Can it be earnings season already? It sure is, but don’t expect too much. With its report tomorrow (Tuesday), Alcoa Inc. (AA) leads off what is expected to be a pretty dismal series of profit reports.
Oil Over $143; GM Falls to 54-year Low; Starbucks Closes 600 Stores; Nikkei Post 10th Straight Loss; United Health Lands in the Emergency Ward; 900 American Flight Attendants on Standby; Blockbuster Abandons Bid; Microsoft at it Again
Shares in internet search company Yahoo (YHOO) dropped 10% yesterday as the prospect of a deal with Microsoft ended.
According to Bloomberg: “Yahoo said yesterday it scrapped talks after Microsoft refused to pay the $47.5 billion it offered last month. Instead Yang unveiled a partnership with Google Inc. While that deal may add $800 million to annual sales, it may not be enough to revive the stock, said analyst Colin Gillis of Canaccord Adams.”
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) bankers recently contacted Facebook Inc. and made inquiries about purchasing the popular social networking site, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Shares of Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) tumbled 15% yesterday (Monday) to close at $24.37 a share as investors responded to Saturday’s news that Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) would drop its $47.5 billion dollar bid for the beleaguered search engine firm.
But the tough times are just beginning for Yahoo, which must now prove why it is worth more than the lofty price Microsoft was offering.
With earnings season starting to wind down, investors are not anticipating many new surprises.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) last Saturday yanked its $44.6 billion bid for struggling Internet-search pioneer Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) after the two companies were unable to come to terms over the buyout price.
How does the prospect of $4 a gallon gasoline sound to you? Undoubtedly, it doesn’t sound all that great. But what if I said that gasoline prices were headed for the $4 a gallon level, but once they got there, they’d head no higher?
The Investment U e-Letter: Issue #783
Monday, April 7, 2008
A Contrarian Strategy: Why Clear Channel Is Today’s Top Stock Pick
by Floyd G. Brown, Advisory Panelist, Investment U
One of the most profitable investments I have made came after a magazine headline hailed the coming bankruptcy of Philip Morris. It took nerves of steel to buy the lowly MO in those days. It was after the largest legal settlement in U.S. history disgorged Morris and other tobacco stocks of profits to pay the healthcare bills of the 50 different United States. Attorney General Janet Reno attacked the company in the newspapers as merchants of death.
But in the eight years since I first bought Philip Morris, at around $19 a share, I have been paid a…
The U.S. buyout market is about to enter a new phase, as corporate takeovers pick up where private-equity firms left off last fall. The deal-making market is a key to the health of the U.S. stock market.
