Mar 18, 2010

Daily Markets - Financial News And Opinions

Daily Markets - Financial News And Opinions

SunPower To Build Solar Project

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 12:15 PM PDT

SunPower Corporation (SPWRA) announced that it will design and construct a 1-megawatt solar power system at the Yolo County Justice Center in Woodland, California.

Yolo County, which will own the system and associated renewable energy credits, is financing the purchase using multiple funding sources, including clean renewable energy bonds and qualified energy conservation bonds. The bonds were financed by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC). It also assisted the county in securing a 15-year loan from … [visit site to read more]


How To Trade The BRICs With ETFs

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 12:01 PM PDT

You’ve heard of the BRIC countries, right? Brazil, Russia, India and China are the four top emerging markets. For various reasons, all have much better long-term prospects than most of the so-called “developed” markets.

Now there’s a way you can trade the BRIC stock markets with some new leveraged ETFs - but you need to be careful.

More on this opportunity in a minute. First, let’s quickly review what all the excitement is about …

BRICs Are the Future!

I don’t have to tell … [visit site to read more]

Herman Miller Misses Expectations

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 12:00 PM PDT

Herman Miller Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR) posted fiscal 2010 third-quarter results on Wednesday. The company reported a net income of $8.3 million, compared to a net loss of $5.2 million in the year-ago quarter. Excluding special items, earnings per share came in at 15 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2 cents.
Herman Miller is engaged in the research, design, manufacture and distribution of office furniture systems, products and related services. Most of these systems and products are … [visit site to read more]

Boost For Bristol-Myers

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 11:45 AM PDT

Recently, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted their application for reviewing the combination of a fixed dose of Onglyza (saxagliptin) and metformin for treating patients suffering from type II diabetes. While Onglyza is already available for the treatment of diabetes, metformin is a widely-used generic diabetes pill.

Onglyza is co-developed by Bristol-Myers and AstraZeneca. The partners … [visit site to read more]

3Com Grabs Multi-Million Dollar Deal

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 11:30 AM PDT

Things are going well for the global enterprise networking major 3Com Corporation (NASDAQ:COMS). The company recently disclosed that it has grabbed a three-year, multi-million dollar deal with the Department of Education and Training (DET) in Northern Australia.

As per the terms of the agreement, 3Com will create a broad range of high-value H3C enterprise networking solutions to fulfill DET NT's wireless and networking needs for unified communications and multimedia learning. The company's … [visit site to read more]

Scripps Networks Expanding

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 11:16 AM PDT

Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. (NYSE:SNI) has undertaken an initiative to explore international markets. Recently, the company entered into an outsourcing deal with London-based Passion Distribution to provide global programming license on behalf of Scripps Networks. Passion Distribution will license programs from Scripps Networks' flagship channels such as Food Network, HGTV and DIY Network to entertainment channels throughout the world.
 
In late 2009, Scripps Networks launched its … [visit site to read more]

Pimco’s Mohamed El-Erian: Investors Must Keep Cash, “Retain Optionality”

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 11:01 AM PDT

Investors should be holding healthy levels of cash in order to take advantage of “known unknowns” that become clearer as the economy evolves, Mohamed El-Erian, co-CEO of Pimco, told CNBC.
“There are cyclical tailwinds for now that are going to overcome the structural headwinds,” he said, adding that those cyclical moves are important to note for how they perform within the larger structural environment of financial markets.
El-Erian also expects to see “a multi-speed world” where “part of the … [visit site to read more]

Massey Acquires Cumberland

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 10:57 AM PDT

Massey Energy Company (NYSE:MEE) has agreed to purchase Cumberland Resources Corporation and its affiliated companies for $960 million.
 
Cumberland is one of the largest privately held coal producers in the United States, with 2009 revenue of $550 million generated from the production and sale of 7.8 million tons of high quality Central Appalachian coal.
 
Approximately half of the 416 million tons of reserves of the company in Virginia and Kentucky can be used as metallurgical coal, a … [visit site to read more]

BofA Charged By Pension Fund

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 10:41 AM PDT

On Wednesday, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), also known as BofA, was reportedly sued by the Dutch Pension Fund, ABP, for withholding information to shareholders regarding the quarterly losses of Merrill Lynch when it was being voted for a merger in December 2008. APG Algemene Pensioen Groep NV (APG), which manages ABP's assets, has filed the lawsuit on behalf of ABP, seeking damages of as much as $91 million for the misrepresentation.
 
According to the charges, BofA intentionally hid … [visit site to read more]

US Economic Outlook: Default, Hyperinflation Or Both

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 10:36 AM PDT

Bill Bonner here at The Daily Reckoning reports that "Even if America taxed 100% of all household wealth, it would not be enough to put its balance sheet in the black", which I note seems exactly right to me, and I am able to corroborate Mr. Bonner's analysis because it seems to me that I seem to remember that just the federal budget deficit – alone! – would consume all federal income taxes paid by people and businesses!
Perhaps Mr. Bonner won't need any testimony from me, and … [visit site to read more]

The Decline Of The American Dream

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 10:30 AM PDT

With telltale signs of the greater depression all around us, especially unemployment, it comes as no surprise that the nation's belief in the "American Dream" is on the wane. Dot-com bubble, terrorism, wars, real estate collapse… it's been a tough decade. Providing evidence of the fading American Dream, Zogby International recently found "a significant decline in believers from a year ago and an even bigger drop from 10 years ago."
According to Forbes:
"On the basic question of … [visit site to read more]

Nasdaq Acquires Nord Pool

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 10:20 AM PDT

In an attempt to strengthen its power and carbon derivatives offering, on Wednesday, Nasdaq OMX Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) announced the acquisition of Nordic power bourse, Nord Pool ASA. Although the terms and value of the deal remains undisclosed, the transaction awaits regulatory approvals.
In all, Nasdaq OMX Commodities and Nord Pool ASA will have more than 390 members from 22 countries across a wide range of energy producers, consumers as well as financial institutions.
 
Nord Pool is the world’s … [visit site to read more]

CPI Remains Tame

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 10:15 AM PDT

We got more evidence today that inflation is not a serious concern. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) was unchanged in February after five straight months when it had increased by only 0.2% per month. Overall consumer prices are just 2.1% higher than a year ago.
If food and energy prices are stripped out to get "core” inflation, then inflation is also very tame, with core inflation up 0.1% in February, reversing a 0.1% decline in January and a 0.1% increase in December. Over the last year, core … [visit site to read more]

Indian 3G Bidding Kicks Off

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 10:02 AM PDT

After prolonged drama and nagging delays, India has finally kick-started the 3G spectrum (radio airwave) auction process. The bidding for the long-awaited 3G WCDMA spectrum and WiMax (broadband wireless access) auction has officially commenced and the government has started inviting applications from mobile operators.
 
Interestingly, no applications were filed by the privately held telecom carriers on the first two days (March 15 and March 16). Instead, leading participants such as … [visit site to read more]

Could Merkel Be Trying To Bring The Euro Down A Bit?

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PDT

The Germans broke rank with the rest of the EU and suggested Greece should turn to the IMF for support. The euro (EUR) had rallied over the past couple of days after it seemed the EU finance ministers had agreed on a loan facility to back the Greek government. But Germany's Angela Merkel threw a cat among the pigeons today when she said Greece should not look to the EU but should turn to the IMF if it needs aid. So traders immediately started selling the euro again as the black cloud of a … [visit site to read more]

Conflict Over UK Budget May Lead To Economy’s “Irreparable Damage”

Posted: 17 Mar 2010 04:19 PM PDT

The UK's plans for cutting its budget deficit have come under harsh criticism in a new report from the European Commission. The Commission does not see the UK's current strategy as being aggressive enough to make a 2015 deadline according to EU rules. On the other side, the UK Chancellor Alistair Darling believes that deeper cuts to government spending would chance a return to recession.
According to the BBC:
"Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne said the report was "wrong" and … [visit site to read more]
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