Clemens, Ackman, Cullen, Tobacco
– Me think he doth protest too much
– I have a hard time disagreeing with a guy who called this perfectly.
– James, why do you hurt me so? I would say by Sherwin before someone else does
– Has anyone ever been forced to light up? Whatever happened to the whole “free will” thing?
The former trainer of Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee claimed in front of congress moments ago to have syringes from his injections of Roger Clemens of HGH and steroids that, according to him, after chemical analysis will prove his assertions
Disclosure (“none” means no position):
Has anyone at Sprint (S) called execs at Home Depot (HD) to inquire into their regret level at listening to Ralph Whitworth?
Whitworth, who owns a roughly 2% stake in Sprint through his investment company, Relational Investors, has been sparring with Sprint. Last fall, he threatened a proxy fight if management did not make vast improvements.
He wants the company to:
1- Spinoff of its long-distance unit or
2- Alter its $5 billion plans for a WiMax high-speed wireless network.
Those of us with memories longer than 6 months can remember Whitworth’s last “value destruction” efforts at Home Depot. There he ousted Bob Nardelli and prodded management to sell the supply unit and try to take on massive debt to repurchase huge blocks of shares. First talked about early last year, here is a brief refresher of the events. shares have shed 30% since then. Thank Ralph shareholders.
Is Sprint really considering adding Whitworth?
CEO Dan Hesse seems to be off to a good start. Already he has:
1- Announced a plan to shed 4,000 jobs.
2- The formal shift of its headquarters from Reston, Va., where Nextel was based, to Overland Park, Kan., Sprint’s headquarters, seems to be in the works. Finally creating one company
3- Discussed options for Sprint’s WiMax unit, including a spinoff of that business or merging it with Clearwire (CLWR).
4- Based on personal experience, the customer service issue that have almost destroyed the company have improved
The last thing Sprint ought to do is cave to avoid a public fight with Whitworth. What they ought to do is welcome it and point out his recent history. That ought to be more than enough to end the discussion.
Disclosure (“none” means no position):None
The latest Fed auction illustrates a continued downward interest rate trend
Here are the results from the prior auction:
On February 11, 2008, the Federal Reserve conducted an auction of $30 billion in 28-day credit through its Term Auction Facility. Following are the results of the auction:
Stop-out rate: 3.010 percent
Total propositions submitted: $58.400 billion
Total propositions accepted: $30.000 billion
Bid/cover ratio: 1.95
Number of bidders: 66
Banks like Wachovia (WB), Citigrpoup (C), Bank of America (BAC) and Wells Fargo (WFC) are now getting money from the Fed and at almost 1/2 the 30 yr interest rates on the mortgages they can make with it. While they may be taking write-downs on the CDO portfolios they hold, when they report earnings for the current quarter, I have a feeling that people are going to be surprised by the results from normal operations.
The recent plunge in interest rates has not seem a corresponding drop in load rates from the bank. Simply put, this activity essentially allows banks to virtually print money.
Disclosure (“none” means no position): Long Citigroup and Wachovia, None
Upgrades
Veeco Instruments (VECO)- AmTech Research Neutral » Buy
Lubrizol (LZ)- KeyBanc Capital Mkts Buy » Aggressive Buy
Medcath (MDTH)- Wachovia Mkt Perform » Outperform
Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO)- Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey Neutral » Buy
Time Warner (TWX)- UBS Neutral » Buy
Schlumberger (SLB)- Bear Stearns Peer Perform » Outperform
Liberty Media Capital (LCAPA)- Lehman Brothers Equal-weight » Overweight
Eldorado Gold (EGO)- Credit Suisse Neutral » Outperform
Weatherford (WFT)- UBS Neutral » Buy
Downgrades
Hypercom (HYC)- Morgan Keegan Outperform » Mkt Perform
Brandywine Realty (BDN)- Stifel Nicolaus Hold » Sell
MBIA Inc (MBI)- Piper Jaffray Buy » Neutral
INX Inc. (INXI)- Brean Murray Buy » Hold
Watts Ind (WTS)- Morgan Joseph Buy » Hold
Winn-Dixie Stores (WINN)- Friedman Billings Outperform » Mkt Perform
Thomas & Betts (TNB)- Friedman Billings Outperform » Mkt Perform
MasTec (MTZ)- Friedman Billings Outperform » Mkt Perform
Dycom (DY)- Friedman Billings Outperform » Mkt Perform
PNM Resources (PNM )- Citigroup Buy » Hold
Willis Group (WSH)- Lehman Brothers Overweight » Equal-weight
American Intl (AIG)- Lehman Brothers Overweight » Equal-weight
SAFECO (SAF)- Lehman Brothers Overweight » Equal-weight
PNM Resources (PNM)- Lehman Brothers Overweight » Equal-weight
Unilever PLC (UL)- Citigroup Buy » Hold
Andersons (ANDE)- Banc of America Sec Buy » Neutral
Baker Hughes (BHI)- UBS Buy » Neutral
Smith Intl (SII)- UBS Buy » Neutral
Disclosure (“none” means no position):
Leucadia (LUK), in an SEC filing Tuesday night disclose it had purchased more shares in AmeriCredit (ACF)
On Feb 8th, 7,800 shares were purchased at $13 a share.
On Feb. 11th, 37,797 shares were purchased at $12.99 a share.
Leucadia and its affiliates now own 25,633,373 shares or 22.5% of the total outstanding.
Wednesday’s Picks
jeff Macke likes Wal-Mart (WMT) $50.25
Guy Adami recommends Intel (INTC) $20.90
Karen Finerman prefers Microsoft (MSFT) $28.34
Pete Najarian thinks Cisco (CSCO) $23.43 is a buy as a wireless infrastructure play.
Tuesday’s Results
Jeff Macke likes Yahoo! (YHOO) $29.87 Close $29.57 LOSS
Guy Adami prefers Merck (MRK) $45.31 Close $46.53 GAIN
Tim Seymour recommends Tesoro (TSO) $37.06 Close $36.59 LOSS
Pete Najarian thinks Allegheny Technology (ATI) $80.71 is a buy on any pullback. Close $79.12 LOSS
2008 Records:
Brian Schaeffer= 0-1
Carter Worth= 0-1
Jon Najarian= 4-1
Jeff Macke= 8-8
Tim Seymore= 2-4
Guy Adami= 9-11
Pete Najarian= 9-8
Karen Finerman= 8-9-1
2007 Results (Since 6/21):
Guy Adami= 58-46 = 56%
Jeff Macke= 60-40 = 60%
Pete Najarian= 49-41 = 54%
The StockMaster’s have a new “Quant Method Newsletter” pick available at Wall St. Newsletters.
(OVEN)- Turbochef Technologie …
(NXTM)- Nxstage Medical Inc
(NURO )- Neurometrix Inc
(NT )- Nortel Networks Corp New
(NHWK)- Nighthawk Radiology H …
(ARUN )- Aruba Networks Inc
(AMAB )- Americasbank Corp
(ALLT )- Allot Communications Ltd
(AHC )- A H Belo Corp
(CPI)- Capital Properties, Inc
(CMN )- Cantel Industries Inc
(CIOU )- Asia Special Sit Acqs …
(CCZ )- Comcast Holdings Corp
(BRO )- Brown & Brown Inc
A profile on CNBC on Ackman and his trades in MBIA (MBI) and Ambac (ABK)
Also discussed in his positions in Borders (BGP), Target (TGT), Sears (SHLD) and Wendy’s (WEN).
Disclosure (“none” means no position):Long SHLD
Lizdon, Starbucks, Apple’s iPhone, Microsoft & Yahoo
– He is right, it would appear these folks were the LAST to know this
– Interesting. Not because Starbucks is silent but for the fact I have not seen this anywhere else.
– Will they make the 10 million unit sales?
– I have no opinion on this but this is a good one
Do people really think Berkshires Hathaway’s (BRK.A) is really “helping” the bond insurers? Really?
Buffett offered to insure $800 billion of municipal bonds held by the major insurers such as Ambac (ABK) and MBIA (MBI). Problem with that is based on results to date, that seems to be the only part of the insurers portfolio not falling apart. While the move would improve the “guarantee” offered by both companies, it would then leave them holding a collection of failing loans. Buffett is essentially offering to insure the only part of their portfolio not at risk. How is this helping them? In all reality, this would end up being a drain on their liquidity.
The only person other than Berkshire shareholders and Buffett hoping they take the bait on this is probably Pershing’s Bill Ackman. Once the only stable part of their portfolio now pledged to Buffett, Ackman’s prediction of failure for the insurers is as close to a sure thing in investing as one could get…..
Disclosure (“none” means no position):None
While the market may lump Sherwin Williams (SHW) in with the other “housing stocks” both today’s news and their earnings for the past year suggest otherwise…
Can anyone name a “housing stock” that saw earnings in 2007 grow double digits and project further earnings increases in 2008? Industries with huge housing exposure from builders, banks, chemical makers, wall board suppliers, insulation makers, mortgage companies all saw earnings decimated in 2007 and 2008’s outlook is spotty at best.
Who has bucked the trend? Sherwin Williams. Why? The US housing market is not the overwhelming driver of earnings at the company, despite what the market thinks.
In the past year, Sherwin-Williams has acquired paint and coatings companies in India, Uruguay and Mexico. As of Monday you can add Asia to the list.
Sherwin announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Liquid Coatings Subsidiaries of Inchem Holdings of Inchem Holdings International Limited headquartered in Singapore. Terms were not released.
Inchem produces coatings applied to wood and plastic products in Asia. These waterborne, solvent-based, and ultraviolet (UV) curable coatings are applied to furniture, cabinets, flooring, and electronic products that are manufactured both for export as well as domestic sale. The coatings are made and sold in China, Vietnam and Malaysia, and distributed to 15 other countries throughout Asia.
CEO Christopher M. Connor said “this acquisition reaffirms our commitment to growing globally through organic growth accelerated by strategically important acquisitions. We are pleased to bring Inchem, a well respected company throughout Asia, it’s plants in China, Vietnam, and Malaysia, and most importantly its people into the Sherwin-Williams family.”
George E. Heath, President and General Manager of Sherwin-Williams Chemical Coatings Division, stated, “we continue to strengthen our growing global platform to better serve the needs of manufacturers in North America and Asia. Inchem supports this mission with great plants, products, and people throughout Southeast Asia.”
Many folks are advising to “wait” before buying shares in Sherwin. Here is the problem with that. My fear is that those who wait will find themselves wishing they had not as Sherwin becomes an enticing buyout prospect daily for a large buyer like a Dow Chemical (DOW) who could easily swallow the company. With only a $6.6 billion market cap, Sherwin is very easily digestible. Sorry James 🙂
Every few months Sherwin does a deal that further shrinks its exposure to the US housing market. Monday’s news is just another example.
Disclosure (“none” means no position): Long Sherwin, Dow
What is god’s name is going on at The Journal? I just finished reading an “interview” with Circuit City’s (CC) CEO Philip Schoonover that was, sad. It reads like it was a press release from the company.
Let’s just put aside Schoonover’s destruction of 80% of the companies value in under two years. First things first, here is the “interview”.
This could only have been a “email me the questions and I will send you answers”. There was no follow-up. It was a series of questions with wholly accepted answers. They actually went as far as to print this:
Now, am I the only one who notices that when Schoonover took over the company’s stock price was at a near decade high? The year prior to Schoonover taking over the company made 31 cents a share and this year losses ought to exceed $2 a share. How is he engineering a turnaround?
Why is he even being spoken to about this subject? Can anyone anywhere show me any evidence of ANY turnaround?
Even in his “5 Tips” above, current actions totally contradict them.
Was Schoonover “listening to employees” (Rule #1) when he fired thousands of high priced but experience ones? The very employees it should be noted they are begging to return due to the precipitous drop in customer satisfaction in the stores?
Circuit City recently approved cash retention bonuses for current executives when it became apparent the current bonus plan was worthless due to the plummet in the stock price. Maybe that would have to perfect time to “refresh management” (Tip #2) and save shareholders several million dollars?
Rule #3, “Embrace Your Heritage” seems more than a little bit the polar opposite of the new “The City” concept being rolled out currently which is simply a reinvention of Radioshack’s (RSH) wheel.
Rule #4, “Protect the Future” actually made me chuckle because at the rate Schoonover is going, the only thing in the company’s “future” is a Chapter 11 filing. The guy does make me laugh.
I will give Schoonover credit for following Rule #5, “Stay the course”. I have seen no evidence that Circuit City has any chance rebounding from its current downward spiral.
Disclosure (“none” means no position): Pity for shareholders (those who are left)
“What you have (in Sears Holdings (SHLD)) is a collection of brands and assets”, Whitney Tilson. Amen Whitney.. Watch the video..
Here is the video from last week I referenced in yesterday’s post.
Disclosure (“none” means no position): Long Sears, Fan of Whitney’s