Filed under: Before the bell, International markets, Earnings reports, Intel (INTC), Market matters, Staples Inc (SPLS), Economic data, Federal Reserve

U.S. stock futures were lower early this morning, pointing to another down day after chipmaker Intel warned on memory-chip prices and cut its profit forecast. On a day with little economic data coming out, investors will focus their attention to a speech from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.

On Monday, stocks slogged along as the dollar weakened and two economic readings pointed to a slowing economy.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7 points, or 0.06%, and the Nasdaq Composite gave up over 12 points, or 0.57%, while the S&P 500 managed less that a point rise, or 0.05%.

Fed chairman Bernanke is scheduled to speak at an Independent Community Bankers of America meeting in Orlando at 9:00 a.m. EST this morning. Bernanke will speak about the subprime crisis and preventing foreclosures. The Fed is scheduled to have a policy meeting on March 18 where monetary policy will be decided.

Continue reading Before the bell: Futures lower ahead of Bernanke’s speech (INTC, ABK, SPLS)

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Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Best Buy (BBY), ConocoPhillips (COP)

Bank of America downgraded Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) to “neutral” from “buy” according to Briefing.com. The news service also reports that Lehman downgraded ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) to “equal-weight” from “overweight”.

Moody’s cut Thornburg’s (NYSE:TMA) senior unsecured debt rating to “Caa2″ from “B2″ and its preferred stock rating to “Ca” from “Caa1,” according to the AP.

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

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Filed under: Products and services, General Motors (GM), Marketing and advertising, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM)

GM (NYSE: GM) now has eight car brands. Since some models are built off similar platforms a sedan from Saturn may not be much different from one sold by Chevy. The problem is GM may not be taking sales from Toyota (NYSE: TM). It may be taking sales from itself.

Last year, GM introduced three crossovers according to The Wall Street Journal– the Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia, which are all but identical, and the more luxurious Buick Enclave. There are, of course, only a limited number of crossover buyers. Strong sales for the GMC crossover may hurt Buick.

GM thinks it can manage all of its brands but in a falling domestic car market there is little evidence to show that the company’s plan will work.

It is time to kill some of GM’s brands, save marketing money, and stop most of he competition among cars built by the same parent company. The firm’s weakest brands by sales and falling units are Buick and Saturn. Most of their model are matched by cars in the Chevy, GMC, and Pontiac lines.

Shutting down brands is hard, an admission of defeat. But, it is time for GM to let some of its model lines go.

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

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Filed under: Intel (INTC), SanDisk Corp (SNDK)

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) came out Monday night and warned of lower margins, and while the stock was down in after-hours trading, one might actually make the argument that this might not be such bad news for its core operations. It’s just hard to be too much like Dr. Pangloss in what looks, feels, and even smells more and more like a bear market each week. The culprit is listed as “lower than expected NAND flash memory chip prices.” So Intel said it is now looking for 54% margins, plus or minus 1%. Its previous guidance was 56%, plus or minus 1%. What is at least a bit of relief here is that Intel said that all other expectations are consistent with the prior guidance given with its last outlook.

I would note that Intel had recently been downgraded at Goldman Sachs and at AmTech. Arguably, this is the second warning if you count last quarter. Its 2% drop is fairly appropriate as that is basically how much the stock is down on the news. Intel closed up 0.2% Monday at $20.01, but it was now seeing shares trade down 2.5% at $19.51 in after-hours evening trades.

If you take this at face value, Intel at least has a robust processor business, or at least it has the best processors in the industry. This news is taking a toll on other semiconductor stocks as well, but as the news bit is specific to NAND flash memory chips, it is hitting those flash memory stocks the worst of the others.

Micron Tech (NYSE: MU) is one that won’t be liking this as its turnaround seems to be in jeopardy. This may at least make the company pursue more active issues like divesting some assets. SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) is perhaps the pure-play for flash memory stocks, and its shares were actually down almost 3.5% at $22.25 in after-hours trading. That was after already hitting a new 52-week low at the close of $23.05 as its trading range over the last year was $23.40 to $59.75. Spansion Inc. (NASDAQ: SPSN) is another go-to stock in flash memory. Its shares were down almost 3% in after-hours trading at $2.82 after having an almost 6% gain today. Unfortunately, it has had a poor year with its 52-week trading being $2.69 to $12.83.

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Filed under: Stocks to Buy, Technology

Readers of this space know that the investment bias is toward large-cap companies with demonstrated business models and who have a competitive advantage in established markets, preferably with a favorable global trend as a support. But every once in while an exception is made for a non-conforming but innovative/promising company, and along this line Checkpoint Systems is worth a review.

Checkpoint Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CKP) manufactures electronic article surveillance systems, radio frequency tags, electronic security devices, closed-circuit TV systems, and electronic access control systems used by retailers.

Analysts like the fact that Checkpoint is well-positioned for the U.S. economic slowdown: about two-thirds of CKP’s revenue stems from international sources. Analysts are also encouraged by a re-acceleration of longer-standing product lines, and the continued growth of CheckNet. A blue chip clientele adds to the revenue mix.

Continue reading Time to check in with Checkpoint

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Filed under: Countrywide Financial (CFC), Housing

Cleveland’s East Side Organizing Project has an interesting way of reacting to the waves of foreclosures sweeping across that city: aggressive protesting.

Supporters of the confrontational non-profit recently showed up at the home of Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) regional VP Mike Garmone and, according to the Associated Press, “deployed, ringing bells at the big homes with three-car garages, handing out accusatory fliers and lambasting Garmone and his company’s loans. Before departing, they left their calling card - thousands of 2 1/2-inch plastic sharks - flung across Garmone’s frozen flower beds, up into the gutters, littering the doorstep.”

I certainly appreciate the group’s intentions but I have to wonder — If people can’t keep up with payments that they entered into a contractual obligation to pay, what exactly is a lender supposed to do? They should — and often do — make efforts to restructure the debt. It isn’t like Countrywide is dying to take people’s homes!

Bad loans haven’t exactly generated billions in profits for the industry. Look at Countrywide’s 2-year chart if you don’t believe me. The real victims of Countrywide’s lax lending are the shareholders who lost billions while CEO Angelo Mozilo sold hundreds of millions in stock.

Of course, that doesn’t make good fodder for marches and picketing.

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Filed under: ConAgra Foods (CAG), Stocks to Buy

With the markets in a choppy/consolidation mode (or perhaps worse), it’s best to consider including a few defensive stocks in your portfolio. And with the above in mind ConAgra is worth an evaluation.

ConAgra (NYSE: CAG) is one of the largest food companies in North America.

Analysts see moderate revenue growth for ConAgra in F2008, with large profits from its trading and merchandising businesses. CAG’s food / ingredients unit should also register a solid increase in earnings.

Meanwhile, CAG’s consumer foods line should perform adequately in F2008: analysts had originally expected the unit to record lower profits, but there are abundant signs that that will not be the case. The Reuters F2008/F2009 EPS consensus estimates for CAG are $1.59/$1.63.

Continue reading ConAgra knows food demand is continual, not cyclical

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Filed under: Industry, Consumer experience, DaimlerChrysler (DAI), Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Employees, Recession

February was a tough month in the world of auto sales for both foreign and domestic car manufacturers. Ford Motor (NYSE: F), General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) and Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) all saw their sales figures shrink during another tough month.

For Ford, it was a really tough month, with the struggling auto maker showing a drop of 7% during the month. Toyota was slightly better, and only witnessed a 3% drop in the month. Toyota was hit hard in its luxury car division, with sales of its highly popular Lexus LS 460 sedan dropping by a startling 25%. Overall, Toyota saw its car sales drop by 4%, with truck sales coming in flat.

For Ford, not only were investors treated to the weak sales figures, but the company also announced that it was going to be cutting back on its shifts in three of its factories, as well as lowering its 2008 production estimates by a pretty hefty 10%. Looking at its individual vehicles lines, Ford saw a 9% drop in its car sales and a 5% shrinkage of truck sales. The drop in demand is leading to the cut backs at its factories, and the factories that will be affected will be plants in Chicago, Louisville, Ky., and Cleveland.

Continue reading February a tough month for auto sales

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Filed under: Television, Scandals

In case you’ve missed it, CNBC’s American Greed series is one of the best new television shows to come out in awhile. Each 1-hour episode looks at two scams, cons, and schemes, featuring interviews with victims, participants, and law enforcement. It’s a great look at the psychology of white collar crime and, even better, it’s entertaining.

The show has mostly focused on small, relatively unknown ponzi schemes, art heists, and con games but that’s going to change this week. On Wednesday at 9:00 PM ET, American Greed will feature a profile of the “WorldCom scam,” which, with $107 billion in assets, was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, nearly twice as big as Enron.

I’m looking forward to the WorldCom profile, partly because there’s been a discrepancy in the amount of media coverage it’s gotten compared with the smaller Enron. Partly this is because Skilling and Co. beat Worldcom to the punch by about seven months. But the story of WorldCom also seems to lack the Greek tragedy elements of Enron.

Hopefully the CNBC special will provide look at WorldCom that is compelling on a human level, something none of the coverage of it so far has really done.

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Filed under: Press releases, Products and services, Pfizer (PFE), Procter and Gamble (PG)

This is why Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is one of my favorite stocks that I don’t currently own. In a recent press release, the consumer-products giant talks about Americans and its quest not to become ill via bacterial/viral infections. And, as you can imagine, the company offers up a solution, one that sounds like it will become yet another viable brand extension to its vast portfolio of popular products.

The product being promoted in the release is Vicks Early Defense Foaming Hand Sanitizer. The claim here is that it can afford germ-protection for a few hours after use. It sounds like an interesting item, but I must say, the press release is not only hilarious, but it’s downright frightening, especially to someone like myself; yes, I admit it — I am a germaphobe. I carry Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) Purell everywhere I go, and I have emergency stashes in my car and jacket pockets; I wipe down keyboards, faucets, the whole bit (I even do this at my workplace in a proactive manner). I use almost an entire bottle a day. The release talks about people refusing to shake hands and even being so frightened of sickness that some go so far as to avoid kissing!

Let me tell you — I am one of those people who hates doorknobs and shaking hands with others, so I think P&G has hit upon a nice product here; it’s very marketable, at least. And again, this is why I love P&G and believe it to be a great long-term play — it’s all about a great product portfolio driving dividend increases over time. Companies like Clorox (NYSE: CLX), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), and Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) also are worth a look, but P&G is definitely an icon in this sector.

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