Latest News In Stock Market Investment Research – Nov 6, 2009

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6 Nov 2009 at 5:54am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — CF Industries Holdings Inc. said Friday that its board has rejected Agrium Inc.’s revised acquisition bid, noting that it “continues to substantially undervalue the company.” On Thursday, Agrium raised its hostile takeover offer for fertilizer rival CF Industries, hiking the cash portion of the deal by 13%. Based on Wednesday’s closing price of Agrium, the total revised bid was lifted to $92.99 a share. Shares of CF Industries ended Thursday at $79.90.

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Mirant Corp. adjusted net income rises

6 Nov 2009 at 5:48am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Mirant Corp. said Friday its third-quarter net income fell to $55 million, or 38 cents a share, from $1.6 billion, or $8.69 a share in the year-ago period. Adjusted income from continuing operations rose to $1.63 a share from $1.17 a share. Wall Street analysts surveyed by FactSet Research forecast earnings of $1.14 a share for the Atlanta-based power company. The latest quarter’s results include unrealized losses, principally on hedges, of $174 million compared to unrealized gains of $1.4 billion in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose to $311 million in the third quarter, from $278 million in the year-ago period. Mirant cut its 2009 adjusted EBITDA forecast to $860 million from $873 million, but raised its 2010 adjusted EBITDA view to $617 million from $570 million.

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Bebe cut to hold by Brean Murray Carret

6 Nov 2009 at 5:48am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Bebe Stores Inc. shares were cut to hold from buy by Brean Murray Carret & Co. Friday. The women’s clothing retailer’s fiscal first-quarter loss widened more than analysts’ estimated and its fiscal second-quarter profit forecast also fell short. The analyst noted the company’s new management is still putting together its team, which has slowed its turnaround. “While this is a natural progression, it has become somewhat frustrating after years of negative same-store sales and almost a year of management turnover,” Beder said. Bebe shares closed at $6.53 Thursday.

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Scripps Networks posts higher profit

6 Nov 2009 at 5:39am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. said Friday that its third-quarter net income rose 14% to $65.3 million, or 39 cents a share, from $57.3 million, or 35 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Operating revenue at the Cincinnati-based media company inched slightly higher to $364.5 million from $364.2 million. On average, analysts polled by FactSet Research were expecting earnings of 36 cents a share on revenue of $364.4 million.

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Macy’s upgraded to overweight by J.P. Morgan

6 Nov 2009 at 5:33am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) – Macy’s Inc. was upgraded to overweight from neutral by J.P. Morgan analyst Charles Grom on Friday after the company posted back-to-back improvement on its monthly same-store sales on a two-year stacked basis. He said there’s significant profit upside, especially in the fourth quarter. Macy’s also should benefit from its My Macy’s localization initiative and improvement in both its upscale Bloomingdale’s chain and its flagship namesake store in New York, the analyst said. He raised his third-quarter profit forecast to a profit of 1 cent a share from a previous estimate of loss of 5 cents a share. He also raised his fourth-quarter profit estimate by 9 cents a share to $1.41 a share.

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Analyst tempers Sunoco outlook on weak results

6 Nov 2009 at 5:30am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — A $278 million charge for the idling of its Eagle Point, N.J. refinery contributed to a steeper-than-expected loss from Sunoco Inc. , an analyst noted on Friday. Jacques Rousseau of Soleil Securities cut his 2009 earnings outlook for Sunoco to 10 cents a share from 65 cents a share. He maintained his buy rating and $38 a share price target, but said Sunoco faced much-weaker-than-expected refining margins during the third quarter. Sunoco’s operating loss of 29 cents a share fell short of Rousseau’s forecast for a loss of 5 cents a share.

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State Street lifts legal reserve by $250 million

6 Nov 2009 at 5:19am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — State Street Corp. said Friday that it has added $250 million to the reserve it established in 2007 to address legal exposure related to losses incurred by investors in certain active fixed-income strategies managed by State Street Global Advisors. The company believes the adjusted reserve should be sufficient for a potential resolution of proceedings by the Securities and Exchange Commission and other governmental authorities. The financial-services company also updated its third-quarter earnings per share to 66 cents on income of $327 million.

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AIG swings to a third-quarter profit

6 Nov 2009 at 5:17am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Troubled insurer American International Group Inc. said Friday that it swung to a third-quarter profit of $455 million, or 68 cents a share, from a loss of $24.5 billion, $181.02 a share, in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, net income was $1.9 billion, compared with an adjusted net loss of $9.2 billion in the third quarter of 2008. Total revenue rose to $26.05 billion from $898 million. AIG was forecast to make $1.20 a share, according to the average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

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Fortress Investment loss lessens

6 Nov 2009 at 5:14am

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Fortress Investment Group said on Friday that its third-quarter loss shrank to $190.3 million, or 43 cents a share from a loss of $267.5 million, or 66 cents a share. The company had revenue of $143.7 million in the quarter, versus $185.1 million a year ago. The company said for the third quarter, fund management distributable earnings was $51 million compared to $63 million in the third quarter of 2008.

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U.S. backed $4.3 trillion in assets, report says

6 Nov 2009 at 4:30am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — At its high point, the federal government was guaranteeing or insuring $4.3 trillion in face value of financial assets, according to a report released Friday by the Congressional Oversight Panel. “The Panel found that Treasury took an aggressive stance in protecting taxpayer interests, and the Panel did not identify any major flaws with their implementation of the guarantee programs. Even so, these programs carried significant risk. In many cases, the American taxpayer stood behind guarantees of high-risk assets held by potentially insolvent institutions,” the report said.

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PMI Group loss narrows to $93.2 million

6 Nov 2009 at 4:24am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc. said Friday that its third-quarter net loss narrowed to $93.2 million, or $1.13 a share, from $229.4 million, or $2.81 a share, a year earlier. Net premiums written in the quarter fell 3.8% to $167.4 million. Losses from continuing operations were $1.06 a share, mainly driven by losses and loss adjustment expenses in U.S. mortgage insurance. Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting the firm to report a loss of $1.23 a share. Losses and loss adjustments, including paid claims, fell to $336.8 million from $382.7 million. The group said it completed various capital relief initiatives, which increased its statutory capital by $139 million.

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NYSE Euronext trading volumes decline

6 Nov 2009 at 3:58am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Stock exchange operator NYSE Euronext said Friday that its October trading volumes were mostly lower than a year ago, when crisis-level volatility drove record trading levels. The average daily volume of U.S. shares traded dropped 38.9% to 2.9 billion, and in Europe the average daily number of stock transactions dropped 26.1% to 1.6 million. In derivatives trading, the average number of futures and options contracts traded per day fell 12.9% to 3.9 million. U.S. equity options volumes rose 23.3% from a year ago and 63% from September to 3.2 million contracts a day, driven in part by increased trading related to the anticipated sales of an equity stake in NYSE Amex Options as well as pricing changes.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


Suncor profit up 14% after Petro-Canada deal

6 Nov 2009 at 3:48am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Suncor Energy said Friday that its third-quarter net profit rose 14% to C$929 million ($872 million), or C$0.74 a share, from C$815 million, or C$0.87 a share, a year earlier. The group, which acquired Petro-Canada on Aug. 1, said operating profit fell to C$288 million, or C$0.23 a share, from C$810 million a year earlier, mainly due to lower commodity prices and higher operating expenses in its oil sands business. This was partly offset by increased production resulting from the Petro-Canada deal. Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting earnings of C$0.29 a share. Production during the final two months of the quarter averaged 630,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with 289,400 barrels a day due to the Petro-Canada deal. Production in the third quarter of 2008 was 281,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


European stocks pull back ahead of data

6 Nov 2009 at 3:26am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — European shares pulled back from early highs on Friday, ahead of U.S. jobs data, with construction stocks declining after Lafarge , down 3.8%, and Wienerberger, down 6.1%, reported earnings. Telecoms were also lower with Vodafone Group shares down 1.1%. Still, it wasn’t all bad news on the earnings front, with British Airways shares up 6.6% and Royal Bank of Scotland shares up 7.5%. The German DAX index declined 0.3% to 5,465.86, the French CAC-40 index lost 0.3% to 3,696.58 and the U.K. index traded flat at 5,127.83.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


Great Portland upped to overweight at J.P. Morgan

6 Nov 2009 at 3:04am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — J.P. Morgan upgraded U.K. property developer Great Portland Estates to overweight from neutral. “We believe the stock has been punished for de-gearing at the bottom of the direct market, and concern over the departure of Rob Noel, the highly regarded property director. We believe the underperformance is overdone,” the broker said. It believes the company has an attractive valuation, acquisition firepower, the West End of London market is likely to lead an expected 10% bounce in property values, consensus upgrades are likely and the firm has a strong management team. Also first-half results next week could provide a catalyst, it believes. “Great Portland is likely to be the first property company to report a positive revaluation,” the broker said. Shares rose 3.6%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


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November 06 2009 05:07 am | Stock Market News

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