Monday, May 19

• Lowe's Companies (NYSE: LOW) to report Q1 earnings; conference call scheduled for 9:00am.
• Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) to report Q3 earnings; Conference call scheduled for 10:00am.

Tuesday, May 20

• Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Global Internet Freedom & Corporate Responsibilty at 10:00am. Appearing: Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO).
• Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) to report Q4 earnings; conference call scheduled for 8:00am.
• Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) to report Q2 earnings; conference call scheduled for 5:00pm.

Refineries in the U.S. are producing more diesel fuel and less gasoline. The reason is simple and logical. They make more money on diesel.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "The global hunger for diesel, coupled with tight refining capacity, has made diesel one of the few bright spots in the refining business." Demand in developing countries, where diesel fuel is widely used, gives the refiners a set of large markets.

Refiners believe that falling demand for gas due to a poor economy means that they can cut back gas production. There is something wrong with that reasoning because gas has moved to $4 a gallon. Refiners come back with the fact that the price of diesel is up even more.

The perverse thinking about how to divide gas and diesel production almost certainly argues for one conclusion: gas prices are going higher if supply is dropping.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.

Monday, May 12

• Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:00am.
• W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE: GWW) to hold sales conference call at 8:00am.
• XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR) and Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) to report quarterly earnings; the conference call is at 10:00am for XM and at 4:30pm for Sirius.

Tuesday, May 13

• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 7:30am.
• Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL) to report preliminary Q2 results and outlook at 2pm.
• Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 4:30pm.

Wednesday, May 14

• FCC Open Commission Meeting at 9:30am.
• SEC Open Commission Meeting at 10:00am.
• Macy's, Inc. (NYSE: M) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 10:30am.
• Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 4:30pm.

One of the messages out of the Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) shareholder meeting was that management plans to make more money on huge video-sharing site YouTube. Without going into detail, the search company said it would bring out sets of software tools which would make it easier for marketers to use the site more effectively.

According to Reuters, Eric Schmidt, the company's CEO "said getting the video sharing site to make money is the Web search company's top priority for the year." It is a nice promise, but it is hard to see how it will work.

Unlike new video sites including Hulu, a premium content web destination used by the large media companies to showcase their video, most of the YouTube content is posted by the ordinary citizen. The clips are primarily short and of poor quality. For some time, one of the most popular videos on YouTube was "The Farting Preacher." That may not be the kind of content big marketers find appropriate to use to draw new customers.

YouTube's problem is not its size. It is the largest video site in the world, based on visitors. But, it is also a website based on a community of people who see its as a place to homestead with the own content. Advertisers may never be comfortable with that.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and the author of the Ten Stocks Over $10 letter.

Monday, May 5

• Happy Cinco de Mayo!
• Day one of the two-day FDA Anesthetic/Life Support Drugs & Drug Safety/Risk Management Advisory Committees meeting: Purdue Pharma's NDA for Oxycontin.
  
• Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC) to report Q1 earnings; conference call Tuesday at 10:00am.

Tuesday, May 6

• Day two of the two-day FDA Anesthetic/Life Support Drugs & Drug Safety/Risk Mgmt Advisory Committees meeting: Cephalon's (NASDAQ:CEPH) sNDA for Fentora.
• Molson Coors (NYSE:TAP) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 12:00pm.
• Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 4:30pm.

Wednesday, May 7

• Marsh & McLennan (NYSE:MMC) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:30am.
• Transocean (NYSE:RIG) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 10:00am.
• Hot Topic (NASDAQ:HOTT) and Zumiez (NASDAQ:ZUMZ) to report April sales at 4:00pm.

Thursday, May 8

• Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) to report April sales at 8:00am. Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) to report sales at 8:15am. Target (NYSE:TGT) to report sales at 8:30am.
  
• NVidia (NADAQ:NVDA) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 5:00pm.

Friday, May 9

• PDUFA date for Adolor Corp (NYSE:ADLR) and GlaxoSmithKline's (NYSE:GSK) Entereg for management of Post-operative Ileus.
• American International Group (NYSE:AIG) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:30am.
• Sotheby's (NYSE:BID) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 9:00am.

As was reported in AP online, "Members of the Rockefeller family are pressuring Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) to focus more on renewable energy. The family members, who say they are the oil giant's longest continuous shareholders, say Exxon is too focused on short-term gains from sky-high oil prices. They also argue splitting the roles of chairman and CEO will help the company be more flexible in the future."

Last time I checked, companies had a responsibility to provide value for shareholders, and no one has done it better than the oil giant. It has been producing record earnings quarter after quarter, and that is exactly what it is supposed to do. Corporations are not supposed to be politically correct organizations that throw money around at the latest fad. Maybe Exxon doesn't believe that there is a global warming problem? Or maybe it wants to see a lot more scientific evidence of the problem before committing billions and billions of dollars to research. If I were a shareholder, I would want management to take the exact approach that it has been taking. The fact that it is the most profitable company in the world means something. It should be commended for providing shareholder value.

In fact, Bloomberg has an article that says that ocean cooling will stop global warming. Moreover, the article indeed mentions that the authors tried to spin the article because of Exxon. "We thought a lot about the way to present this because we don't want it to be turned around in the wrong way," Keenlyside said. "I hope it doesn't become a message of Exxon Mobil and other skeptics."

Sounds to me that they are right to be skeptical.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer's fund has no position in any stock mentioned, as of 5/1/08

Monday, April 28

• PDUFA date for Genentech, Inc. (NYSE: DNA) and Roche Holding Ltd. (OTC: RHHBY)'s supplemental Biologics License Application for Herceptin for label expansion to include AC followed by docetaxel in treatment of adjuvant HER2+ breast cancer.
• PDUFA date for Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) and New River Pharma's supplemental New Drug Application for Vyvanse (NRP-104) treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disordre, or ADHD, in adult patients 18-55 years old; the drug is already approved for pediatric ADHD ages 6-12.
• Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) to report Q earnings; conference call at 8:30am.
• Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 9:00am.

Tuesday, April 29

• Two-day FOMC meeting beginning at 8:30am.
• PDUFA date for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK)'s New Drug Application for Cordaptive (MK-0524A) adjunctive therapy to diet for treating elevated LDL Cholesterol, low HDL Cholesterol and elevated triglycerides levels.
  
• PDUFA date for Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCMP)'s supplemental New Drug Application for dose of 8mg treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation; already approved for Chronic Idiopathic Constipation at 24ug dosage.
• BP plc (NYSE: BP) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 10:15am.
• United States Steel Company (NYSE: X) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 2:00pm.

Monday, April 21

• Mattel (NYSE:MAT) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:30am.
• Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) reports Q1 earnings; conference call at 9:00am.
• Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 9:30am.
• Toronto-Dominion (NYSE:TD) t o hold conference call about the acquisition of Commerce Bancorp (CBH) at 11:00am.

Tuesday, April 22

• Wyeth (NYSE:WYE) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:00am.
• The Federal Reserve to host a meeting regarding the Countrywide Financial (NYSE:CFC) takeover by Bank of America at 9:30am.
• AT&T (NYSE:T) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 10:00am.
• Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 11:00am.
• Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 5:00pm.

Wednesday, April 23

• Biovail (NYSE:BVF) PDUFA date for NDA of BVF-033 for the treatment of depression.
• UPS (NYSE:UPS) to report quarterly earnings; conference call at 8:30am.
• General Motors (NYSE:) to hold conference call on 1Q08 global sales at 9:00am.
• Delta (NYSE:DAL) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 10:00am.
• Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 5:00pm.

Thursday, April 24

• Hershey (NYSE:HSY) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:30am.
• Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 5:30pm.

Friday, April 25

• Wendy's (NYSE:WEN) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 9:00am.

With CEOs taking home absurd amounts of money, many top companies are hearing calls from shareholders to limit pay to senior executives. The AP reports: "Fund managers and individual investors alike are campaigning for a 'say on pay' rule giving shareholders a vote on executive compensation at major corporations, especially America's biggest banks. This is the latest salvo in the battle against Wall Street's exorbitance, and this time it appears shareholders might stand a chance."

The argument for limitless compensation says that in order to attract the best leaders you need to pay them. I agree wholeheartedly. In fact one need only look at what happened to Ice-Cream maker Ben and Jerry's to see how the principle works in real life. They wanted to limit the CEO pay to a certain percentage of the lowest paid employee. What happened was that they couldn't find anyone worthy enough to take the job. In the end they gave in to the forces of capitalism and paid a normal CEO salary.

My question is simply why can't we compensate senior executives based on their performance? Why should a CEO who managed to lose his company $5 billion, and lose his shareholders 60% of their investment, receive $50 million plus stock? Why not incentavize CEO's so that if they do a good job, they make tons of money, and if not, they don't. On the other hand a CEO that creates shareholder value as well as corporate profits should make lots of money.

There is no doubting that CEO's work extremely hard and 99% of the population couldn't do their jobs. That being said we shouldn't be rewarding them just because they have the title "CEO." We should reward them based on their success.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer's fund has no position in any stock mentioned, as of 4/13/08.

Monday, April 7

• PDUFA date for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY)'s supplemental Biologics License Application for Orencia for the treatment of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.
• Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 5pm.

Tuesday, April 8

• Chattem Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTT) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 9:00am.
• FOMC to release minutes of the March 18th meeting at 2:00pm.
• Embraer-Empr Bras Aeronautica (ADR) (NYSE: ERJ) conference call to announce new midsize & midlight executive jet concepts at 6:00pm.

Coming soon to investor email and mail boxes will be annual reports and proxy voting materials, complete with this year's shareholder resolutions. Hot topics this annual meeting season include the ever popular "say-on-pay." Shareholders are incensed that average or even sub-par executive performance and decision making is being handsomely rewarded with gigantic salaries and perks while they make due with crumbs. According to a recent article in CFO Magazine, 76 shareholder proposals dealing with executive compensation have made it onto the ballot.

Also on many ballots are shareholder resolutions dealing with socially responsible investing, particularly on matters revolving around the issue of global warming and/or climate change. So far, 56 shareholder resolutions have made it onto ballots. At least nine companies have taken steps to negate the need for such shareholder resolutions by rolling out policies addressing how the companies will cut back on greenhouses emissions and otherwise "go green."

As this is a presidential election year, there are at least 50 shareholder resolutions to force companies to disclose political contributions. These resolutions probably won't gain the necessary traction to force any action, but any resolution favoring greater corporate transparency is to shareholders' advantage.

New this year are numerous resolutions requesting senior management to disclose a company's exposure to subprime mortgage losses and secondary purchases in the mortgage market. This is a hot topic among investors right now, and many pension fund investors have taken hits. Look for union members to pressure their pension funds manangers on this one.

How will you vote on these subjects?

Monday, March 10

• Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and InterActive Corp. (NASDAQ: IACI) to present at Bear Stearns Media Conference.
• Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) to hold mid-quarter update conference call at 5:00 pm.

Tuesday, March 11

• Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 9:00 am.
• Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) to hold analyst meeting at 9:00 am.
• Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 10 am.

Wednesday, March 12

• FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee Meeting on Schering-Plough Corp.'s (NYSE: SGP) sBLA for Pegintronfor treatment of melanoma at 8:00 am.
• Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) to host analyst/investor meeting at 8:30 am.
• Hot Topic (NASDAQ: HOTT) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 4:30 pm.

At Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) annual meeting, the company had an opportunity to calm upset investors. With its stock down from $202 to $124 in just a little over two months, throwing shareholders a bone might have been a good idea.

Apple currently has $20 billion in cash and short-term investments. The company almost never buys other companies. It does not need the money for capital expenditures. Each quarter, the cash balance gets larger.

Apple's faithful are concerned, with good reason, that iPod sales may be slowing. There has been doubt voiced about whether the company can hit its ambitious iPhone sales targets. The economy could also catch up with Apple. PCs and consumer electronics are not essentials when money gets tight.

Apple could have announced a share buy-back or created a dividend. Some critics would say that a "growth stock" is not an investment for yield investors. But for the time being Apple is not a growth stock. Giving loyal investors a little cash back would not have been such a bad idea.

Steve Jobs probably thinks he knows what is right for people who own stock in his company. Some investors are probably losing patience with that. Not everyone is a billionaire.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Monday, March 3

• Automakers Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) to report monthly sales. Ford is hosting a conference call at 1:00pm, GM at 2:00pm.
• Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ: LSTR) to hold Q1 mid-quarter update conference call at 2:00pm
• Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 5:00pm.

Tuesday, March 4

• PDUFA date for MGI Pharma's sNDA for Aloxi for Post-Operative Vomiting. Note that MGI was bought by Eisai Co., Ltd. (OTC: ESALY).
  
• Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 8:00am.

One of the nicest things about going into bankruptcy is coming back out. Unless, of course, no one will give you the money to start anew. Delphi, the large auto parts company, had $6.1 billion lined up to start business as a company out of Chapter 11, but the credit crunch is making that exit very difficult to fund.

JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) were leading the group to supply Delphi with capital. But they cannot lay-off some of the loans because hedge funds and other institutions don't want the risky paper. GM (NYSE: GM), Delphi's former parent might put up some of the money, but the car company may need its cash for making up loses at its North American operations.

The banks are not required to put up the money. According to The Wall Street Journal, "J.P. Morgan and Citigroup are bound only on a 'best-efforts basis' to arrange the loan." In other words, they can dump the deal.

Raising money for a car parts company in the worst auto recession in two decade would be hard anyway. Perhaps Delphi should just stay in bankruptcy for a couple more years. The company might be better off.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.