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Top Performer for Wed: New York Times Co. (NYT) – Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers

James Giaquinto — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Companies from the publishing-newspapers industry don't often move toward the front of the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List, but The New York Times Company (NYT) is interrupting that trend today.

Bolstered by an upgrade for the entire newspaper sector, shares of this media company were up nearly 10% Wednesday.

According to the analyst, the newspaper ad market, which has been seriously slumping for years, appears to be improving quicker than expected.

Volume today was up to 4.6 million shares, which is well above the daily average of around 2.07 million shares.

The New York Times Company is a diversified media company including newspapers, television and radio stations, magazines, electronic information and publishing, Internet businesses and forest products investments. The company includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers and more than 50 websites. Unsurprisingly, it is the sole company from the publishing-newspapers industry on today's Zacks #1 Rank List.

Update

Earlier this month, The New York Times Company updated its expectations for 2009, stating that print advertising revenues should decrease about 25% in the fourth quarter. However, trends had modestly improved as the quarter progressed.

Furthermore, the company said digital advertising has been strengthening and it expects total online advertising revenues to advance about 10% in the quarter.

In addition, total debt is expected to be about $800 million at the end of the year, compared to $1.1 billion at the end of 2008.

Earnings Estimates for The New York Times Company

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this year is currently at 21 cents per share, which is a reversal from a loss estimate 3 months ago and up 23.5% in the past 30 days. Both of the covering analysts for this year contributed to advance in the past month.

For next year, the Zacks Consensus Estimate is at 46 cents, or 119% better than this year. With participation from 2 of 3 covering analysts, this guidance has advanced by 9.5% in the past month.

Big Beat in Third Quarter

In its third-quarter report from late October, The New York Times Company announced earnings per share of 16 cents, excluding items. That result marked a 700% surprise over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 cents. This was the company's second straight quarterly surprise in the triple digits.

EPS also easily improved on a year-over-year basis. However, revenue was down 17% to $570.6 million, due to lower print advertising.

"Looking ahead, visibility remains limited for advertising in the fourth quarter," said The New York Times Company President/CEO Janet Robinson. "But as is the case across the media sector, we have seen encouraging signs of improvement in the overall economy and in discussions with our advertisers." Zacks Investment Research

New York Times Stalls Sale – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:48:13 +0000

The New York Times Co. (NYT) recently decided not to sell Massachusetts newspaper, Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

The New York Times notified that 2 potential bidders, Harry T. Whitin, a former Telegram & Gazette editor, and Ralph D. Crowley Jr., an executive of a bottling company, had emerged for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. The company had bought the Worcester Telegram & Gazette for $296 million in 2000.

Earlier, the company decided not to sell its daily newspaper, the Boston Globe, after effective cost-cutting measures and increase in price resulted in improved financial position.

The newspaper industry has long been grappling with the slump in print advertising demand amid the global meltdown, as advertisers are migrating to the Internet due to increasing online readership and lower ad prices than print.

The New York Times announced a recent round of cuts in its headcount by laying off at least 18 newsroom employees.

In Oct 2009, The New York Times hinted that it plans to trim newsroom staff by 8% or nearly 100 jobs by the end of the year through buyouts or layoffs, leaving 1,150 editorial staff, which is significantly higher than other U.S. newspapers where the numbers are not more than 750.
Read the full analyst report on "NYT"
Zacks Investment Research

Dreams, Inc. (DRJ) Signs New Web Syndication Deal with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune

QualityStocks — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:13:47 +0000

Dreams, Inc., a leader in licensed sports products, has reported a web syndication deal with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, one of the nation’s highest circulation newspapers. The new agreement will provide Dreams another outlet for licensed sports products and provide their new media partner with an additional stream of income. Dreams has previously obtained other major [...]

Harbinger Offloads Stake – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:15:40 +0000

Recently, Harbinger Capital Partners, one of the largest investors in The New York Times Company (NYT), offloaded a chunk of its stake in the company.

The investment firm sold about 5 million shares at $8.25 per share, fetching $41.3 million in total. This reduces its ownership interest to 16.38% from 19.94%. The shares of New York Times surpassed the selling price and closed at $8.37 on Tuesday, up 2.6% from the previous day’s session. Harbinger made it clear that it has no intention to shed its entire stake.

Harbinger Capital started purchasing The New York Times shares nearly two years ago, at prices ranging between $15 and $20 a share, and investing approximately $500 million in aggregate. The firm incurred a significant loss by selling shares at $8.25 each.

The investment firm was looking for a strategic buyer to sell its shares in The New York Times. Earlier in May 2009, the media tycoon David Geffen showed interest to acquire the shares at market price. However, the investment firm for want of premium turned down the request, as the price was too low.

The newspaper industry has been reeling under the current turbulent environment, registering plunging advertising revenue, and The New York Times is no exception. The shares of the company reached as low as $3.51 early this year.

Since then The New York Times’ shares have regained their hold, with advertising market showing some signs of improvement. The company operates as a diversified media company in the United States , and publishes The Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune and 15 other dailies along with its flagship newspaper.
Read the full analyst report on "NYT"
Zacks Investment Research

The Post-Crash Party Continues

Bill Bonner — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:21:38 +0000

pGold took off yesterday…closing at $1020. Here at emThe a href="http://www.dailyreckoning.com" class="alinks_links"Daily Reckoning/a/em, we’re impressed. But we’re not that impressed. Gold, of course, is half of our Trade of the Decade, which we announced almost 10 years ago. We’re bullish on the metal…have been for a very long time. But recent comments in this space have made readers wonder what the Hell is going on…so we will spend a few minutes clarifying./p pstrongFirst, we hope you bought gold many years ago. That would make it simpler./strong Then, we could say: hold! Gold is an antidote to paper. There is so much paper…and so much more apparently on the way…that the gold play seems like a winner. It’s a bet that the money system that#8230;/p

Frank Pushes Fannie and Freddie to Take On More Risky Loans

Contrarian Profits — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:58:43 +0000

p class="MsoNormal"Man of the people Barney Frank is proving how difficult it is for elected officials to learn the lessons of history. In a move that goes beyond dumb, Frank has written a letter to government-backed mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac asking them to relax recently tightened mortgage standards for condominiums./p p class="MsoNormal"What part of “subprime crisis” doesn’t blustering Barney get? In March, Fannie Mae said it would no longer guarantee mortgages on condos in buildings where fewer than 70% of the units have been sold, up from 51%. And Freddie Mac is due to implement similar policies next month./p p class="MsoNormal"But according to Frank this #8220;may be too onerous#8221; and could lead condo buyers to shun new developments, according to the paper./p p class="MsoNormal"Frank’s#8230;/p

NYT Planning to Offload Boston Globe – Zacks Tale of the Tape

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:36:50 +0000

The New York Times Co. (NYT) seems sickened with troubles at its Boston Globe unit. A day after its largest union filed with regulators to contest a 23% pay cut, the parent body reportedly initiated efforts to sell the 137-year-old newspaper.

The Boston Globe reported in its Wednesday edition that the Times Co. has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to approach potential buyers for the struggling broadsheet and will seek bids through the next few weeks.

A representative of the Times Co. said, "Because we have achieved the $20 million in savings we needed, we do not foresee closure at this time and are focused on executing The Globe's turnaround plan."

The largest labor union Boston Newspaper Guild rejected $10 million in concessions aimed at cutting costs at the newspaper earlier this week. The Times Co. has however been able to get major concessions out of the remaining four unions in the last two weeks.

Despite a projected loss of $85 million in 2009, New England's largest selling newspaper still generates some cash. Now that the Times Co. has ruled out its closure, Boston Globe employees will heave a sigh of relief.

"NYT" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Even value investors have their guilty pleasures

Daniel Hung — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:33:30 +0000

Advertising mogul Ed Eskandarian is selling his minority stake in the Boston Red Sox to Seth Klarman, a well known Boston hedge fund manager, according to two people briefed on the transaction. via Boston Red Sox - Minority owner selling stake in Red Sox - The Boston Globe. Seth Klarman, the man who wrote the most famous [...]

The UpTurn, Inc. (UPTR.PK) Enlists Award-Winning, Experienced Bloggers for Reality on Realty Blog

QualityStocks — Tue, 12 May 2009 13:42:02 +0000

The UpTurn Inc. is a company focused on operating a website where professionals in the realty industry, along with homeowners, buyers and sellers, can be matched with their real estate needs. The company recently launched its Reality on Realty blog, a place where people exchange ideas and information on real estate, with topics ranging from [...]

Kindle Can’t Save Newspapers – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 06 May 2009 22:12:41 +0000

Highlights include Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), Pearson Plc (PSO), John Wiley & Sons (JW.A), The New York Times Co. (NYT) and The Washington Post Co. (WPO).

Can Amazon's New Kindle Save Newspapers?
Not on its own.

Amazon.com (AMZN) unveiled a new, larger Kindle today that publishers of newspapers, textbooks and novels all hope will spur sales.

The new Kindle has a 9.7-inch screen, 2.5 times the surface area of the original 6-inch Kindle, launched in 2007, and stores up to 3,500 books, more than double the current Kindle's capacity. The price tag is also much bigger at $489, compared with $389 for the current Kindle.

The electronic reader -- which enables consumers to download books anytime, anywhere at a smaller price than the hardcopy version -- has proven popular. According to Amazon, Kindle books now account for 35% of sales of titles that are available in both e-book and hardcopy versions.

An e-reader device seems well suited to replace a load of heavy hard copy textbooks lugged to school in backpacks. Three textbook publishers -- Cengage Learning, Pearson Plc (PSO), and John Wiley & Sons (JW.A) -- which account for 60% of the market will begin offering textbooks through the Kindle Store beginning this summer.

But can e-readers, such as the Kindle, shore up newspaper circulation, which has been in a secular decline for several years?

In hopes of spurring newspaper sales, this summer The New York Times and The Boston Globe -- both publications of The New York Times Co. (NYT) -- and The Washington Post Co's (WPO) namesake newspaper will offer the new Kindle at subsidized prices with subscriptions to those in areas where home delivery is not available.

As a standalone device, an e-reader seems unlikely to substantially replace dwindling newspaper circulation without other changes to the industry's business model. Most newspapers are currently free online, leaving little incentive to pay to read it at home or in the office on a smaller device. And though portable, carrying around a large e-reading tablet is not practical for most people, who already carry a cell phone or PDA.

Consequently, the revenues and earnings of newspaper publishers are likely to continue plunging until the industry begins charging for online news.
Read the full analyst report on "NYT"
Read the full analyst report on "WPO"
Zacks Investment Research

Boston Globe Not Shutting Down…Yet – Zacks Tale of the Tape

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:53:26 +0000

After a week of heated discussions, the New York Times Co. (NYT) finally negotiated a deal with Boston Globe's largest union on Wednesday that could avert closing of the 137-year old newspaper.

While exact terms of the agreement were not disclosed, news sources said it involved large pay cuts, unpaid layoffs and changes to the system of lifetime job guarantees that protect about 300 people in the Boston Newspaper Guild. This was the last of the seven unions involved in negotiations with the Times management and responsible for $10 million in concessions.

Like other newspapers, the Globe has also been hurt in recent times due to slumping advertising revenue and circulation figures as an increasing number of readers prefer the Internet over printed publications. With an expected loss of $85 million this year, the Times Co. threatened to shut down the paper within a month if unions did not agree to $20 million in concessions.

With its tentative deal with the Boston Newspaper Guild, the parent company has succeeded in changing the job security contract that had been seen as an obstruction to a potential sale of New England's largest newspaper. The Times management has long been criticized for its acquisition of the Boston Globe back in 1993.

Seeking solutions for its numerous problems, the Times management has also decided to raise the prices of the daily and Sunday editions of its flagship publication by 50 cents and $1, respectively. While it still awaits significant turnaround in revenue, industry experts believe the company could soon begin charging fees for its online content. Shares of the company gained 17 cents to $6.33 at noon on the New York Stock Exchange.

"NYT" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Global Investment News Briefs Friday, April 17, 2009

Contrarian Profits — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:43:07 +0000

pSources: GM May Drop Pontiac, GMC Brands; Rosetta Stone IPO Soars; Turkey Benchmark Rate at Record Low; Zurich Financial Buys AIG’s Auto Insurance Unit; NYT Will Cut Content; Canadian Factory Orders Rise; Copper Falls on China GDP; Falling U.S. Homestarts; Bankruptcy “Cram Down” Bill Falters in Senate /p ul listrongGeneral Motors Corp./strong (a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=gm" target="_blank"GM/a) a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082#38;sid=aNdPp2_6j2CQ#38;refer=canada" target="_blank"may drop its Pontiac and GMC brands/a, as it tries to cut costs before its June 1 deadline to prove profitable or enter bankruptcy protection, sources told strongemBloomberg/em/strong. The brands of Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick are likely safe, the sources said./li /ul ul liShares of stronga href="http://www.google.com/finance?cid=12033525" target="_blank"Rosetta Stone Inc./a/strong a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE53F3SC20090416" target="_blank"rose 42% on their first day of trading/a, as the language-training company’s initial public offering netted $112.5 million, strongemReuters/em/strong reported. Rosetta Chief Executive Tom Adams told strongemReuters/em/strong it#8230;/li/ul

Weekend Roundup

Roger Nusbaum — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:07:00 +0000

A reader left a link to a long article from the Boston Globe about what a modern depression would look like. My first observation was that it reads a lot like a href="http://www.financialarmageddon.com/"Michael Panzner's book/a that I was a href="http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/11/16/depression_2009_what_would_it_look_like/?page=1"probably the last person/a to read span style="font-style: italic;"two years ago/span.br /br /Amusingly it seemed less bleak than when I read most of the same stuff in Panzner's book two years ago because things have deteriorated so much since then. Foreclosures and unemployment are way up and the stock market and GDP are way down. Given that we are much closer to a depression in terms of what is actually happening on the ground it's like there is less ground between here and the scenario spelled out in the article and because of that it seemed less scary. I'm sure there is some sort of bias or coping mechanism that accounts for my reaction.br /br /A couple of things I think the article missed is that people would migrate toward industries where there will be job growth which off the top would include healthcare workers, teachers and new government employees to administer the various stimulus and rescue plans.br /br /I would also add that the idea of neighborhoods of overcrowded houses next to abandoned ones seems like more a of a micro phenomenon. Will the foreclosure rate make it to 15% of all mortgage borrowers? I have not seen any estimates that high. If, though, it does get that high that does not mean that all of those people will lose their jobs and for the ones that do, some portion (I would think a large portion) would seek out work that at a minimum left them under-employed. A couple, one of whom is a teacher, lets say, and the other a police officer, with a combined income of $80,000 that needs to go to foreclosure because of a reset of an ARM to a payment they can't afford can probably afford to go into some sort of rental at $1500 month as neither is likely to become unemployed.br /br /That relatively rosy scenario is not an argument for no depression but more of an opinion (or hope) that it does not alter the social fabric of the country to the extent that many people fear. If we become a nation of collectively under-employed people then clearly far fewer people would prosper but it could also mean more people can stay put without turning their homes into multi generational compounds.br /br /Next up is a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106692/Tempest-Tossed-Take-Some-Control;_ylt=At0ZA.pQcd9MYNdHNaIs8_1O7sMF"this from Jason Zweig/a about trying to take control of your financial situation, more specifically your investments. Most of the article sounds good to me but there is one thing I would add which is somethingspan style="font-style: italic;" not/span to do (the article is a list of things span style="font-style: italic;"to /spando). Markets are down a lot. This triggers various sorts of emotions. Probably the worst thing to do after a 55% drop is to change your target allocation between equities and fixed income.br /br /Even if you think October 2007 was 1929 making a radical overhaul to your target asset allocation now is a bad idea. At some point the market will come back, no matter how bullish or bearish you are it will come back, it came back from the 1930s. Maybe it takes two years (unlikely) or maybe it takes 20 years (also unlikely) but a switch today from 70 (stocks)/30 to 40/60 can only lengthen the time you need to get back. If you are young you have the time to give it to come back. If you are 100 years old now and think you won't be around in 20 years, less stock exposure won't help you out from here. The 70/30 number is just an example and I realize that 100 year old investor is unlikely to have more than 5% in stocks..br /br /The above paragraph is not about any tactical defensive moves made thus far or that might be made from here. Someone can target 70% in equities and be underweight their target. The above paragraph is about people giving up which is different than tactical decisions.br /br /If you have learned the hard way you had too much in stocks, from a numbers stand point you are better off waiting for it to at least come partially back before going from 70/30 to 40/60 or any numbers suitable for you. Not that doing so will be any easier for you but from a numbers standpoint...

Aspire Misery Index for the Week Ended January 16, 2009 – Updated through January 16

Small Cap Pulse — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:47:00 +0000

Aspire Misery Index for the Week Ended January 16, 2009 As of Friday morning, January 16, here is what we have accumulated for our Misery Index: middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; US. Auto Industry ndash; Ford expects U.S. light vehicles to reach 12.2 million units this year, Chrysler expects sales to reach 11 million and GM projects 10 to 11 million - down from 16 million in 2007 and 13.2 million last year. Wachovia expects 10.3 million unit sales. CSM worldwide expects 2009 sales in the U.S. to hit 11.5 million (but then rebound to 13.6 million in 2010). Deutsche Bank projects 2009 sales in the U.S. to decline by 13% to 11.5 million units. J.D. Power amp; Associates projects sales in the U.S. to decline to 11.4 million units in 2009, and then grow to 13.4 million in 2010, and 14.7 million units by 2011.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Global Auto Industry ndash; French-Romanian manufacturer Dacia announced a temporary closure of a Romanian plant; Hyundai cutting domestic output between 25% to 30%. CSM Worldwide is forecasting 2008 global sales to fall about 8% to 56.8 million (but a rise in 2010 sales of nearly 7% to 60.8 million units). PSA Peugeot Citroen said its sales declined by 4.9% in 2008. South Korearsquo;s Ssangyong Motor has halted production, after filing for bankruptcy last week. Nissan is cutting domestic production by 64,000 vehicles in February and March. European car sales have hit a 15-year low, according to the ACEA, with demand in the region down 7.3%. Sales in the region in December were down 18% Y/Y. Honda is halting production at its British plant for 20 days in April and 15 days in May to reduce production by 17,000 units and it is cutting production in Japan by an additional 56,000 units.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Global Technology ndash; Forrester Research anticipates spending to decline by 3% this year, which would mark the first decline since 2002, but it expects spending to recover to as much as 9% growth by 2010.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; PC Shipments ndash; Global shipments of PCs posed their first quarterly decline in six years, during the last quarter of 2008, by 0.4% Y/Y. In the U.S. shipments of PCs fell by 3.5%.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Global Handset Marketnbsp; - Sony Ericcson revised its estimate to 1.19 billion units, or 6% growth, down from previous estimates of 10% growth.nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Retail ndash; The Commerce Department reported that retail sales fell 2.7% in December, following a 2.1% decline in November. Ex-autos, the number came in at a decline of 3.1%.nbsp; Expectations were for a 1.2% decline in December. Excluding auto sales, expectations were for a decline of 1.3%. Chain-store sales fell 2.3% for the week ended January 10. December chain-store sales fell 2% Y/Y, and excluding Wal-Mart, comparable store sales declined 4.6% Y/Y marking the largest downturn since 1970.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Airline Industry ndash; Airbus expects orders to dip below deliveries for the first time in six years. Airline traffic fell 7.1% in October. SkyWest said December traffic fell by 3.3% Y/Y.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Beer ndash; reports from brewers are indicating that the beer industry is not immune from current economic conditions either. SABMiller is reporting shipments fell unexpectedly in Q3; Carlsberg A/S said it is cutting 274 jobs to save on costs;nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Inventories ndash; The Commerce Department said businesses cut inventories by 0.7% in November. Expectations were for a 0.5% decline. This is the third straight month of reductions in inventories.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The housing market continues to reel. Reports this morning are that more than 2.3 million American homeowners faced foreclosure last year, an 81% increase from 2007. 860,000 properties were actually repossessed by lenders and Moodyrsquo;s Economy.com is projecting that the number of homes lost to foreclosure will rise by another 18% this year. RealtyTrac said Hawaiirsquo;s foreclosures tripled in December, compared to the same period last year; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Hustlerrsquo;s Larry Flynt reported hat adult DVD sales have decreased 22% in 2008 over the prior year.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Ratings Revisions ndash; Moodyrsquo;s revises Harscorsquo;s outlook to negative; Moodyrsquo;s revised Synovus outlook to negative; Samp;P downgraded Visteon to CCC status from B- with a negative outlook; Samp;P reduced Hayes Lemmerz maintaining outlook to negative; Fitch downgraded Tronox ratings; Moodyrsquo;s cut Harscorsquo;s outlook to negative; Samp;P cut auto parts supplier BorgWarnerrsquo;s ratings; DCP Midstream outlook downgraded to negative by Samp;P, Moodyrsquo;s downgraded Texas Industries; Samp;P cut ratings on Merisant; Moodyrsquo;s said the fundamental credit outlook for the United Arab Emiratesrsquo; banking sector is negative; Samp;P lowered Greece republic; Moodyrsquo;s downgraded American Greetings; Delta Petroleum rating downgraded by Moodyrsquo;s; Moodyrsquo;s downgraded Quiksilver; Samp;P lowered ratings on Spansion; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Profit warnings ndash; Vertex, Hologic, Kendle, Aetna, Kennametal, Aetna, Celgene, KLA Tencor, Health Management, Prestige, Liz Clairborne, Cepheid, Lexmark, Prestige Brands, Old National, Nvidia, Genesco, Visteon, Kenneth Cole,nbsp; F.N.B.., Marathon, Beazer, Deutsche Bank AG, Ametek, P.F. Changs, Kenneth Cole, Bunge, VF, California Pizza Kitchen, Cardiac Science, Trimble, Sanyo, Plantronics, Intel, Cynosure, RC2, Caliper, Autodesknbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Job cuts ndash; Waterford (367 jobs), Courier (72 jobs), Kennametal (1,200 jobs), Westchester Medical Center (400 jobs), Cessna (2,000 jobs), Seagate (10% of its U.S. workforce, or 800 jobs), Cost Plus (18% of its staff), BRE Properties (33 jobs), Mosaic (1,000 jobs in Canada), Cummins (800 jobs and freezing salaries), PGT Inc. (10% of workforce), Pfizer (800 jobs), Hutchinson Technology (275 jobs), ING Group (750 jobs), Digicel (10% of workforce), Harrahrsquo;s Cherokee Casinos (100 jobs), FormFactor (22% of workforce or about 200 jobs); Nieman Marcus (about 375 jobs), Sonus Networks (4% of its workforce, or 40 jobs), Oracle (500 jobs), Reebok (more than 300 workers), Cardiac Science (12% of workforce, or 66 jobs), Barnes amp; Noble (100 jobs); Motorola (another 4,000 jobs), Ecolab (1,000 jobs), Google (100 jobs), MeadWestvaco (10% of its workforce, or 2,000 jobs), Sanyo (1,200 jobs), Plantronics (18% of workforce), Standard Micro (5% to 10% of workforce), Vulcan (50 jobs), Saks (1,100 jobs), AAA (200 jobs), Cynosure (17% of workforce), Random House (confirmed it is cutting an undisclosed number of jobs), the Boston Globe (up to 50 newsroom jobs),nbsp; Marshall amp; Illsley (830 jobs), Autodesk (750 jobs), Blue Cross Blue Shield (up to 1,000 jobs), Roche (780 jobs),nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Employers announced almost 40,000 jobs cuts on Friday alone!nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The Labor Market was expected to report unemployment claims were 500,000 last week. Instead, jobless claims rose 54,000 to 524,000. The one positive note is that continuing claims declined to 4.5 million from an upwardly revised number of 4.6 million the prior week. middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Chapter 11 ndash; Tronox, Tarrogon Corp., Apex Silver (planned); Nortel, Gottschalks, Goodyrsquo;s, Black Angus,nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; BankruptcyData.com reported that bankruptcy filings amongst publicly traded companies increased by 74% in 2008 (136 filings). The record was set in 2001 with 263 filings.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Corporate Defaults ndash; Moodyrsquo;s Investors Service said the rate of defaults by corporate borrowers around the world more than quadrupled last year to 4%. The default rate is expected to rise to about 15.1% by the end of this year.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Closing shop ndash; Cost Plus is closing 26 stores and exiting eight media markets; Sunoco is closing its Texas manufacturing plant; AAA is closing 34 offices in 7 states; Circuit City is closing remaining 567 U.S. stores;nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; States running on empty ndash; Texas comptroller announced it expects a $9 billion drop in revenue for the next 2-year state budget; Iowa estimates a budget gap that could top $600 million; Minnesotarsquo;s State Budget Trends Commission said budget problems are long-term, and the state faces a $4.85 billion deficit for the coming 2-year budget; Florida is pulling from its last-resort reserves to help fill its $2.3 billion budget deficit;nbsp; Ohiorsquo;s unemployment compensation fund is out of money, and the state plans on borrowing $500 million to pay benefits in January and February; Kansas is projecting a $186 million budget deficit but estimates are that the deficit could grow to more than $1 billion by 2010; New Mexico is facing a $450 million deficit; Idahorsquo;s governor has proposed cutting $75.8 million from its public education funding to help cut its fiscal 2010 budget; Alabamarsquo;s Legislative Fiscal Office said its public schools and colleges face $1 billion in budget cuts this year and next as the state grapples with its budget shortfalls; Arizona faces a $1.6 billion shortfall in its current budget; Marylandrsquo;s governor announced that state employee layoffs are in the state budget to be submitted next week; Connecticut is working on a plan to trim its $1 billion deficit; California is running with a $41.6 billion deficit;nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The federal government has run the deficit up to a record $485.2 billion in the first three months of the current budget year. The deficit for December was $83.6 billion, contrasted with a surplus of $48.3 billion in December, 2007. The deficit for the entire 2008 year was $454.8 billion. Dan Weiss of Samp;P expects that this yearrsquo;s deficit will hit $1.6 trillion and will remain above $1 trillion next year as well.nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; And the House Democrats are stepping up the pace announcing a stimulus bill on Thursday that would amount to $825 billion in federal spending and tax cuts. middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President, Dennis Lockhart: ldquo;Looking ahead, the economy is very weak, and I expect it will remain weak at least through the first quarter in late April.rdquo;nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Hedge Fund Research reported that almost 700 funds, or 7% of the industry, shut down in the first three quarters of 2008 with the average hedge fund losing 18% of its value (better than the DJIA which lost 34% and the Samp;P 500 which lost 38%).nbsp;nbsp; middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The UN predicts zero world growth in 2009. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; pa href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/smallcappulse/feed?a=j1HlHK"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/smallcappulse/feed?i=j1HlHK" border="0"/img/a/p

Jan. 14: The Best ETF Articles In The National Media

IndexUniverse Staff — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:55:58 +0000

Jane Bryant Quinn On ETFs

The renowned financial columnist, now writing for Bloomberg News, focuses her attention today on exchange-traded funds and their advantages over active mutual funds.

The headline says it all: "Lame Fund Managers Head for an ETF Thumping."

You can read the column here.

Follow-Up On Inverse & Leveraged Returns

In case you missed it, or didn't read this column, TheStreet.com ran a guest piece last month by Eric Oberg explaining how inverse and leveraged funds don't always provide the exact returns they're shooting to mimic in any given index.

The piece spawned a flood of copy cat articles, trying to pick up on the fact that providing 200% or 300% leverage is tricky since working with futures on a daily basis is more art than science.

The original by Oberg, a retired Goldman Sachs managing director in fixed-income, commodities and currencies, still might be the best. Now, he has a follow-up on that column looking at the reaction and bringing up some more important points about using leverage with ETFs.

You can read the story here.

Bogle Being Bogle

Ross Kerber had a lengthy interview with Vanguard founder John Bogle, who discussed a wide-range of issues in his unique way in this interesting feature for The Boston Globe.

You can read it here.

Auto Bailout Awaits Congressional Approval with Millions of Jobs at Stake

Contrarian Profits — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:59:23 +0000

pCongressional Democrats and the White House yesterday (Wednesday) finalized a short-term package that’ll supply General Motors Corp (a href="http://finance.google.com/finance?q=gm" target="_blank"GM/a), and a href="http://finance.google.com/finance?q=chrysler+LLC" target="_blank"Chrysler LLC/a with $14 billion in emergency loans./p pThe bill clearly falls short of the $34 billion the Big Three were asking for, but should be enough to keep the automakers running through January, when the new Congress and Obama administration take the wheel./p pAs previously reported in strongema href="http://www.moneymorning.com" class="alinks_links"Money Morning/a/em/strong, a href="http://www.moneymorning.com/2008/12/08/big-three-bailout-2/" target="_blank"there will be limits on executive pay, prohibitions for golden parachutes and requirements that the automakers get rid of their corporate aircraft and not pay dividends while loans are outstanding/a. The bill also provides a #8220;car czar,#8221; or presidential appointee, to oversee keep tabs on the companies’ restructuring efforts./p pOf course, the bill is still#8230;/p

Boston Globe: What Would a 2009 Depression Look Like?

Trader Mark — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:00:00 +0000

As negative as I am, I am not on the bandwagon for a "Depression" - while I think unemployment is mightily understated by our government [Nov 7: October's Unemployment Rate Reaches "6.5%"] and probably will reach levels (in real terms, not government terms) that will be debilitating in the next 18 [...]

Changing Times Vitamins, Inc.’s (SGTB.PK) Strong Showcase of RecoveryX and Addition of Kevin Nee to the Team

QualityStocks — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:56:18 +0000

Changing Times Vitamins, Inc. officially launched their new showcased product RecoveryX at the World’s Strongest Men Super Series on June 21, 2008, at Madison Square Garden, WaMu Theater. The World’s Strongest Men Super Series is run by World Class Events (WCE) which is located in Kista, Sweden. RecoveryX was the Grand Prix Sponsor for the [...]

Getting What They Asked For

Robert Amsterdam — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:47:28 +0000

Dmitry Medvedev's bid to be the first to threaten Barack Obama is generating plenty of reaction, which is exactly what Moscow seems to have wanted. But the move has also been quite successful so far in disaggregating the president-elect's vague foreign policy consensus while sowing disagreement and confusion from people who obviously know nothing about the issue. The Boston Globe editorial board, for example, appears to have been very, very frightened by this big scary Russian threat, and urgently suggests that Obama dismantle any plans that might upset Moscow, and in exchange hope that they will work with the United States to fight terrorism and stop protecting Iran from UN diplomacy.

The Short Selling Ban and Hedge Fund Strategies

Richard C. Wilson — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:48:20 +0000

Short Selling Ban

Short Selling Ban - How it has impacted Funds

The Boston Globe recently released an article on the short selling ban - it covers how different funds are being affected by the recent ban on the short selling of some securities.

While these are times when events seem to happen daily which should only happen bi-centennially I'm still surprised by how "business as usual" many professionals I work with and speak to in the industry seem to be. Even though many funds do have negative performance - I believe that many groups are confident that the losses may soon be regained. Many hedge fund marketers, consultants and niche service providers seem to be weathering the storm without too much pain yet.

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Tags: Short Selling Ban, Ban on Short Selling, Ban on Short Selling Stocks, What is the Ban on Short Selling Securities, Which Stocks are banned from short selling? what are the short selling rules now from the SEC?

Hedge Fund Press Inquiries

Richard C. Wilson — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:09:09 +0000

Finance Sector

Finance Sector Reforms -Affecting Hedge Funds

I usually complete 1-2 press inquiries each week, this week I had over 8. Here's an excerpt and link to one article which I contributed to for the Boston Globe:
_____________________________________________________________

As Congress and the White House hash out details of how to fix the nation's financial system, the outcome could have huge but vastly different consequences for Boston's banks, mutual funds, insurers, hedge funds, and other financial companies.

"I don't think the impact of this can be overblown," said Richard C. Wilson, a Boston hedge fund consultant. "Everything is being reformed; everything is going to change."

Trade groups are lobbying Capitol Hill to ensure companies benefit from the various steps the government is taking - and to limit new regulation of their operations. Questions range from whether hedge funds should be included in the government's $700 billion purchase of troubled assets to how community banks can recover losses in the troubled mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Some issues pit Boston companies against one another. Banks are pushing to limit how much insurance the federal government will provide to cover losses in money market mutual funds, which last week experienced a run as losses at a few funds sparked billions of dollars of withdrawals industrywide. Read more...

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Tags: Finance Sector, Financial Sector, Interview Regarding the Financial Sector, Financial Sector Interviews, Stock Market Investment Industry Finance Sector Details

Hedge Fund Press Inquiries

Richard C. Wilson — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:09:09 +0000

Finance Sector

Finance Sector Reforms -Affecting Hedge Funds

Related to Retail Sector Research:

Hedge Fund Press Inquiries

Richard C. Wilson — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:09:09 +0000

Finance Sector

Finance Sector Reforms -Affecting Hedge Funds

Related to Retail Sector Research:

Rice vs. Gates on the NATO Response to Russia

Robert Amsterdam — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:25:59 +0000

The Boston Globe appears to believe that the hard line being pushed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Russia is inappropriate and unnecessary, especially when compared to the realist assessment of Minister of Defense Robert Gates, who apparently believes that Russia poses no military threat...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered a more dispassionate view the same day, noting that there is no real military threat from Russia. NATO countries should seek a prudent "middle ground" in responding to the war in Georgia, Gates said, and they should avoid sending provocative signals to Moscow. Rice may be the Russia expert, but American policy would be better shaped by Gates's unflustered view of Russia.

I'm not sure what's more strange about this op/ed: the portrayal of Gates as the dovish peacenik despite his clear awareness of Russia's energy assault on Europe, or the assumption that treating Russia as exceptional case and responding softly would actually produce the future policy outcomes the West is looking for. Having internal competition between the State and Defense Departments over Russia policy is an ideal goal for the Kremlin to pursue.

Democracy’s Retreat

Robert Amsterdam — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:18:39 +0000

An article by Joshua Kurlantzick, one of our favorite writers, argues that the middle class in many countries has turned into an anti-democratic force. Certainly seems true in Russia, where the narrative of the day is authoritarianism in exchange for economic growth. Will the three-day market crash motivate the middle class to ask for their rights back? From the Boston Globe:

And the villains, surprisingly enough, are the same people who supposedly make democracy possible: the middle class. Traditional theories of democratization, such as those of Harvard professor Samuel Huntington, predict a story of middle class heroics: As a country develops a true middle class, these urban, educated citizens insist on more rights in order to protect their economic and social interests. Eventually, as the size of the middle class grows, those demands become so overwhelming that democracy is inevitable. But now, it appears, the middle class in some nations has turned into an antidemocratic force. Young democracy, with weak institutions, often brings to power, at first, elected leaders who actually don't care that much about upholding democracy. As these demagogues tear down the very reforms the middle classes built, those same middle classes turn against the leaders, and then against the system itself, bringing democracy to collapse. This is a process now being repeated in Africa, Asia, and parts of Latin America, regions that once seemed destined to become the third and fourth waves of global democratization, following the original Western democracies and the second wave in southern Europe and several other regions. The pattern has become so noticeable - repeated in Venezuela, Russia, Bangladesh, and other states - that one must even wonder about democracy's future itself