BloggingStocks

Earnings highlights: RIM, Oracle, KB Home, Nike, Kroger, Walgreen and others

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-06-28T09:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Google (GOOG), Walgreen Co (WAG), Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY), Kroger Co (KR), Darden Restaurants (DRI), Research in Motion (RIMM), General Mills (GIS), NIKE, Inc'B' (NKE), KB HOME (KBH), Oracle Corp (ORCL), Red Hat Inc (RHT), United Parcel'B' (UPS), Palm Inc (PALM), CKE Restaurants (CKR), Rite Aid Corp (RAD)

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) Q1 earnings tumbled while revenues rose.
Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CWST) posted a narrower-than-expected Q4 loss.
CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: CKR) Q1 earnings increased but its revenue slipped.
Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) swung to a Q4 profit on strong sales at Olive Garden.
Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) said it might not see Q2 profit growth on lower demand and shipping delays.
General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) Q4 earnings declined but were in line with expectations.
Gerber Scientific Inc. (NYSE: GRB) reported solid Q4 and full-year results that pleased investors.
IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS) beat Q2 expectations and posted record quarterly cash flow from operations.
Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) stronger-than-expected Q3 results led to an analyst's upgrade.
KB Home (NYSE: KBH) widened its Q2 loss due to weak sales and falling prices.
Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) beat Q1 expectations as consumers sought discounts on food and gas.
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) beat Q3 earnings estimates but fell short of revenue estimates.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) posted better-than-expected Q4 results boosted by international strength.
Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) posted strong Q4 results that topped analysts' expectations (see transcript).

Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) posted dismal results as revenue fell despite higher sales volume.
Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Q1 revenues soared as results beat Wall Street expectations.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) posted disappointing results and lackluster guidance (transcript).
Rite-Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) swung ot a larger-than-expected Q1 loss on integration difficulties.
Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC) earnings warning took shares to a new 52-week low.
Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE: SMA) beat Q1 estimates on increased demand and acquisitions.
United Parcel Serivce (NYSE: UPS) cut its earnings forecast due to rising fuel prices and less demand.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) posted sluggish Q3 results despite cost-cutting measures.

Also, do the results from Oracle, Research in Motion, and Red Hat point to a bottom for tech stocks? Will Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) new CFO be more likely to provide the guidance that analysts crave?

Upcoming results to watch for include H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ), Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL), Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO), WD-40 (NASDAQ: WDFC), and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

KB Home widens Q2 loss on weak sales and falling prices

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-06-27T14:28:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, KB HOME (KBH), Housing

On Thursday, home builder Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) said that its fiscal second-quarter loss narrowed, as Wall Street had expected. KB Home (NYSE: KBH), on the other hand, reported Friday a larger-than-expected second-quarter loss due to weak sales and falling home prices, as well as write downs.

For the quarter ended May 31, Los Angeles-based KB Home reported a loss of $255.9 million, or $3.30 per share, compared to a loss of $148.7 million, or $1.93 per share, in the same period of the previous year. This includes a charge of $176.5 million against unsold homes and to abandon some land option contracts.

Revenue tumbled 55% to $639.1 million, driven by lower housing and land sales. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected a loss of 94 cents per share on revenue of $691.3 million.

As of May 31, KB Home's backlog of homes yet to be delivered was 6,233 units, down 54% percent from the same quarter last year. Unit deliveries, meanwhile, fell 41% to 2,810 as the company attempted to scale back its inventory of homes on the market.

KB Home said its cancellation rate was 27%, down from 34% in the year-ago period and 53% in the first quarter, but new orders during the quarter fell 42% from a year ago to 4,200.

And the average selling price of the builder's homes slipped 17% during the quarter to $226,600.

While Lennar warned in its earnings release Thursday of continuing deterioration in the housing market through the rest of the year, KB Home predicted that falling home prices would prompt reluctant home buyers to "become a healthy source of demand for new homes, fueling the eventual housing market recovery."

Shares of KB Home fell 7.5% to $16.77 in morning trading on Friday. The share price has fallen 33.2% in the past three months, and is down 57.5% from a year ago.

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Before the bell: KBH, AAPL, ERIC, INTU, TM, MSFT

Melly Alazraki — 2008-06-27T08:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Management, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Employees, Sony Corp ADR (SNE), KB HOME (KBH), Intuit Inc (INTU)

Before the bell: Futures drift lower as oil sets another record high

Since Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is no longer insisting on revenue sharing from mobile operators selling its iPhone, China Mobile Ltd (NYSE: CHL) said this cleared the biggest hurdle in bringing the iPhone to mainland China. They just have to resolve some practical issues now.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) shares climbed over 5.8% in after-hours trading Thursday. The builder is to report results this morning, a quarterly loss is expected.

Sony Ericsson, the joint venture between Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) warned Friday it might not see any profit growth in the second quarter, due to slowing demand for some of its higher-priced phones and a delay in shipping new models to the market and will also experience a gross margin squeeze. ERIC shares are down about 6% in premarket trading.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) will cut about 575 jobs, or about 7% of its workforce, as the result of a reorganization to Internet-based service. The company expects the cuts to result in a 4 cents a share charge, in the fiscal fourth quarter. Intuit now sees an adjusted fourth-quarter loss of 7 cents to 9 cents a share, a bigger loss than analysts had estimated.

An era is about to end Friday as Bill Gates ends his full-time tenure as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) -- the world's largest software company -- leader. The Microsoft founder and visionary leaves the company after a failed attempt to acquire Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) as it tries to gain market shares in internet search where Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) dominates. It will be interesting to see how the company continues on without his daily guidance, and if anything, perhaps something to watch as investor worry what will happen if Steve Jobs retired.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) "may implement a broad price hike for cars and trucks sold in Japan to help offset surging prices for steel and other materials, according to a Japanese media report Friday."

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Lennar, KB Home expected to narrow Q2 losses

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-06-25T09:52:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, KB HOME (KBH), Lennar Corp'A' (LEN), Housing

Anyone looking for good news in the housing sector will no doubt be keeping an eye on homebuilders Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) and KB Home (NYSE: KBH) when they report second-quarter earnings this week. Both companies are expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial to narrow their losses.

Lennar is expected to report net loss of 45 cents per share, as compared to a loss of 56 cents per share in the previous quarter and a loss of $1.55 per share in the year ago period. While the company hasn't posted a quarterly profit since the first quarter of 2007, the loss per share in the most recent quarter was 51 cents smaller than analysts had expected.

Miami-based Lennar is one of the largest homebuilders in the U.S., and it also provides financial services for home buyers. Even with the housing slump, the company had revenues in the past year of $10.2 billion, but its net loss totaled $1.9 billion. The company's long-term EPS growth forecast is 11.5%, which is less than the sector average and the S&P 500. The consensus recommendation of analysts remains to hold Lennar.

Shares closed Tuesday at $14.72, up from the 52-week low of $11.98 in January. The share price is down 62.9% from a year ago.

KB Home is expected to report a net loss of 85 cents per share, as compared to a loss of $3.47 cents per share in the previous quarter and a loss of $2.26 per share in the year ago period. KB Home's losses have been larger than analysts expected in each of the past four quarters.

Los Angeles-based KB Home caters to home buyers in the South and West, and also has branding deals with Martha Stewart and the Walt Disney. In the past year, the company's revenues were $6.4 billion and its net loss was $976 million. The company's long-range EPS growth forecast is 12.3%, which is less than the sector average and the S&P 500. The consensus recommendation of analysts remains to hold KB Home.

Shares closed Tuesday at $18.77, up from the 52-week low of $15.76 in January. The share price has fallen 54.6% from a year ago.

Lennar is scheduled to report earnings Thursday morning, KB Home on Friday morning.

For more news that could influence the results, see BloggingStocks' Lennar and KB Home coverage.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Eddie Lampert buys into KB Home (KBH), Centex (CTX)

Brent Archer — 2008-06-12T14:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Major movement, Good news, Industry, Centex Corp (CTX), KB HOME (KBH), Options, Technical Analysis, Housing

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) shares are trading higher after a report that hedge fund manager Edward Lampert has bought "small stakes" in homebuilders Centex (NYSE: CTX) and KBH, thinking that the housing market may be poised for a recovery. Investors are taking this news as a good sign for KBH. If you think that the stock 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 KBH.

After hitting a one-year high of $44.51 last June, the stock hit a one-year low of $15.76 in January. KBH opened this morning at $18.21. So far today the stock has hit a low of $18.15 and a high of $19.07. As of 12:00, KBH is trading at $18.87, up 1.00 (5.6%). The chart for KBH looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a July bull-put credit spread below the $15 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase 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 an 11.1% return in just five weeks as long as KBH is above $15 at July expiration. KBH would have to fall by more than 20% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

KBH hasn't been below $15 at all in the past year and has shown support around $17.50 recently. This trade could be risky if the financial sector continues to tumble or if the Fed makes its first interest rate hike in a while, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find around $16 where it put in a bottom in January.

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 KBH.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Deep in the heart of defaults

Jim Cramer — 2008-05-30T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Market matters, Countrywide Financial (CFC), D.R.Horton (DHI), KB HOME (KBH), Lennar Corp'A' (LEN), Toll Brothers (TOL), Housing, Recession, MBIA Inc (MBI)

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the mortgage problem is in the process of cresting, which is why the stocks have largely bottomed.

We are in the heart of default country, and we knew we would be. This is the toughest moment. You need to go back and look at the calendar to realize the astonishing acceleration in defaults. It's simple: This moment two years ago is when the underwriting standards were the lowest, and this is the moment when the defaults will be the highest because the loans are resetting at high levels and most of the lenders, lenders like Countrywide (NYSE: CFC) (Cramer's Take), are more interested in getting as much out of a borrower as possible before kicking him out than working out the loan.

Think about it.

In the second quarter of 2006, the housing industry was going strong. We were in the 7-million-homes-changing-hands mode, and the vast majority of those homes required little money down, with home equity loans being taken out immediately to pay whatever little interest was being charged. These were the moments of the ultimate no-doc-high-fee loans by New Century Financial, Ameriquest, Resmed (Ditech), American Home Mortgage, Novastar, and of course, Countrywide. This was when the homebuilders' mortgage arms lent the most terribly.

This was also the height of packaging, where the loans were shipped off quickly to who knows where. These were the homes that were being priced at 120% of value when you tacked on home equity loans, which a huge number of borrowers did.

In short, from now until the end of the year, almost everyone who bought in 2006 is underwater, and it is only the need to preserve credit and the American dream that is keeping people in these homes.

That's why I have been saying 17 months from now -- it was 18, we get closer! -- we will be through this problem. I am picking 17 months because these bad loans reached their height during this period and went on until the end of the year, and I figure those who are going to default will do so within this period.

After 2006, the underwriting standards tightened dramatically, although there were still some homes underwritten by that nasty gang of ne'er-do-wells, but that lasted about two months. That's another reason why the problem will go on through 2009 -- those deals need two years, too.

After that, here is what will happen. The remaining people will find a way to make ends meet and the homebuilders, the Tolls (NYSE: TOL) (Cramer's Take) and Lennars (NYSE: LEN) (Cramer's Take) and Hovnanians (NYSE: HOV) (Cramer's Take) and KB Homes (NYSE: KBH) (Cramer's Take), the Pultes (NYSE: PHM) (Cramer's Take) and DR Hortons (NYSE: DHI) (Cramer's Take), will have gone through their whole spec inventories and the new-home inventories will be smaller. The household formation numbers and the lower price of homes will force more buys to be made.

And we will be out of this jam. The important thing to remember is that there should be no surprises that this is occurring right now. That's the 2-and-20-plus HELOC talking, and anyone who didn't think it would happen this way is all wrong.

It is why I was ranting for the Fed to cut rates hard back then, so the two and 28 when they rolled over would not be the disaster that they turned out to be. You couldn't refinance at those higher short-term rates. It is why the FHA was a must to get involved, because otherwise it was all voluntary, and despite what you hear, the mortgage servicers would do better if they harass and harass and harass rather than work with the borrowers. The mortgage companies need to get something out of them. It is why the CDOs were doomed from the period. It is why outfits like Ambac (NYSE: ABK) (Cramer's Take) and MBIA (NYSE: MBI) (Cramer's Take) were walking dead men as they insured those CDOs and why PMI (NYSE: PMI) (Cramer's Take) and MGIC (NYSE: MTG) (Cramer's Take) will struggle to stay alive -- these companies insured the individual loans. It is why the regional bank holders of HELOC will most likely not make it.

It is why everything bad is happening now.

What people don't realize is that things are going to crest in five months, the peak of two years of madness, and we have to be thinking that things are going to get better, not worse. It is why the homebuilders stopped going down. They are discounting the scenario I just outlined.

If we get congressional relief and help from the FHA, then 17 months will be too long and the turn should be within a year, because the foreclosures would die down dramatically.

Already the mortgage servicer reports, just released for April, are showing some improvement. That's people digging in their heels from 2005 and the first part of 2006. It is why, as some would say, the pig is moving through the python.

Cause for optimism? No. Cause for realism and why the stocks have not taken out their lows.

Next week Toll and Hovnanian report. They will not be able to say we are over the hump yet.

But if they don't acknowledge the hope, they will be just as wrong as they were in the height of 2006, when they were all playing the game.

RELATED LINKS:

Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in the stocks mentioned.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

KB Home (KBH) rises in anticipation of mortgage help

Brent Archer — 2008-04-02T15:06:00+00:00

Filed under: Major movement, Good news, Industry, KB HOME (KBH), Options, Technical Analysis, Politics, Housing

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) shares are rising with other homebuilders after US Senators from both political parties agreed to draft legislation that could deliver billions of dollars to homeowners facing foreclosure. The Senators hope to bring a bill to the floor as early as this afternoon. 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 KBH.

After hitting a one-year high of $48.67 in May, the stock hit a one-year low of $15.76 in January. KBH opened this morning at $26.74. So far today the stock has hit a low of $26.50 and a high of $28.86. As of 12:30, KBH is trading at $28.48, up $1.55 (5.8%). The chart for KBH looks bullish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a May bull-put credit spread below the $17.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase 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 4.2% return in just 7 weeks as long as KBH is above $17.50 at May expiration. KBH would have to fall by more than 38% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

KBH hasn't been below $17.50 since January and has shown support around $24 recently. This trade could be risky if the housing market gets even worse, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find around $22, where it bottomed out a few weeks ago.

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 KBH.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Earnings highlights: Adobe, ConAgra, Lennar, Oracle, Tiffany, Darden and others

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-03-29T15:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Walgreen Co (WAG), Penney (J.C.) (JCP), Adobe Systems (ADBE), Tiffany and Co (TIF), ConAgra Foods (CAG), Darden Restaurants (DRI), KB HOME (KBH), Lennar Corp'A' (LEN), Oracle Corp (ORCL), CKE Restaurants (CKR)

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

AAR Corp. (NYSE: AIR) posted record third-quarter earnings and revenue.
Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) posted better-than-estimated first-quarter results and raised its outlook.
CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: CKR) posted third-quarter results that missed estimates.
ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) third-quarter profit surged as strong sales offset commodity prices.
Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) beat third-quarter expectations and offered guidance.
FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS) second-quarter results beat estimates and it raised its outlook.
Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG) remained upbeat despite a fourth-quarter loss.
Guess Inc. (NYSE: GES) record fourth-quarter results beat Wall Street expectations.
Inter Parfums Inc. (NASDAQ: IPAR) posted better-than-estimated fourth-quarter results and raised its outlook.
Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) beat second-quarter expectations but lowered its guidance.
JC Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) lowered its first-quarter outlook on weaker-than-expected sales.
KB Home (NYSE: KBH) swung to a larger-than-expected first-quarter loss on write-downs.
Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss.
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) raised its second-quarter and full-year guidance.
Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) merely met earnings expectations, sending shares lower.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) posted better-than-estimated fourth-quarter results and raised its outlook.
Usana Health Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: USNA) posted lower-than-expected first-quarter results.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) posted solid second-quarter results, including same-store sales growth.

Also, auction-rate securities issues may hurt some tech company results. Analysts keep cutting earings estimates for the big banks, but some are eyeing Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) earnings prospects as it expands in China, as well as Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM) on soaring demand for commodities.

Upcoming results to watch for include Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Monsanto (NYSE: MON), and Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

KB Home (KBH) reports larger-than-expected quarterly loss

Eliza Popescu — 2008-03-28T12:07:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Bad news, Consumer experience, KB HOME (KBH), Lennar Corp'A' (LEN), Housing

Shares of home builder KB Home (NYSE: KBH) have been tumbling in early trading after the company announced this morning it swung to a first quarter loss. The company's quarterly numbers were dragged down by higher write-downs related to lower home prices. Unlike its competitor Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN), KB Home was not able to beat analysts' expectations, sending its shares down over 5% this morning.

Including a charge of $223.9 million in write-downs, the residential home builder posted a quarterly loss of $268.2 million, or $3.47 per share, hurt by lower new home deliveries and orders. The company's quarterly numbers were also hurt by higher impairment charges. Analysts expected KB Home to show a quarterly loss of "only" $1.17 per share.

The global crisis in the credit market put pressure on the home builder's revenue, which plunged 43% to $794.2 million. For this period, the slumping housing market and credit crisis came with a plunge of 75% for new home orders and with a drop of 57% for new home deliveries. Analysts, on average, predicted sales of $805.7 million in the quarter, according to Thomson Financial.

Looking ahead, KB Home didn't show too much optimism and said it expects a further weak home demand related to the challenging business conditions.The company believes that difficult market conditions will not improve any time soon, which will results in a further slowdown in consumer confidence and weak home sales.

Eliza Popescu is a financial writer for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Best stock performers, next hot sectors & credit scoring misconceptions - Today in Money 3/29

Allan Halprin — 2008-03-28T08:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Google (GOOG), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Starbucks (SBUX), Penney (J.C.) (JCP), Money and Finance Today, Coach Inc (COH), Verizon Communications (VZ), KB HOME (KBH), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Bear Stearns Cos (BSC)

In the News:

· Bear Stearns Chairman James Cayne Unloads All His Company Stock

· Cisco Appears to Be Bracing for a Downturn

· Flat Consumer Spending Calms Inflation

· KB Home Is Latest Builder To Post Quarterly Loss

· Wyeth Cuts US Sales Team by 1,200

· Starbucks Sued for Third Time Over Tips

· J.C. Penney Cuts Outlook

· In Kenya, Obama (Beer) Wins Big

Best Performers of 2008
The 12th annual BusinessWeek 50 spotlights the 50 best performing companies in the S&P and topping this year's list is retailer Coach. Rounding out the top five are Gilead Sciences, Allegheny Technologies, Verizon, and Questar. Last year's No.1 company, Google, dropped to No.34 on the list - shares are down almost 40% from their high of 747 last November.
The BusinessWeek 50 - BusinessWeek

The Next Hot Stock Sectors
Amid the volatility, BusinessWeek's Gene Marcial talks with stockpicking pros about the market sectors they see leading the next major advance.
Stocks: The Next Hot Sectors

Good Time to Sell Your Gold Jewelry, Coins, Fillings?
Over the last two years, gold prices have risen about 70 percent. Here's what you need to know to get the most money from what you have to sell.
Selling your gold jewelry, coins, fillings -Bankrate.com

Hurdles in Home Financing Today
Getting a mortgage or refinancing one is now a Herculean task. Here's what to expect.
Seeking a Mortgage in Today's Market Is Not Easy - SmartMoney.com

Help! I'm Buried in Debt
Five dos and five don'ts on tackling debt problems.
Your best investment? Paying off that debt - USATODAY.com

Credit Scoring Misconceptions
Want to close those unused credit cards in your drawer? A FICO expert discusses popular misunderstandings about closing accounts and department-store cards versus bank credit cards.
Closing credit card dings credit score -Bankrate.com

8 Last-Minute Ways to Save for Vacation
In a perfect world, we'd all have fully funded vacation accounts to pay for our annual family getaways. The reality: Most of us are just now starting to think about this summer's vacation. Here are some fast-track ways to save for your big trip.
8 last-minute ways to save for vacation-Bankrate.com

Great Yard Makeovers
Save time and money without sacrificing a beautiful yard.
Create a Greener Landscape - Kiplinger.com
In Pictures: Yard Transformations
Also: Smarter Ways to Water Your Lawn

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Before the bell: KBH, WYE, FNM, ERTS, TTWO, RHT, NOK ...

Melly Alazraki — 2008-03-28T08:37:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Analyst reports, Deals, Apple Inc (AAPL), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Citigroup Inc. (C), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), KB HOME (KBH), Red Hat Inc (RHT), Wachovia Corp (WB), Electronic Arts (ERTS)

Before the bell: Futures higher ahead of data; BSC, LEH, C

KB HOme (NYSE: KBH) is set to report fiscal first-quarter results this mornings. Analysts expect the company to report a loss of $1.17 per share, according to Thomson Financial. The comparable year-ago profit was 34 cents per share.

Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) is laying off about 1,200 U.S. sales representatives as part of its major companywide program announced recently to cut jobs and other costs and redesign the struggling business as increased competition and fewer new drugs are taking their toll on the pharmaceutical company.

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) may raise as much as $20 billion in capital as part of an agreement with the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight that allows them to buy more debt securities. They can raise the capital with common shares, preferred shares or convertible preferred shares, further diluting the already troubled stocks but helping the companies to stabilize. FNM shares are up over 2.5% in premarket trading.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) is amending its tender offer for outstanding common shares of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) to counter Take-Two's poison-pill adoption and its rescheduled annual meeting. EA has offered to buy Take-Two for $26 a share, or about $2 billion in cash. If the price still isn't right, what could Take-Tow come up with next?

Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) shares are up 4.1% in premarket trading this morning after the software distributor reported Thursday after the close that its fourth-quarter profit rose 7% as it expanded the footprint of its open source products with costly internal investments. Red Hat said it earned $22 million, or 10 cents per share, in its first quarter under new CEO James Whitehurst. Revenue rose 27% to $141.5 million. The results were inline with analyst estimates. It seems that investors liked the new CEO's strategy.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) are up over 2% despite the an analyst saying the world's largest maker of mobile phones may post low shipments of mobile phones in the first quarter as well as weak average selling prices.

Meredith Whitney, the Oppenheimer analyst who has written one note after another about financial institutions, lowering her estimates constantly, have said today that Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) will likely have to announce dividend cuts next month due to shrinking earnings. Whitney expects Citigroup to earn $1.43 a share less than its dividend payout this year and for Wachovia to have to pay out "just about all of its estimated earnings this year." If investors hold big bank shares for dividend, this could hurt the stocks further, especially as Citi has already reduced its dividend payout by 41% earlier. The shares aren't showing a negative reaction for now.

In a hacking contest where three laptops -- Sony Vaio, Fujitsu U810, and the MacBook -- were offered provided hackers could hack into each of them, Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) MacBook Air was first to be hacked (in 2 minutes) after organizers relaxed the rules a little. According infoWorld, "Contest rules state that Miller could only take advantage of software that was preinstalled on the Mac, so the flaw he exploited must have been accessible by, or possibly inside, Apple's Safari browser."

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

A lesson in how stocks bottom

Timothy Sykes — 2008-03-25T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: eBay (EBAY), Starbucks (SBUX), AT and T (T), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Comcast Cl'A' (CMCSA), KB HOME (KBH), Toll Brothers (TOL), Broadcom Corp'A' (BRCM), Technical Analysis, Stocks to Buy

No matter how hard I promote my core strategy of short selling surging microcaps, the sheer volume of emails asking me about when slumping blue chips like Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX), Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) and Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) will bottom is astounding.

So, this is my answer to you guys. I'm also going to throw in Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Ebay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) because they all share the same horrifically downtrending charts!

I've already written about how you should avoid these kinds of stocks, but I know many of you are already down too much to even contemplate getting out now. Luckily for you, there now looks to be a glimmer of hope.

I'm not going to try to call a bottom or for any major market rebound-the odds of that happening aren't very great-but it's definitely a good sign when similarly hard hit stocks like Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA), KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) stop going down.

And, that's how these things work. No sharp reversals. No about faces, just some sideways action and higher highs. Look at KB Home's chart-it's a picture perfect trend reversal (now if it could just break $30, it'll really be a nice breakout, but let's not get ahead of ourselves). But do understand bottoming in these market conditions is a multi-attempt and usually a multi-month process-filled with plenty of fakeouts.

Timothy Sykes writes the blog timothysykes.com, is a former hedge fund manager, star of the TV show Wall Street Warriors and author of the book, An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator & Created a Hedge Fund

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Home builders sucked into credit crisis

Douglas McIntyre — 2008-03-15T14:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Bad news, KB HOME (KBH), Lennar Corp'A' (LEN), Toll Brothers (TOL), Housing

As the financial crisis spreads quickly from Wall Street to other industries, two large home builder projects have received default notices. The problems involve developments in Las Vegas, where house prices have collapsed.

A project involving KB Homes (NYSE: KBH), Lennar (NYSE: LEN), and Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) has failed to make interest payments on $765 million in debt.

According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), the project is spear-headed by a private company, Focus Property Group.

It is not clear how many other large real estate developments involving public home builders are facing near-term margin calls, but with the falling price of real estate, the problem in Las Vegas is unlikely to be that last one. That means that already weakened firms could face a credit crisis of their own as home prices continue to drop and the potential value of homes under construction face going on the market for a fraction of what they may have brought just a year ago.

Some of the large home building company stocks have lost over two-thirds of their value over the past year, and that may only be the beginning.

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

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Comfort Zone Investing: Sparkles of light in the gloom

Ted Allrich — 2008-03-01T10:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Consumer experience, Citigroup Inc. (C), KB HOME (KBH), Toll Brothers (TOL), Economic data, Comfort Zone Investing, Housing, Federal Reserve

Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of the recently released book: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

It's not all bad out there. Some stocks are doing much better with individual results carrying them higher. Others are being carried by a sea change in the industry. Here are the news and stocks that provide some of the light in the current darkness.

(please note, this column was written Wednesday, Feb. 27).

On Monday, the rumor that started the rally on Friday continued. Several banks were going to form a consortium to save the insurance company AMBAC. On top of that there was a renewed bid for Take Two by Electronics Arts, this time with a higher price tag. Take Two rejected the new offer, but it sparked a rally. The market went up over 100 points. That was on top of the almost 100 point rally from last session, one that saw a 200 point turnaround in an hour.

On Tuesday, data showed housing prices might be leveling off, even though some areas of the country are still feeling pressure. The Miami area reported the worst decline, down 18% from last year. Housing stocks took off on the news. KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL), two ends of the housing market, were up over 6% on the day. On Wednesday TOL announced its losses, and the stock continued higher.

Of course, there was lots of bad news as well. Consumer Confidence was at 75, the lowest reading since the Iraq War began in 2003, and with that exception, the lowest reading in 15 years. Producer Prices (wholesale prices) were up 1% on a seasonally adjusted basis. Excluding energy and food prices, they were up .4%, twice what was expected. That puts the Fed in a quandary. If inflation gets too strong, it will have to raise interest rates, just as the consumer is already being hit with higher prices on everything else. Higher rates would stop any housing recovery dead. On Wednesday, Fed Chief Bernanke said he was all for lowering interest rates as long as inflation is under control.

The ray of hope in all of this is that in spite of the bad news and economic difficulties consumers are enduring now, investors are grasping quickly onto good news and letting bad news go. They're looking forward (as they always do) and have renewed expectations that the housing market will, in fact, recover, and maybe sooner rather than later. However, if interest rates get hiked, that optimism will disappear. For the moment, it's coming through.

To further bolster the housing market, the Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (I'm not making this up) gave approval for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy jumbo mortgages. That will put new money into a sector of the market (one that TOL in particular is in) that previously didn't have access to Federal money.

Other good news: IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced another major buyback of stock, $15 billion worth. That's on top of a similar repurchase they've recently completed. Earnings are higher for Big Blue, thanks to the global aspect of its business. Management also raised its guidance for earnings for 2008 based on how well business is doing. Since it's still a force in the tech world, investors took these announcements as a reason for confidence in the future, at least in the tech industry.

Other stocks that are starting to get back in favor: the financials, and banks in particular. Bank stocks were downgraded again in the last few days by several brokerage firms. One of them suggested that Citigroup (NYSE: C) might trade as low as $16 before all write-offs are written off. The stock faltered for a little but is now trading higher, above where it was when the analyst's report came out.

It's still anybody's guess how the housing and financial stocks will fare as more bad news comes out. If interest rates go higher, that will hurt both of them. But investors don't believe that will happen, or if they do, they're thinking both industries will cope with it. We may be very near the bottom for housing prices, at least for some parts of the country. While prices have gone down dramatically in some areas, there is a sense that many of those sectors are beginning to see stabilization. First comes stabilization, then comes higher prices.

It isn't all bad news out there. You just need to find those sparkles of light that are doing well in spite of the tough times, or will be within a few months.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Analyst initiations: Suntech Power, Premier Exhibitions, homebuilder sector

Eric Buscemi — 2008-02-27T11:57:00+00:00

Filed under: Analyst reports, D.R.Horton (DHI), KB HOME (KBH), Toll Brothers (TOL), Analyst initiations, Suntech Power Hldgs ADS (STP)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Suntech Power, Premier Exhibitions and the Homebuilders Sector were today's noteworthy initiations:

Citigroup named Suntech Power Holding (NYSE: STP) their top pick for China solar due to its leading scale and technology roadmap for higher cell efficiency, initiating shares with a Buy rating and $55 target.
Merriman believes Premier Exhibitions (NASDAQ: PRXI) can move to the $14.50-$17.00 through the continued monetization of the company's current tours, the launching of additional tours and the value of the Titanic artifacts on hand. The firm started shares with a Buy rating.
Lehman initiated D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI), Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL), Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) with Overweight ratings and an $18 target, $31 target and $27 target; KB Home (NYSE: KBH) with an Equal Weight rating and $24 target; and Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) with an Underweight rating and $8 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

Citigroup initiated Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) with a Hold rating and $24 target.
UBS initiated Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) with a Neutral rating and $38 target.
JP Morgan initiated Biodel (NASDAQ: BIOD) with an Overweight rating.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Early analyst calls: SAP, KBH, LEN

Douglas McIntyre — 2008-02-27T07:35:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, KB HOME (KBH), Lennar Corp'A' (LEN), Toll Brothers (TOL)

Lehman Brothers has initiated the home-building industry with a "positive" rating and put price targets on Pulte (NYSE: PHM) of $15, Lennar (NYSE: LEN) at $20, KB Home (NYSE: KBH) at $24, and Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) at $27, according to Briefing.com.

Several analysts have said that growth targets at SAP (NYSE: SAP) "could be overly ambitious," according to MarketWatch.

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

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Comfort Zone Investing: Stocks worth considering

Ted Allrich — 2008-02-16T10:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Pfizer (PFE), Coca-Cola (KO), Citigroup Inc. (C), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Bank of America (BAC), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), KB HOME (KBH), Wachovia Corp (WB), Washington Mutual (WM), Merck and Co (MRK), Toll Brothers (TOL), Wells Fargo (WFC), Comfort Zone Investing

Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of the just released book: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

With certain sectors of the market collapsed, many smart investors are starting to do more than homework. They're buying stocks in small amounts, building positions for a time when the economy is once again in a growth mode. Make no mistake: the economy will recover. It has ever since 1776. What is unknown is when. If you want to see what some of the "smart" money is buying, check out these stocks.

The one common element they all share: compelling valuations, either in an absolute sense, meaning their prices are the lowest in years or a relative one, meaning they're selling for valuations that are the cheapest they've been in some time. Some have P/E ratios not seen in a decade. Others are selling well below book value.

You'll also find some have specific problems such as lawsuits or subprime holdings or some other reason for why their prices are so low (relatively or absolutely). You need to sift through those and determine how comfortable you are with that risk. Some of these have no specific reason at all for lower prices. They're just down because investors are selling everything, no matter what the prospects for the company.

These are all very large stocks with plenty of capital. While no company is safe from a major disaster, these stocks should be able to withstand any exogenous blow and recover, then once again lead. Some have already rebounded well off their lows, as much as 50%. But they've fallen so far that they still have a great deal of room to reach "fair value".

The overriding sentiment for investors is that a recession is either going on right now, or there is about to be one. That is already priced into these stocks. If the news gets worse, these will go down more. But most likely not too much more. They've already been hit hard. A portfolio filled with these names should perform admirably over the next few years.

Don't rush out and buy these names just because they're on a list. You need to know each story, be comfortable with a company's prospects, then buy a small amount of several of them. Simply buying one will not be the best approach. Diversification is the key to success.

There are many stocks representing good value. This list is by no means complete. But these stocks will give you specific companies to consider and spark your thinking into related areas.

Pharmaceuticals: Web sites:
Johnson and Johnson www.jnj.com
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) www.merck.com
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) www.pfizer.com

Home Builders:
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) www.tollbrothers.com
KB Home (NYSE: KBH) www.kbhomes.com

Consumables:
PepsiCo., Inc. (NYSE: PEP) www.pepsi.com
The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO) www.cocacola.com

Financials:
AIG: American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) www.aig.com
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) www.americanexpress.com
Citigroup (NYSE: C) www.citigroup.com
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) www.bankofamerica.com
Wachovia Bank (NYSE: WB) www.wachovia.com
Washington Mutual Inc. (NYSE: WM) www.wamu.com
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) www.wellsfargo.com
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) www.fanniemae.com
Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) www.freddiemac.com

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Home builders show their desperation

Zac Bissonnette — 2008-02-06T14:38:00+00:00

Filed under: KB HOME (KBH), Housing, Recession

Have home builders got an offer for you: sign a contract to buy a home and, if comparable homes in the area decline in value before closing, you can have the home at a reduced price.

According (subscription required) to the Wall Street Journal, companies including KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL) hope such "price protection" guarantees will lessen consumers' paralyzing fears about buying real estate whose value is falling and get them sign on the dotted line, bring in much-needed cash and reduce high cancellation rates.

KB will roll out its price protection program in 35 markets this month. The move is an effort to move some impossible-to-sell new houses, and try to toss buyers a bone that will keep them from walking away from their down payments.

As an investor, I wonder whether this a sign of absolute desperation on the part of home builders, or is it a more bullish indicator that executives don't feel there's much risk in assuaging customers' fears with an offer to compensate them if the home declines in value before closing.

I would say the first option seems more likely.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments