: iStockAnalyst.com Symbols Feed

Indian Budget Disappoints Market

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:28:07 GMT

The Indian market reacted with disappointment to the budget presented this morning by the new Finance Minister, due to lack of any new liberalization measures and the ballooning budget deficit. The Bombay Sensitive Index plunged 870 points, or almost 6%, as the high hopes for major pro-market structural reform in pensions, insurance and retail sectors were not met. Markets were expecting that there would be a roadmap for bringing down the fiscal deficit, as also details of disinvestment and deregulation of oil prices. The budget seeks to boost government spending that would increase the fiscal deficit to 6.8% of GDP. The country's fiscal deficit has been soaring since the government enacted three fiscal stimulus packages of tax cuts and spending, on top of deep spending on fuel subsidies, government pay hikes and farmer loan and employment programs. Last year, the deficit was 6.2% of GDP, and the year before that it was 2.7% of GDP. Rising deficits[More...]

Ghost Malls Will Be Appearing

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:40:00 GMT

Commercial real estate, next shoe to drop.... James Quinn January 19th 2009 America’s economy supports more than 1.1 million retail stores. There are approximately 1,100 Malls in the United States, not counting the thousands of strip mall centers. That will soon change as once thriving malls become ghost malls. By 2011, America’s malls within two years will have an entirely different set of numbers. International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) chief economist Michael Niemira tries to put a good face on the gloom. He says, “In the midst of all this doom and gloom, it’s hard to imagine it getting better… But keep in mind, what happens in strong downturns is there’s a hefty pent-up demand. It’s wrong to extrapolate these conditions for the next year or two.” But Mr. Niemira is probably wrong. There is no pent-up demand. Americans have bought everything they’ve desired[More...]

Five Healthcare Stocks for a Happy New Year

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:27:00 GMT

The accompanying table includes a basket of five small-cap stocks chosen from the ETF Innovators (ETFI) new healthcare indexes. The five companies are trading above their 50-day moving averages with expected upside catalyst(s) in the next six months or less. AMAG Pharma (AMAG) announced last evening that the FDA issued another complete response for its iron deficiency anemia drug ferumoxytol (Feraheme). More details are expected today at 8:30 AM (ET) when AMAG[More...]

Nine For '09: Stock Picks For The New Year

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:18:00 GMT

Below are nine stock picks for 2009, which are taken from the 1,000 company database of ETF Innovators (ETFI) Indexes, and which I own in my personal brokerage account. Given my cautious stance toward the economy and stock market, the picks have a defensive theme favoring the healthcare sector as a source of defensive growth companies. 1.) Consumer Staples – Tobacco: Altria Group (MO) has lost about 30% of its market value since spinning off the international tobacco operations into a separate public company as Philip Morris International (PM), resulting in a dividend yield of 8.5% with a stock price near 15 bucks as of today. Altria declared its quarterly dividend of 32 cents today, with an ex-dividend date of 12/22/08 which is payable on 1/9/09. 2.) Consumer Staples – Packaged Food: Kraft Foods (KFT) is trading with a historically high dividend yield over 4% since losing about 23% of its market value in the past year. Profit margins[More...]

Circuit City Considers Shutting 150 Stores To Avoid Bankruptcy

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:59:00 GMT

Circuit City (CC) has undeniably a long history of nearly 60 years as a leader in the consumer electronics industry. However, the foundations of that status may not be enough for the electronics retailer to help it navigate from its current financial troubles. According to WSJ - Richmond, Va.-based Circuit City is contemplating closures of at least 150 stores, in addition to thousands of job cuts, in hopes of avoiding insolvency and consequently a bankruptcy filing. By shutting the stores, the co. hopes to liquidate about $350 million in inventory, which it could use to pay off certain real-estate costs and pressure existing landlords to renegotiate some leases many of which Circuit City regards as overpriced. Of the co.’s $3.98 billion in off-balance sheet obligations related to operating lease commitments, more than half is tied to[More...]

Libor Explained

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:32:00 GMT

One of the things about crises is that formerly obscure terms all of a sudden become commonplace and of great interest to people.? LIBOR is one of these.? LIBOR stands for the London Inter Bank Offered Rate.? In essence, it is the rate at which banks lend to each other. ? If, for example, you come into your branch of Wells Fargo (WFC) with a deposit of $1 million, it would be the intention of WFC to lend that money out to one of its customers.? But suppose that it doesn't have a good prospect right now for that loan.? At the same time, Citigroup (C) has a long-standing customer which wants to draw $1 million on its existing credit line, but is a bit short of deposits at that moment.?? Citi[More...]

Crisis of Confidence Continues

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:49:00 GMT

Trying to make sense of the crisis on Wall Street is not easy, as most investors know by now. Helping us navigate through the gnarly forest of largely-unknown terms and tools today is Manish Jain, the Fized Income Portfolio Manager for Zacks Investment Management. What exactly happened when "the markets froze" that caused the fear of a market meltdown and the need for a $700 billion bailout by the Fed? Basically what?s going on is a crisis of confidence. It?s a lack of confidence at the person sitting across from you when you are lending him money. What AIG (AIG), Lehman, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch ([More...]

Credit Seizing Up

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:31:00 GMT

By Liz Capo McCormick and Gavin FinchAug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Most of the bond strategists and salesmen that Resolution Investment Management Ltd.'s Stuart Thomson talked to last August expected the credit crunch to be long over by now. Instead, money markets show there's no end in sight, and it may even worsen. ''It's like an ongoing nightmare and no one is sure when we're going to wake up,'' said Thomson, a money manager in Glasgow at Resolution, which oversees $46 billion in bonds. ''Things are going to get worse before they get better.'' In a replay of the last four months of 2007, interest-rate derivatives imply that banks are becoming more hesitant to lend on speculation credit losses will increase as the global economic slowdown deepens. Binit Patel, an economist in London at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said in an Aug. 21 report that nations accounting for half of the world's economy face a recession. [More...]

Big Changes for LIBOR as BBA Tries to Restore Credibility in Key Lending Rate

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:41:38 GMT

By Jennifer Yousfi Managing Editor After months of increasing skepticism, the British Bankers Association yesterday (Tuesday) announced changes to its London Interbank Offer Rate...[More...]

What is Libor?

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:18:29 GMT

I was emailed a question by a reader (thanks BC) regarding Libor. The question pertained to a possible head and shoulders formation on the chart. I have posted a chart below on Libor for reference.[More...]

Is the recession over? And what's the outlook for 2010?

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:49:00 GMT

Nov. 8--After a rocky year, the economy finally seems to be on the rebound.
Robert Cuomo, dean of Merrimack College's Girard School of Business and International Commerce, will attempt to answer those questions in the latest installment of the "Weathering the Storm Part 2: 'Has the Rain Stopped?'"
Following Cuomo's talk, those in attendance will hear from Michael Barretti, director of executive education for Suffolk University's Sawyer Business School.

[More...]

Inland Analysts Expect Few Long-Term Vacancies As Stores Close

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:53:00 GMT

Oct. 22--Retail experts say Inland shopping-center operators may need several months to fill the holes being left by recently departed national retailers such as Mervyns, Linens 'n Things and Wickes Furniture.
But by the time the stores are all liquidated, their leases or real estate purchased and new tenants renovate and move in, it could be another year before the spaces are again open for business.
"It looks like 2009 is going to be a challenging year for retailers," he said, adding the Inland retail vacancy rate is currently around 13 percent, higher than the national average of 10 percent.

[More...]