Stock Investing - StockBaggers.com

Home Builders Post Steep Losses as Value of Unsold Land SlipsD. R. Horton and Beazer Homes USA, two large home builders, saw losses in the last quarter and predicted more tough times to come.

Dow falls 311 points on housing, credit fearsThe market’s worst loss since February comes on worries about housing, credit markets contraction and ExxonMobil’s disappointing earnings report. Apple’s earnings shine; Ford surprises with a profit. Is the end of the leveraged-buyout era here?

Where to stash your everyday cashOnline competition is pressuring traditional banks and brokerages to offer higher interest rates on savings, money-market and checking accounts. Here’s how they compare with Internet-based banks.

Japanese stocks down; dollar unchanged (AP)

AP - Japanese stocks fell for a second day Thursday as investors remained cautious ahead of the upper house elections Sunday and amid a flurry of corporate earnings reports.

S&P, Nasdaq slip in volatile session (FT.com)FT.com - Wall Street stocks turned mixed in afternoon trading on Wednesday as investors responded to generally upbeat company earnings from companies including Amazon and Boeing (NYSE:BA) and got to grips with fresh housing market data.

Economic growth rebounds in second quarterWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Economic growth rebounded during the second quarter to its strongest pace since the beginning of last year on a surge in business investment, more government spending and a better trade performance, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.

Stock Investing

KeyCorp to buy NY bank USB Holding for $575 mlnNEW YORK (Reuters) - KeyCorp , a large regional U.S. bank, on Friday said it agreed to buy U.S.B. Holding Co. , the parent of Union State Bank, for $575 million in cash and stock to expand in southern New York state.

Wall Street’s Woes Hit HomeProblems in the bond markets put pressure on financial firms’ shares.

Microsoft Offers a Web-Based StrategyExecutives said they would add Internet services to Microsoft?s desktop applications to respond to the growing threat posed by rivals like Google.

Regulators in Europe Accuse Intel of Violating Antitrust LawsThe European Commission has accused the world?s largest chipmaker of using illegal rebates in its fight against rival Advanced Micro Devices.

No crisis for mortgage lendersTroubles in the mortgage-lending market are overblown. Countrywide Financial is one stock that is well-positioned to take advantage of eventual improvement in the market.

Market’s nervous after Friday sell-offThe Dow drops 149 points as Caterpillar and Google earnings disappoint. Earnings reports and worries about subprime mortgages and credit markets will play big roles next week. Bond investors seek safety in Treasurys.

Stock Investing

2 Pentagon Suppliers Report Strong Sales and ProfitThe Lockheed Martin Corporation and the Northrop Grumman Corporation, two of the world?s biggest military contractors, reported higher-than-expected second-quarter profit yesterday as a result of strong fighter jet, technology and satellite sales.

Xerox Profit Up 2.3 PercentThe company posted a 2.3 percent increase in net income from a year earlier, reflecting strength in revenue from financing and office equipment servicing and supplies.

How John Edwards makes his millions growInvestments in limited partnerships, an offshore hedge fund and subprime-mortgage lenders have made this wealthy presidential candidate even richer.

The next generation of winning stocksSmall-cap growth stocks ready for supersize growth are getting increasingly hard to find. But a little digging has turned up new ones for my Future Fantastic 50 Portfolio.

CAPS helps uncover the story behind a stockWhy do some companies? shares have momentum? An explanation often is found in their compelling stories, and our CAPS system can lead you to them.

Stock Investing

CORRECTION: Dollar slides, stays near record low vs euro (Reuters)Reuters - The dollar hovered near a record low against the euro on Friday due to continuing concerns about weakness in the U.S. housing market and its impact on the broader economy.

A Genetically Modified Potato, Not for Eating, Is Stirring Some Opposition in EuropeAmflora potatoes have become the unlikely lightning rod in the angry debate over genetically modified crops in Europe.

Campaign Spotlight: Serena and Roger on the Bus, Not the CourtA new campaign by Arnold Worldwide features tennis stars traveling on a tour bus.

Mass Vs. GasU.S. car buyers want it all: performance, comfort, luxury, info-tainment and great gas mileage.

Dow finishes above 14,000The blue chips and the S&P 500 reach new highs. Crude nearly hits $76. Microsoft earnings meet estimates. Google shares fall 7% as earnings disappoint. The Fed’s minutes from June show continued worries about inflation.

Carlyle to file for IPO soon?

Filed under: Private equity, Blackstone Group L.P (BX)

It seems inevitable that private equity firm, Carlyle Group, is going to file for an IPO. No doubt, there has been a lot a chatter about it.

Well, according to the FT.com [a paid service], Carlyle has a new CFO Peter Nachtwey. Obviously, this is a critical hire for an IPO (especially in light of the extremely complex issues of alternative investment management companies).

Nachtwey certainly has a sterling resume. He has served as a partner at Deloitte & Touche and even was involved in the audit of the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) stock offering.

Although, Carlyle is currently in the process of raising a $15 billion fund. So, in the meantime, it’s likely that the firm will focus on that before it makes a filing for an IPO.

But, with $71.4 billion in assets under management, Carlyle should have no problem pulling off an IPO. After all, despite the fall in Blackstone’s shares, the valuation is still not cheap.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Stock Investing

Stock futures seen mixed, earnings in focus (Reuters)

Reuters - Stock futures pointed to a mixed start on Wall Street on Tuesday, with investors set to eye a flood of quarterly earnings updates.

No help for gas buyers — or oil investorsRising oil prices and increased refinery costs mean gas prices will keep going up. Yet record profits mean little to investors, since companies don’t have a good place to reinvest the cash.

Will Motorola hang up on its CEO?Amid shrinking profits and Wall Street disappointments, the cell-phone maker’s board is exploring succession options for current boss Ed Zander.

Windows Vista: My vote is in

Filed under: Good news, Products and services, Consumer experience, Microsoft (MSFT)

After six months, I finally broke down and retired an older laptop to another use (a “family” PC) and went on the hunt for a newer laptop computer system a few weeks ago. This past weekend, a choice was made and a new slim box was purchased with a new notebook inside, ready to be torn apart the second I walked back in the door at home. Now, I’m no fan of large notebooks, like those with 17″ screens or even 15.4″ screens. I went with a smaller notebook with a 14.1″ screen so that those extended typing sessions would be easier on my lap than a nine-pound monster. Of course, the new system came with Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) newer Windows Vista operating system.

Having had a few issues upgrading to Windows Vista in the past few months, I was already leery of the operating system, although it came pre-installed on this new notebook. Having two gigabytes of memory in the new notebook was the bigger factor I had looked for, since having plenty of operating memory is what makes things slick and fast according to the computer experts I had sought out for advice. Although I own Microsoft shares, many of the company’s moves irk me; while many delight me (you’ll know this from reading my various posts on Microsoft). Was Vista going to be a former or a latter product? Read on.

After about three days of installing software and working with this new laptop feverishly to meet deadlines and get things organized this weekend, I do say that Windows Vista is not only pretty but does work very fast and seems very stable. Some of the newer changes from Windows XP are taking a little getting used to, but I can live with it. So far, speed seems much faster than my previous laptop (bought at the end of 2006), although the technical specs are very similar. My verdict on Windows Vista so far is that it is a speedy and workable platform, and every single older application I installed (used previously on Windows XP) worked flawlessly with Vista. Whew.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

The Way Forward Is PainfulEven if the auto industry reaches a breakthrough agreement with the UAW, carmakers still face a litany of problems.

Expedia Reduces Its Buyback PlanShares of Expedia, the online travel agency, fell more than 9 percent, or $2.68, to $26.71.

Stock Investing

Caterpillar among 10 stocks to buy nowThe world’s biggest maker of earth-moving equipment appears on an MSN Money list of stocks poised for gains. Here are StockScouter’s top investment ideas.

Starting the game with a little cautionI’m playing it safe for now with three stocks: Las Vegas Sands, JetBlue Airways and Motorola.?

Jess de Polanco, 77, Dies; Media Mogul Helped Revive Free Speech in SpainHe was a billionaire media entrepreneur viewed by Spaniards as crucial to restoring the free press during the country?s transition to democracy in the 1970s.

Yahoo! and Microsoft make big web privacy push

Filed under: Industry, Consumer experience, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI)

Whether it matters or not Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), and IACI’s (NASD:IACI) Ask.com are all beginning programs to keep users search data private. Yahoo! actually plans to make (subscription required) all user search data anonymous within 13 months of collecting it.

Personal information can be used to improve the search results that are sent back to users. But, Ask and Microsoft are trying to band together with a number of companies and advocacy groups to set a coherent policy for keeping data on individual habits and data private.

Cynics might view the new enthusiasm for privacy two ways. The first is that it is a move by companies with a small share of the search market to pressure Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to improve its privacy standards. This could hurt the accuracy of the company’s search service by taking away key data that allow results to be more accurate.

The other take on the move is that protecting privacy data is much like building “green” cars. Critics and government agencies are becoming more interested in keeping the “Big Brother” aspect of search at bay. People’s habits should be private and not part of a large black box that tracks their habits to serve more targeted marketing messages or collect information on who is not paying taxes.

The best solution is probably for people who don’t want their data collected to avoid searching altogether. Personal data makes search results better. People can’t ignore that.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

M&A fails to brighten European equities (FT.com)FT.com - European stocks traded slightly lower on Monday despite a lift from the banking sector after Barclays (NYSE:BCS) increased its offer for ABN Amro.

Dow ends above 14,000 as investors cheer earnings news (AFP)

AFP - The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied Thursday to close above 14,000 points for the first time ever as bullish investors cheered generally upbeat corporate earnings reports.

Stock Investing