Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), the agriculture company much loved of late because of its exposure to ethanol, reported a blockbuster quarter with all cylinders firing – except for ethanol! (1Q FY Earnings Release) Revenues were up 36% and net income 9%…
Interactive Corp. (IAC), the massive conglomerate of incongruent retailing, travel and internet companies such as Ticketmaster, Lending Tree, Ask.com, Match.com and The Home Shopping Network (HSN) announced today that it will break up into five separate, publicly traded businesses (Press…
“We estimate that there’s over $10 billion of write downs in the fourth quarter for the industry for banks and brokers.” – Mike Mayo (subscription required), Brokerage Analyst, Deutsche Bank Yesterday Citigroup (C) announced that CEO Chuck Prince will step down…
The cover story of the most recent BusinessWeek magazine, “Prisoners of Debt”, is an interesting read about the attempt to collect on debts discharged by bankruptcy by the debt collection industry. While this is certainly a shady and controversial practice…
“I was pressured for 2 weeks to change both my value and the conditions of my appraisal report …. of an appraisal I completed that did not come to their predetermined value for a ‘valued’ Wamu client.” – Appraiser (subscription…
“These companies don’t own factories, they don’t own hard assets, it’s a confidence game. If you don’t believe the numbers, it’s hard for us and others to get involved. All you need is a little change in their reserves and…
“Merrill has been making the rounds asking hedge funds to engage in one year off balance sheet credit facilities. One fund claimed that Merrill was offering a floor return (set buy back price).” – Janet Tavakoli (subscription required), Derivatives Consultant,…
Financials are leading markets down today (XLF: -3.47%) on a downgrade of Citigroup (C: -6.43%) and a consideration that the Fed might really mean what it says and not cut rates again on Dec. 11. The Fed talked a tough…
Just 17 trading days after closing above $600 for the first time Google is threatening to close above $700 for the first time. A Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) that Google is in “advanced” talks with Verizon Wireless and…
Well, no surprise here: Chipotle (CMG) reported another awesome quarter (CMG 3Q Earnings Release): Revenues were up 36% to $286 million – analysts were looking for $279 million. Same store sales were up 12.4% from the third quarter of last…