Meta
Categories
- accounting
- Announcements
- architecture
- art
- auctions
- bailouts
- banking
- bankruptcy
- ben stein watch
- blogonomics
- bonds and loans
- charts
- china
- cities
- climate change
- commercial property
- commodities
- consumers
- consumption
- corporatespeak
- credit ratings
- crime
- Culture
- Davos 2008
- Davos 2009
- defenestrations
- demographics
- derivatives
- design
- development
- drugs
- Econoblog
- economics
- education
- emerging markets
- employment
- energy
- entitlements
- eschatology
- euro
- facial hair
- fashion
- Film
- Finance
- fiscal and monetary policy
- food
- foreign exchange
- fraud
- gambling
- geopolitics
- governance
- healthcare
- hedge funds
- holidays
- housing
- humor
- Humour
- iceland
- IMF
- immigration
- infrastructure
- insurance
- intellectual property
- investing
- journalism
- labor
- language
- law
- leadership
- leaks
- M&A
- Media
- milken 2008
- Not economics
- pay
- personal finance
- philanthropy
- pirates
- Politics
- Portfolio
- prediction markets
- private banking
- private equity
- privatization
- productivity
- publishing
- race
- rants
- regulation
- remainders
- research
- Restaurants
- Rhian in Antarctica
- risk
- satire
- science
- shareholder activism
- sovereign debt
- sports
- statistics
- stocks
- taxes
- technocrats
- technology
- trade
- travel
- Uncategorized
- water
- wealth
- world bank
Archives
- March 2023
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- December 2012
- August 2012
- June 2012
- March 2012
- April 2011
- August 2010
- June 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- September 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- July 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- April 2003
- March 2003
- February 2003
- January 2003
- December 2002
- November 2002
- October 2002
- September 2002
- August 2002
- July 2002
- June 2002
- May 2002
- March 2002
- February 2002
- January 2002
- December 2001
- November 2001
- October 2001
- September 2001
- August 2001
- July 2001
- June 2001
- May 2001
- April 2001
- March 2001
- February 2001
- January 2001
- December 2000
- September 2000
- July 2000
- March 2000
- July 1999
Category Archives: stocks
Merrill: How to do a Conference Call Right
I wasn’t on the Merrill call this morning, but David Gaffen was, and it seems from his live-blog – and the Merrill share price – that John Thain just gave the market a masterclass in spinning negative announcements. Rember that … Continue reading
The Bigger the Bank, the Better the Return
Update: I got this one wrong: see the comments for all the gory detail. Big-bank stocks are riskier than small-bank stocks, which means they go up more than small banks do in up markets, and they go down more than … Continue reading
A Bear Market: Where Good News is Punished
Stocks in general are down about 2% today, but the big losers are all the companies in the news. Merrill Lynch has found itself $6.6 billion of new equity? Down 3.9%! Citigroup has found even more, to offset an $18 … Continue reading
Posted in stocks, technology
Comments Off on A Bear Market: Where Good News is Punished
Citi: Negative Revenues
I’ll leave the live-blogging of the Citi conference call (slides here) to David Gaffen and Floyd Norris. Norris has already made two excellent points: he’s wondering why Citi’s still paying a dividend at all, and he’s noted that US revenues … Continue reading
CNBC-Related Stock Moves, Part 2
Interested in buying stock in Converted Organics? Too late. The Peanut Gallery has the intraday chart: Today, another stock I have been following was mentioned on CNBC, (COIN: 12.40 +42.53%). Look at the chart and see if you can tell … Continue reading
Why Schultz Might Not be Right for Starbucks
Jack Flack is underwhelmed by Joe Nocera’s column on Saturday, in which the veteran NYT columnist has a bearish take on Starbucks. I’m more impressed, partly because it came out on the same day as a similar column from equally-veteran … Continue reading
Posted in stocks
Comments Off on Why Schultz Might Not be Right for Starbucks
How to Trade a Bear Market
Baruch at Ultimi Barbarorum gives us his tips on how to trade a bear market: Let the Constanza Doctrine be your guide: do The Opposite of what feels good. You are not alone, and at the moments of maximum stress … Continue reading
How Merrill Spun its Write-Down News
Shares in Merrill Lynch are flat this morning: investors seem unconcerned about the news that the company will take a whopping $15 billion write-down in the fourth quarter. Last month, after Merrill got a $5.6 billion cash injection from Temasek … Continue reading
Blackstone: The Stock Buyback Which Isn’t
Stock buybacks are good news for shareholders for two reasons. Firstly, they increase demand for the stock, which helps boost the share price – but that effect is one-off, and temporary, and mostly benefits the shareholders who sell their stock … Continue reading
Posted in private equity, stocks
Comments Off on Blackstone: The Stock Buyback Which Isn’t
BofA-Countrywide: An Acquisition Which Makes Sense
Countrywide shares are up over 40% today as the WSJ reports the company might be taken over by Bank of America.
Continue reading
The CNBC-PZE Fiasco
It’s a fun game, this stock-market malarkey. You watch CNBC, see a talking head recommend a stock ticker symbol, and then jump onto your computer to execute the trade. It’s so easy! And, for all that investors are continually advised … Continue reading
Posted in stocks
Comments Off on The CNBC-PZE Fiasco
Can Pandit Cut Citi’s Dividend?
In the WSJ report on Citi shoring up its capital base, we’re told that a dividend cut is now a real possibility: The board of Citigroup is expected to meet on Monday, a day before it reports earnings, and to … Continue reading
Can Politicians Boost Stock Prices?
There’s an interesting letter in the WSJ today, from John Callister in Ithaca. Callister has about $700,000 invested in the stock market, and all he cares about, in terms of the presidential election, is which candidate will make that sum … Continue reading
No Respite for Bear Stearns
On Friday, I noted that Bear Stearns was trading below its book value ($84.09 per share), and said that the "next milestone to fall" would take place if the share price dropped past $73.41, where the bank has a market … Continue reading
Parsing Starbucks
Jack Flack (congratulations, btw) today decodes the jargon-filled press release which accompanied the news that Howard Schultz was returning as CEO of Starbucks. The release certainly needs decoding. The headline, ferchrissakes, is "Starbucks Announces Strategic Initiatives to Increase Shareholder Value": … Continue reading
Posted in stocks
Comments Off on Parsing Starbucks
Can Alan Schwartz Rescue Bear Stearns?
This time last year, Bear Stearns was trading at a hundred and seventy something dollars per share. Today, it closed at seventy something dollars per share, well below its book value of $84. That’s all you need to know to … Continue reading
The Power of Market Capitalization
What is the correlation between a company’s size, as measured by market capitalization, and its power? I’m not sure how one would measure power, but I don’t think that market cap is a good proxy for it. ADM is worth … Continue reading
Bear Stearns: Now Trading Below Book Value
Bear Stearns is being clobbered today, down more than 5% to just $79 per share. And it’s passed a major milestone, too. Here’s its fourth-quarter earnings report: Book value on November 30, 2007 was $84.09 per share, based on 136.2 … Continue reading
Ouch
Bill Ackman’s short bets seem to be rather better than his longs. Dow Jones reckons that he made over half a billion dollars in 2007 shorting MBIA and Ambac Financial. Which is good, because his long position in Target seems … Continue reading
Posted in hedge funds, stocks
Comments Off on Ouch
State Street Corp Should be Falling, not Rising
Another one for the annals of bizarre stock moves: State Street Corp, the parent of State Street Global Advisors is surging to new all-time highs today. This is on the news that the company has breached its fiduciary duties to … Continue reading
Posted in stocks
Comments Off on State Street Corp Should be Falling, not Rising
Two Trades for 2008
I don’t make predictions. But, what the hell, let’s see how these two trades turn out over the next year. The first is highly speculative, and individual investors aren’t even allowed to do it; the second is highly defensive, and … Continue reading
Posted in bonds and loans, derivatives, stocks
Comments Off on Two Trades for 2008
The Most-Traded Stocks of the Year
Here’s an interesting exercise: compare this table, of the largest US companies by market capitalization, to this table, of the top stocks in 2007 by dollars traded. For instance, more money changed hands trading Apple shares than trading Exxon Mobil … Continue reading
Posted in stocks
Comments Off on The Most-Traded Stocks of the Year
Does LVMH Rule the Champagne Market?
Christina Passariello has an interesting WSJ article today on LVMH’s Champagne business, explaining at some length how the French luxury-goods giant sources all the grapes it needs to be the world’s biggest Champagne merchant. I do worry, though, that in … Continue reading
Posted in consumption, stocks
1 Comment
Stock Market Datapoint of the Day
Dean Baker: Investors in stock have not done very well over the last decade. The S&P 500 rose by a cumulative total of 52.6 percent from December 1997 to December 2007. After adjusting for inflation, the increase was 17.3 percent, … Continue reading
Posted in stocks
Comments Off on Stock Market Datapoint of the Day
McDonald’s Datapoint of the Day
George Will: McDonald’s exemplifies the role of small businesses in Americans’ upward mobility. The company is largely a confederation of small businesses: 85 percent of its U.S. restaurants — average annual sales, $2.2 million — are owned by franchisees. McDonald’s … Continue reading