Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Analyst reports, Deals, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), General Electric (GE), Market matters, Viacom (VIA), Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), CIT Group (CIT), MasterCard Inc’A’ (MA), Dean Foods (DF), Economic data, Marvell Technology Group (MRVL)

U.S. stock futures were higher Tuesday morning at the start of the election day. Overseas, markets also edged higher ahead of the U.S. presidential election, while oil prices declined further to below $64 a barrel. While it is uncertain yet if any of the candidates would help boost sentiments and the markets as the economy is distressed either way, some analysts say much of the bad news around the economy and corporate profits are already priced into stocks. September factory orders will be released today.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)’s arm GE Capital may be able to get some help from the Treasury. The Wall Street Journal reported its sources say the Treasury has been considering using more of its $700 billion rescue fund to buy stakes in a broad range of financial companies, not just banks and insurers. Apparently, initial signs show the program has been a success, and therefore might be expanded. CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) was cited as another candidate for help. GE shares are up 2.6% in premarket trading,

MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) shares soared over 8% in after-hours trade Monday after the credit card processor has posted better-than-expected profit (after charges) boosted by revenue growth. It has also adjusted profit better than forecast. MasterCard, however, took a charge of $515 million for settling a lawsuit with Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), making its net loss $194 million.

Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) earnings, however, dropped 37% year over year, but adjusted earnings were inline with expectations.

Continue reading Before the bell: Stocks higher on Election Day; GE, MA, VIA, ADM, DF, MRVL, AAPL …

Before the bell: Stocks higher on Election Day; GE, MA, VIA, ADM, DF, MRVL, AAPL … originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Good news, Products and services, Google (GOOG)

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) can finally put a goofy litigious chapter behind it. It can now get back to the business of scanning books in its effort to make anything ever printed available digitally. Google’s book scanning project is intended for one thing, and one thing only: profit-generation while enabling readers to have access to any book from almost any web browser anywhere on earth.

Google will settle two copyright lawsuits for $125 million and then will continue to scan in books and make them available for purchase electronically. Book publishers and authors will, of course, receive advertising revenue and other revenue as a result of Google’s efforts. Google will, of course, get a cut of the action as well. I’m not sure of the scale here, but if Google reached just a small portion of readers across the globe and eeked out a buck or two from each one, there’s some massive revenue generation for you. Nice business if you can get it.

In addition, Google certainly hopes to convert authors still demanding the physical printing of authored works to the digital side, where even more revenue can be generated. The generation who reads newspapers, carry books with them and does calculations by hand is being replaced by the generation who has everything online from anywhere they go and run a completely digital life. The distribution method is the internet for these folks, and the content must be there as well. There’s something nostalgic about taking a nice book with you to read in a quiet place (that is, if you can find a quiet place). But, for those multitasking Gen-Yers, information flows only digitally — and Google wants to make sure you find what you need through it.

Google finally settles lawsuit brought over book scanning efforts originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), General Electric (GE), Market matters, Caterpillar (CAT), Verizon Communications (VZ), Cramer on BloggingStocks

From TheStreet.com Network

• Whirlpool Not Whirring
• Cramer: Can’t Trust a Rally

TheStreet.com’s Jim Cramer says maybe the secret is to do no homework. If only that were the case.

If you want to participate in the rally that went on Tuesday I have a very specific suggestion: Don’t do any homework. And don’t listen to any conference calls. And don’t pay any attention to the Q&As about credit and where it is going to come from and how quickly stretched balance sheets became because of all of the huge buybacks that were going on for so long.

Make sure you only follow Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) (Cramer’s Take), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) (Cramer’s Take) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) (Cramer’s Take) as they had great quarters. Don’t listen to Occidental (NYSE: OXY) (Cramer’s Take), where the always honest CFO Steve Chazen lays it all out, lays out how so many oil and gas operators will be broken by this decline and the lack of financing available. Don’t listen to Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) (Cramer’s Take) where you would learn that the worst recession in appliances in three decades is now morphing into the worst ever, and GE (NYSE: GE) (Cramer’s Take) is still trying to sell its appliance division.

Don’t listen to the cliff-like falloff in orders from an industrial outfit like Crane (NYSE: CR) (Cramer’s Take). Certainly don’t contemplate what Caterpillar’s (NYSE: CAT) (Cramer’s Take) order book looks like or Masco’s (NYSE: MAS) (Cramer’s Take) for that matter.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Feeling regret over doing the homework

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Feeling regret over doing the homework originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Google (GOOG)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has lost money on it finance website, its maps, its image search, and does not appear to make money on YouTube. If investors have any valid criticism of the company it is that Google is in too many business which have limited or no potential return.

Add investing in a more efficient national energy program to that list. Google does manage energy consumption to keep the costs of its server farms down, but now the company wants to go way beyond that. According to The New York Times, “Google is now considering large investments in projects that generate electricity from renewable sources.”

Perhaps the large search firm should look at the collapse of the solar and ethanol businesses. As the price of commodities moved up and oil prices moved down, ethanol stocks have been killed. As government underwriting of solar power has been cut back that industry has gone into a flat spin along with the public companies which have driven its expansion.

Google’s stock is at $329 down from a 52-week high of over $747. Some of that is due to concerns about a slowing advertising market. Some of its is due to the money Google wastes. The company can take one of those concerns off the table.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

Investing in energy: More wasted money at Google originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Management, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), Wal-Mart (WMT), Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

This post is part of a feature on companies and products that our bloggers think are in need of a makeover. See all 26.

You may have noticed, as I did, that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson seemed colossally uncomfortable during his testimony before Congress in September. Obviously, no one would enjoy jumping into Paulson’s shoes and defending the merits of the government’s $700-billion bailout bill to skeptical senators. However, the good Secretary’s level of discomfort went up to 11 when the legislators began grilling him about the obscenely fat pay packages received by Wall Street CEOs — even those who, you know, bankrupted their companies and stuff?

I can’t blame Hank for breaking a sweat. Before he assumed the role of Treasury Secretary, Paulson was better known as the handsomely compensated CEO of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). To his credit, Goldman is one of the few titans of Wall Street still standing in the wake of the mortgage-backed securities mess. Although he managed not to drive his company into the ground, I’d argue that Paulson is not quite impartial enough to lead the charge for CEO pay reform.

On the other hand, I have never received a salary that could be described as “scandalous.” Plus, I have a healthy amount of indignant rage regarding the pay packages scored by such Wall Street ne’er-do-wells as Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers and Martin Sullivan of AIG (NYSE: AIG). With this arbitrary sense of entitlement, I feel more than qualified to suggest some new guidelines for executive pay.

Continue reading Makeover needed: CEO pay

Makeover needed: CEO pay originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Google (GOOG), Small business

Some of the top venture capitalists, including Sequoia and Benchmark, are warning of looming problems for start-ups. In fact, we are already seeing layoffs at some VC-backed companies, such as Zillow and AdBrite.

The new mantra is: cut costs and get to profitability — and fast.

I think it’s good advice, whether your company is seeking venture capital or not.

It should also be no surprise that there has been a downtrend in VC fundings lately. A report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association shows that there was $7.1 billion in VC investment in Q3, a 7% drop from Q2.

It’s a good bet that the decline will continue. Basically, the IPO market is dead and M&A activity is fairly slow, making it difficult for VCs to get returns.

So does this mean you should forget about VC funding? Not necessarily. No doubt, the market is still large and VCs continue to find opportunities, especially at lower valuations.

However, it’s critical that a company meet the tough criteria that VCs look for:

Continue reading Entrepreneur’s Journal: Is it worth looking for venture capital?

Entrepreneur’s Journal: Is it worth looking for venture capital? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Internet, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), eBay (EBAY), Amazon.com (AMZN), Technology

Famed online auction platform eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), whose Internet colleagues include Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), will be reporting earnings for the third quarter on Wednesday after the market closes up shop. What should shareholders expect from the company?

Well, according to data posted by Trey Thoelcke, shareholders shouldn’t expect much. While the top line is expected to rise by double digits (around 13%) to $2.1 billion, nothing is really cooking in terms of the bottom line. The call is for $0.41 per share. eBay booked $0.41 per share in the year earlier period. As you can see, that’s a 0% growth rate, and that’s never good (well, unless you’re a financial company, in which case that’s actually great). However, there is one silver lining to the earnings story for shareholders. If you take a look at past earnings data, you’ll notice that eBay has a snazzy reputation for beating estimates issued by analysts. So, I’d be willing to bet we’ll see an easy beat this week.

As to whether or not this particular stock will rally upon such news, that’s difficult to say. If Monday’s rallying sentiment makes another visit on Wednesday, then I’d say eBay could be an interesting earnings trade, mostly because it isn’t far from its 52-week low. Unfortunately, I think any rally that we get in the market right now is not to be trusted. It just can’t be. Profit-taking is always going to be waiting to sap the power out of any rally, simply because we know the economy isn’t going to be great for many months to come. So, even though I like the technical set-up to some degree vis a vis eBay’s earnings-beating history, I personally wouldn’t be buying. For me to trust any rally, I’d need to see some confirmations and additional up days.

Speaking of the economy, it will be interesting to see what eBay’s numbers tell us about the economy and where the company might be heading in terms of its fundamentals. One would figure that there will be a lot of people looking to sell stuff on eBay to raise some cash, and a lot of buyers scouring the platform looking for bargains to save money.

Another thing to look for will be growth in cash flow. (You can get last quarter’s numbers by clicking the appropriate link at this page, which takes you to a pdf file). Net cash from operations increased 23% for the six-month time period. I would think that the trend will continue (i.e., cash flow will increase, although not necessarily by that high of a percentage, since earnings may be flat) and that there won’t be too much of a surprise. How much stock will management have repurchased? Hopefully, enough to show its confidence in the eBay business model. Last quarter, the company took back 19 million shares. Will it have perceived the low price on its stock as a good value? That’s something to watch. PayPal has also been performing, and I think shareholders will receive more good news on that segment.

I really don’t expect any dire surprises during the quarter, and I think eBay’s stock is cheap. Again, though, I’m not calling for an earnings trade here. The risk/reward just doesn’t feel right to me in this case given the volatility we’ve seen. I have been like a broken record in terms of my reticence for earnings trades, but I just think you’ve got to be very careful. Of course, everyone knows to be careful, that’s obvious, but it never hurts to issue reminders when it comes to money.

Disclosure: I don’t own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

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Filed under: Before the bell, Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), General Motors (GM), Viacom (VIA), Bank of America (BAC), CBS Corp ‘B’ (CBS), Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

U.S. stocks may continue their record rally from Monday as investors’ confidence was buoyed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s plan to invest $125 billion in the nine largest financial institutions. Japan Nikkei 225 Index had its biggest jump in its 59-year history. Benchmarks in 16 out of 17 Western European countries also advanced, according to Bloomberg News.

“The market is saluting the bailout plan,” said Chicuong Dang, an analyst at KBL Richelieu Gestion in Paris, in an interview with Bloomberg.

Under the Bush Administration’s plan, the government will buy preferred shares in nine of the largest financial firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). The money is coming from the recently enacted $700 billion rescue of Wall Street.

Here is a look at other news that may move markets:

• Big-shot hedge fund managers Paul Tudor Jones and Stephen A. Cohen have been forced to sell assets amid tightening credit markets and falling stock prices, according to Bloomberg.
• Morgan Stanley is “in a much stronger position” because of the $9 billion investment its received from Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Chief Executive John Mack told The Wall Street Journal.
• Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) are in talks with the Justice Department to avoid an antitrust lawsuit on their advertising deal, the Journal said
• Media mogul Sumner Redstone has been forced to sell off large chunks of his holdings in CBS Corp (NYSE: CBS) and Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA). the Journal said.
• Commodity prices are falling, putting money into the pockets of consumers when they need it most, the New York Times reported.
• The General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) — Chrysler LLC buyout talks are at a critical juncture. The company and Chrysler’s owner Cerberus Capital Management are discussing how much cash the buyout firm will contribut to the joint venture and how much stock it will get in return, the Tiimes said.

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Google (GOOG), eBay (EBAY), Intel (INTC), International Business Machines (IBM), Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Merrill Lynch (MER), Wells Fargo (WFC)

The earnings crunch begins in earnest this coming week, with companies from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) to Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) and Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) scheduled to report results for the quarter just ended. But with the ongoing turmoil in the markets, much attention is on the tech and financial sectors. This week will provide plenty to mull over on both counts.

Wall Street expectations for tech stocks are fairly optimistic. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are looking for chip maker Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) and software/service company iGate Corp. (NASDAQ: IGTE) to be the sector’s biggest earnings gainers of the week. Altera is expected to report earnings of 30 cents per share (up 33.3% from a year ago) on revenue of $355.1 million. Altera had previously forecast flat sales for the quarter, and shares fell to a 52-week low last week. iGate is expected to report earnings of 14 cents per share (up 42.9%) on revenue of $55.6 million. India-based iGate recently spun off its Mastech consulting services. Shares are down 45.0% in the past three months, and also reached a new 52-week low last week.

San Jose-based Novellus Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS), on the other hand, is expected to report that net income tumbled 90.4% from a year ago to 4 cents per share, on revenue of $245.6 million. Novellus fell to a 52-week low early last week, and shares are down 44.5% year to date.

Here’s a look at what analysts anticipate from other tech-related stocks scheduled to report this week.

• Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX): $0.37 per share (+18.9%) on revenues of $482.9 million (+8.5%)
• Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG): $4.79 per share (+18.4%) on revenues of $4.1 billion (+34.5%)
• Datalink Corp. (NASDAQ: DTLK): $0.11 per share (+18.2%) on revenues of $50.6 million (+10.3%)
• Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG): $1.27 per share (+18.1%) on revenues of $226.6 million (+44.4%)
• International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM): $2.02 per share (+16.8%) on revenues of $26.0 billion (+7.9%)
• Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON): $0.95 per share (+14.7%) on revenues of $9.6 billion (+9.9%)
• Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY): $0.30 per share (+13.3%) on revenues of $575.1 million (+27.9%)
• Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (NYSE: SAY): $0.34 per share (+11.8%) on revenues of $645.9 million (+26.7%)
• Linear Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: LLTC): $0.45 per share (+11.1%) on revenues of $310.4 million (+10.3%)
• Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): $0.34 per share (+8.8%) on revenues of $10.3 billion (+1.7%)
• United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX): $1.32 per share (+8.3%) on revenues of $15.1 billion (+9.0%)
• eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY): $0.41 per share (same as a year ago) on revenues of $2.1 billion (+12.6%)
• Informatica Corp. (NASDAQ: INFA): $0.17 per share (-10.5%) on revenues of $112.7 million (+17.4%)
• Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK): $0.49 per share (-10.9%) on revenues of $18.6 billion (+5.0%)

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is expected to narrow its net loss to 40 cents per share on revenue of $1.5 billion. The chip maker recently announced that it would sell off its manufacturing operations. And again, shares are trading near a 52-week low. Aladdin Knowledge Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ALDN) is expected to swing to a loss of 21 cents per share on revenue of $29.9 million. However, shares are 9.2% higher than they were three months ago.

Things don’t look quite so encouraging when it comes to financial stocks. Last week, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) reported earnings of 15 cents per share, much lower than the consensus estimate of 62 cents. This week, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) is about the only financial company expected to report earnings gains. Analysts are looking for $0.72 per share, 6.9% higher than a year ago, on revenue of $3.7 billion. Also apparently headed in the right direction is Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), as it is expected to swing to a profit of $1.01 per share, from a loss of 21 cents per share in the year-ago quarter, on sales of $4.2 billion. The Times-Picayune called Capital One Bank one of the most stable in the current crisis. And its shares are — you guessed it — trading near its 52-week low.

Here’s what analysts are expecting from some other financials reporting this week.

• CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT): $0.20 per share (-84.5%) on revenues of $536.0 million (-33.5%)
• Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (NYSE: MI): $0.21 per share (-67.7%) on revenues of $650.0 million (-31.8%)
• Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA): $0.45 per share (-61.5%) on revenues of $669.2 million (-8.7%)
• Zions Bancorp. (NASDAQ: ZION): $0.62 per share (-49.2%) on revenues of $622.4 million (0.0%)
• Wilmington Trust Corp. (NYSE: WL): $0.41 per share (-38.8%) on revenues of $183.8 million (-2.7%)
• Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC): $0.42 per share (-34.4%) on revenues of $11.0 billion (+11.5%)
• Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN): $0.25 per share (-34.2%) on revenues of $637.2 million (+3.7%)
• Associated Banc-Corp (NASDAQ: ASBC): $0.37 per share (-33.9%) on revenues of $258.7 million (+4.3%)
• AMB Property Corp. (NYSE: AMB) $0.68 per share (-31.3%) on revenues of $169.7 million (+2.0%)
• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC): $1.09 per share (-20.4%) on revenues of $1.9 billion (+6.2%)
• BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT): $0.66 per share (-18.5%) on revenues of $1.9 billion (+13.0%)

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) — which bowed out of an acquisition of Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) — and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) are expected to have swung to losses of 66 cents per share (on sales of $21.3 billion) and 13 cents per share (on sales of $16.2 billion), respectively. And in its final quarter before its acquisition by Bank of America, Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) is expected to have widened its net loss to $5.20 per share, on revenue of $1.3 billion. Like so many others, shares of Citigroup and Merrill hit 52-week lows last week.

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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Filed under: Products and services, Google (GOOG), Marketing and advertising

If you’re a Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) user, you probably enjoy the relatively high quality of the company’s products at t cost of — zero. How does Google give all this away for free, you ask? It’s the same as any other company on the web that features quality products at no cost. The cost is your privacy. You are paying, and paying big.

Do you mind? It’s hard to say what kind of personal, financial and psychological profile Google has on millions of its customers, but you can believe that this massive marketing database exists. How Google manages this will be the most important decision in the company’s young, decade-old existence, but the question remains: do many of us sell our souls for freebies? Every time you sign up for something free but fill out a complete demographic profile to get it, you’re selling out. Google is doing nothing different — but its scale is so huge that all this data controlled by one entity does cause for concern among the informed consumer inside us all. It should, anyway.

Google, like anyone in business who is savvy, knows that giving away products or services for “free” on the front end is made up for on the back end. In other words, would you rather pay for every single product or service you use and not have any entity know how to market to you — or would you rather get a good majority of your products and services at no cost but with the attached condition that there are many entities out there that know you better than you know yourself?

More importantly, they know how to push your exact buttons to have you behaving like a robotic consumer or a slot machine junkie? With the U.S. consumer responsible for two-thirds of economic activity (as little as that is at the moment), the harnessing of this kind of power becomes clear. Okay, I’m off to perform a Google search…

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