Business and Financial News

Wall St opens flat as Honeywell and Aetna weigh

admin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:27:09 +0000

By Ellis Mnyandu NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were poised to open little changed on Monday as reduced outlooks from diversified manufacturer Honeywell Inc (HON.N) and health insurer Aetna Inc (AET.N) sparked caution. Honeywell shares fell 2.5 percent to $33.18 before the bell after the company cut its full-year profit forecast to the bottom of its prior range. No. 3 U.S. health insurer Aetna cut its full-year earnings outlook due to higher-than-projected medical costs and posted a 28 percent drop in second-quarter net income. The stock slid 10.2 percent to $23.75. With the broader market up nearly 45 percent since it hit 12-year lows in early March, some investors were likely to book profits as they reassess the sustainability of the latest run-up. “Honeywell said the outlook remains cloudy, setting the stage for a mixed session today,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New York. “The market has come up rather sharply, so obviously it is poised for some profit-taking.[...]

Getting In on the Ground Floor

admin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:10:08 +0000

ONCE THE POSTER CHILD FOR AN EXUBERANT real-estate market — and exuberant real-estate stocks — AvalonBay Communities has had its comeuppance. The real-estate investment trust’s shares have fallen 61% in the past two-and-a-half years, as higher financing costs, lower rental income and leverage combined to devastating effect. But there is some good news: At a recent 56, Avalon’s shares (ticker: AVB) reflect these challenges, and the deeply depressed state of the apartment-rental market generally. The stock is trading near the company’s asset value, which analysts estimate is between $47 and $70 a share, down from more than $120 two years .[...]

U.S. Enters Europe’s Fund Debate

admin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:40:14 +0000

As its hedge-fund and private-equity industries worry about new rules, the U.S. is quietly lobbying Europe to change the terms of proposed financial regulation that could place strict new rules on any U.S. hedge- or private-equity fund doing business in the region, according to a senior Treasury official. The move wades the U.S. into a fierce battle between the U.K. and other parts of Europe over how tough regulation should be. Some nations, led by Germany and France, are calling for wholesale regulation of financial services in the wake of last fall’s crisis, but the U.K. says that overly stringent rules would damage its large financial sector and close off U.S. and other funds to European investors. The U.S. and U.K. are lining up to change the European Union’s proposed Alternative Investment Funds Directive, a sweeping bid to overhaul regulation of hedge funds, private equity and other alternative investment funds. In its current form, the directive would, among other things, place limits on how much debt funds can take on; require them to hold capital to cover potential losses and redemptions; and place strict disclosure requirements on private-equity portfolios.[...]

Futures Movers: Crude futures near $69 as Asian stocks rally

admin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:55:15 +0000

Crude-oil futures extend gains to edge closer to $69 a barrel, supported by a strong rally in Asian stocks.

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UBS Hires Merrill’s Magnus

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:30:53 +0000

HONG KONG — UBS AG hired Keith Magnus from Merrill Lynch to run the Swiss bank’s Singapore and Malaysia investment banking team, according to a person familiar with the situation, the latest blow to Bank of America Corp.’s efforts to keep its Asia investment banking team intact. Singapore is a key market for investment banks in Asia. The city-state is home to two of the world’s most important state-owned investment firms, Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. and Government of Singapore Investment Corp. Singapore’s equity market has stood out for investment banking activity this year as local firms launched rights issues to strengthen their balance sheets. Mr. Magnus has advised on a number of those deals in recent months, including a rights issue totaling 1.84 billion Singapore dollars (about $1.28 billion) for Singaporean property developer CapitaLand Ltd. Bank of America has lost several key Merrill bankers in recent months. They include its regional head of mergers and acquisitions, Kalpana Desai, and senior China banker Margaret Ren.[...]

French President Sarkozy hospitalized overnight

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:30:45 +0000

Sarkozy hospitalized after becoming ill while jogging

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Rally may cool on earnings reality check

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:30:40 +0000

By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street may take a breather this week after an earnings-driven rally lifted the major U.S. stock indexes to their highest levels in months. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average .DJI climbed back above the 9,000 mark last week for the first time since January. And the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index .SPX ended Friday at 979.26 — up 44.7 percent from the 12-year closing low hit on March 9 — after a number of prominent companies’ earnings surpassed Wall Street’s expectations. This week’s “market enjoyed the better-than-expected earnings, or I should say, less bad-than-expected earnings, but we can play the game for only so long,” said Scott Marcouiller, senior equity market strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors in St. Louis. “Stay cautious. We can’t put a cap on it (the rally) yet, but there will be a correction.” The exuberance was interrupted Friday as disappointing quarterly revenues from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) hit their stocks and weighed on the Nasdaq, which fell on Friday and halted a 12-day run of gains.[...]

Six mistakes job-seekers make

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 01:40:06 +0000

Don’t make these mistakes when you’re hunting for a job.

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Nasdaq ends 12-day run of gains; Dow, S&P 500 rise

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:56:09 +0000

By Ellis Mnyandu NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq fell on Friday, halting a 12-day run-up, following Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) disappointing quarterly results, but gains in pharmaceutical and energy shares lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to fresh 8-month closing highs. Microsoft shares slid 8.3 percent to $23.45, a day after the software maker posted quarterly revenue below Wall Street’s estimates. Web retailer Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) also missed sales expectations, driving its stock down 7.9 percent to $86.49. The results cast a cloud over what is so far shaping up to be a stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings season. Even so, investors took Wall Street’s initial drop on Friday as an opportunity to scoop up shares in other sectors, including energy and defensive plays such as big pharmaceuticals and utilities. “Microsoft is going through a product transition and no great visibility on the Windows franchise, but in general, the tone this quarter for a good many companies has been strong,” said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of the U.[...]

McDonald’s Softening Same-Store Sales

admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:10:07 +0000

McDonald’s (MCD: NYSE) By Jefferies & Co. ($55.96, July 23, 2009) MCDONALD’S (ticker: MCD) delivered second-quarter earnings per share of 97 cents, meeting the Street expectation and one cent short of our 98 cents number. Softer-than-expected revenue ($5.65 billion versus our $5.75 billion estimate) was partially offset by better-than-expected restaurant-level margins and lower corporate overhead spending. Same-store sales will likely stay in the low single-digit range in second-half 2009 as comparisons grow more challenging. We continue to believe that McDonald’s shares will have a difficult .[...]