Newest Posts in Wall Street Atom Feed from Searchles Fri Jul 25 18:03:15 -0400 2008 en-us Costco sees 4Q, full-year profit below estimates Sarge Costco Wholesale Corp. said Wednesday fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year profit will miss Wall Street expectations, as the warehouse club operator expects higher energy costs to crimp its bottom line Yahoo Makes Peace With Icahn walkertr Yahoo has reached an agreement with billionaire investor Carl Icahn to settle their pending proxy contest related to this year’s annual stockholders’ meeting. Yahoo has agreed to add Icahn and two of his supporters to its board, expanding the board to 11 members. The agreement makes no changes to Yahoo’s management team. Microsoft Profit Rises, But Web Business Remains Weak walkertr Microsoft reported Thursday that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit jumped by 13% (factoring in a charge related to Xbox 360 repairs from a year ago) as its revenue surpassed $15 billion in the period ending June 30. Economy Finally Catches Up to Google, Microsoft Kimberley McKee There's little doubt that Google and Microsoft had challenging quarters. Both companies' earnings came in below Wall Street expectations, which prompted a bloody sell off in after-hours trading. Oddly, though, executives at both companies seemed happy with results. Freddie Mac mulling $10 billion share offer Sarge Mortgage giant Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News) is considering raising capital by selling as much as $10 billion in new shares to investors, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter Google Deliberately Sells Fewer Ads and May Have Gone Too Far driftabit Listening to Google’s executives on their conference call with investors Thursday afternoon, you’d never know that the company’s second-quarter results fell short of expectations and its shares plummeted 10 percent in after-hours trading. Google earnings miss expectations, shares fall Sarge yikes McLean-Based Gannett Sees 36% Drop in Profits; Stock Tumbles Kimberley McKee Shares of McLean-based Gannett dropped more than 7% by midday Wednesday after the publisher of USA Today and 84 other daily papers said that its second-quarter profit dropped 36%. Citing a sharp decline in classified advertising and other factors, the company reported net income of $233 million, down from $366 million a year ago. Revenue fell 10% to $1.72 billion. Gannett said that weak business conditions, along with its dwindling stock price, will force it to write down as much as $2.9 billion, to reflect the company's declining value. Hedge funds scramble as US SEC cracks down Sarge The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently sent subpoenas to more than 50 firms concerning trading in investment banks Bear Stearns, which was rescued in March, and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEH.N), whose shares have been hurt badly by rumors about its financial health, said four sources, who have seen the documents but were not authorized to speak about them publicly Sean Quinn to plough on with Anglo despite euro 1 billion loss Sarge Ireland's richest man Sean Quinn, estimated to be nursing a €1bn loss from his 15pc leveraged derivative position in Anglo Irish Bank, revealed yesterday he will continue to tough out the market downturn and convert his contracts for difference (CFD) interest in the group into ordinary stock. Intel 2Q profit jumps 25 percent, beats estimates Sarge Intel 2Q profit jumps 25 percent on demand for laptop chips, beats Wall Street estimates Fed chief Ben Bernanke details woes in markets, housing, jobs Sarge Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Tuesday the fragile economy is facing "numerous difficulties" despite the Fed's aggressive interest rate reductions and other fortifying steps Stockbroker Davy to cut jobs, salaries Sarge Davy stockbrokers is to cut dozens of jobs and salaries because of the global financial crisis, it was announced today. The firm said up to 75 people are to be laid off while the salaries of its remaining workforce are to be reviewed Freddie sees strong demand in key $3 bln bill sale Sarge Freddie Mac's (NYSE:FRE - News) $3 billion bill sale on Monday drew stronger demand than a similar sale last week in a deal seen as the first test of the housing finance company's borrowing ability after sweeping steps by the United States to shore up confidence in the company Spain's Santander to buy Alliance & Leicester for $2.6 billion Sarge Spain's Banco Santander said Monday it's agreed to buy Alliance & Leicester in a 1.3 billion pound ($2.6 billion) deal that should reduce funding pressures on the U.K. bank and help strengthen Santander's existing Abbey business Report: Private Equity Fund Raising Dips Slightly from Record '07 Levels Kimberley McKee Despite woes in the buyout market, private equity fund-raising continued to hold its ground during the first half of this year, dropping only slightly from 2007's record levels, according to a new report by Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst. In the first six months of 2008, U.S. private equity firms raised $132.7 billion across 185 funds, down 3% from the $137.2 billion raised by 199 funds during the first half of last year. "For first time since 2003, we've seen year-over-year fund-raising actually decline as some of the bigger firms -- Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group and Madison Dearborn Partners -- ran into delays raising capital for their latest buyout funds," said Jennifer Rossa, the managing editor of Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst. "The weakness in the buyout industry, however, has been offset by strong fund-raising by mezzanine funds and a decent showing by venture capital funds." While leveraged buyout (LBO) fund-raising declined 20%, mezzanine fund-raising set a new first half record with $24 billion raised and VC fund-raising increased by 15%. Dow Chemical buying rival Rohm and Haas for $15.3 billion Sarge Number of newspaper analysts dwindles diane_court Want to buy newspaper stocks? You should see an analyst. Trouble is there aren't many around anymore.