HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda was expected to announce a major reshuffle of his Cabinet Friday to shore up support among voters, according to local media reports.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The U.S. government has concluded that members of Pakistan’s intelligence service assisted the Afghan militants whose July 7 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul killed 54 people, according to media reports Thursday.
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Mexican shares finished slightly higher Thursday, stretching out advances for the third straight session, while a decline in Brazil’s market was paced by losses in resource stocks.
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Brazilian and Mexican equities finished July with a second consecutive month of losses, and Latin America’s largest markets may not begin to see a rebound before September, say some market observers.
ANNANDALE, Va. (MarketWatch) — Richard Russell celebrated his 84th birthday last week, but he finds little to celebrate in the stock market’s recent action.
Want to profit off the environment in a good way? Invest in bioplastics. At least that can be the take away from new data from the European Bioplastics Association. In a new report it says a million tons of bioplastics will replace traditional petroleum-based plastic products by 2011.
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Asian markets declined early Friday, with Japanese banks such as Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group falling sharply a day after they reported weak quarterly performance.
Something happened last year in Chicago that hasn’t been seen since 2001: Instead of losing residents, the Second City actually gained population.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — John Gillespie runs a mutual fund with about 25% of its assets invested in financial services companies. But don’t feel sorry for his shareholders; they’re holding up pretty well in this market.
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — As U.S. stocks enter the month of August, Friday’s July jobs report may provide some needed upward momentum for this traditionally-slow period of the year.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Friday’s session are Chevron Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., and Washington Post Co.
Carrying extra weight and getting little exercise increase a person’s risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, but those risk factors don’t inevitably mean you’ll develop the disease.
If there is a problem with owning real estate, it comes when it’s time to get rid of it. For one thing, it’s highly illiquid. While you can dispose of stocks and bonds within minutes by simply calling a broker, it takes time — sometimes, like these days, a long time — to sell a house or other property.
The transition from the working life to the retired one can be jarring, to say the least. After all, this is an entirely new lifestyle you are embarking on. By planning better, you can certainly make the transition go smoother — though no matter how well you plan there will always be bumps in the road.
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — Karen Dolan, director of fund analysis for Morningstar, says that investors need to find some combination of management, execution and strategy that makes them confident a fund can outperform its peer group on a “go-forward basis.”
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The Carlyle Group said on Thursday that it will liquidate and eventually shut down its Blue Wave hedge funds after they failed to raise enough assets.
Chesapeake Energy Corp., among the biggest natural gas producers in the U.S., reports that losses on energy hedges in a volatile market pushed its second-quarter results into the red, offsetting strong gains on the production side of its business.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Shares of Biogen Idec Inc. and Elan Corp. fell sharply in late trading Thursday, after the companies said their multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri has been linked to two new cases of a rare and often fatal brain inflammation.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Shares of Biogen Idec Inc. and Elan Corp. dropped in after-hours activity Thursday following a Securities and Exchange Commission filing stating their multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri was linked to two new cases of a rare and often fatal brain inflammation. Shares of Biogen Idec fell 16% to $58.60 and Elan shares dropped 36% to $12.93 in late-trading. Tysabri has been linked to a rare condition called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), where the white matter in the brain becomes inflamed. The drug had been taken off the market briefly after its 2004 Food and Drug Administration approval after three deaths from PML had been linked to the drug. Tysabri was allowed back on the market in 2006 after no other cases had been identified. (Corrects Biogen, Elan stock prices.)
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday revised Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s outlook to negative from stable and affirmed its A2 long-term and Prime-1 short-term ratings after the pharmaceutical company offered to buy ImClone Systems for $4.5 billion. “The proposed ImClone acquisition would nicely strengthen Bristol’s oncology platform. However, cushion in Bristol’s current credit rating to pursue additional biotech investments is slim,” said Michael Levesque, Moody’s senior vice president. Moody’s believes Bristol-Myers’ ongoing strategic shift away from stable and profitable medical products towards more specialized biotech products and the approaching U.S. patent expiration of Plavix in November 2011 are factors that raises the company’s credit risk profit.
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Parker Hannifin Corp. shares fell more than 8% in midday trade on Thursday as its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose but its forecast for fiscal 2009 fell below analyst expectations.
KLA-Tencor Corp. reports a 48% drop in fiscal fourth-quarter profit as the chip-equipment maker struggles through what the company CEO calls “a tough overall market environment.”
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - A downturn in crude oil prices pressured the Toronto Stock Exchange’s energy sector, pulling Canadian stocks lower in Thursday trade.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — ImClone Systems Inc. late Thursday confirmed it received an offer from Bristol-Myers Squibb . However, other than stating that it is studying the “situation,” the company did not offer any other comments. Bristol-Myers Squibb has offered to buy the shares of ImClone that it does not already own for $60 a share or a total of $4.5 billion. Bristol-Myers has owned about 17% of ImClone since September 2001. Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor activist, is chairman of ImClone.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — CSX Corp. said late Thursday the third-party inspector of its board elections determined that four nominees backed by hedge funds The Children’s Investment Fund Management LLP and 3G Capital Partners Ltd. received more votes than CSX-backed nominees. CSX said that it hopes to resolve remaining issues concerning the vote before Sept. 24. The railroad operator said that two of the contested seats will be determined by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. TCI and 3G have accused CSX of delaying the board seating process.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Wachovia Corp. said late Thursday that Chief Risk Officer Donald Truslow plans to retire once a successor is named. The bank plans to begin an immediate search for a replacement. Truslow joined the bank that grew into Wachovia in 1980. He served as Treasurer and Comptroller before becoming Chief Risk Officer in 2000.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Standard & Poor’s said late Thursday it may downgrade the ratings of Marathon Oil Corp. on the company’s plan to split its upstream and downstream businesses into two independent companies. S&P has a BBB+ rating on Marathon. The rating agency said the current integration of the businesses provide synergies and a diversification of cash flows for Marathon. “However, if the upstream and downstream businesses were to be evaluated as stand-alone entities, the individual corporate credit ratings could potentially be lower than Marathon’s current rating,” said Jeffrey Morrison, an S&P credit analyst, in a statement.
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Marathon Oil’s second-quarter net income gets cut in half, but the energy giant’s exploration and production business generated record results. Directors consider whether to break Marathon into two businesses.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. late Thursday reported its second-quarter net income rose to $103.9 million, or 35 cents a share, from $82.3 million, or 27 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, earnings were 39 cents a share. Revenue increased to $685.4 million from $516.5 million in the year-ago period, said the Teaneck, N.J.-based company. Analysts had forecast earnings of 35 cents on revenue of $684.8 million. The company expects third-quarter earnings of 37 cents a share on revenue of $723 million. In fiscal 2008, Cognizant forecasted earnings of $1.44 a share and revenue $2.81 billion. Wall Street is expecting the company to report earnings of 39 cents a share on revenue of $752.3 million in the third quarter and $1.49 a share earnings and revenue of $2.89 billion in 2008.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Morningstar Inc. said late Thursday that second-quarter net income was $28 million, or 57 cents a share, up 53% from a year earlier when the mutual fund rating specialist made $18.3 million, or 38 cents a share. Consolidated operating income was $41.6 million, or 84 cents a share, in the latest quarter. Consolidated revenue was $132.2 million, up almost 21% from the same period in 2007. Morningstar was expected to make 49 cents a share, according to the average estimate of three analysts in a FactSet Research survey.
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Apache’s profit more than doubles to top $1 billion, as the company’s oil and gas production business benefits from record crude prices, even as its output falls.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - ComScore Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter net income rose to $2.58 million, or 9 cents a share, from $1.24 million, or break-even in the same period a year earlier. Reston, Virginia-based research firm comScore said revenue rose 34% to $27.8 million in the period ended in June. Analysts on average have been estimating comScore would post earnings of 7 cents a share, and $27.69 million in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters. Including its acquisition in May of mobile device and data research firm M:Metrics, comScore said revenue in the quarter was $28.75 million.
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RealNetworks Inc. shares fall under pressure in late trading after the company’s quarterly forecast comes in below Wall Street’s expectations.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Monster Worldwide Inc. said late Thursday that its second-quarter profit rose to $30.8 million, or 25 cents a share, from $28.6 million, or 21 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, the company would have reported earnings of 40 cents a share in the latest quarter. Revenue rose to $354.3 million from $324 million last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimated a quarterly profit of 37 cents a share on revenue of $362.3 million.
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. banks’ direct primary credit borrowing from the Federal Reserve rose to a record high in the latest week. Banks primary credit borrowings averaged $17.45 billion per day in the latest week, up from the previous record set last week of $16.38 billion, the Fed said on Thursday. On the day of July 30, banks’ primary credit borrowings inched lower to $17.38 billion, down from $17.68 billion on July 23. Banks’ overall discount window borrowings averaged $17.64 billion per day in the week ended July 23, up from an average of $16.51 billion per day the week before. Dealers borrowed $3 billion average per day from the Primary Dealer Credit Facility in the latest week after not borrowing at all the week before.
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SAN FRANCSICO (MarketWatch) — Chesapeake Energy Corp. reported late Thursday a second-quarter loss of $1.65 billion, or $3.17 a share. The company posted a profit of $492 million, or $1.01 a share, a year ago. The latest results include a $2.06 billion mark-to-market loss on energy and interest rate hedges triggered by sharply higher gas and oil prices. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $479 million, or 89 cents a share. Revenue from gas sales for the three months ended June 30 rose to $2.23 billion from $1.2 billion. Analysts estimated the Oklahoma City, Okla.-based natural gas producer would earn 88 cents a share on $2.28 billion in revenue. Chesapeake shares fell 1.6% to $50.15 ahead of the report. The stock is up 47% over the past 12 months.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - KLA-Tencor Corp. on Thursday reported fiscal fourth-quarter net profit of $76 million, or 43 cents a share, compared with net profit of $147 million, or 75 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $591 million, down from $736 million a year ago. Adjusted income was 60 cents a share. Analysts had expected the chip-equipment maker to report earnings of 57 cents a share on revenue of $572.8 million, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — CA Inc. said late Thursday that its fiscal first-quarter profit rose to $200 million, or 37 cents a share, from $129 million, or 24 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding expenses, the company would have reported earnings of 40 cents a share for the latest quarter. Revenue rose to $1.09 billion from $1.03 billion last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimated a quarterly profit of 35 cents a share on revenue of $1.1 billion. CA sees fiscal 2009 earnings of $1.28 to $1.35 a share, or $1.45 to $1.52 excluding one-time items. Analysts, who generally exclude one-time items, expect earnings of $1.46 a share.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Aon Corp. said late Thursday that second-quarter net income came in at $1.1 billion, or $3.71 a share, a big increase from a year earlier when the insurance broker made $240 million, or 75 cents a share. The latest results include a $1 billion after-tax gain on the sales of insurance businesses CICA and Sterling, Aon noted. Net income from continuing operations declined 8% to $168 million, or 55 cents a share. Excluding restructuring charges and the cost of anti-bribery and compliance initiatives, net income from continuing operations was $216 million, or 71 cents a share. Aon was expected to make 71 cents a share, according to the average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by FactSet Research. Aon’s Risk and Insurance Brokerage Services unit generated organic revenue growth of 2% in the latest quarter.
Net income from continuing operations per share, excluding certain items, increased 25% to $0.71 compared to $0.57 for the prior year quarter.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — McAfee Inc. late Thursday reported its second-quarter net income fell marginally to $47.8 million from $48 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, the company’s earnings rose to 30 cents a share from 29 cents a share in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 52 cents a share, up from 41 cents a share in the same period last year. Revenue increased to $396.8 million from $314.8 million from a year ago, said the Santa Clara, Calif.-based security software company. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had projected earnings of 43 cents a share on revenue of $368.7 million. The company expects third-quarter earnings of 27 cents to 30 cents a share and adjusted earnings of 46 cents to 50 cents a share on revenue of $390 million to $400 million. For 2008, the company is projecting earnings of $1.12 to $1.22 a share and adjusted earnings of $1.90 to $2 a share. Full-year revenue is forecast at $1.54 billion to $1.59 billion.
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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Strong instant lottery ticket sales and growth in China helped Scientific Games push its second quarter profit sharply higher, the company said Thursday. Scientific Games earned $29 million, or 31 cents a share, in the period - up from $27.1 million, or 28 cents a share in the year-ago period. Revenue was $306 million, a gain of 14%. Revenue from its printed products jumped 16%, led by “strong instant ticket sales by the China Sports Lottery, currently running at $60 million a week or $3 billion a year,” the company said.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Chiquita Brands. reported after the closing bell Thursday second-quarter earnings of $62.1 million, or $1.37 a share, up from $8.6 million, or 20 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue for the three months ended June 30 rose 6.5% to $994.6 million from $934 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet Research had predicted the Cincinnati-based produce grower would earn 98 cents a share on $1.2 billion in sales. Chiquita’s shares closed ahead of the report with a loss of 4.1% at $15.35.
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday, leaving the market with a mixed performance for July, as economic concerns resurfaced following weak jobless claims data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 205 points, or 1.8%, to end at 11,378 on Thursday, with 25 of its 30 components retreating. For the month of July, the Dow still rose 0.2%. The S&P 500 index fell 16 points, or 1.3%, to end at 1,267 Thursday, leaving the broad index with a monthly loss of 1%. The Nasdaq Composite also lost earlier gains to finish down 4 points, or 0.2%, at 2,325 on Thursday. But the technology-heavy index held on to a 1.4% advance in the month of July.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Real Networks Inc. on Thursday reported a second-quarter loss of $1.3 million, or a penny a share, compared to earnings of $1.3 million, or 1 cent a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue at the digital media company rose 12% to $152.6 million from last year’s sales of $136.2 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who forecast Real to lose 2 cents a share on $153 million in sales. For its third quarter, Real expects to lose between 3 cents and 5 cents a share on revenue of $151 million to $155 million.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Activision Blizzard Inc. said Thursday that earnings more than doubled in the June quarter thanks to strong video game sales. The results were in line with the video game publisher’s earlier pre-announcement on July 14. For the quarter ended June 30, Activision reported earnings of $59 million, or 18 cents a share, compared to earnings of $27.8 million, or 9 cents a share, for the same period the previous year. Excluding the cost of stock options and other charges, the company said it would have earned $74.3 million, or 23 cents a share, for the recent quarter. Revenue surged 32% to $654.2 million. The company had previously said it expected earnings between 16-18 cents a share on revenue of about $650 million for the quarter.
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BOSTON (MarketWatch) — Home-builder stocks were widely mixed in late-afternoon trading Thursday after more companies announced grim news in another round of quarterly reports showing deep losses.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services on Thursday lowered American Axle Manufacturing & Holdings Inc.’s corporate credit rating to B+ from BB- and cut issue-level ratings on American Axle’s unsecured debt to B+ from BB-. “The downgrade and negative outlook reflect our view that Axle’s credit measures will deteriorate even more than we previously expected in the face of a very challenging North American market for light trucks, which represent most of American Axle’s sales,” said Lawrence Orlowski, an S&P analyst. Earlier Thursday, the ratings agency downgraded General Motors Corp. , Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC to B- from B due to mounting losses and the deteriorating U.S. auto market.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures fell 2% on Thursday, as weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data spurred concerns that demand in the world’s largest oil consumer could fall further. Crude oil for September delivery closed down $2.69, or 2.1%, to $124.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures earlier fell to an intraday low of $122.71 a barrel. The Commerce Department reported Thursday the U.S. economy grew by 1.9% in the second quarter, weaker than analysts’ expectations.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Shares of Washington Mutual Inc. jumped Thursday after a Securities and Exchange Commission filing revealed that financial services hedge fund Toscafund Asset Management LLP reported a 6% stake in the bank. In the filing, Toscafund said it beneficially owned 105.5 million shares of Washington Mutual. Shares of Washington Mutual jumped 20.7% to $5.72 in recent trading.
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