Wall Street Pit

Pre-Market Earnings (March 11)

editor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:41:54 +0000

» Look for the following companies to report earnings Before the Market Opens this morning – Thursday, March 11: China Sunergy (CSUN) NGP Capital Resources (NGPC) Delek US Holdings (DK) Piedmont Natural Gas (PNY) Delta Petroleum (DPTR) Smithfield Foods (SFD) Hi-Tech Pharmacal (HITK) Stewart Enterprises (STEI) Imax (IMAX) Sun Communities (SUI) Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (JTX) The Buckle (BKE) Metalico (MEA) TICC Capital (TICC) ……….

Antiquated Air Traffic Control

Pete Davis — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:09:53 +0000

Today, the Senate turned to the Federal Aviation Administration authorization, H.R.1586. The last four-year authorization expired September 30, 2007. What caused this 2½ year delay? Congress couldn’t agree on how to apportion the excise and ticket taxes to pay for a desperately needed modernization of the air traffic control system. Your car has GPS. Your phone [...]

Mexican Tycoon Carlos Slim is The World’s Richest

editor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:37:50 +0000

Carlos Slim Helu is the wealthiest person on earth, according to the 2010 Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires. The 70 year old Mexican tycoon who controls Telmex, Telcel and América Móvil companies (Latin America’s biggest mobile phone operator), and has a 6.4% common-stock stake in The New York Times Co., pushed Microsoft founder Bill Gates [...]

The Short Run Elasticity of Housing Supply

Casey B. Mulligan — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:20:30 +0000

The elasticity of housing supply is the effect on the flow of home building (measured as a log change — think of it as a percentage change) of the inflation-adjusted purchase price of housing (also measured as a log change). The elasticity has long been studied in economics; one of the seminal studies was published by [...]

Allergan Gets FDA Approval: Botox Has a Medical Use?!

Ockham Research — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:00:12 +0000

Allergan (AGN) received approval from the FDA on Tuesday for a Botox treatment of stiffness in elbows, wrists and fingers in adults, a condition known as spasticity. There is a significant market potential for this treatment as an estimated 1 million American adults are affected by the ailment. Many spasticity sufferers start [...]

Consumer Credit, Credit Availability and the Credit CARD Act

editor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:48:02 +0000

Total consumer credit outstanding expanded by $5 billion in January after contracting 15 of the previous 17 months. Consumer credit outstanding includes revolving and nonrevolving credit. Revolving credit is mostly credit card debt, and nonrevolving credit includes loans for items such as vacations, autos, and boats. Even with the slight increase in January, total consumer [...]

BofA Asked to Shrink Itself

editor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:19:39 +0000

Is the era of gigantic financial institutions deemed too-big-to-fail over? According to FBN, executives at Bank of America (BAC) are coming under increasing pressure to downsize the firm as federal regulators seek to limit the size and complexity of corporate giants so that in the future any collapse wouldn’t damage the broader economy. Like Citigroup (C), [...]

Forbes’ List: The Billionaires Are Back

editor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:47:50 +0000

CNBC has an exclusive look at how this year’s much anticipated Forbes billionaire list, which can literally come down to the wire, came together. “I can’t tell you who the richest person is the world is yet, but I can tell you it’s been one of the most closely watched races that we’ve ever seen. Two [...]

After-Hours Earnings (March 10)

editor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:39:35 +0000

» Look for the following companies to release earnings After the Close today – Wednesday, March 10: AFC Enterprises (AFCE) Jo-Ann Stores (JAS) Asset Acceptance Capital (AACC) The Men’s Wearhouse (MW) Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) Metabolix (MBLX) Chemspec International (CPC) NABI Biopharmaceuticals (NABI) Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) Orthovita (VITA) FuelCell Energy (FCEL) The Providence Service Corp. (PRSC) The Gymboree Corp. (GYMB) Semtech (SMTC) Hill International (HIL) Standard Parking (STAN) Hot Topic (HOTT) TechTarget [...]

Moody’s, S&P Sued by Connecticut AG Over Debt Ratings

editor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:55:34 +0000

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sued rating agencies Moody’s Investors Service (MCO) and Standard & Poor’s on Wednesday, over ratings the agencies issued on investments backed by subprime loans. According to Mr. Blumenthal’s lawsuits, filed in state court in Connecticut, both agencies used “deceptive and misleading” tactics an knowingly assigned “tainted ratings” to these complex and [...]