Economy Blog

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U.S. Steel (X) and Petrobras (PBR) were called buys on Stop Trading today. The purchase of a scrap company alleviated the primary concern and PBR is right with them. The market’s dismay was shown in AIG (AIG) conference call today. Last CEO Larry Goldstone from Thornburg Mortgage (TMA) was lauded. His idea that the government money used for the stimulus package should be used instead for triple-A mortgage paper led Cramer to say “Larry is a very sophisticated player.”
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(March 1, 2008 11:27 AM, by Bryan Caplan) Jeremy Horpedahl argues that you can make most public support for bigger government vanish simply by mentioning that more spending……
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It is no great mystery that Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A, NYSE: BRK.B) is still one of the most followed and most revered “long term value investors” on the planet. Any time there is Warren Buffet news you can count on every financial website having at least one story on him. We even have our own “Buffett” index code. His annual investor letter is always an important read, although investors should really note that this should be viewed and interpreted as a “macrocosm” of Microcosms. Warren Buffett will be the first to tell you he cannot predict the…
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Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) retrained most of its store workers last week. Howard Schultz, the returned founder and CEO, has replaced a number of the lame-brains in senior management. It would be hard to tell from the stock price that any of this was more than wasted energy. The shares dropped 10% in February to finish at $18.71. Wall St. understands that with slowing growth in the US, Starbucks earnings are still exposed to poor year-over-year comparisons as the quarters are reported during 2008. But, the company may have a more serious problem. The cost of milk has gone up over…
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By Vipin Agnihotri Fareed Zacharia- The editor of Newsweek International, Fareed Zacharia is well known for esoteric thoughts such as the future of freedom, where he contends that triumphant democracies will need to build independent institutions, disconnect religion from politics and build its image globally. Fareed is famous for his pro-Republican views on Iraq and Afghanistan. But his most important contribution is the manner in which he is selling the idea of …
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By Vipin Agnihotri Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram today presented his fifth annual budget. All through out the day, The India Street analyzed this year budget for their readers. Find below some of the salient features of …
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We’re starting to add some of the local India CNBC investment channel video to the India Street as we come up on our new website release this month. Below, we have added a recent CNBC segment on the Finance Budget for your enjoyment.

Some Highlights: *No changes for Corporate Income Tax
* Small cars and Hybrid incise tax cut

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No matter how bad the markets were in February, they were worse for some stocks than for others. Shares in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) dropped 16% during the second month of the year, which shows how costly the company’s bid for Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) has been. Now that no other reasonable offer has materialized for the portal company, Redmond should withdraw its offer, let Yahoo! fall to $18 and then re-bid the deal at $22. That would certainly allow MSFT stockholders to recoup most of their losses. Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) has been a particularly gruesome piece of work, falling over 30%…
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addslashes(Make Money No Matter Who Wins in 2008

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On Wednesday we’ll get to see earnings out of Fuel-Tech, Inc. (NASDAQ: FTEK). The estimates for the combustion engineering solutions provider (cleaner coal) from First Call are $0.17 EPS and $28.04 million in revenues. Next quarter estimates are $0.12 EPS and $25.39 million in revenues. Estimates for fiscal 2008 are $0.55 EPS on $107.87 million in revenues. As there were discrepancies and as many analysts have changed targets on this one ahead of earnings, we’ll make an update on any key changes before the earnings release. Analysts have an average price target north of $31.00, still some 50% north of…
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addslashes(China Watch Mail Bag: When Will BIDU Pain Be Over?

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Playboy, Bloomies Pull a Rabbit Trick on Future Voters

They Just Don’t Get Disney and IBM!

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On Thursday morning we’ll get to see earnings out of Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN). The estimates for the specialty retail company from First Call are $462.28 million in revenues. Next quarter estimates are $383.06 million in revenues. Estimates for fiscal Jan-2009 are $1.82 billion in revenues. Because of EPS revisions, we’ll give more formal EPS targets as the news event is closer. Analysts have an average price target north of $31.00 and Urban Outfitters’ 52-week trading range is $19.20 to $31.32. This one has over 20.7 million shares in the short interest upon last look. Despite the stock being…
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On Tuesday afternoon we’ll get to see earnings out of Chico’s FAS Inc. (NYSE: CHS). The estimates for the specialty womens retailer from First Call are $416.93 million in revenues. Next quarter estimates are $467.74 million in revenues. Estimates for fiscal Jan-2009 are $1.84 billion in revenues. Analysts have an average price target north of $9.00, in-line with the current share price. Chico’s FAS’ 52-week trading range is $6.70 to $27.94. This is one that we might not normally cover, but it has been one of the uglier womens retail plays out there. Even with a near-50% recovery from its…
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By now, we’ve seen most major tech earnings and we’ve already seen most major chip earnings. If it was a movie, the last earnings and guidance would be called “The Poor and the Fair” or something of the like. On Thursday afternoon we’ll get to see two more key semiconductor earnings. Late this coming week, we’ll see earnings out of both Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) and National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM). On Thursday afternoon we’ll get to see earnings out of Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL). The estimates for the semiconductor company from First Call are $0.11…
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On Wednesday morning we’ll get to see earnings out of Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG). The estimates for the closeout retailer from First Call are $0.84 EPS on $1.41 billion in revenues. Next quarter estimates are $0.26 EPS on $1.11 billion in revenues. Estimates for fiscal Jan-2009 are $1.53 EPS on $4.64 billion in revenues. Its strategy change to add some slightly more upscale items couldn’t have come at a worse time when you consider that the discretionary income of its customers flew out the window of the 1978 station wagon. Analysts have an average price target of $18.00. We’d…
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