Filed under: Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Garmin Ltd (GRMN)

“Rivals may be creating a buzz in the market for navigational technologies, but Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN) will fight off its rivals as it always has, with product breadth and innovation,” says Ian Wyatt in Top Stock Insights.

“Garmin, which first started selling products in 1991, has been on a run. Since 2001, the company has compound annual revenue growth of 30%; net income has grown 29% compounded annually.

“Through sound financial execution, Garmin has become a worldwide leader in providing navigation, communication and information devices, many of which carry global positioning system (GPS) technology.

“The automotive and mobile division, which represents the company’s portable navigation devices (PNDs), dominates the company’s business. PNDs are the fastest growing, most competitive and most consequential market for Garmin and accounted for 71.2% of revenue in third quarter of fiscal 2007.

“In the North American PND market Garmin’s share is more than 50%, and its PND share in Europe is 20%. Itss market share is greater than 60% in aviation and higher than 30% in marine electronics. The company’s main geographic market is North America, followed by Europe, and then - to a much smaller extent - Asia.

“Garmin sees GPS as a major growth industry and highlights the fusion of navigation components with technologies including the Internet, mobile computing, wireless connectivity, and real-time weather and traffic data.

“Its PNDs offer leading features to get you from here to there: Bluetooth hands-free units, MP3 players, audio books and real-time traffic conditions, among other things. T here are hand-held and mountable features, fish finders and chartplotters, dog trackers and fitness software, and flight instrument systems.

“There are lots of well-known rivals in the making. Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is set to acquire digital mapmaker Navteq, and there are devices from Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) as well that will challenge Garmin.

“In our view, Garmin will fight off its rivals as it always has, with product breadth and innovation. The company plans to put $155 million into research and development in 2008. And its financial success is reflected in a balance sheet that shows $3.52 in cash per share and a near-zero debt-to-equity ratio.

“Garmin has won with first-rate execution in the past, and there are few reasons to expect an upset now. This year may not be quite as off-the-chart as last year was, but it’s still best to follow the leader when keeping your portfolio on course. We are issuing a ‘buy’ rating on Garmin with a $92 target price.”

Each day, Steven Halpern’s TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation’s leading financial newsletter advisors.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

As we mentioned in our last post, Matt at the OC Register has the scoop on HUD’s announcement scheduled for tomorrow on the increases in Federal Housing Administration loan limits. I’ve built a table of all the California counties based on the information in Matt’s post and the new FHA loan limits by county.

Share This

As we mentioned in our last post, Matt at the OC Register has the scoop on HUD’s announcement scheduled for tomorrow on the increases in Federal Housing Administration loan limits. I’ve built a table of all the California counties based on the information in Matt’s post and the new FHA loan limits by county.

Share This

Thornburg missing margin calls is the news of the day but the less-than-subtle after effects include the jamming up of the secondary market for jumbo-backed securities and concomitant spike in jumbo rates. The issue is that Thornburg may be forced to dump their assets on the market to meet further margin calls to raise cash. According to their SEC filing the default has triggered cross-default clauses across all of its other securitized loan agreements.

From Calculated Risk:

Thornburg Mortgage filed a form 8-K with the SEC today warning of a material event: (hat tip RW)

Thornburg Mortgage, Inc. (the “Company”) has entered into reverse repurchase agreements, a form of collateralized short-term borrowing, with various counterparties.

The Company received a letter from JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“JPMorgan”), dated February 28, 2008, after failing to meet a margin call of approximately $28 million. The letter states that an Event of Default as defined under that certain Master Repurchase Agreement, dated as of August 3, 2006, as amended on February 7, 2007 by and between the Company and JPMorgan (the “Agreement”) exists. The letter also notified the Company that JPMorgan will exercise its rights under the Agreement. The aggregate amount of proceeds lent to the Company under the Agreement was approximately $320 million.

From Market Watch on the Thornburg margin call miss:

Thornburg shares fell 39% to close at $2.08 after the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it failed to meet a margin call of about $28 million, which in turn triggered a string of cross-defaults.

It also said that JP Morgan Chase Bank, which had extended the original margin call, has notified the company that it will exercise its right. The total amount lent to Thornburg is about $320 million, according to the filing.

The Jumbo market may get a breather as HUD has announced the new FHA loan limit increases for government insured loans across the country. Our friend Matt over at the OC Register’s Mortgage Insider blog has the details on the loan limit increases which will be announced tomorrow morning.

Here are the counties affected by the loan limit increase for FHA financing:

If you had a jumbo loan that wasn’t locked you definitely want to connect with your loan officer to find out where you stand now - hint: it’s definitely not where you were a day ago.

Share This

Filed under: Before the bell, Apple Inc (AAPL), Wal-Mart (WMT), Walt Disney (DIS), Blockbuster Inc ‘A’ (BBI), Limited Brands (LTD)

Before the bell: Futures decline with the dollar (HRB, MOT, UBS)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) shares are trading over 1.1% higher in premarket trading after the discount retailer reported that same-store sales rose 2.6% in February due growth in grocery, electronics and health items. Analysts expected a 1.1% increase according to Thomson Financials. The overall weak sales trend, however, continued into February and shows no sign of improvement.

While discount retailers and wholesale clubs expected to do better, most retail stores were expected to do worse. For example, specialty retailer Limited Brands Inc. (NYSE: LTD) reported that same-store sales fell 9% in February, a smaller drop than the 11% analysts were expecting. While sales fell 10% at Victoria’s Secret, they rose 1% at La Senza. Total sales fell 16% and the company expects March to show much the same results.

Meanwhile, Thornburg Mortgage Inc. (NYSE: TMA) is dropping over 58% in premarket trading after it disclosed Wednesday that it failed to meet a $28 million margin call, causing a series of cross-defaults.

Continue reading Before the bell: WMT, LTD, TMA, GSK, DIS, BBI …

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Before the bell, Apple Inc (AAPL), Wal-Mart (WMT), Walt Disney (DIS), Blockbuster Inc ‘A’ (BBI), Limited Brands (LTD)

Before the bell: Futures decline with the dollar (HRB, MOT, UBS)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) shares are trading over 1.1% higher in premarket trading after the discount retailer reported that same-store sales rose 2.6% in February due growth in grocery, electronics and health items. Analysts expected a 1.1% increase according to Thomson Financials. The overall weak sales trend, however, continued into February and shows no sign of improvement.

While discount retailers and wholesale clubs expected to do better, most retail stores were expected to do worse. For example, specialty retailer Limited Brands Inc. (NYSE: LTD) reported that same-store sales fell 9% in February, a smaller drop than the 11% analysts were expecting. While sales fell 10% at Victoria’s Secret, they rose 1% at La Senza. Total sales fell 16% and the company expects March to show much the same results.

Meanwhile, Thornburg Mortgage Inc. (NYSE: TMA) is dropping over 58% in premarket trading after it disclosed Wednesday that it failed to meet a $28 million margin call, causing a series of cross-defaults.

Continue reading Before the bell: WMT, LTD, TMA, GSK, DIS, BBI …

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Industry, Television, Comcast Cl’A’ (CMCSA), Technology

TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) saw a smaller loss than expected in the fourth quarter just reported on yesterday. The DVR pioneer’s net quarterly loss was $6.36 million compared with $19.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Much of the difference was due to TiVo’s shift away from making its own hardware and set-top boxes to licensing its technology to cable and satellite operators.

So far, TiVo has lined up Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) as a large cable customer for its patented digital video recording software, and a partnership with private company Cox Communications is in the works as well. CEO Tom Rogers said, “The key for TiVo now is to secure new, legitimate distribution partnerships with cable and satellite pay-TV providers.” Does this mean the end of the standalone TiVo box that pioneered the DVR market in the U.S.? Hard to say, but the focus of the company’s efforts isn’t pointed in that direction.

For the quarter, TiVo’s sales revenue actually went down to $74.1 as hardware revenue declined in a large way to $23.9 million– a 45% drop from the year-ago period. The company did add 33,000 net TiVo-owned subscribers in the fourth quarter, which was a significant drop from the 101,000 customers signed in the year-ago period. Adding to some slight misery for the company, TiVo lost 122,000 subscribers in the quarter due to competing products and service mainly sold by former partner DirecTV Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTV). At this time, TiVo has 3.95 million TiVo-owned customers.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Industry, Television, Comcast Cl’A’ (CMCSA), Technology

TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) saw a smaller loss than expected in the fourth quarter just reported on yesterday. The DVR pioneer’s net quarterly loss was $6.36 million compared with $19.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Much of the difference was due to TiVo’s shift away from making its own hardware and set-top boxes to licensing its technology to cable and satellite operators.

So far, TiVo has lined up Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) as a large cable customer for its patented digital video recording software, and a partnership with private company Cox Communications is in the works as well. CEO Tom Rogers said, “The key for TiVo now is to secure new, legitimate distribution partnerships with cable and satellite pay-TV providers.” Does this mean the end of the standalone TiVo box that pioneered the DVR market in the U.S.? Hard to say, but the focus of the company’s efforts isn’t pointed in that direction.

For the quarter, TiVo’s sales revenue actually went down to $74.1 as hardware revenue declined in a large way to $23.9 million– a 45% drop from the year-ago period. The company did add 33,000 net TiVo-owned subscribers in the fourth quarter, which was a significant drop from the 101,000 customers signed in the year-ago period. Adding to some slight misery for the company, TiVo lost 122,000 subscribers in the quarter due to competing products and service mainly sold by former partner DirecTV Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTV). At this time, TiVo has 3.95 million TiVo-owned customers.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Before the bell, Wal-Mart (WMT)

EpiCept (NASDAQ:EPCT) is up 18% on news of succesful clinical trials of its melanoma treatment.

Tessara (NASDAQ:TRSA) is up 10% rebounding from a huge sell-off due to a delay in a patent action against several other companies which has been halted by a court.

Wa-Mart (NYSE:WMT) is up almost 2% on news of better-than-expected same-store sales for February.

Thornburg Mortgage (NYSE:TMA) is down 58% on concerns about a Chapter 11 filing.

Ambac (NYSE:ABK) is down 7% on news that it has raised $1.5 billion which some analysts do not view as adequate.

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

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Before the bell, Wal-Mart (WMT)

EpiCept (NASDAQ:EPCT) is up 18% on news of succesful clinical trials of its melanoma treatment.

Tessara (NASDAQ:TRSA) is up 10% rebounding from a huge sell-off due to a delay in a patent action against several other companies which has been halted by a court.

Wa-Mart (NYSE:WMT) is up almost 2% on news of better-than-expected same-store sales for February.

Thornburg Mortgage (NYSE:TMA) is down 58% on concerns about a Chapter 11 filing.

Ambac (NYSE:ABK) is down 7% on news that it has raised $1.5 billion which some analysts do not view as adequate.

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

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This