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
Next week is the official open to "earnings season" as Alcoa
is slated to report what could be a very weak number as we look at the latest
from the materials sector.
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