Filed under: Earnings reports, Products and services, Time Warner (TWX), Marketing and advertising, Time Warner Cable (TWC)

On Wednesday morning before the market opens, Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) will report earnings, and a conference call will follow at 10:30 AM EST. Since Jeff Bewkes has been named CEO and Dick Parsons is remaining as chairman, it’s a safe bet that Bewkes will be in charge of the call. If he is not tomorrow, he will be going forward.

Also, on the same day Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE:TWC) is also due to report earnings, although its conference call is first, at 8:30 AM EST:

• TWX estimates from First Call: $0.24 EPS on $11.37 billion revenues; next quarter $0.30 EPS on $12.81 billion in revenues.
• TWC estimates from First Call: $0.27 EPS on $4.06 billion revenues; next quarter $0.31 EPS on $4.22 billion in revenues.

Wall Street wants to know what Time Warner has planned for the future. As we have discussed, there is a break-up or a special situation here that is lurking. The real endgame is still probably in a “pending status,” but with any luck, here is what we’ll hopefully find out tomorrow:

Continue reading Time Warner (TWX, TWC): Will it unveil its Holy Grail strategy during tomorrow’s earnings call?

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Filed under: Under Armour’A’ (UA), Options

Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH), a single-family homebuilder based in Atlanta, will record a pretax charge of $230 million in the fourth quarter and suspend its quarterly dividend to reduce costs. BZH December option implied volatility of 98 is above its 26-week average of 86 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risks.

Under Armour (NYSE: UA) Chairman and Chief Executive Kevin Plank on Nov. 5 reported selling $76 million in company shares. Plank continues to own 12.5 million of class b shares. Dow Jones reported of two other executives selling shares, Senior Vice President Scott Plank selling $45 million and Senior VP Kip Fulks selling $8.8 million. UA has a market cap of $2.4 billion. UA November option implied volatility is at 65, December is at 54, above its 26-week average of 48 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risks.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

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Filed under: Industry, Market matters, Housing

In case you haven’t been paying attention, home sales and mortgage situations are a little touchy in the U.S. right now. Mortgage holders continue to default on their loans, subprime borrowers are no longer able to get loans (at least not with the same favorable terms), financial companies are writing down billions of dollars in losses from backing shoddy mortgages, Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) have fired their CEOs and home prices are down in many parts of the country.

In other words, the nightmare surrounding the housing and mortgage market is taking a toll in many areas. But if the U.S. can cut its home inventories (using several methods, I suppose), then that alone may be the key to stabilizing financial systems here in the U.S. and in the rest of the world. At least according to former Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan. Still, it’s quite a mighty prediction, right?

Greenspan connected the subprime lending situation to international financial systems and said that the way to self-correct this system would to be somehow get rid of 200,000 to 300,000 housing units in active sales inventory in the U.S. at this time. He also warned against trying to keep down “asset bubbles” as he spoke to a business leader’s forum from Washington. Greenspan also referred to the global economy, saying it is “doing well.”

So, is Greenspan right? Can all the excess homes now in the market as a result of the mortgage overextension and lending crisis be sold? Can this clear the air of economic concerns as the housing and mortgage crises are rolling over into other industries and even nations? He’s been right before … many times.

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Filed under: Cisco Systems (CSCO), Options

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) will report 1Q EPS 36c on Nov. 7 according to Thomson First Call.

RBC Capital Markets says: “Considering potential lumpiness in some US enterprise verticals, we would rather wait for a better entry point.”

CSCO November option implied volatility is at 51, December is at 38, above its 26-week average of 31 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

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Filed under: Good news, Newspapers, Wal-Mart (WMT), Target Corp. (TGT), Green Stocks

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) has been making headlines for months with its environmental initiatives, and now Target (NYSE: TGT) is in the news. The retailer announced that it will be reducing the use of PVC in packaging and children’s products.

The EPA classifies PVC as a human carcinogen. Target has been the subject of protests from environmental groups pressuring the company to reduce its use of PVC and be more environmentally conscious. Of course, Target says its plans to reduce its use of the product predate the protests.

Target’s corporate website has a page devoted to its environmental initiatives. A few of the highlights:

• “Energy-efficient fluorescent lamps are used throughout our stores, a first in the retail industry. We are currently changing our sales floor lighting from a three-lamp to a two-lamp fixture, which will reduce our energy consumption by 22 percent.”
• “Four stores in California draw 20 percent of their annual electricity needs from their own rooftop solar-panel systems. In 2007, Target will retrofit 14 more California stores to operate on solar power.”
• In 2006, the company “reused 385 million garment hangers and recycled 2.1 million pounds of plastic and 153,000 pounds of metal from broken hangers.”

Wal-Mart and Target appear to be locked in a battle to one-up each other on environmental responsibility, and that’s great news for the planet.

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Filed under: Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Cisco Systems (CSCO), China, Initial public offerings

Alibaba more than doubled on its first day of trading in Hong Kong today. After the trading day ended, Alibaba took its place as Asia’s second largest Internet company behind Yahoo! Japan. All in, Alibaba is now valued at over $23 billion.

With shareholders including Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), Alibaba joins other high-flying Asian IPOs in 2007. I wrote briefly yesterday about the PetroChina (NYSE: PTR) IPO, which after it saw its value triple, is now the world’s first trillion dollar company.

Part of what makes the Alibaba IPO so interesting is the firm’s growth prospects. China’s largest Web trading site for companies predicts profit will almost triple this year on increased spending in the world’s fastest growing major economy.

Continue reading Alibaba rockets ahead in Hong Kong debut

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Filed under: Forecasts, Deals, Bad news, Competitive strategy, Ford Motor (F), Economic data

Even with a good contract with the UAW nearly in hand, Ford Motor (NYSE: F) is warning that with its falling sales a better union contract may not be enough to balance costs with revenue.

The deal with the union calls for Ford to operate six plants it was going to close. That will cost a lot of money, but it was a necessary concession to get the contract signed.

Ford is warning that overall US car sales may drop next year. Mark Fields, head of the company in the Americas was quoted by The New York Times as saying, “If you look at all the indicators out there, there is more risk than opportunity,” And Ford will have to put up more than $13 billion in cash to start a new UAW fund to cover worker health costs.

That leaves Ford in a bit of a bind. Its monthly sales figures in the US have been down 13 months in a row. On a good day it has about 15% of the US vehicle market. US and Japanese competitors are unlikely to give it a break. Auto parts suppliers have probably been pushed to the limit in terms of giving Ford better prices. Some of them have been driven into bankruptcy.

So, Ford can cut more of its white collar work force and fire most of its temporary work force. But once that is done, there is very little left. Which means, if Ford cannot hold its current market share, it has a really big problem.

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

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Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Ford Motor (F), Citigroup Inc. (C), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), AMR Corp (AMR), Dow Chemical (DOW)

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Reacting to $90-plus a barrel oil prices, airlines, many of whom are beginning to see profits again, are passing along increases to passengers. Led by AMR Corporation’s (NYSE: AMR) American Airlines, the largest carrier, increases per ticket are being increased about $20, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• The UAW may not face stiff opposition among its rank and file member for a new four year labor contact with Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), as local leaders in Detroit approved a tentative four year deal, reported the Wall Street Journal.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The New York Post reported that two fired Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) executives shopped the company to investors, according to industry consultants’ affidavits filed by the company to support its claims that the execs breached their corporate duties.
• The Telegraph reported that CIBC World Markets’ financial services analyst Meredith Whitney has called for Chuck Prince’s successors to break up Citigroup (NYSE: C).
• Several private equity firms are competing to buy the 32% stake in Sony Corporation’s (NYSE: SNE) Sony Entertainment Television currently held by Indian investors, reported the Economic Times.

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Filed under: Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Time Warner (TWX), Citigroup Inc. (C), Money and Finance Today, Sun Microsystems (JAVA)

Continue reading How do you rank as a taxpayer?, most affordable places to live well & 2 more years to a better retirement - Today in Money 11/06

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Filed under: Forecasts, Bad news, Market matters, Citigroup Inc. (C), Money and Finance Today, Stocks to Sell

Citigroup (NYSE: C) may have a new leadership team, but don’t expect any miracles [subscription required]. In a conference call yesterday with CFO Gary Crittenden and the new Citigroup chairman Robert Rubin, analysts were told that Citigroup would not be able to clean up its problems related to the mortgage and credit mess until the middle of 2008. Citigroup expects to write down between $8 billion and $11 billion in the fourth quarter, but that could go even higher.

Crittenden did repeatedly try to assure investors that the dividend level would be maintained, saying, “Based on our current assumptions, we do expect that we will be maintaining our current dividend level. We have no reason to think that is anything other than absolutely the case and we anticipate that we will return to the range of our targeted capital ratios by the end of the second quarter 2008.”

The question is how sure are they? They admit that most of what has unfolded happened through the month of October and that the potential losses for Citigroup raked up by its banks and investment houses could total more than $30 billion. When asked by Mike Mayo, an analyst for Deutshe Bank, “In the terms of the charges, can you give us any assurances that there is not another shoe to drop?” Crittenden answered, “Well, no Mike, I obviously can’t give you any assurances. By the very nature of what I have said through this call, we are making an estimate right now …”

Continue reading Don’t hold your breath - Citigroup told analysts clean up will take at least until middle of 2008

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