Browse by Tags
-
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.
Read More...
-
Posted
Mar 04 2009, 03:13 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Using the U.S. government’s count, about 2.4 million people lost their jobs in America last year. That does not include people who have been jobless for an extended period and are no longer looking for jobs. In January, another 598,000 people were put onto the streets by their employers, moving the unemployment rate up to 7.6%.
According to MarketWatch, the average forecaster thinks the economy shed 640,000 jobs last month. Some of the estimates are well over 700,000. The impression that the employment situation is getting worse was confirmed by Ben Bernanke’s comments testimony to the Senate yesterday.
Analysts may admit to a frightening February unemployment rate, but most either believe that the economy is going to get better or don’t want to say in public what they think. While it is comforting to claim that the February numbers will be a bottom for employment erosion, that may not be the case. The joblessness rate could thunder higher between now and year-end.
Read More...
-
Posted
Aug 24 2009, 04:02 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Steve Jobs worked at Apple (AAPL) for $1 a year in 2000, just before the launch of the iPod, which completely changed the company’s fortunes and made him astonishingly wealthy. Lee Iaccoca worked for $1 in 1978 when he took charge of crippled Chrysler.
The dollar-a-year tradition has fallen on hard times. The most recent apostle of the practice was Edward Liddy who took the chief executive’s job at American International Group (AIG) when it was deeply troubled. He had been the head of Allstate (ALL), so he probably did not need to make several million dollars. Liddy took the job as a public service, an action which seems to be both anachronistic and idealistic. Liddy worked hard to restructure the insurance company, but was derided mercilessly by Congress because AIG executives received large pay packages on his watch. The irony of this issue was that Liddy had nothing to do with the compensation agreements. Liddy was replaced by Robert Benmosche, the former chief executive of MetLife (MET). Benmosche presumably is wealthy enough to work for nothing, but insisted on being paid $7 million. The taxpayers who own 85% of AIG are appropriately enraged that AIG let Liddy leave.
Read More...
-
Posted
Nov 24 2008, 09:28 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
We were suckered into believing the bailout would only cost $700 billion. Turns out the government is set to lend at least $7.4 trillion to rescue the financial system, says Bloomberg. That's half the value of everything produced in the country last year. How is this possible? In an impressive bit of investigative reporting, Bloomberg went out and collected data from the Fed, the Treasury and the FDIC to figure out the full extent of the government rescue effort. I suspect not even the government has done this kind of research on its spending programs. How does the government blow through $7.4 trillion? Here are the ways:
Read More...
-
Posted
Feb 18 2009, 08:35 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
I often write about outrageous executive bonuses on this site. So it's appropriate that I take a moment to applaud General Electric (GE) chief executive Jeffrey Immelt for turning down his 2008 bonus.
This is no small chunk of change. Immelt gave up a long-term performance award worth $11.7 million. He's not headed to the poorhouse by any means, though, since he still got a $3.3 million base salary plus $2 million in equity awards.
Immelt could have taken the bonus, and no one would have complained much. But he said the company's lackluster performance caused him to give up the cash.
GE's earnings fell 22% last year, and its lending arm was hit particularly hard.
Read More...
-
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.
Read More...
-
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.
Read More...
-
Posted
Mar 02 2009, 03:37 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
On reading Warren Buffett’s much-anticipated letter to Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A) shareholders, one can’t avoid being struck by his faith in the ability of the American people to overcome adversity and to move the nation forward. This is a legacy that stretches from the Revolution to Lewis and Clark on to GI Joe. Despite Buffett’s grave concern about the state of the economy now and in the immediate future, one of the most striking passages in his letter is “America’s best days lie ahead.” The same sentence might have been written into the President’s address to a joint session of Congress last week.
But, after that intersection of praising the American spirit, Obama and Buffett part ways violently when it comes to the economy. The investor’s view is plainly stated: “We’re certain, for example, that the economy will be in shambles throughout 2009 -- and, for that matter, probably well beyond -- but that conclusion does not tell us whether the stock market will rise or fall.” He also believes that the government’s intervention in the financial system, while necessary, will eventually cause a dangerous inflation.
Read More...
-
Posted
Sep 16 2009, 07:26 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This article is written by Minyanville's Sean Udall
Listening to CNBC yesterday morning I was struck by two key things: First, there are obvious factors/evidence that many are choosing to ignore. Second, we should always be mindful of what may not be obvious and try to skate to where the puck is going to be. However, sometimes the obvious meshes with where the puck is going. I find this especially true during times of great collective doubt. Read Our Marionette Economy for an opposing viewpoint.
Post 1991, it was very popular to doubt the rally. We were at war and the S&L crisis was far from being declared dead. It was an incredible time to believe that stocks deserved to be pushed higher -- especially in light of numerous signs of profound growth in many industries.
Moreover, when I hear that the market price is "unjustified" by "current fundamentals," I simply know we're going higher in the intermediate term and longer.
Read More...
-
Posted
Mar 06 2009, 02:08 AM
by
Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site The Big Money.
General Motors (GM) is now thinking about the benefits of bankruptcy -- as long as it's speedy and the government can finance it, the Wall Street Journal reports this morning. Last month, the ailing carmaker claimed Chapter 11 would be far more costly as it lobbied for make-or-break bailout No. 2. "The change in thinking, combined with the disclosure Thursday that GM's auditor has raised 'substantial doubt' about the car maker's ability to keep going, appears to move GM closer to the possibility it will file for reorganization," the newspaper writes. Part of the change of heart is that GM is playing a game of beat-the-clock. It is not only locked into tense negotiations for an additional $30 billion in aid, but it also must close a deal with its bondholders by the end of the month. The bankruptcy route -- a sort of nuclear option -- could "prod bondholders into making concessions," the WSJ figures.
There's no denying things look bleak at GM. On Thursday auditors slapped a "substantial doubt" tag on GM's windshield, saying even if it received the entire $30 billion it hoped to borrow from the federal government, survival is far from guaranteed, the New York Times writes. BusinessWeek doesn't help GM's case, pointing out that the carmaker's pitch for aid is partly based on a projection that the auto-buying market will return to boom time levels within three years
Read More...
More Posts Next page »
|
