Archive for October, 2009

  • Stephen Colbert on Dow 10,000
    , October 17th, 2009 at 1:19 pm

    The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
    The Money Shot
    www.colbertnation.com
    Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Michael Moore

    (HT: Kedrosky)

  • The Idiot-Maker Rally
    , October 16th, 2009 at 9:29 am

    The stock market’s rally since March caught a lot of people off guard. I’m still waiting for the mega-bears to grovel before Jon Stewart and promise to do better. I’m not holding my breath.
    John Carney at Clusterstock has a great round-up of folks who were made to look silly by the rally.

  • Investor Quiz
    , October 15th, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    How many times has the Dow crossed 10,000?

    (more…)

  • Inflation Still Contained
    , October 15th, 2009 at 1:11 pm

    The government reported on consumer prices for September:

    Inflation pressures remained modest in September even though gasoline prices edged higher.
    The Labor Department said Thursday that consumer prices rose 0.2 percent last month, matching economists’ expectations. Prices excluding energy and food were also up 0.2 percent, slightly higher than the 0.1 percent increase analysts had forecast.
    Over the past 12 months, consumer prices are actually down 1.3 percent, reflecting a severe recession which has kept a lid on price pressures across a wide range of products and services.

    The core inflation rate, which ignores food and energy prices, comes in for a lot of ribbing, but it is useful. Take a lot at the headline inflation rate (blue) compared with the core rate (black) and you can see how much more stable it is:
    image863.png
    The core rate hasn’t left range between 1% and 3% in 14 years.

  • Earnings from Baxter and Amphenol
    , October 15th, 2009 at 11:02 am

    Earnings season is kicking into high gear and we had two earnings report from our Buy List stocks this morning.
    First up is Baxter International (BAX). For the third quarter, the company earned 98 cents a share which is one penny ahead of estimates. The problem is that sales came in at $3.15 billion which is just below estimates of $3.19 billion. The company said to expect Q4 earnings between $1.02 and $1.04. The consensus is $1.04. The stock is down about 3.5% today which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
    This was a good report and BAX is doing very well. Since Baxter usually provides precise guidance, it doesn’t often deliver a big earnings surprise. The stock is currently going for about 13 times next year’s earnings which is a good deal.
    Amphenol (APH) is also lower today after beating earnings. The company reported earnings of 47 cents a share which was a big drop from 63 cents a share one year ago. Fortunately, that came in four cents above the Street’s estimates. Sales dropped 17% but analysts were expecting an even large drop.
    For Q4, APH sees earnings ranging between 47 and 49 cents a share, and revenue between $720 million and $735 million. The Street was expecting earnings of 47 cents a share on revenue of $711.6 million.
    Finally, Donaldson (DCI) doesn’t report until November but the shares are up today thanks to an upgrade from Credit Suisse. The analyst raised his price target from $28 to $41.

  • Dow 10,000
    , October 14th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    We did it! The Dow cracked 10,000.
    The Dow first broke 10,000 more than 10-1/2 years ago.

  • The Countdown to Dow 10,000
    , October 14th, 2009 at 11:55 am

  • S&P 500 Above 1080
    , October 14th, 2009 at 10:45 am

    Thanks to Intel’s (INTC) impressive earnings report, the market is up again today. As a rule, Octobers following presidential elections don’t have a great history for Wall Street, but this October is defying expectations.
    The S&P 500 is currently up to 1083 which is about 60% above the March 9 closing low. I’ve been amazed that there are folks who have dismissed this rally from the get-go. Why aren’t they groveling to Jon Stewart? Where’s the public anger at them?
    As impressive as this rally has been, we’re still a long way from where the market was. Going back to the beginning of 2008, the S&P 500 is still down by about 25%.
    image862.png

  • Man who threatened Options Exchange guard with can of beer arrested
    , October 13th, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    The right to beer arms.

    A homeless man was charged with assault after allegedly raising a can of beer threateningly at a security guard and yelling obscenities at Chicago Board of Options Exchange patrons Monday night in the Loop.
    The 43-year-old man who lives at the Pacific Garden Mission was charged with misdemeanor aggravated assault, according to police who said the man was arrested on a sidewalk on the 440 block of South LaSalle Street outside the CBOE.
    Police were not immediately releasing the man’s name.
    At 9:30 p.m. a CBOE security guard told police he saw the man using obscenities and verbally abusing patrons of the exchange, according to police.
    The guard asked the man to leave the premises and the man was taken into custody after allegedly yelling at the guard, acting violently and raising a can of beer towards him in a threatening way, according to police.
    No injuries were reported.

  • Earnings Preview for Baxter International
    , October 13th, 2009 at 12:13 pm

    From AP:

    Specialty drug and device maker Baxter International reports its third-quarter 2009 results Thursday morning. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst commentary for the period.
    OVERVIEW: Baxter announced several high-profile product launches and agreements during the last three-month period.
    Last week the Deerfield, Illinois-based company said authorities in the European Union approved its swine flu vaccine. Baxter said preliminary trials of the Celvapan H1N1 vaccine is “well tolerated” by patients 18 and older.
    Baxter along with Sanofi-Aventis SA, GlaxoSmithKline PLC and several other pharmaceutical companies are rushing vaccines onto the market as governments around the world brace for a swine flu pandemic. Baxter has contracts to produce the vaccine for several countries in Europe, but not the U.S.
    BY THE NUMBERS: Baxter said in July it expects to report earnings of 95 to 97 cents per share for the third quarter.
    ANALYST TAKE: Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters have earnings per share of 97 cents per share on revenue of $3.2 billion.
    WHAT’S AHEAD: Baxter has already begun making shipments of its H1N1 vaccine to countries with which it has contracts, including Ireland and the U.K. The company is now studying whether a single dose of the vaccine will be enough to prompt an immune response to the flu.