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Leaked memo shows Hewlett-Packard CEO jitters
Stock Market News |
2011/05/16 08:51
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A leaked memo from Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Leo Apotheker warning of "another tough quarter" underscores the urgent concerns about the technology heavyweight's growth strategy and the challenges facing its new leader.
Reports of the May 4 missive from Apotheker to his top executives surfaced late Monday, sending HP shares tumbling. HP abruptly moved up its earnings report to Tuesday morning. It had originally been scheduled to Wednesday afternoon.
The jitters reflect investors' anxiety about what is essentially a classic big-company problem -- with a twist.
HP is struggling to find ways to meaningfully boost sales without chasing bottom-feeder deals that eat away at profits. It's a code that many analysts believe HP hasn't cracked.
This as the 72-year-old company is recovering from the trauma of the management scandal that brought about the sacking of Apotheker's predecessor, Mark Hurd, in August, and led to the replacement of a third of HP's board. The boardroom purging was unusually severe for a company HP's size, and the turmoil reinforced a perception among many technology watchers of dysfunction in the top ranks of a Silicon Valley institution.
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As stock market slows down, defensive stocks shine
Stock Market News |
2011/05/16 08:50
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After sailing through its best first quarter since 1998, the stock market is starting to lose some momentum. The Standard and Poor's 500 stock index, a broad market benchmark, is up just 1 percent this quarter after jumping 5.4 percent in the first three months of the year, in large part because of conflicting data about the health of the economy.
One group -- defensive stocks -- is doing just fine. Utilities, health care and consumer staples are all considered a good defense against a slowdown because they tend to have stable profits no matter what happens in the broad economy. The items they sell aren't ones people stop buying when their budgets are tight. And for the last six weeks, investors have been putting money into stocks of companies like Aetna or Kraft Foods that cater to everyday needs, like health insurance or coffee.
Each of the defensive industry groups has gained more than 5 percent this quarter. Health care -- the best of the three -- is now up 14.2 percent for the year, after lagging sectors like energy and industrials during the first quarter. What's more, the number of shares exchanging hands in defensive industries is also increasing. Higher volume often signifies that a stock on the rise will continue to rise -- or that a declining stock will keep falling -- because it reflects increased investor interest in a stock. The daily trading volume of the SPDR Consumer Staples Select ETF, for example, is double the rate it was in January.
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Cisco earnings down 18 percent in 3Q
Stock Market News |
2011/05/13 09:29
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Cisco, the world's largest maker of computer networking gear, says net income declined nearly 18 percent in the latest quarter, as costs kept pace with a sales increase.
The company earned $1.8 billion, or 33 cents per share, in the fiscal third quarter, which ended in April. That compared with earnings of $2.2 billion, or 37 cents per share, a year ago.
Excluding the cost of stock-based compensation, amortization and asset impairments, earnings were 42 cents per share, unchanged from last year. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 37 cents per share on that basis.
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Stocks open higher on earnings, housing starts
Stock Market News |
2011/04/19 08:40
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Stocks opened higher Tuesday after strong earnings reports from Johnson & Johnson, Zions Bancorporation and other companies. Housing starts increased more than expected in March. Zions rose 6 percent, the most of any company in the Standard & Poor's 500 index. The Utah bank reported a first-quarter profit after posting a loss a year ago. It also said customers were getting better at paying back loans, allowing the bank to set aside less money to cover defaults. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 41 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,242. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 4 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,309. The Nasdaq composite rose 5, or 0.2 percent, to 2,740. Health care heavyweight Johnson & Johnson rose 3 percent. The company beat Wall Street's earnings expectations and raised its full-year earnings forecast. The Commerce Department reported that builders broke ground in March on the highest number of new homes in six months. Home construction rose 7.2 percent from February, more than analysts had expected. Trucking company Paccar Inc. rose 5 percent after its income and revenues beat analysts' expectations. |
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Goldman's net falls 72 pct after Buffett dividend
Stock Market News |
2011/04/19 06:39
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Goldman Sachs' first-quarter income fell 72 percent after the bank paid $1.64 billion in dividends to redeem preferred shares it issued to billionaire investor Warren Buffett during the financial crisis. The New York investment bank said Tuesday that it earned $908 million, or $1.56 per share, compared with $3.3 billion, or $5.59 a share in the first quarter of last year. Excluding the dividend payment, earnings per common share were $4.38, beating the $3.95 per share forecast of analysts surveyed by FactSet. Revenue fell 7 percent to $11.9 billion on weakness in the bank's core businesses of trading stocks and bonds and advising clients. Goldman's stock fell 0.9 percent to $152.38 in late morning trading. The Federal Reserve gave Goldman Sachs Group Inc. permission to repay Berkshire Hathaway last month. While the Fed's decision wasn't a surprise given Goldman's ever-widening profits since the financial crisis, it reflected how far Goldman and other major banks have progressed from the darkest days of September 2008. At that time, Buffett, who is CEO of Berkshire, helped shore up confidence in Goldman Sachs by making a $5 billion investment in the company. Berkshire received preferred shares that paid a 10 percent annual dividend. Goldman's second-quarter earnings will likely be affected by the redemption, which occurred on April 18. |
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Investment Fraud Litigation |
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Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a practice that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in losses, in violation of the securities laws. Securities Arbitration. Generally speaking, securities fraud consists of deceptive practices in the stock and commodity markets, and occurs when investors are enticed to part with their money based on untrue statements.
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