Archive for January, 2009

  • The End of the Media
    , January 16th, 2009 at 11:18 am

    The Star Tribune files for Chapter 11 — as reported by The Star Tribune:

    The Star Tribune, saddled with high debt and a sharp decline in print advertising, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition Thursday night.
    Minnesota’s largest newspaper will try to use bankruptcy to restructure its debt and lower its labor costs.
    Chris Harte, the paper’s publisher, said the filing would have no impact on home delivery, advertising, newsgathering or any other aspects of the paper’s operations.
    “We intend to use the Chapter 11 process to make this great Twin Cities institution stronger, leaner and more efficient so that it is well positioned to benefit when economic conditions begin to improve,” Harte said in a statement.
    The filing, which was made with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the southern district of New York, had been expected for months. It follows several missed payments to the paper’s lenders, and it comes less than two years after a private equity group, New York-based Avista Capital Partners, bought the paper for $530 million.

    These companies are in free fall.

  • Circuit City at Four Cents a Share
    , January 16th, 2009 at 10:32 am

    big.chart011609.gif
    Thirty-four years ago, Circuit City was going for $1 a share. Adjusted for splits, that was 0.4611 cents a share. Nine years ago the stock reached a split-adjusted level of $40.920606 a share. That’s a return of 887,356%
    The stock is now at four cents a share.

  • The Market Wastes No Time
    , January 15th, 2009 at 5:30 pm

    How US Airways Group (LCC) traded today:
    yhoo11509.png

  • Amphenol’s Earnings Not Good But Could Have Been Much Worse
    , January 15th, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    Nice turnaround today which isn’t surprising since the bears have been in control the last few days. The Dow briefly dipped below 8,000 at one point.
    yhoo011509.png
    The Buy List is getting a nice boost from Amphenol‘s (APH) earnings report. The shares are currently up 12%.
    This was an interesting earnings report for APH. The company’s bottom line has been growing pretty nicely over the past few years. In October, when the company reported Q3 earnings, it said to expect Q4 EPS of 58 cents to 60 cents. That wasn’t good news. Personally, I had pegged EPS at 62 cents a share.
    Well, things soon got a lot worse. APH said a few weeks ago to ignore what they said earlier, and EPS will come in between 50 cents and 52 cents. Now we come to today where we learn that Amphenol earned 56 cents a share. I’m not a big fan of analyst forecasts but here the company didn’t even know what to expect.
    The company also said that Q1 will be weak, and they expect EPS of 39 cents and 41 cents. The bottom line is that things are tough for Amphenol just like everyone else. The company is a solid outfit and even in rough patches, it can still deliver pleasant surprises.
    Quarter…………………EPS
    Mar-05…………………$0.26
    Jun-05………………….$0.29
    Sep-05…………………$0.28
    Dec-05…………………$0.31
    Mar-06…………………$0.32
    Jun-06………………….$0.35
    Sep-06…………………$0.37
    Dec-06…………………$0.43
    Mar-07…………………$0.43
    Jun-07………………….$0.46
    Sep-07…………………$0.50
    Dec-07…………………$0.55
    Mar-08…………………$0.54
    Jun-08………………….$0.61
    Sep-08…………………$0.63
    Dec-08…………………$0.56

  • According to Intrade the Chance of a Depression Is 54%
    , January 14th, 2009 at 10:44 pm

    chart122979475287312281.png

  • Dan Lyons Vs. Jim Goldman
    , January 14th, 2009 at 10:28 pm

    On CNBC tonight, Dan Lyons, aka Fake Steve Jobs, and Jim Goldman let the sparks fly. Goldman had said that a Gizmodo report on Jobs’ health was incorrect. Lyons called him out for that. Unfortunately, Dennis Kneale gets in the way.

  • Breaking: Steve Jobs Takes Leave of Absense Unitl June
    , January 14th, 2009 at 4:40 pm

    The shares closed today at $85.33. I’m afraid what will happen tomorrow morning. The New York Times reports:

    Saying his health-related issues were “more complex” than he originally thought, Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, announced Wednesday that he would take a medical leave of absence from the company until the end of June.
    In a letter to Apple employees released after markets closed, Mr. Jobs said that curiosity over his personal health “continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well.”
    Mr. Jobs said he had asked Tim Cook, Apple’s longtime chief operating officer, to take on responsibility for Apple’s day-to-day operations. “As C.E.O., I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out,” Mr. Jobs added. “Our board of directors fully supports this plan.”
    An Apple spokesman could not immediately be contacted for comment. Apple’s stock dropped sharply in after-hours trading.
    Mr. Jobs, 53, released a letter just last week saying that doctors had recently diagnosed a “hormone imbalance” that was depleting proteins in his body as the cause of his weight loss. The remedy, he said, “is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment.”

  • Meet the Man Responsible for the Credti Crisis
    , January 14th, 2009 at 3:11 pm

    David Bowie.

    It may sound like a ridiculous question, but it’s not as mad as it seems. Even when it comes to finances Bowie leads the way – and back in 1997 he did something called ‘securitisation’.
    He thought: ‘I have a lot of money coming in over the next ten years from my back catalogue, but I’d rather have the cash now and not have to wait.’
    He produced some bits of paper – Bowie Bonds – and said: ‘Whoever buys these gets my royalties.’
    It meant he no longer had the money coming in but instead had a lot up front. His investors were guaranteed a decent income. It was a good deal all round.
    And the banks were catching on to the idea. They thought: ‘We have billions out there in mortgages which are going to pay us back very slowly. Why don’t we sell those and get the money now?’
    So the banks started doing what Bowie had done – in a big way.

    Personally, I blame Ziggie Stardust.

  • Bernie-Cam
    , January 14th, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    CNBC has a live webcam at the Federal Courthouse for Madoff’s bail hearing. So now you can sit around and wait while watching other people sit around and wait.
    See, this is why I love new media.

  • Investor Therapy
    , January 14th, 2009 at 1:06 pm


    (H/T: DealBreaker).