Filed under: Deals, Management, Bank of America (BAC), Countrywide Financial (CFC)

It is not as if the president of Countrywide (NYSE:CFC) has a lot of employment opportunities now that the mortgage bank has come near collapse and been sold to Bank of America (NYSE:BAC). Nevertheless, the large bank felt compelled to pay chief operating officer David Sambol a total of $28 million over three years to stay on.

According to Reuters :”The amount, which vests over three years, is 37 percent higher than the $20.4 million that Bank of America Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis was compensated in 2007 to run the second-largest U.S. bank.”

Call it a disappointment. Sambol was one of the senior officers at Countrywide who pushed for greater subprime lending to poor borrowers who could not make payments. Certainly, Bank of America must have someone in its mortgage operation who could take over.

But, rank has its privileges. Bank of America would probably like someone experienced to clean up the mess The shame of its is that Sambol could not get a job as dogcatcher in the open market.

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

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Filed under: Business, Internet, Video, Google

Google, reigning king of exhaustive analytics, has just released a specialized analytics tool for YouTube, aptly named YouTube Insight.

YouTube Insight is a free tool that enables anyone with a YouTube account to view detailed statistics about their uploaded videos. In other words, if you’ve ever wondered who is watching your latest solo diatribe about the benefits of Proactiv Solution (we were wondering that too…), that information is now one click away.

YouTube Insight tracks information such as the geographic region of your viewers, how popular your video is relative to other videos in a similar market, and more.

The currently available data can be found by clicking under the “About this Video” button under My account > Videos, Favorites, Playlists > Manage my Videos. Look for much more data to be added in the future.

Of course, this isn’t just for the Mentos and Diet Coke uploaders. Eventually, as YouTube becomes more monetized, these same metrics will provide valuable data to partners and advertisers, so that they have the ability to adjust their marketing to reach the viewers they most desire.

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Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Deals, Coca-Cola (KO), Motorola (MOT), Walt Disney (DIS), Boeing Co (BA), Merrill Lynch (MER), ConAgra Foods (CAG), Valero Energy (VLO)

Before the bell: Futures higher ahead of GDP; ORCL drops, CCU climbs, LEN beats

Despite higher costs, ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) fiscal third-quarter net income climbed 60% to $309.1 million, or 63 cents a share. Sales for the quarter increased 21% to $3.53 billion.

Hoop Holdings, a unit of Children’s Place Retail Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) and the operator of Disney Store North America, stated late on Wednesday that it filed for Chapter 11. Children’s Place isn’t part of the Chapter 11 petition, but is in speaks to sell a substantial part of the Disney Store business to Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) in order to concentrate on its core namesake brand.

Rambus (NASDAQ: RMBS) shares are advancing another 4.4% in premarket trading after closing up over 38% yesterday following a court decision finding it wasn’t guilty of fraud or violating antitrust laws in dealing with an industry group that set technology standards for dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips in the 1990s.

Once again Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney struck today. This time, it said Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) probably will post a first-quarter loss because of writedowns on the value of debt securities. The analyst lowered her estimates. She forecasts writedowns at MER now at $6 billion (up from $2 billion) and $11 billion at UBS. She estimates MER will post a loss of $3 per share in the quarter, rather than her earlier estimate of a profit of $0.45 per shares. Similarly, she reduced full year estimates. MER shares are down 1.75% in premarket trading.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) said Thursday it has received an order from Turkmenistan Airlines for three 737 aircraft worth about $221 million.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) and its Greek bottling unit will begin selling three ready-to-drink coffee beverages next month with Illycaffe SpA to bolster sales. The three beverages will be sold in 10 of the 28 countries where Athens-based Coca-Cola Hellenic operates.

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) was upgraded by RBC from Sector Perform to Outperform.
Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) was upgraded by Deutsche Securities from Hold to Buy.
Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was downgraded by Banc of America from Buy to Neutral.

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Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, Market matters, Clear Channel Commun (CCU), Lennar Corp’A’ (LEN), Oracle Corp (ORCL), Economic data, Housing, Federal Reserve

U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open at the start of trading Thursday with Oracle prone to drop after reporting disappointing earnings yesterday. Sentiment could change, however as economic growth reading will be reported an hour before the opening bell.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks dropped on renewed credit concerns after after news that the Clear Channel deal may be stalled due to financing issues. Declining durable goods orders didn’t help sentiment and markets ended up declining with a day that exhibited patterns only too familiar as of late, a surge in commodity prices while the dollar weakened. The Dow industrials dropped 109 points, or 0.88%, the Nasdaq Composite lost 16 points, or 0.71%, and the S&P 500 fell 11 points, or 0.88%.

Today, several more economic readings will help shape the session, especially with the final reading on fourth-quarter gross domestic product — due out at 8:30 a.m. EDT — which is expected to remain the same as previous reading and show a 0.6% economic growth, a near standstill, and the weakest pace in five years. The deepening housing slump has probably tipped the U.S. economy into a recession. The situation may not be much better in 2008 as consumer spending has slowed and business investment and the housing market has continued to decline. Despite actions taken by the Federal Reserve and the government, these measures’ effect will be a while in stimulating the economy and may not do so soon enough to avoid recession.

Also at 8:30, the Labor Department will release its weekly initial claims report.

Overseas, Asian markets were blended, but Europe has been higher by midday.

Oil futures rose this morning despite the dollar strengthening somewhat, although remaining near lows.

Companies in the news this morning:

Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) shares are down almost 7% in premarket trading after the software giant announced fiscal third-quarter earnings inline with expectations, but missed on the revenue side as well as on its sales forecast. Oracle’s earnings rose 30% from a year ago, but the missed sales forecasts could indicate that businesses are spending less on technology due to the economy.

Meanwhile, after Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU) sued the banks from puling out of their agreement to finance the deal, a Texas judge ordered them to fund the proposed $19 billion buyout of Clear Channel by private equity firms. CCU shares are up over 8.6% in premarket trading as a result.

Finally, of companies reporting earnings this day, Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) said it swung to a first-quarter loss of $88.2 million, or 56 cents a share, with revenue dropping 62% to $1.06 billion. This is its fourth loss in a row and from what the company stated, market conditions continued to deteriorate. Still, the company came ahead of expectations.

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Filed under: Deals, Law, Citigroup Inc. (C), CIGNA Corp (CI), Clear Channel Commun (CCU)

Early this day, Clear Channel (NYSE:CCU) claimed that it had won a major legal battle in its efforts to get banks to fund a private equity buyout of the broadcast company. According to Reuters: “Clear Channel said Judge John Gabriel of the Bexar County district court in Texas found on Wednesday night that the company would suffer irreparable harm if the banks refused to fund the merger.”

Citigroup (NYSE:C) and six other banks where to fund the $22 billion takeover by Bain Capital and Thomas H Lee.

The banks, looking at their balance sheets and a recession hitting the media industry, decided to walk. Financial companies have LBO debt on their books and are not able to sell it to other institutions because of the credit crunch.

The legal news is nice for Clear Channel, but the banks are not going to accept a ruling from Bexar County. The dispute has a long way to go.

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

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Filed under: Deals, Good news, Motorola (MOT), Options, Technical Analysis

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) shares soared at the open today, but are now trading only slightly higher after the company announced it plans to split itself into two publicly traded companies.

Under the plan, MOT’s handset business will become its own entity separate from the company’s home and networks business. The move comes after months of pressure from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who thinks separating the handset business from other operations could help the company strengthen its mobile phone brand and bottom line. Pending regulatory approval, the company will be split in 2009. If you think that the company won’t fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on MOT.

After hitting a one-year high of $19.68 in October, the stock hit a one-year low of $8.98 last week. MOT opened this morning at $10.30. So far this day the stock has hit a low of $9.82 and a high of $10.35. As of 10:00, MOT is trading at $9.81, up just $0.05 (0.5%), indicating that investors aren’t going crazy about this announcement. The chart for MOT looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would think about a July bull-put credit spread below the $8 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the buy and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn’t do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 12.5% return in just 4 months as long as MOT is above $8 at July expiration. Motorola would have to fall by more than 18% before we would begin to lose money.

MOT hasn’t been below $8.90 at all in the past year and has shown support around $9.30 recently. This trade could be risky if the company’s earnings (due out in late April) disappoint, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find around $9, where it bottomed out over the past month.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in MOT.

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Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Analyst reports, Deals, Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Time Warner (TWX), Ford Motor (F), Motorola (MOT), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Comcast Cl’A’ (CMCSA), PetroChina Co Ltd ADR (PTR), Time Warner Cable (TWC), Tata Mtrs Ltd (TTM)

Before the bell: Futures decline on renewed credit concerns

With reports all over the place yesterday that Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was close to a deal with Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM), it is no surprise the deal was announced this morning with Ford selling British automakers Jaguar and Land Rover to India’s Tata for roughly $2 billion.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) are discussing a plan to fund a new wireless Internet venture that would be run by Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) and Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) and create a nationwide network using WiMax technology. This would provide faster wireless Web connection speeds for laptops and cell phones than the current networks, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) stated Wednesday that turmoil in global markets may endanger its annual profit forecast for $13.1 billion. DB stock has declined in Frankfurt trading.

Citigroup’s Mark Mahaney believes Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) might increase its bid for Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) from $31 to $34 a share. The analyst believes Microsoft won’t shy away from the deal, and while there are no other bidders, Yahoo! is pursuing other strategic substitute like getting content from Time Warner (NYSE: TWX). This could entice Microsoft to up the bid. Not only that, the analyst states, but looking at other deals, a higher multiple could be argued, putting the price in the mid $30s. YHOO stock is not really reacting to this analyst note at the moment.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is once again the world’s biggest company by market value, overtaking PetroChina Co. (NYSE: PTR) as the latter’s shares have slumped 58% since its listing in Shanghai, reducing its market capitalization to $453.1 billion. Exxon Mobil was valued at $455.8 billion on Tuesday after rising 13% in the past year on record energy prices. Rising drilling costs squeezed profits at PTR despite $100 a barrel oil prices. To compare, PetroChina’s refineries lost $54 million a week last year while Exxon Mobil’s refining business had profit of $184 million a week in 2007. Also, PetroChina’s costs for drilling wells and building pipelines jumped 30% in 2007, compared with a 3.1% drop in such expenses at Exxon Mobil.

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business.gov.au home page
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Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Analyst reports, Deals, Private equity, Market matters, Citigroup Inc. (C), Clear Channel Commun (CCU), Oracle Corp (ORCL), Economic data, Oil, Housing

U.S. stock futures were lower early Wednesday morning. Just as investors started to feel the credit crisis may have seen its worse days, came yesterday’s bombshell that banks are unwilling to finance the $19 billion sale of radio broadcaster Clear Channel to private equity firms. This, of course renewed credit concerns and as investors await some economic data this morning, all indications points to U.S. markets starting on a weak note.

Yesterday, U.S. stocks completed mixed as readings on housing and consumer confidence came in weak. An upgrade of Yahoo! and several companies forecasting improved earnings caused the mixed trading day. The Dow industrials lost 16 points, or 0.13%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 14 points, or 0.61%, and the S&P 500 added 3 points, or 0.23%.

Economic data today includes a reading at 8:30 a.m. EDT on durable goods orders for February, which is expected to have increased somewhat, after dropping the month before.
At 10:00 a.m. EDT, February new home sales is due out. It is expected the data will show yet another weakness, but to remind readers, existing home sales released earlier this week, showed the first improvement in a while.
Then, at 10:30 a.m. EDT, weekly crude inventory will be reported. Oil futures increased ahead of the report. Despite expectation supplies will show an increase, it seems investors once again purchased oil futures in wake of the dollar weakening again and economic worries predict lower demand for oil.

Overseas, Asia stock markets were blended. In Europe, despite business sentiment in Germany and France remaining resilient, stocks are seeing modest losses.

Much to report on the corporate front:
Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU) stock is declining over 18% in premarket trading after closing down 5.5% Tuesday. Reports advocate that the proposed $19 billion buyout deal for the broadcaster by private equity groups Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital Partners LLC is virtually dead mainly due to financing issues with the banks. It’s quite possible banks are unwilling to take the same risks this day, especially for a company whose business is weakening.

Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) is reporting earnings after the close today.Analysts on average anticipate Oracle to post earnings of 30 cents a share for its third quarter and $5.4 billion in revenue, according to FactSet Research. This is up from last year’s 25 cents a share and $4.41 billion in revenue.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) had its first-quarter loss estimate quadrupled to $1.15 a share (from an earlier estimate of 28 cents) by Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Meredith Whitney on expectations for further asset writedowns on leveraged loans and collateralized debt obligations of $13.1 billion. Whitney also cut her full-year estimate to a loss of 15 cents a share from a profit of 75 cents. Citi shares are down 2% in premarket trading.

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