GM Kills $10 Million Facebook Ad Campaign Because It Didn't Work
PC Upgrades on Byte-Size Budgets -- Savings ExperimentAlex Salkever
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Carnival hits a Swine Flu iceberg
The Swine Flu outbreak keeps chugging along as the number of people affected rises.
Shares of all travel-related companies have been sickened by the threat of a really bad pandemic, as opposed to a mild flu with a lot of media hype. And the market concerns can hardly be sneezed at. During the hellish Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918, when tens of millions died, the bug circumnavigated the globe once in a milder form before mutating into the more virulent and deadly form that killed so many.
Continue reading Carnival hits a Swine Flu iceberg
Drill Baby Drill? Maybe not really
Oil driller stocks have long been a favorite of hedge funds (and Karen Finerman of "Fast Money") and something of a proxy for expected movements in oil prices. During the huge oil spike last year, the Oil Service HOLDRs (ETF) (NYSE: OIH) Oil Services ETF shot the moon. Buyers bid up issues of the underlying companies based on expectations that persistent oil prices in excess of $100 per barrel would make exploration and extraction of hard to reach deposits financially viable.
Continue reading Drill Baby Drill? Maybe not really
$9 Trillion Fed blackhole draws cries for GAO audit
You had to see this coming. The U.S. Federal Reserve is now being subjected to cries for transparency that it has said are necessary for the financial institutions it regulates. The campaign is being spearheaded by Florida Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson. Believe it or not, no one currently audits the Federal Reserve's accounts. And some skeptics have come to think that the Federal Reserve's fiscal house is not in order and that the Fed has actually not been able to balance its books and account for all the assets it has purchased. Zero Hedge claims the Fed cannot account for nearly $9 trillion in off-balance sheet transactions.
Continue reading $9 Trillion Fed blackhole draws cries for GAO audit
Target beat masks problems
The cheap chic retailer beat the Street handily in its latest earnings numbers. That's no surprise, considering the dismal performance of Target (NYSE: TGT) as compared to peers over the past year. The drugstore that stocks everything nearly destroyed a hedge fund run by legendary investor Bill Ackman designed solely to bet on Target shares. I think Target's rebirth may not be long-lived. Piqqem Sentiment for Target is neutral. Investors may be giddy today but they should consider the obstacles to a full-blown revival.Here's why. The company's growth in groceries just means more reliance in a notoriously low-margin and fickle consumer environment where they compete with brutal sharks such as Costco and Wal-Mart. Getting into the food biz is nothing to crow about, but that's just what the Target CEO Greg Steinhafel did on the conference call when he said the chain was seeing real gains in food shopping at Target stores.
Continue reading Target beat masks problems
White Paint Index: What the price of titanium means to the economy
Econoblog Financial Armageddon has a great post on titanium and what the price of this prized commodity means for the general economy. In a nutshell, titanium is a critical component of paint, particularly the base color white. Titanium is used in all manner of paints for houses and buildings, cars, home appliances, and consumer electronics. So this number impacts a wide swath of the industry from homebuilder like Toll Bros. (NYSE: TOL) to car companies like Ford (NYSE: F) to appliance makers like General Electric (NYSE: GE) to retailers like BestBuy (NYSE: BBY). From an AP article on titanium dioxide trends:
Continue reading White Paint Index: What the price of titanium means to the economy
Detroit dealer cuts: Not deep enough to get Japanese parity
There's a great post on the lean manufacturing blog Evolving Excellence about the auto industry and what it might really take to fix it. Bottom line -- Evolving Excellence says more dealer cuts needed so General Motors Corporation (NYS: GM) and Ford Motor Company (NYS: F) will have to take more inventory write downs and buyout more dealers. Even with these reduced dealer levels, the U.S. automakers still only sell roughly one-half as many cars per dealer as their Japanese counterparts.Continue reading Detroit dealer cuts: Not deep enough to get Japanese parity
Is the world's most successful hedge fund under SEC investigation?
It certainly appears that way. WSJ picks up on dissent among investors in Renaissance Technologies, a massive quantitative hedge fund run by the highly secretive geek James Simons. Observers have been wondering how Renaissance's in-house Medallion Fund has managed to continue to outperform the stock market handily while funds open to outside investors have performed miserably. Simons' outside investors funds were apparently obliterated in the massive short squeeze also known as the most recent bear market bounce.Continue reading Is the world's most successful hedge fund under SEC investigation?
China's steel story: government slowing down demand
The whole world watches China when it comes to the natural resource play. Iron ore and steel companies have watched their share prices swing wildly based on news coming out of the Middle Kingdom in terms of what Chinese mills will be buying and how much they are willing to pay (particularly for the annual iron ore negotiations). Of late, the steel and iron sector has bounced nicely based on rising Chinese demand. Now noises coming out of China's government imply the steel bounce might have been inflated demand numbers. (via FT Alphaville).
Continue reading China's steel story: government slowing down demand
Concentrated Solar: Hot water, hot opportunities
Using photovoltaic arrays made of polysilicon isn't the only, or even the most efficient, way to turn the power of the sun into electricity. A rising form of heliocentric electrical generation is called Concentrated Solar Power (CSP).
The basic concept is simple. Use mirrors to focus heat from the Sun's rays on a small area that contains water or some other liquid. The heat is transferred to the liquid, which then turns a generator and creates electricity. Sort of like cooking a hot dog over one of those backyard solar oven kits but writ very, very large.
Continue reading Concentrated Solar: Hot water, hot opportunities
Doomsday Scenario: CDS contracts to push GM into bankruptcy, recession jacks budget deficit
A roundup of the dark tidings from BloggingStocks and elsewhere on the Web:- CDS holders to push GM into bankruptcy despite salvage efforts? (Financial Times)
- Recession creates first April budget deficit since 1983 (BloggingStocks)
- Biofuels fall off a cliff, hard to find opportunity (Earth2Web)
- Georgia Gulf near bankruptcy (Zack's)
- More home owners unable to sell houses opt to rent them out (BloggingStocks)
Credit card crash: Small biz lender Advanta in trouble
Small biz credit card issuer Advanta (NAS: ADVNA) will shut down accounts to preserve capital and will stop lending June 10, according to Bloomberg. The company has 1 million customers that could be left without credit cards, yet another blow for small businesses suffocating without sufficient credit lines. Shares tumbled 24% on the news to less than a dollar per issue.Continue reading Credit card crash: Small biz lender Advanta in trouble
More signs of trouble at Starbucks: No more decaf in the afternoon, McCafe gains
Feel like a nice cup of decaf right about now? Don't plan on getting it at Starbucks. Popular blogger (and newspaper doomsayer) Jeff Jarvis is complaining about a new but not well publicized Starbucks policy to stop brewing fresh decaf coffee after the morning rush.
Continue reading More signs of trouble at Starbucks: No more decaf in the afternoon, McCafe gains
Doomsday Scenario: U.S. freight index falls 25% in April
For the green shoots believers, a dose of reality: The Journal of Commerce reports that the Cass Freight Systems Index (Cass is a company that tracks freight spending) fell by a whopping 25% in April 2009 (hat tip to ZH).
This comes on the heels of a strong run-up in transports. The IYT Index that tracks this segment dipped below $40 in early March. At close of day on Tuesday it logged $59.54. Freight shipments and freight spending are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy and a key leading indicator for economic activity as both retailers use them to replenish inventories and durable goods.
Continue reading Doomsday Scenario: U.S. freight index falls 25% in April
Full page ad in NYT proves it: Starbucks is in real trouble
On the back page of my Sunday New York Times I found a full-page four-color ad from Starbucks Corporation (NYS: SBUX). The big, bold type at the top of the ad said "They Want You To Think Coffee is Coffee. Well, It's Not Just Coffee. It's Starbucks." No, actually its just coffee. Really, really expensive coffee that was perfect for the frothy past three decades but far less so now. And when these types of pathetic bleats for help issue forth from massive lifestyle corporations, its best to start the Doomsday Clock.
Continue reading Full page ad in NYT proves it: Starbucks is in real trouble
Chrysler Bankruptcy: Were CDSs the culprit?
No one likes a bankruptcy -- unless you have a massive insurance policy that will pay you more than debts owed. It's akin to taking out an insurance policy on your house that will pay you back three times what its worth. But that's the contention of Rolfe Winkler, a blogger and CFA who publishes the often astute OptionArmageddon site. Winkler contends that, even though the big banks that were the primary creditors of Chrysler had signed off, the smaller guys likely had Credit Default Swaps betting against Chrysler.Continue reading Chrysler Bankruptcy: Were CDSs the culprit?
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