In trading on Wednesday, shares of Dell Inc (NASD: DELL) crossed below their 200 day moving average of $12.41, changing hands as low as $12.28 per share. Dell Inc shares are currently trading off about 3.3% on the day. The chart below shows the one year performance of DELL shares, versus its 200 day moving average: …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Markets
By The Street, Contributor Dell’s (DELL) fate hangs in the balance as a private equity consortium led by founder Michael S. Dell fights billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn fight for control of the struggling PC manufacturer. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By The Street, Contributor The battle for (DELL) will continue without private equity giant Blackstone Group (BX).
Filed under: Investing
The role of central banks in stimulus will be considered at International Monetary Fund (IMF) and G-20 gatherings. (Reuters)
Display ad revenue at Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) drops sharply. (Reuters)
News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) will call its entertainment company 21st Century Fox. (Reuters)
Carl Icahn agrees to limit his stake in Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) but can join other bidders to make an offer for the company. (Reuters)
Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) will lengthen the number of days after which it pays suppliers, which will allow it access to $2 billion in cash. (WSJ)
A new IMF report attacks the results of austerity taken on by financially troubled nations. (WSJ)
A reservations system glitch limits American Airlines bookings and causes a number of flights to be halted. (WSJ)
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) completes tests of batteries on its Dreamliner 787, but the FAA has not approved them. (WSJ)
Intel Corp.’s (NASDAQ: INTC) profits drop by 25% as PC sales tumble. (WSJ)
Investment manager John Paulson loses $1.5 billion in his bet on gold prices. (FT)
The drop in gold prices hits central bank asset values by $560 billion. (Bloomberg)
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: BA, DELL, INTC, NWSA, PG, YHOO
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From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/17/media-digest-4172013-reuters-wsj-ft-bloomberg/
By Adam Levine-Weinberg, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Warren Buffett became the greatest investor of his generation by following a relatively simple philosophy: buying great companies at good prices. A look at Berkshire Hathaway’s stock performance since 1990 clearly demonstrates Buffett’s success.
Berkshire Hathaway Price Chart (1990-present). Data by YCharts.
That said, it’s harder than ever to find great companies at good prices today. The proliferation of information has made it easier to spot companies that have a durable competitive advantage of some sort, which tends to drive up their stock prices. For example, while I like Amazon.com’s business, the company trades for more than 70 times forward earnings, far more than I’d be willing to pay. Furthermore, Buffett has a big advantage over ordinary investors today. His past success opens up opportunities not available to the general public, such as access to preferred stock deals and private transactions.
Dumpster diving for stocks!
The difficulty of finding great companies at good prices can be discouraging for everyday investors. As a result, I often like to go dumpster-diving for stocks! While great companies are worth more than good companies, mediocre companies, and downright “bad” companies, every company has a value that’s usually not zero (though there are exceptions!). If you can find an adequate margin of safety, you may be able to generate strong returns from owning not-so-strong companies. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this stock chart:
BBRY, BBY, DELL, and HPQ: November 1-present, data by YCharts
The above chart tracks the performance of four companies — Best Buy , BlackBerry , Dell , and Hewlett-Packard — vs. the S&P 500 since last November. Whereas the S&P 500 has gained nearly 10%, each of these four companies is up more than 50% in less than six months!
You can rest assured that Warren Buffett would not touch any of these stocks, and not just because he does not like to invest in the tech sector. Best Buy has experienced stagnant sales and falling earnings for the past year or so, due to heavy competition from Amazon. Dell and HP have each seen their PC businesses cannibalized by Apple’s iPad and other tablets. According to a recent Dell proxy filing, a Boston Consulting Group study concluded that Dell is likely to see a $10 billion drop in PC revenue over the next four years. HP has also seen disappointing results from most of its other business lines recently, and has experienced significant leadership turnover. BlackBerry was also a victim of Apple’s rise, as it went from being the smartphone king to an also-ran in just a few short years. While shares have more than doubled since September, it is nevertheless true that, in two short years, the stock has dropped from $55 to $15.
The big idea
Out of favor “dumpster” stocks can be great investing opportunities, because Wall Street tends to turn against these companies all at once. When problems first surface, analysts are often slow to …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Reuters
Filed under: Dell, Scandals and Lawsuits, Stocks, People
Michael Steinberg, a portfolio manager at Steven A. Cohen’s $15 billion hedge fund, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation at his home in New York City early on Friday morning in connection with a long-running insider-trading investigation, an FBI spokesman said.
Federal prosecutors had been considering indicting Steinberg on charges that he traded shares of Dell Inc. (DELL) on insider information, sources close to the matter said on Thursday.
Steinberg’s lawyer Barry Berke said in a statement to Reuters that his client had done “absolutely nothing wrong.”
“At all times, his trading decisions were based on detailed analysis as well as information that he understood had been properly obtained through the types of channels that institutional investors rely upon on a daily basis,” Berke said.
Steinberg, 40, is the most senior SAC Capital Advisors employee to be charged in the U.S. government‘s probe into how hedge funds may use illegally obtained information to trade. Including Steinberg, nine people have been either charged or implicated with wrongful trading while they were employed at the Stamford, Conn.-headquartered SAC.
An SAC Capital spokesman had no immediate comment on the arrest.
Steinberg’s arrest had been widely expected after Jon Horvath, a former SAC analyst who worked closely with him, pleaded guilty last year to using illegally obtained information to trade in Dell and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA). Horvath has been cooperating with the government and had implicated Steinberg.
SAC Capital suspended Steinberg from his post in October 2012, and he has been moving among several hotels in New York City in recent weeks, according to Reuters sources, as he wanted to avoid being arrested at his Upper East Side home where he lives with his wife and two children.
The arrest comes two weeks after SAC agreed to pay a record $616 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle civil charges of insider trading. SAC neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing at that time.
But the government made clear that that settlement didn’t preclude further charges.
As part of that settlement, SAC Capital agreed to pay $14 million to settle charges of improper trading in Dell, in which a former trader who reported to Steinberg had been involved.
By David Schepp
Filed under: Company News, Dell, Electronics, Stocks, Investing
Michael Dell may face some competition in his effort to take over the computer maker he founded.
The Wall Street Journal reported on its website Saturday that buyout specialist Blackstone Group and activist investor Carl Icahn have both notified a special committee of Dell Inc.’s (DELL) board that they are working on bids for the company.
Michael Dell and a group of investors announced their bid, valued at $24.4 billion, in early February. The Round Rock, Texas, company’s board then set a 45-day period to allow for offers that might top that bid. That period expired Friday.
The Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported that the notification will allow Blackstone and Icahn four more days to develop their offers.
A Dell representative declined comment on the report. Blackstone and Icahn representatives didn’t immediately return calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Icahn and other investors have criticized the $13.65 a share offer from the Michael Dell group as being too low. Several buyout scenarios tying Blackstone to Dell have been leaked to the media this week. Dell shares closed Friday at $14.14, an indication that investors expected to see a higher bid. Some analysts have predicted Dell ultimately will be sold for $15 to $16 a share.
Southeastern Asset Management, Dell’s second largest shareholder after Michael Dell, has asserted the company is worth closer to $24 a share.
For its part, the four-member board committee maintains it’s selling Dell at a fair price, one that reflects the dimming prospects for the PC industry as more technology spending shifts to smartphones and tablet computers.
Dell, the world’s third-largest PC maker, has said Friday’s deadline for competing offers could be extended if its board believes other suitors would benefit from more time to examine Dell’s books and hash out other details.
The company has promised to provide extensive details about the sales process in regulatory documents that are supposed to be filed next week.
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Filed under: Technology, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, General Electric, Computer Industry, Electronics, Stocks
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
SAN FRANCISCO — Is Michael Dell‘s attempt to gain more control over his company about to turn into a financial tug-of-war?
The answer could come Friday. That’s the end of a 45-day period that Dell Inc.’s board of directors set to allow for offers that might top a Feb. 5 deal to sell the personal computer maker to CEO Michael Dell and a group of investors for $24.4 billion.
With the deadline looming, buyout specialist Blackstone Group is emerging as the most likely candidate to trump the current bid of $13.65 a share.
Blackstone is so intrigued with the prospect of owning Dell that the firm has been courting former Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) CEO Mark Hurd to run Dell if it decides to mount a hostile takeover attempt, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person asked not to be identified because the discussions between Blackstone and Hurd are considered confidential.
Several other buyout scenarios tying Blackstone to Dell have been leaked to the media this week, another indication that the New York firm is mulling a bid that could scuttle the debt-laden deal that the company reached with Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners.
Dell Inc. (DELL) says Friday’s deadline for competing offers could be extended if its board believes other suitors would benefit from more time to examine Dell’s books and hash out other details. The company, which is based in Round Rock, Texas, has promised to provide extensive details about the sales process in regulatory documents that are supposed to be filed next week.
Many investors are convinced a higher bid is in the works. That’s why Dell’s stock price has remained above $14 for the past two weeks. The shares fell 19 cents Thursday to close at $14.14. Some analysts have even predicted Dell ultimately will be sold for $15 to $16 a share.
Southeastern Asset Management, Dell’s second largest shareholder after Michael Dell, has asserted the company is worth closer to $24 a share.
For its part, the four-member board committee that negotiated the current deal maintains it’s selling Dell at a fair price, one that reflects the dimming prospects for the PC industry as more technology spending shifts to smartphones and tablet computers.
The upheaval is siphoning revenue away from both Dell, the world’s third largest PC maker, and HP, the top PC maker. Both companies are trying to adapt by making more tablets and diversifying into more profitable areas of technology, such as business software, data analytics and storage.
The rivalry between Dell and HP makes …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Filed under: Rumors
Financial firm Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) may make a offer to take Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) private, an offer that would be higher than one from Michael Dell and Silver Lake. Such a move would be risky, given on the PC firm’s earnings and the future of its major businesses.
A new Dell owner would have several options. The most obvious would be to cut costs through significant layoffs. Or, Dell could sell some of its divisions. The first risks cutting muscle along with fat, particularly because Dell already has had rounds of layoffs. The second risks that an auction of Dell businesses will bring disappointing results.
A new Dell owner could just fire people as sales decline, particularly at its PC division. It is an ages old tactic that sometimes works, if the balance is perfect. Cut too much and a legacy business that could make money for a while, even as its shrinks, could be understaffed. Cut too little and the chance to maintain some level of operating income disappears.
Dell still makes enough money that lower expenses might preserve operating income, but that current operating level may be too low to support a large load of debt. Dell’s net income last year was $2.4 billion, down from $3.5 billion the previous year. Margins at the consumer PC division, which is about a fifth of Dell’s revenue, fell just below zero as the revenue from this operation dropped 20%. That left Dell’s sales to businesses and enterprises to make up some of the revenue. However, enterprise sales face efforts from more successful rivals like Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM). Even severely crippled rival Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) remains in many of these businesses. HP maybe wounded but it is not dead.
Dell’s other large business is its services division, which has been troubled for several years. Dell has tried to bolster this segment through a frenzy of M&A, the most notable being the purchases of EDS and Perot Systems. The net effects of these transactions were write-downs based on analyses that Dell had paid to much.
With problems at many Dell divisions, it is hard to understand which it could sell for much, unless it wants to jettison the only operations that make substantial money.
Private equity purchases of large public companies generally are based on the idea that a private company can be better run than a public one, even if it is saddled with debt. So little about Dell is attractive that it is impossible to see how that would work.
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Mergers and Buy Outs, PC Companies, Rumors Tagged: BX, DELL, featured, HPQ, IBM, ORCL
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Filed under: Investing
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) workers worry that overly high standards for job candidates set by CEO Marissa Mayer have hurt rebuilding the workforce. (Reuters)
The MGM board may set an initial public offering. (Reuters)
The Securities and Exchange Commission claims the State of Illinois misled investors about its underfunded pensions. (WSJ)
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) will change the ad agency for Cadillac. (WSJ)
LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) will buy newspaper app Pulse. (WSJ)
Carl Icahn signs a confidentiality arrangement with Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) and might push to replace its board. (WSJ)
The White House admonishes China about widespread hacking of U.S. companies. (WSJ)
The Cleveland Clinic sets a partnership with Community Health Systems Inc. (NYSE: CYH) to extend its brand beyond its medical center. (WSJ)
Slow progress on the Keystone XL pipeline prompts U.S. refineries to use trucks to move oil from Canada. (WSJ)
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) says CEO Jeff Immelt made $25.8 million last year. (WSJ)
Growth continues to help Costco Wholesale Corp.’s (NASDAQ: COST) gross margins. (WSJ)
The pace of company failures in Italy rises. (NYT)
Regulators in the United Kingdom investigate possible irregularities in the Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) takeover of Autonomy. (NYT)
Mexico may establish monopoly laws that would damage the telecom operations of Carlos Slim. (FT)
GE says it plans to double sales in Africa. (FT)
The sale of gold by George Soros shows its long-term bull run may be at an end. (Bloomberg)
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: COST, CYH, DELL, GE, GM, HPQ, LNKD, YHOO
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By MarketNewsVideo Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMY) maintained its quarterly dividend of 35 cents per share. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share on Wednesday, May 1st. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Markets
Looking today at week-over-week shares outstanding changes among the universe of ETFs covered at ETF Channel, one standout is the iShares S&P Global 100 Index Fund (AMEX: IOO) where we have detected an approximate $53.2 million dollar outflow — that’s a 4.4% decrease week over week (from 18,200,000 to 17,400,000). Among the largest underlying components of IOO, in trading today Nike (NYSE: NKE) is up about 0.3%, Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) is up about 0.5%, and Dell Inc (NASD: DELL) is up by about 0.1%. For a complete list of holdings, visit the IOO Holdings page » …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Markets
Filed under: Investing
We have tracked the key short interest changes as of February 15 in the following large cap stocks: General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR), McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Research in Motion, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) and Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO).
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) short interest rose 6.4% to 77.96 million shares. About 0.7% of GE’s float is now short.
Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) saw short interest fall by 2.7% to 330.97 million shares, about 8.8% of the company’s total float.
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) short interest rise 10.3% to 166 million shares, which represents 1.5% of the company’s float.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) saw a 3.8% rise in short interest to 47.05 million shares, which represents about 1.6% of the firm’s float.
Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) showed a rise of 3.6% in short interest, to 33.13 million shares, about 15.2% of Alpha’s float.
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) showed a rise of 12.5% in short interest, to 13.92 million shares, about 1.4% of the company’s float.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) saw a short interest fall by 0.4% to 18.78 million shares, or 2% of the company’s float.
Research In Motion changed its name to BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) on January 30, and short interest for this period was reported under the old name and ticker symbol RIMM. It saw short interest rise by 5.4% to 136.51 million shares, or 27.6% of the total float.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) posted a 4.4% rise in short interest, to 83.58 million shares, about 1.1% of Microsoft’s float.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) short interest fall by 30.1%, to 28.73 million shares or about 2% of the company’s float.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) saw short interest increase by 13.9% to 30.89 million shares or 25.4% of the company’s float.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) saw short interest fall by 3% to 55.11 million shares or about 1% of the company’s float.
Short interest in Dell has declined dramatically again following the buyout offer from Michael Dell and his partners. The rise in BlackBerry’s share price has brought more short interest because few people really believe the new smartphones will make much of dent in the armor of Apple, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) or Samsung. GE’s rise in short interest is likely due to investors’ belief that the stock is fully valued and prospects are dimming as the global economy continues its slow motion recovery.
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Large Cap Stocks, Short Interest Tagged: AAPL, ANR, BAC, CSCO, DELL, GE, GMCR, GOOG, MCD, MSFT, NOK, RIMM, VZ
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | <a target=_blank href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/02/28/short-interest-wanes-in-some-big-stocks-ge-nok-bac-vz-anr-mcd-aapl-rimm-msft-dell-gmcr-csco/#comments" …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Filed under: Technology
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) wants back into the tablet market, an effort which the company previously jettisoned under prior misguided leadership. What is so different about this effort here is that the move is coming at a price so cheap that you have to wonder about the profitability metrics.
Its 7-inch tablet is called the Slate 7 and H-P plans to sell it for a low-low price of only $169. Here is where it gets complicated. It is using Android from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), but the price is $30 less than the Kindle Fire by Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and the Nexus 7 tablet from Google. It is almost half of the price of the iPad mini from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) at $329 per unit. This looks to be a race to zero on the proposed tablet pricing.
Maybe it is aimed more at unseating the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Surface tablet that starts at about $500. CNET reported earlier that WebOS is being acquired by LG but for televisions rather than for smartphones. Meg Whitman said last week that she wants to take share away from Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) also missed the boat on the tablet market.
It is hard to trust whether or not H-P can adequately make a comeback in the tablet market. Its other efforts cost more than that of Apple, yet the younger generation only wants Apple (or Android) and says that Apple is a far better product. If H-P really wanted this market it should have just stuck with its initial efforts. Oh well, missteps and misdirection from H-P’s leadership at the time.
Maybe H-P should just keep WebOS, the old Palm, and try to get back into the smartphone market too. Or not.
H-P shares closed down 0.7% at $19.07 on the day, but that is a win considering how the DJIA closed down by 216 points or by -1.55%.
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Consumer Electronics, PC Companies, Technology, Technology Companies Tagged: AAPL, DELL, GOOG, HPQ, MSFT
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Filed under: Technology, Mergers & Acquisitions
The results of the Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) earnings report come with a very double-edged sword. If you took away all of the pressure from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) in the PC business and took away your knowledge that tablets and smartphones were continuing to plague PC sales, you would look at the valuation and say that Hewlett-Packard looks like the value stock of the century. After you looked at all of the problems after that you might change your mind.
What investors have to take away from the Hewlett-Packard news is one simpleton notion that is not quite so simple in reality. That $13.65 per share proposed buyout price of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) sounds like a bottom fishing expedition by founding CEO Michael Dell.
We previously put out a maximum buyout value per share at $15.00 after the buyout rumors resurfaced this time around. If you will recall, there had been prior stories in prior years that Michael Dell was considering a buyout. Then the latest explanation showed that dozens of meetings and discussions had taken place. One investor’s argument is that Dell is worth $24 per share.
Another consideration has to be made here. It is very possible that Michael Dell will not raise his management led buyout by one penny. We threw out a billionaire mindset scenario whereby we speculated that maybe Michael Dell doesn’t really want to acquire the company. His angle may solely be to establish a floor in the price of the stock.
Hewlett-Packard shares were up around $17.90 when we covered the earnings report. At last look we have shares up 7% at $18.30 and that is the highest price going back to September of 2012. H-P is too big in any rational case to acquire on its own due to a $33 billion market cap. It is not too large to try to unlock value here and there.
Michael Dell is paying about 8-times trailing earnings. Hewlett-Packard is currently trading at under 5-times earnings. So what if Michael Dell cannot win a buyout of his PC-maker empire? He might try many ways to unlock shareholder value. We still question whether or not Mr. Dell will really raise his offer for the company higher than the $13.65 per share price that the board agreed to. Shareholders may say also vote against the deal.
Dell shares are up at $13.85 after closing at $13.82 today and the closing bell price is only 1.25% higher than the proposed buyout price.
Is a higher buyout price coming? Maybe.
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mergers and Buy Outs, PC Companies, Technology, Technology Companies Tagged: AAPL, DELL, HPQ
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