Economy Blog

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Almost every week now a private equity or hedge fund walks away from a transaction to take a public company private. In most cases the public company boards try to keep deals on track by lowering their asking price or they take a break-up fee and allow the buyer to walk away. There will be none of the kid gloves stuff at Clear Channel (NYSE: CCU). It has a deal with Providence Equity to buy its TV stations for $1.2 billion. The transaction was announced ten months ago and has not closed, which is hardly a good sign. According to…
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(February 16, 2008 10:53 AM, by Bryan Caplan) There seems to be a lot of demand for me to blog some of my Harford-related regressions on black versus……
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By Vipin Agnihotri Picture courtesy of Skyscrapercity.com In my opinion, Haryana is all about big global companies, big buildings, big brands, big investments and big plans. Despite traffic issues, state remain an irresistible magnet for investors. According to sources, there is Rs 70,000-crore of investment in the pipeline. In terms of statistic, last few years have seen some Rs 28,000 crore being invested in the state. …
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Just want to give everyone a look at our new design to be implemented shortly. The site will focus on India Investments, videos and tie our new social stock picking Facebook application to the site. Facebook just opened up this feature and we plan to display the social stock picking results right on India Street. We will also have a password protected area for stocks picks by our experts who last year returned our readers 3 rupees for every 1 invested. …
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A few months ago we wrote some articles pointing out the misconceptions around the new FAS 157 accounting standard.  (This one is a good example, with links to prior articles as well).

The FAS 157 accounting standard requires companies use actual market data rather than models when possible, providing different levels of treatment.  Level III assets are valued by model, but only when there is no comparable trading.  The nature of the business means that specific bonds of specific companies may not be trading much, so there the modeled assets are large.
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Seeing that Foreclosure is on my mind this weekend, it is fitting to talk about failure. I have failed many times. Forget the stock market where I fail everyday, but in business.
During the Nasdaq bubble, when everyone thought they were smart, I wanted to be a shipping magnate. I was part of a roll-up to build a global and logistic network. It was a good idea, but what the f@#k did I know. The company was called SkyNet and the main office was Amsterdam (yes perfect, I know). Note to self…web 2.0 and Amsterdam must be tapped …
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The uproar about Heparin, a widely-used drug marketed by Baxter International (NYSE: BAX), is just beginning. As The Wall Street Journal writes “Baxter said the active ingredient for its heparin was supplied by Scientific Protein Laboratories with a manufacturing facility there and a joint-venture operation called Changzhou SPL in Changzhou, China.” Tainted heparin has been blamed for four deaths and a larger number of illnesses. The FDA claims it does not have the inspection capacity to monitor drug components made at facilities around the world and China is one of the largest supplier nations. So, what is to be done?…
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The Dow and the TSX ended higher despite late-week selling on poor U.S. economic data. Warren Buffett made an offer to support the municipal bond insurance business that – even as it was not well received by its intended recipients – was still seen as an example of Buffett’s confidence in the economy. Bernanke spoke Thursday and drove buyers from the markets, and then Friday followed with poor economic numbers from the NY Fed’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey and Michigan’s consumer confidence report.
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Laszlo Birinyi of Birinyi Associates, Inc. is one of the more frequently watched portfolio managers by the public. The reason is not that he is one of the largest fund managers. But he is watched because of his (and his firm’s) prowess on recognizing substantial inflows and outflows of capital at the onslaught of a trend. Some might argue that this is more reactionary and following, but many have used this method for years and years. Frankly, we have watched his investing activities for years and years. These are not at all of Birinyi’s holdings, but there many of the…
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This week we got to see critical SEC filings showing holdings of many key and influential investors. Included in these filings were billionaire George Soros, a billionaire whom is loved by some and much less ‘well thought of’ by others over his currency trading history of over his MoveOn.org attempts. Either way, investors still watch Soros. These are the holdings of Soros Fund Management LLC as of December 31, 2007. These were listed as the top holdings and are not at all his entire positions. Soros Fund Management LLC was listed as having some $2.269 Billion in the total filing,…
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On Tuesday we’ll get to see earnings out of Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI). The estimates from First Call are $0.36 EPS on $2.42 billion in revenues. Next quarter estimates are $0.34 EPS on $1.91 billion in revenues. Estimates for fiscal September 2008 are $1.82 EPS on $9.71 billion in revenues. Analysts have an average price target north of $46.00. Options were of little use in predicting what sort of move was coming because of Friday’s expiration and because of a sharp share price decline. Shares did recently bounce off of a $35+ level, which was essentially the same…
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They Just Don’t Get Comcast!

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addslashes(China Watch Mail Bag: Much Ado About Baidu

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Tuesday we’ll get to see earnings out of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT). The estimates from First Call are $1.02 EPS on $106.9 billion in revenues. Next quarter estimates are $0.74 EPS on $92.29 billion in revenues. Estimates for fiscal Jan-2009 are $3.43 EPS on $405.81 billion in revenues. Analysts have an average price target north of $54.00. We are not using options as a guide because expiration is a month out and we just rolled after yesterday’s options expiration date. At $49.44 this one has held up quite well and has done far better than many troubled retailers. Wal-Mart’s…
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addslashes(Barton Biggs: History Says to Be a Buyer

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addslashes(Mac Owners Are Snobs

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After the market closes on Tuesday we’ll get to see earnings out of Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ). The estimates from First Call are $0.81 EPS on $27.59 billion in revenues. Next quarter estimates are $27.42 billion in revenues. Estimates for fiscal Oct-2008 are $3.80 EPS on $117.79 billion in revenues. Analysts have an average price target north of $57.00. With Friday being options expiration date, we aren’t using options as a predictor until only the March option comparisons can be made on Tuesday. While this one was enjoying a steady run in 2007, its chart has been hampered lately. While…
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BullishGeneral Motors Corporation (GM), Oceanfreight (OCNF), Johnson Controls (JCI) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).BearishIntegra Lifesciences (IART), Martha Stewart Living (MSO), Ford Motor (F), Dryships (DRYS), Focus Media (FMCN), Baidu.com (BIDU), HSBC Holdings (HBC), Superior Industries (SUP), Juniper Networks (JNPR), Cisco Systems (CSCO) and Inverness Medical (IMA).
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If muni-bond insurers like Amback (NYSE: ABK) and MBIA (NYSE:MBI) are forced to break into two pieces, some banks could be badly hurt. The halving of the firms would leave the muni piece of the businesses in one set of companies and the more risky structured investments pieces to operate on their own. According to Reuters, if insurer FGIC is made into two companies “investment banks that traded with FGIC would be forced to take losses.” Those banks probably include Citigroup (NYSE:C), Societe Generale, and UBS (UBS). Reuters reports further that “banks are generally facing the risks of big writedowns…
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