Is this the year of the tech deal?

Filed under: Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), International Business Machines (IBM), Sun Microsystems (JAVA), Oracle Corp (ORCL)

Over the years, Oracle's (NASDAQ: ORCL) CEO, Larry Ellison, has bulked up his company through aggressive M&A deals. Simply put, he thought there was too much capacity -- and valuations were affordable. Well, it looks like other mega tech companies are seeing the merits of this strategy. In fact, according to Reuters, it appears that this could be a big year for tech M&A.

And, there is certainly enough buying power, such as from companies like Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ). Already, the deal-making is revving up. For example, IBM is in the process of paying a hefty all-cash premium for Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA). There was also Cisco's $590 purchase of Pure Digital Technologies last week.

Continue reading Is this the year of the tech deal?

The week in preview: Earnings winners, Geithner testimony, housing sales

Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Economic data

As the calendar quarter winds down, let's take look at some of this coming week's biggest expected earnings gainers.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Memphis-based Fred's Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) to report fourth-quarter earnings of $0.22 per share, 36.4% higher than a year ago, and revenue of $472.5 million, down 4.4%. For the full year, the forecast is for a profit of $0.66 per share on revenue of $1.8 billion, compared to $0.52 per share and $1.8 billion in the previous year. The discount retailer beat or met earnings estimates in the past three quarters. The long-term EPS growth forecast is 14.0%, which is better than the industry average and that of larger rival Walmart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), and the forward PE ratio estimate is 15.0. In the third quarter, the company had more cash than debt. The consensus recommendation of analysts is to buy FRED. The share price has risen 2.7% since the beginning of the year to $11.05.

Continue reading The week in preview: Earnings winners, Geithner testimony, housing sales

Washington Mutual sues FDIC over fire sale

Filed under: Law, Financial Crisis

A lot of observers have been complaining that federal bailouts of failed financial institutions have been too generous.

Now the Washington Mutual's holding company is making exact opposite claim, suing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The company claims that the fire sale to JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) violated its rights, arguing that a more orderly liquidation would have provided greater value to the company's constituents.

Continue reading Washington Mutual sues FDIC over fire sale

Recession holds a silver lining for Pier 1 Imports -- for now

Filed under: Industry, Competitive strategy, Recession

Back in February, Pier 1 Imports (NASDAQ: PIR) announced that it would close up to 125 underperforming stores, depending on its ability to renegotiate leases with landlords.

A month and a half later, the tough economy is paying off for Pier 1 -- at least in its efforts to negotiate with landlords. The company announced yesterday that it will close fewer than 80 stores -- a drop of at least 30% from the original number.

Continue reading Recession holds a silver lining for Pier 1 Imports -- for now

Is commercial property debt the next 'black hole'?

Filed under: Federal Reserve

Leon Black, head of Apollo Management, uses the term "black hole" to describe the pressure being put on commercial banks from nonperforming commercial loans. He estimates that it would take $2 trillion dollars to clean up the mess.

So far losses from commercial property loans have not been reflected on bank balance sheets. In the go-go days of the past eight years, money came in from private equity to buy up troubled assets, clean up their balance sheets, and resell them. Now that has all but dried up, leaving only a few firms in the market for distressed assets.

Continue reading Is commercial property debt the next 'black hole'?

Earnings highlights: FedEx, Nike, Oracle, General Mills, Palm, Adobe and more

Filed under: Earnings reports, Blockbuster Inc 'A' (BBI), Adobe Systems (ADBE), Best Buy (BBY), Darden Restaurants (DRI), FedEx Corp (FDX), General Mills (GIS), Xerox Corp (XRX), NIKE, Inc'B' (NKE), Oracle Corp (ORCL), Palm Inc (PALM)

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) reported better-than-expected Q1 results due to cost cutting.
• Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) received several upgrades ahead of its Q4 report on the demise of Circuit City.
• Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) crushed analyst's expectations for Q4 as same-store sales rose.
• China Direct Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: CDII) Q4 earnings prospects resulted in an analyst's dowgrade.
• Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) posted better-than-expected Q3 earnings and lifted its 2009 guidance.
• Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) was downgraded after it lowered its guidance.
• FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) fell short of Q3 earnings and revenue expectations due to economic conditions.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: FedEx, Nike, Oracle, General Mills, Palm, Adobe and more

Paul Allen's cable nightmare: Apollo gets its claws into Charter

Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Private equity

Back in the mid 1970s, Paul Allen cofounded Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). Since then, he has bought many nice toys (such as luxury yachts and sports teams), as well as made investments in a variety of companies. Unfortunately, his investment record has been spotty (perhaps he should have focused on the toys instead?)

Now, it looks like Allen will take the biggest loss of his investment career; that is, in Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR). In all, he has committed $7 billion to the firm.

Continue reading Paul Allen's cable nightmare: Apollo gets its claws into Charter

Blockbuster annihilates estimates, but I won't buy it

Filed under: Earnings reports, General Electric (GE), Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Blockbuster Inc 'A' (BBI), Comcast Cl'A' (CMCSA), News Corp'B' (NWS)

Video chain Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) reported earnings earlier this week for the fourth quarter. While there were some positive aspects to the story, I can tell you that the stock is not a buy at all, at least not from where I sit.

Okay, let me throw some of the good stats out at you. According to the press release, Blockbuster's same-store sales, or comps, are doing well. In Q4, domestic comps rose well over 4%. Free cash flow was positive. And earnings on an adjusted basis calculated out to $0.40 per share. That was a huge beat, since analysts were looking for $0.25 per share.

Continue reading Blockbuster annihilates estimates, but I won't buy it

Comfort Zone Investing: Show me the money!

Filed under: Comfort Zone Investing, Recession

This should be the new mantra for all investors: show me the money. In other words, companies can talk all they want about cutting costs or new products or turning the corner or slicing dividends. What investors need to see is profits. Until those start showing up, investors will mostly stay on the sidelines.

There's plenty of talk, very little proof, that stocks might be able to do better. We've seen a decent rally lately. There's piles of cash at venture firms or equity funds, just sitting, waiting to pounce on bargains. But until that money is put to work, it's all talk, no action. Until institutions start moving their money into this market by buying stocks or outright purchases of companies, many individual investors will be interested observers, not participants. They want to see money move from the bench into the game. Then they'll follow suit.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Show me the money!

Would you buy or sell the U.S. dollar?

Filed under: Forecasts, Other issues, Federal Reserve

The U.S. dollar is getting hammered in world markets after the Federal Reserve announced plans to buy $300 billion dollars in long-term U.S. Treasuries. When the Fed buys bonds, it creates more money and that money is pumped into the economy. More dollars have the effect of weakening a country's currency. This is what is causing the present sell off in the dollar.

For investors this creates a new dilemma. For the short term, there will be pressure on the dollar. Should you then bet on further weakness and sell short the U.S. currency? That might work. On the other hand, if the Fed is right and the U.S. economy recovers quicker than other world economies, the dollar would gain strength against other currencies. So then do you seize this opportunity and use the present dollar weakness as a chance to buy the U.S. dollar?

Continue reading Would you buy or sell the U.S. dollar?

DailyFinance today: GE kicked where the sun doesn't shine, AIG warns its workers over public furor, corporate America's perfect storm of waste and greed, and with the dollar, it's deja vu all over again

Filed under: General Electric (GE), Amer Intl Group (AIG)

	GE opens its kimono and gets kicked where the sun don't shine
	AIG warns its workers as public furor grows
	Corporate America's perfect storm of waste and greed
	Yogi was right: With the dollar, it's deja vu all over again

Serious Money: Don't overlook these regional banks!

Filed under: Other issues, Bad news, Consumer experience, Rants and raves, Citigroup Inc. (C), Money and Finance Today, Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Rich in America, Economic data, Politics, Recession, MBIA Inc (MBI), Financial Crisis

There are very few people on this planet that can honestly say that they have not been affected in some way by the economic firestorm caused by underappreciating risk.

Congress, along with the Securities and Exchange Commission during a period where the White House was comatose, opened up the flood gates for Wall Street's financial wizards to bet the world and lose!

Continue reading Serious Money: Don't overlook these regional banks!

Closing bell: End of bank rally brings the show down (AIG, EXPE, GM, MGM, XRX)

Filed under: After the bell, General Motors (GM), Expedia Inc (EXPE), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Xerox Corp (XRX), S and P 500, DJIA, NASDAQ

After days of rallying, the market decided that bank stocks had gone much too far. With no first quarter earnings out, the fact is that the current quarter could still be tough. Financial shares could still reset lower. The market reacted accordingly.

The unofficial numbers for the day broke out like this:

Dow 7,278.38 -122.42 (-1.65%)
S&P 500 768.54 -15.50 (-1.98%)
Nasdaq 1,457.27 -26.21 (-1.77%)

TOP ANALYST CALLS

Continue reading Closing bell: End of bank rally brings the show down (AIG, EXPE, GM, MGM, XRX)

Doomsday Scenario: Hedge funds front running clients, Twitter bubble peaks

Filed under: Bad news, Newspapers, Scandals, Headline news, Recession

It's Friday, and a big storm is approaching the West Coast, a fitting end to a wild week. The SEC is investigating whether certain hedge funds allowed employees and favored clients to redeem their money before less favored clients. If allegations are true, then this gives new meaning to the term "front running", and should prove a great way to rebuild the reputation of an industry already viewed as having questionable ethics.

Continue reading Doomsday Scenario: Hedge funds front running clients, Twitter bubble peaks

FedEx misses on economic pressures, stock should be avoided

Filed under: Earnings reports, FedEx Corp (FDX), United Parcel'B' (UPS)

FedEx (NYSE: FDX) did not have a great third quarter. According to estimates, the parcel service was supposed to do around $0.46 per share. FedEx delivered $0.31 per share. In the year-ago period, income was $1.26 per share. This is not a good comparison. Also, total revenue declined 14%. Talk about bleak statistics.

Continue reading FedEx misses on economic pressures, stock should be avoided

JockStocks: A look at the Madness of March

Filed under: Marketing and advertising, Business of sports

Ah yes ladies and gents, it is what some will call the most wonderful time of the year ... March Madness brought to you by CBS brought to you by Coca-Cola's(NYSE:KO) PowerAde brought to you by General Motors (NYSE:GM) brought to you by New Balance brought to you by AT & T's Cingular(NYSE:T) -- perhaps you catch my drift.

Yesterday was the first time I was home for the opening day of the tournament in five years. Know how many games I watched? Zero. Now how much of it I missed? Zero. Maybe it is because my Cincinnati Bearcats choked royally down the stretch and were left out of the NCAA and NIT, or maybe it is because I find college basketball a bit boring. Whatever the reason, I didn't watch and I didn't miss. Actually, let me couch that statement, I saw snippets of the Butler/LSU game as I waited for the FightBus to get its oil change at the dealership. Thing is, while I was glancing at the TV I saw in-game ads for VitaminWater and General Motors ... what happened to letting the game play? It reminded me of Wednesday night when I was watching my BlueJackets play. Fox Sports was showing the sponsored save of the game, and missed a goal by the Jackets!

Continue reading JockStocks: A look at the Madness of March

Microsoft's Ballmer slams IBM's potential purchase of Sun Microsystems

Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), International Business Machines (IBM), Sun Microsystems (JAVA)

If IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) really does go ahead and buy Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) for a cool $6.5 billion or more, the two former adversaries could be joined into a powerful computing combination. One of its -- no, its largest competitor would be: Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). With many powerful players challenging Microsoft's dominance these days (Google in the consumer space), here's another one. That is, if the merger speculation turns out to be true.

Continue reading Microsoft's Ballmer slams IBM's potential purchase of Sun Microsystems

Selling POT... options that is

Filed under: Options, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT)

This post was written by Minyanville contributor Steve Smith.

There is smoke but no fire in the Potash(NYSE:POT) options activity today.

There has been recent rumors that fertilizer industry is due for some consolidation so companies such as Potash, Mosaic(NYSE:MOS)and Monsanto (NYSE:MON)can get some pricing power back. This has led to some takeover speculation that has helped the shares trend higher and caused an increase in the options' volume of late.

This morning there was a big option transaction in POT in which 11,000 of the April $90 calls traded in one slug. But don't let that lead you into thinking someone is making a big buy-out bet. The trade was executed at at the offer price of $2.70 a contract. Actually the price was a small "discount" to the theoretical fair value. This suggests the initiating party was selling the calls. Most likely it is an overwrite against long stock to take in some premium.

It still leaves someone with a bullish position, they have a potential upside of about $12.60 or 15% over the next month. But it doesn't appear anyone is betting the farm on a $95 plus takeover.

Two experts eye Isis (ISIS) as biotech bet

Filed under: Newsletters, Stocks to Buy

Despite the challenging economic environment, two leading advisors see opportunity in a biotech stock involved in developing drugs for cancer, multiple sclerosis and diabetes -- Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ISIS).

Here, we look at commentary from growth stock expert Toby Smith, editor of ChangeWave Investing, and biotech specialist John McCamant, editor of The Medical Technology Stock Letter.

Toby Smith explains, "For the latest quarter, revenue climbed 38% to $29.7 million. Revenue from research and development collaborations more than doubled to $29.1 million from $13 million, but licensing and royalty revenue dropped to $546,000 from $8.5 million.

Continue reading Two experts eye Isis (ISIS) as biotech bet

The week in preview: Earnings winners, Geithner testimony, housing sales

Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Economic data

As the calendar quarter winds down, let's take look at some of this coming week's biggest expected earnings gainers.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Memphis-based Fred's Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) to report fourth-quarter earnings of $0.22 per share, 36.4% higher than a year ago, and revenue of $472.5 million, down 4.4%. For the full year, the forecast is for a profit of $0.66 per share on revenue of $1.8 billion, compared to $0.52 per share and $1.8 billion in the previous year. The discount retailer beat or met earnings estimates in the past three quarters. The long-term EPS growth forecast is 14.0%, which is better than the industry average and that of larger rival Walmart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), and the forward PE ratio estimate is 15.0. In the third quarter, the company had more cash than debt. The consensus recommendation of analysts is to buy FRED. The share price has risen 2.7% since the beginning of the year to $11.05.

Continue reading The week in preview: Earnings winners, Geithner testimony, housing sales

Washington Mutual sues FDIC over fire sale

Filed under: Law, Financial Crisis

A lot of observers have been complaining that federal bailouts of failed financial institutions have been too generous.

Now the Washington Mutual's holding company is making exact opposite claim, suing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The company claims that the fire sale to JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) violated its rights, arguing that a more orderly liquidation would have provided greater value to the company's constituents.

Continue reading Washington Mutual sues FDIC over fire sale

Recession holds a silver lining for Pier 1 Imports -- for now

Filed under: Industry, Competitive strategy, Recession

Back in February, Pier 1 Imports (NASDAQ: PIR) announced that it would close up to 125 underperforming stores, depending on its ability to renegotiate leases with landlords.

A month and a half later, the tough economy is paying off for Pier 1 -- at least in its efforts to negotiate with landlords. The company announced yesterday that it will close fewer than 80 stores -- a drop of at least 30% from the original number.

Continue reading Recession holds a silver lining for Pier 1 Imports -- for now

Is commercial property debt the next 'black hole'?

Filed under: Federal Reserve

Leon Black, head of Apollo Management, uses the term "black hole" to describe the pressure being put on commercial banks from nonperforming commercial loans. He estimates that it would take $2 trillion dollars to clean up the mess.

So far losses from commercial property loans have not been reflected on bank balance sheets. In the go-go days of the past eight years, money came in from private equity to buy up troubled assets, clean up their balance sheets, and resell them. Now that has all but dried up, leaving only a few firms in the market for distressed assets.

Continue reading Is commercial property debt the next 'black hole'?

Earnings highlights: FedEx, Nike, Oracle, General Mills, Palm, Adobe and more

Filed under: Earnings reports, Blockbuster Inc 'A' (BBI), Adobe Systems (ADBE), Best Buy (BBY), Darden Restaurants (DRI), FedEx Corp (FDX), General Mills (GIS), Xerox Corp (XRX), NIKE, Inc'B' (NKE), Oracle Corp (ORCL), Palm Inc (PALM)

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) reported better-than-expected Q1 results due to cost cutting.
• Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) received several upgrades ahead of its Q4 report on the demise of Circuit City.
• Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) crushed analyst's expectations for Q4 as same-store sales rose.
• China Direct Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: CDII) Q4 earnings prospects resulted in an analyst's dowgrade.
• Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) posted better-than-expected Q3 earnings and lifted its 2009 guidance.
• Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) was downgraded after it lowered its guidance.
• FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) fell short of Q3 earnings and revenue expectations due to economic conditions.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: FedEx, Nike, Oracle, General Mills, Palm, Adobe and more

Paul Allen's cable nightmare: Apollo gets its claws into Charter

Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Private equity

Back in the mid 1970s, Paul Allen cofounded Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). Since then, he has bought many nice toys (such as luxury yachts and sports teams), as well as made investments in a variety of companies. Unfortunately, his investment record has been spotty (perhaps he should have focused on the toys instead?)

Now, it looks like Allen will take the biggest loss of his investment career; that is, in Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR). In all, he has committed $7 billion to the firm.

Continue reading Paul Allen's cable nightmare: Apollo gets its claws into Charter

Blockbuster annihilates estimates, but I won't buy it

Filed under: Earnings reports, General Electric (GE), Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Blockbuster Inc 'A' (BBI), Comcast Cl'A' (CMCSA), News Corp'B' (NWS)

Video chain Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) reported earnings earlier this week for the fourth quarter. While there were some positive aspects to the story, I can tell you that the stock is not a buy at all, at least not from where I sit.

Okay, let me throw some of the good stats out at you. According to the press release, Blockbuster's same-store sales, or comps, are doing well. In Q4, domestic comps rose well over 4%. Free cash flow was positive. And earnings on an adjusted basis calculated out to $0.40 per share. That was a huge beat, since analysts were looking for $0.25 per share.

Continue reading Blockbuster annihilates estimates, but I won't buy it

Comfort Zone Investing: Show me the money!

Filed under: Comfort Zone Investing, Recession

This should be the new mantra for all investors: show me the money. In other words, companies can talk all they want about cutting costs or new products or turning the corner or slicing dividends. What investors need to see is profits. Until those start showing up, investors will mostly stay on the sidelines.

There's plenty of talk, very little proof, that stocks might be able to do better. We've seen a decent rally lately. There's piles of cash at venture firms or equity funds, just sitting, waiting to pounce on bargains. But until that money is put to work, it's all talk, no action. Until institutions start moving their money into this market by buying stocks or outright purchases of companies, many individual investors will be interested observers, not participants. They want to see money move from the bench into the game. Then they'll follow suit.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Show me the money!

Would you buy or sell the U.S. dollar?

Filed under: Forecasts, Other issues, Federal Reserve

The U.S. dollar is getting hammered in world markets after the Federal Reserve announced plans to buy $300 billion dollars in long-term U.S. Treasuries. When the Fed buys bonds, it creates more money and that money is pumped into the economy. More dollars have the effect of weakening a country's currency. This is what is causing the present sell off in the dollar.

For investors this creates a new dilemma. For the short term, there will be pressure on the dollar. Should you then bet on further weakness and sell short the U.S. currency? That might work. On the other hand, if the Fed is right and the U.S. economy recovers quicker than other world economies, the dollar would gain strength against other currencies. So then do you seize this opportunity and use the present dollar weakness as a chance to buy the U.S. dollar?

Continue reading Would you buy or sell the U.S. dollar?

DailyFinance today: GE kicked where the sun doesn't shine, AIG warns its workers over public furor, corporate America's perfect storm of waste and greed, and with the dollar, it's deja vu all over again

Filed under: General Electric (GE), Amer Intl Group (AIG)

	GE opens its kimono and gets kicked where the sun don't shine
	AIG warns its workers as public furor grows
	Corporate America's perfect storm of waste and greed
	Yogi was right: With the dollar, it's deja vu all over again

Serious Money: Don't overlook these regional banks!

Filed under: Other issues, Bad news, Consumer experience, Rants and raves, Citigroup Inc. (C), Money and Finance Today, Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Rich in America, Economic data, Politics, Recession, MBIA Inc (MBI), Financial Crisis

There are very few people on this planet that can honestly say that they have not been affected in some way by the economic firestorm caused by underappreciating risk.

Congress, along with the Securities and Exchange Commission during a period where the White House was comatose, opened up the flood gates for Wall Street's financial wizards to bet the world and lose!

Continue reading Serious Money: Don't overlook these regional banks!

Closing bell: End of bank rally brings the show down (AIG, EXPE, GM, MGM, XRX)

Filed under: After the bell, General Motors (GM), Expedia Inc (EXPE), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Xerox Corp (XRX), S and P 500, DJIA, NASDAQ

After days of rallying, the market decided that bank stocks had gone much too far. With no first quarter earnings out, the fact is that the current quarter could still be tough. Financial shares could still reset lower. The market reacted accordingly.

The unofficial numbers for the day broke out like this:

Dow 7,278.38 -122.42 (-1.65%)
S&P 500 768.54 -15.50 (-1.98%)
Nasdaq 1,457.27 -26.21 (-1.77%)

TOP ANALYST CALLS

Continue reading Closing bell: End of bank rally brings the show down (AIG, EXPE, GM, MGM, XRX)

Doomsday Scenario: Hedge funds front running clients, Twitter bubble peaks

Filed under: Bad news, Newspapers, Scandals, Headline news, Recession

It's Friday, and a big storm is approaching the West Coast, a fitting end to a wild week. The SEC is investigating whether certain hedge funds allowed employees and favored clients to redeem their money before less favored clients. If allegations are true, then this gives new meaning to the term "front running", and should prove a great way to rebuild the reputation of an industry already viewed as having questionable ethics.

Continue reading Doomsday Scenario: Hedge funds front running clients, Twitter bubble peaks

FedEx misses on economic pressures, stock should be avoided

Filed under: Earnings reports, FedEx Corp (FDX), United Parcel'B' (UPS)

FedEx (NYSE: FDX) did not have a great third quarter. According to estimates, the parcel service was supposed to do around $0.46 per share. FedEx delivered $0.31 per share. In the year-ago period, income was $1.26 per share. This is not a good comparison. Also, total revenue declined 14%. Talk about bleak statistics.

Continue reading FedEx misses on economic pressures, stock should be avoided

JockStocks: A look at the Madness of March

Filed under: Marketing and advertising, Business of sports

Ah yes ladies and gents, it is what some will call the most wonderful time of the year ... March Madness brought to you by CBS brought to you by Coca-Cola's(NYSE:KO) PowerAde brought to you by General Motors (NYSE:GM) brought to you by New Balance brought to you by AT & T's Cingular(NYSE:T) -- perhaps you catch my drift.

Yesterday was the first time I was home for the opening day of the tournament in five years. Know how many games I watched? Zero. Now how much of it I missed? Zero. Maybe it is because my Cincinnati Bearcats choked royally down the stretch and were left out of the NCAA and NIT, or maybe it is because I find college basketball a bit boring. Whatever the reason, I didn't watch and I didn't miss. Actually, let me couch that statement, I saw snippets of the Butler/LSU game as I waited for the FightBus to get its oil change at the dealership. Thing is, while I was glancing at the TV I saw in-game ads for VitaminWater and General Motors ... what happened to letting the game play? It reminded me of Wednesday night when I was watching my BlueJackets play. Fox Sports was showing the sponsored save of the game, and missed a goal by the Jackets!

Continue reading JockStocks: A look at the Madness of March

Microsoft's Ballmer slams IBM's potential purchase of Sun Microsystems

Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), International Business Machines (IBM), Sun Microsystems (JAVA)

If IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) really does go ahead and buy Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) for a cool $6.5 billion or more, the two former adversaries could be joined into a powerful computing combination. One of its -- no, its largest competitor would be: Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). With many powerful players challenging Microsoft's dominance these days (Google in the consumer space), here's another one. That is, if the merger speculation turns out to be true.

Continue reading Microsoft's Ballmer slams IBM's potential purchase of Sun Microsystems

Selling POT... options that is

Filed under: Options, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT)

This post was written by Minyanville contributor Steve Smith.

There is smoke but no fire in the Potash(NYSE:POT) options activity today.

There has been recent rumors that fertilizer industry is due for some consolidation so companies such as Potash, Mosaic(NYSE:MOS)and Monsanto (NYSE:MON)can get some pricing power back. This has led to some takeover speculation that has helped the shares trend higher and caused an increase in the options' volume of late.

This morning there was a big option transaction in POT in which 11,000 of the April $90 calls traded in one slug. But don't let that lead you into thinking someone is making a big buy-out bet. The trade was executed at at the offer price of $2.70 a contract. Actually the price was a small "discount" to the theoretical fair value. This suggests the initiating party was selling the calls. Most likely it is an overwrite against long stock to take in some premium.

It still leaves someone with a bullish position, they have a potential upside of about $12.60 or 15% over the next month. But it doesn't appear anyone is betting the farm on a $95 plus takeover.

Two experts eye Isis (ISIS) as biotech bet

Filed under: Newsletters, Stocks to Buy

Despite the challenging economic environment, two leading advisors see opportunity in a biotech stock involved in developing drugs for cancer, multiple sclerosis and diabetes -- Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ISIS).

Here, we look at commentary from growth stock expert Toby Smith, editor of ChangeWave Investing, and biotech specialist John McCamant, editor of The Medical Technology Stock Letter.

Toby Smith explains, "For the latest quarter, revenue climbed 38% to $29.7 million. Revenue from research and development collaborations more than doubled to $29.1 million from $13 million, but licensing and royalty revenue dropped to $546,000 from $8.5 million.

Continue reading Two experts eye Isis (ISIS) as biotech bet

LM Ericsson (ERIC) drops 10% on handset forecast

Filed under: Major movement, Forecasts, Bad news, Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Options, Technical Analysis

LM Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC - option chain) stock is falling today after Sony Ericsson, the joint venture between Sony (NYSE: SNE) and ERIC, forecast continued weak mobile phone handset sales. Things are so bad that they expect to ship only half the phones this quarter that they did last, but keep in mind last wuarter included the holiday season. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on ERIC.

This morning, ERIC opened at $8.44. So far today the stock has hit a low of $8.22 and a high of $8.53. As of 11:50, ERIC is trading at $8.31, down 99 cents (-10.7%). The chart for ERIC looks neutral and S&P gives ERIC a 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Continue reading LM Ericsson (ERIC) drops 10% on handset forecast