McDonald’s (MCD: 63.97 +0.56 +0.88%), a company I’ve mentioned in Money and Markets, also posted its results yesterday. Quarterly profits beat analysts’ estimates. Moreover, December same-store sales rose 5.8% around the world.
The company did note that some international locations are starting to feel the effects of the global slowdown - including Germany and China.
The lesson [...]
If you’ ve been following some of the comment threads here on my blog, you know that I’ve been expecting Pfizer to make a bold acquisition at some point. And lately, the rumors pointed to Wyeth.
Well, now it’s official. And along with that announcement, Pfizer (PFE: 18.36 +0.25 +1.38%) also posted less-than-stellar earnings and a [...]
by Nilus Mattive on January 16, 2009
in General
Today, Bank of America’s shares will likely rally on the announcement of another $20-billion bailout package from Washington.
However, in connection with the aid, (BAC: 16.09 +0.01 +0.06%) said it would further limit executive compensation and slash its dividend to nearly nothing.
This marks the second dividend cut in a row, and is a huge [...]
by Nilus Mattive on January 15, 2009
in General
Bank of America (BAC: 16.09 +0.01 +0.06%) is down sharply today on rumors of additional bailout money from Washington.
While I hate to see this kind of action, I don’t see this as bad news for Bank of America. If anything, Washington will be handing the company more money to support the bad chunks of [...]
by Nilus Mattive on January 13, 2009
in General
There’s no doubt the recession is taking its toll on retailers, and this recent Wall Street Journal article is simply more proof that companies are pulling out all the stops to get people to buy something, anything, no matter how heavily discounted.
But I had to laugh when I got to the bottom of story and read these [...]
by Nilus Mattive on January 5, 2009
in General
On December 23, I wrote an article for Money&Markets that talked about a possible suspension of required minimum distributions for retirees.
Well, on that very same day, and off most investors’ radar screens, that legislation did pass.
What this means is that anyone over age 70 1/2 does not have to withdraw money from their retirement [...]
The year got off to a strong start. In fact, it was the fourth best opening day for stocks (as measured by the S&P 500) ever.
No, that doesn’t mean a heck of a lot. But it is worth noting that January is typically a good indicator for stock performance over the entire year:
According to S&P, [...]