Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Wall Street Remains Closed

Wall Street is closed for the second day in a row. The last time it was closed for two consecutive days due to weather was 01888.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Hurricane Sandy Closes Wall Street

It was impossible to repeat 29 October 01929 on 29 October 02012 because of Hurricane Sandy.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

iRobot, Illumina, Facebook Report 3Q'12 Results

iRobot (IRBT) reported 3Q'12 results after the market closed yesterday (02012.10.23). I don't need to spend much time looking at the results based upon one sentence contained in the company's press release: "The 2012 outlook for [defense and security] has deteriorated and we expect further declines in 2013," said CEO Colin Angle. In after hours trading IRBT was down 20%.

IRBT closed yesterday at $22.64. 52-week range: $19.09 - $38.33. It's possible IRBT will hit a new 52-week low today (02012.10.24).

Illumina (ILMN) reported 3Q'12 results after the market closed yesterday (02012.10.23). From the company's press release. "We are very pleased with our operational execution so far in 2012," said Jay Flatley, Illumina's President and Chief Executive Officer. "As a result of our performance and the recent announcement regarding NIH funding under the continuing resolution, we are tightening our 2012 revenue and EPS guidance ranges. However, we remain cautious given the uncertainty of the U.S.fiscal cliff as well as the outcome of the Presidential election."

ILMN closed yesterday (02012.10.23) at $45.19. 52-week range: $25.65 - $55.39.

Facebook (FB) reported 3Q'12 results after the market closed yesterday (02012.10.23). Two observations: (1) Facebook ended the quarter with $10.5 billion in "cash." (2) Facebook's effective tax rate has been 40% for the first nine months of 02012.

FB closed yesterday (02012.10.23) at $19.50. 52-week range: $17.55 - $45.00. Pi moment on 02012.10.24... Pre-Market: $22.64 Up $3.14 (16.10%) 7:35AM EDT.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Yahoo! Reports 3Q'12 Results

Yahoo! (YHOO) reported 3Q'12 results after the market closed on 02012.10.22. It was Yahoo!'s first quarterly results under new CEO Marissa Mayer.
"Yahoo! had a solid third quarter, and we are encouraged by the stabilization in search and display revenue," said Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!. "We’re taking important steps to position Yahoo! for long-term success, and we’re confident that our focus on quality and improving the user experience will drive increased value for our advertisers, partners and shareholders."

YHOO closed on 02012.10.22 at $15.77. 52-week range: $14.35 - $16.75.

I liked the following from Yahoo!'s 3Q'12 press release.

"Free cash flow was $920 million for the third quarter of 2012, a 273 percent increase compared to $247 million for the same period of 2011."

"During the third quarter of 2012, Yahoo! repurchased 12 million shares for $190 million."

"In October 2012, Yahoo! entered into a 364-day, $750 million unsecured revolving credit facility. The facility is currently undrawn and is expected to be used for general corporate purposes."

[update::02012.10.23] YHOO hit a new 52-week high of $16.79 before closing at $16.77. Volume was 71.3 million vs. t3m-avg of 18.2 million. I guess Wall Street is thinking Mayer is off to a good start at Yahoo!'s CEO.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Google 3Q'12 Results Miss Expectations

Google (GOOG) reported 3Q'12 results yesterday (02012.10.18) and it caused havoc on Wall Street. The results were supposed to be reported after the markets closed, but they were released early (mid-day). The results of themselves did not please Wall Street and GOOG stock got hit hard. The following headline summarizes things nicely: "Google Shares Slammed! Company Misses Estimates in Premature Earnings Release".

GOOG closed on 02012.10.17 at $755.49. Yesterday (02012.10.18) GOOG hit an intra-day high of $759.42 before the 3Q'12 results were released early. GOOG plunged to $676.00 before closing at $695.00. For the day, GOOG was down 8%. Volume was 12.43 million vs. t3m-avg. of 2.77 million.

Here are my observations of the 3Q'12 results: free cash flow of $3.13 billion; capital expenditures were $872 million; "cash" at $45.7 billion; effective tax rate of 22%. From Google's press release: "Headcount – On a worldwide basis, we employed 53,546 full-time employees (36,118 in our Google business and 17,428 in our Motorola business) as of September 30, 2012, compared to 54,604 full-time employees as of June 30, 2012."

Thursday, October 18, 2012

IBM and Google

IBM is not a GDT::Portfolio stock, but I'm a fan of IBM. IBM reported 3Q'12 results on 02012.10.16. The following are a couple of items from the company's press release.
"IBM ended the third-quarter 2012 with $12.3 billion of cash on hand and generated free cash flow of $3.1 billion, excluding Global Financing receivables, down approximately $0.3 billion year over year. The company returned $4.0 billion to shareholders through $1.0 billion in dividends and $3.0 billion of share repurchases."

IBM’s tax rate was 24.6%.

Google (GOOG) closed yesterday 02012.10.17 at $755.49. Google reports 3Q'12 results after the market closes today (02012.10.18).

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Illumina; Level 3 Communications; StemCells

Today (02012.10.16) was a frustrating day because the NASDAQ was up 1.21%, yet many of the GDT::Portfolio stocks didn't go up.

Illumina (ILMN) managed close up a few pennies after getting hit hard yesterday (02012.10.15). Yesterday, ILMN closed down 6% on volume that was 4.5x t3m avg.

Level 3 Communication (LVLT) closed at $22.82, up 5.6% for the day. Volume was average.

StemCells (STEM) closed at $2.40 today (02012.10.16), up 6.7%. The company "announced the launch of four new SC Proven human neural stem cell (NSC) kits for use in neuroscience research." I agree with this SeekingAlpha.com headline: "Nobel Prize Validates Recent Stem Cell Headlines". The GDT::Portfolio needs Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM) to stop falling.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Alcatel-Lucent; Aastrom Biosciences; Google

I took the week off from paying much attention to the stock markets and now that I've gotten around to looking at last week's performance all I can say is... Yuck!

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) hit a new 52-week low of $0.91 on Thursday (02012.10.11). It's a bummer ALU is once again a penny stock (although it did end the week at $1.00).

Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM) hit a new 52-week low of $1.44 on Tuesday (02012.10.09) and this is a major bummer. ASTM's CEO is quitting, so the company is searching for a replacement. The company needs to attract somebody with a strong resume.

Google (GOOG) failed to hit any new highs this week, yet numerous investment firms have increased their GOOG target prices to the $850-$900 range. My initial target remains $2000. GOOG closed on Friday, 02012.10.12, at $744.75. 52-week range: $556.52 - $774.38.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Aastrom Biosciences CEO Quits and ASTM Hits 52-Week Low

Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM) hit a new 52-week low of $1.50 before closing at $1.51 on Friday (02012.10.05). The company's CEO quit. In a nutshell: I'm pissed. When you have only tiny allotments of cash to invest, those tiny investments are critically important to the overall health of a portfolio. I purchased tiny amounts of ASTM on 02012.08.09 at $1.73 and on 02012.09.27 at $1.63. I wound have never made these buys if I knew the company's CEO was going to quit. From the company's press release.
Tim M. Mayleben has decided to retire from his position as the company's president and chief executive officer once the company has hired his successor.

I don't know why Mr. Mayleben quit Aastrom Biosciences. Is this company a sinking ship?

Mayleben quoted in the company's press release.

I believe we have earned our leadership position in regenerative medicine and that this is a good time to bring in a new CEO to take Aastrom to the next level of clinical and commercial success.

Leap of faith time... I can only hope Mr. Mayleben is good at assessing what he can and cannot do and that he knows Aastrom has a hit a stage that is best managed by somebody else.

The new CEO that Aastrom Biosciences can attract will say a lot about the future of the company.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Nanosphere is Getting Noticed

Nanosphere (NSPH) closed yesterday (02012.10.03) at $3.59. 52-week range: $0.99-$3.89. Today I saw the following two headlines.

"5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar" by StockPickr.com

"Long-Term BioTech Play at Motley Fool (Fool.com)"

Both postings were bullish on NSPH.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Illumina Spikes Up

Illumina (ILMN) showed signs of life yesterday (02012.10.02). ILMN closed at $51.00, up 4% for the day. Intra-day high was $52.96. Volume was 8.85 million vs. trailing-3-month avg. of 1.33 million. 52-week range: $25.57 - $55.39. The rumor mill says Roche may try to acquire Illumina for $60 per share.