Filed under: International markets, Commodities, Oil, Recession

OPEC appeared likely Thursday to ignore President Bush and the west’s plea for increased production and to keep production at current levels, The Wall Street Journal reported (subscription required).

Further, OPEC ministers gathering in Vienna Thursday for Friday’s meeting mulled whether to take action to address what some members believe will be an oil price slide if the slow-growth U.S. economy slows global growth, and consequently moderates demand increases in both crude oil and gasoline, the Agence France-Presse reported.

Kuwait’s acting oil minister Mohammed Al-Aleem told the AFP that OPEC was “a little worried about the impact of a slowdown or a recession in the United States” on oil prices. “The price, for the time being, has been going a little bit down,” he said. “We’ll hear and see what analyses have been done” and he said they make a decision based on those analyses.

Continue reading Amid $90 oil, OPEC weighs production cut for spring

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Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT), Columns

Welcome to the 47th installment of The Wal-Mart Weekly, a column dedicated to bringing you insight, wit, facts, results, opinions and just a bit of everything else when it comes down to a very hot topic these days: Wal-Mart.

In the last edition of The Wal-Mart Weekly from earlier this week, I took a look at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT)’s “company of the future” concept based on last week’s presentation by company CEO H. Lee Scott in Kansas City. Scott talked highly about energy efficiency (regarding products it sells to consumers) as well as the specific areas where consumer dollars are going.

Right now, a huge percentage is going towards energy costs in the form of gas prices and heating bills. Scott made the point that the world’s largest retailer needs to help its customers help themselves before its consumer curbs retail spending and Wal-Mart gets hurt. And, the government won’t do it, so Wal-Mart apparently will.

In Part 2 of this series, Scott’s comments and presentation centered on labor relations and how the retailer could get involved in industries outside mass merchandise retailing. Scott even mentioned a self-proclaimed “out there” idea about getting involved with the auto industry to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles. Because, you see, Wal-Mart can’t afford for its customer base to be financially suffocated or sales will fall as a result.

Continue reading The Wal-Mart Weekly: Visions of the company of the future, Part 2

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Filed under: Next big thing, Small business

I’m a big fan of LinkedIn, which is a social network for professionals. In fact, the service has helped me get sources for some of my stories.

But competition is starting to emerge, the latest comes from Hoover’s, a part of Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE: DNB). Hoover’s has acquired Visible Path, which develops an enetrprise-class social networking platform.

So what makes Hoover’s Connect different? Essentially, it’s a LinkedIn for individual companies and the system integrates with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)’s Outlook and other products.

Perhaps the biggest key, however, is privacy. After all, if you are a major executive (who has the power of the checkbook), do you want your contact information freely available?

Hoover’s can also leverage its large base of business customers. For example, it is possible to use the system to develop referral paths for various companies, making it to make it easier to make a connection. Actually, according to a study from the University of Chicago and University of North Carolina business schools, it is 16 times more likely to get a response from a trusted source versus a cold call.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

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Filed under: Earnings reports, SEC filings, Forecasts, Good news

Are you finding that in these times of volatility you’re trading more frequently? Maybe overtrading a bit? Well, you’re not alone.

The Nasdaq (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Stock Market’s revenues grew 50% in 2007 while its net earnings grew at about half that pace. Nasdaq matched 29.7% of all equity-trading volume.

The WSJ.com reported today [subscription required] that “on Sept. 20, Nasdaq and Borse Dubai settled a long battle for OMX in a deal that would eventually give Borse Dubai a 19.9% stake in Nasdaq.”

Nasdaq has a few other catalysts coming up:

1. Securities and Exchange Commission approval on its exchange application to trade options
2. Completion of its acquisition of the Boston Stock Exchange and the
3. Closing of an acquisition of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange

As we see more and more exchange volume and consolidation of global exchanges, Nasdaq may outperform.

Zack Miller is the Managing Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund.

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Filed under: Motorola (MOT), Newsletters, Stocks to Buy

“One company that I think could turn around in 2008 is Motorola (NYSE: MOT),” says wireless industry expert Nikhil Hutheesing.

The editor of The Forbes Wireless Stock Watch explains, “Motorola, which until recently was the second largest cell phone manufacturer after Nokia, ran into enormous problems this past year.” Here, he reviews the company’s troubles and his reasons for expecting better times ahead.

“While under chief executive officer, Ed Zander, Motorola came out with its new RAZR line-a huge hit. But hits only last so long and Zander was unable to deliver an encore performance. The financial situation became worse and in July of this year, the company reported that second quarter sales were about $8.6 billion, down from an expected $9.4 billion.

“In addition, the company said that continuing operations had a loss of 2% to 4% per share. But the worst news was that the cell phone business was not expected to be profitable in 2007 and Zander had led many analysts to expect that it would be.

Continue reading Forbes expert rings up Motorola (MOT)

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Filed under: International markets, Indices, Market matters, Technical Analysis, S and P 500

On October 31, the benchmark U.S. dollar-denominated MSCI All Country World Index closed at a record price of 427.63. It has since fallen to 366.21, a drop of 14.36%.

Yet not all world markets have fared equally poorly. Over the three-month span, there has been significant divergence between some of the best and worst performers, as the accompanying graph and table attest.

While it is hard to draw definitive conclusions, two things seem to stand out:

• Aside from Japan, which has been among the worst performing Asian markets for quite some time (and thus, has likely attracted considerable “bottom-fishing” inflows from value and contrarian-oriented investors in recent months), and Malaysia, which has remained a curious oasis of stability since global markets peaked, Asia-Pacific markets have not been been a popular investment destination lately. Perhaps we are witnessing the unwinding of ill-fated “decoupling” trades?

Continue reading Relative performance of selected global ETFs since markets peaked

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Chasing Value, Stocks to Buy, Raytheon Company (RTN), Best Stocks for 2008

Defense sector favorite Ratheon Co (NYSE: RTN) reported a very positive fourth quarter and an optimistic outlook for the year ahead. This has sent the stock up over 2% or about $1.50. It closed Wednesday at $63.43 and was trading near $65.00 per share midday.

RTN was one of my picks for the year Chasing Value: Raytheon in defense of the nation and your portfolio, and my best performer so far. I will be reporting on the Chasing Value: Final list — 8 stocks for 2008 first month results next week.

Lower pension costs and a tax benefit helped Raytheon post a 64% increase in its fourth-quarter profits [WSJ -subscription required]. Net income rose to $598 million from $365 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Raytheon also said its backlog increased 13%, and it boosted its outlook for 2008 to between $3.65 and $3.80 a share.

I still think that in 2008 the defense sector will outperform the overall market. Raytheon has an above market P/E ratio of about 19, but its price-to-sales ratio of 1.17 is not unreasonable. It also pays a dividend. Although RTN is not generally considered a technology stock in the same breadth as computer and internet companies, I believe it should be and that it offers superior market value to most of them.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the design and research principal for an architecture & planning firm. He doesn’t own shares of RTN.

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Filed under: Options, Intuitive Surgical Inc (ISRG)

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) is recently up $16.34 to $251.34.

ISRG is expected to report Q3 EPS of $1.03 after the market closes tonight according to Thomson First Call.

ISRG, develops, manufactures and markets robotic technologies designed to improve patient returns.

ISRG February option implied volatility is at 101, March is at 70 and July volatility is at 61, above its 26-week average of 56 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

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

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Filed under: Law, Trump Entertainment Resorts (TRMP)

As you may have noticed, I regularly scan the internet for stories that give me an opportunity to trash one of my least favorite people in the financial world: Donald Trump.

TMZ is reporting that Nights at Vegas, Inc. is suing Trump’s royal derriere and combover for $4 billion, alleging that he made it impossible for the company, which leases units at the hotel bearing his name in Las Vegas, to do business by barring them from using the name “Trump” in their advertising.

The company is seeking $1 billion in compensatory damages and $3 billion in punitive, just for fun.

TMZ adds that “Donald Trump is being sued for $4 billion. No big whoop, unless you’re only worth around $2 billion.”

In his great book, TrumpNation, Timothy L. O’Brien claims that there are reasons to doubt Trump’s claims of being a billionaire.

If TMZ and O’Brien are right, maybe the winner of Celebrity Apprentice can donate the money to Trump’s legal defense fund — although that might disappoint the 11 people who watch the show.

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Filed under: Forecasts, Apple Inc (AAPL), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Research in Motion (RIMM), Bargain stocks, Stocks to Buy, Best Stocks for 2008

Just getting back into the thick of things after spending a wonderful week in a place called Costa Rica on a forced vacation of sort. Everything — the people, the sights, the sounds and the weather — were great. I missed so much excitement on Wall Street, and in Washington. I missed some interest rates and market fluctuations, and followed events sporadically in between our family adventure. I only managed one post about interest rates, cause even though I spent some time at a surfer hotel, the market was a way more narley dude.

Of the many market themes I have observed recently, I have noticed a gap between the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) faithful and those who think the jig is up. On July 5 2007, almost seven months ago, I was challenged to speculate about where the stock might be one year out. I do not usually participate in such folly, and often enough when I do, it ends up just that. However, I thought Apple might be worth up to $150 and a month later was willing to consider $160 and that is where I stood.

While I was willing to consider a small increase in my target, one of our frequent commentors, and Apple followers, Beltway Greg, thought Apple would reach $200 in the same time frame or sooner. History proved that he was right because we all know now that one month ago — six months early — Apple stock did just that. However, yesterday Apple closed at $132.18 and it may turn out that I will be correct as well. We we will see soon enough. It is interesting to me that though Beltway’s views and mine may differ, they both can be correct; perhaps this is the diference between a trader and a longer term investor?

Continue reading Apple euphoria — $300 would be amazing … but unlikely

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