Richard Schulze Offers to Take Best Buy Private

Best Buy

Richard Schulze, the founder of Best Buy, has offered to take the electronics retailer private in a deal worth $24-$26 a share or $8.16 to $8.84 billion. Schulze is also a former Best Buy chairman and owns a little more than 20.1% of Best Buy stock. This offer is a 36-47% premium over the stock’s closing price on Friday of $17.64.

Best Buy shares are up about 10% today at $19.50, well below the proposed offer price. This reflects investors skepticism that this deal will get done.

Best Buy has been struggling against competitors this year. The company has been cutting jobs and closing sores as it tries out a new store format to improve its business. Consumers don’t tend to buy things from Best Buy, rather they use the store to try out new gadgets before purchasing them for cheaper from online retailers like Amazon.

Schulze said he would finance the deal through a combination of private equity, debt and about $1 billion of his own equity. Schulze’s financial adviser, Credit Suisse, said it is confident it can arrange the necessary debt financing.

Schulze has also been in talks with past Best Buy executives who were interested in rejoining the company including former CEO Brad Anderson and former COO Allen Lenzmeier.


Knight Capital Saved by Group of Investors

Wall Street

Knight Capital will continue to operate after a group of investors saved the company in a $400 million deal, but will cost existing shareholders. This group of investors will purchase preferred shares and will end up with a 73% stake in the company according to a statement from Knight Capital. The rescuing companies will buy preferred stock convertible at $1.50 each.

The New York Stock Exchange will temporarily transfer Knight Capital’s market making responsibilities on over 500 stocks to Getco, a Chicago based market maker, until recapitalization is complete.

The trading glitch that caused irregular trading in numerous stocks last week almost wiped out the Knight Capital. The company could also face lawsuits from investors who saw their investment holdings dwindle because of the glitch. Regulators are also looking into Knight Capital to see if they broke a new rule designed to protect markets from rogue computer trading programs.

Knight Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE:KCG) is currently trading down 20% today at $3.20. The stock continues to see extremely heavy volume and has traded over 67 million shares so far today. KCG has fallen nearly 70% since last week’s trading glitch.


China Oil Company CNOOC to Buy Nexen for $15.1 Billion

oil rig

China’s third largest oil company, CNOOC, has agreed to buy Canadian oil producer Nexen Inc for $15.1 billion. This deal is a 61% premium over Nexen’s closing price on Friday as it tries to sell the deal to Nexen shareholders and the Canadian government. CNOOC has pledged to retain all employees with Nexen and to make Canada its base of operations in the western hemisphere.

CNOOC is offering $27.50/share for Nexen and this move will help increase its oil reserves. CNOOC currently has about 9 years worth of reserves based on its current production and is one of the lowest among major oil companies across the world. This deal would see their proven reserves increase by 30%. CNOOC also intends to see a listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange according to its Chief Executive Li Fanrong.

Nexen shares were up more than 50% in Toronto earlier today after the company’s board approved the deal. The deal still has to be reviewed by the Canadian government who can review and block any foreign investments worth more than C$330 million if it’s not in the best interest of the country. The most notable occurrence happened in 2010 when it blocked BHP Billiton’s $39 billion hostile takeover of Potash Corp.« Continue »


McDonald’s Not Loving It Today

McDonalds

McDonald’s Corp (NYSE:MCD) reported second quarter results today and saw lower than expected profits. McDonald’s was hurt by a slowing global economy and the impact of a stronger dollar. The company also said that sales growth at established restaurants would slow down this month.

McDonald’s shares are down 3% at $88.90 right now following these results. These results follow Chipotle’s results a few days ago where they cited the slowing economy as a reason for sluggish sales growth. This has many analysts concerned about how much consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending.

Sales at McDonald’s restaurants opened at least 13 months slowed in June, rising 4.4% versus nearly 8% a year ago. Net income fell more than 4% to $1.35 billion or $1.32 per share. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.37 per share. Total revenue rose slightly to $6.92 billion, up from last year’s $6.91 billion.


IMF Will Support Greece, Dismisses Reports Saying Otherwise

EU

The International Monetary Fund said it will support Greece and help the country overcome its economic problems. The IMF dismissed a news report over the weekend that said the IMF may refuse to continue supporting Greece.

The German weekly Der Spiegel reported over the weekend that Greece will need up to 50 billion more euros on top of the 130 billion euros already agreed on and the IMF may refuse to fund any more.

An IMF spokesperson said, “The IMF is supporting Greece in overcoming its economic difficulties.”

Greece’s new Prime Minister has vowed to renegotiate the bailout while remaining in the euro zone. The IMF has hinted that it would be open to discussing new targets under the bailout agreement due to delays caused by elections in Greece.


Mario Draghi Reiterates Euro Zone is Not in Danger

european union

In an interview with French newspaper Le Monde, ECB President Mario Draghi was asked if the eurozone was in danger. Draghi said, “No, absolutely not. We see analysts imagining the scenario of a euro zone blow-up.” Some analysts have been predicting a complete eurozone break up as a worse case scenario.

Draghi also said in the interview, “They (analysts) don’t recognize the political capital that our leaders have invested in this union and Europeans’ support. The euro is irreversible.” Draghi added, “All movement towards financial, budgetary and political union is for me inevitable and will lead to the creation of new supranational bodies,” he said.

European leaders took a step towards greater integration last month at a Brussels summit, specifically financially. They agreed to give the ECB the power to supervise banks and the ESM rescue fund power to recapitalize struggling banks.

The summit last month gave little relief to the markets though as Spain’s bond yields approached the dangerous 7%+ level which is not sustainable. Late last week, the euro hit record lows against multiple currencies as investors worry that Spain’s government may ask for a complete bailout joining the ranks of other countries that have received bailouts.

All eyes will remain on Europe for the foreseeable future as investors continue to wait for some kind of lasting resolution to the crisis.


Nasdaq Will Setup $62 Million Facebook Compensation Plan

Facebook logo

On Friday, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc said it will file for a $62 million compensation plan for firms who lost money during the botched Facebook IPO in May. This compensation fund is larger than the $40 million fund previously proposed in June. The compensation will also be paid in cash instead of trade credits or rebates that were previously planned.

The original plan was met with sharp criticism as market makers said they lost up to $200 million because of technical glitches at the start of the IPO. Other exchanges disagreed with having to use trading credits which would force their firms to trade on the Nasdaq.

This new plan will be filed with the SEC and Nasdaq expects all payouts to happen within 6 months from the start of the plan.

Nasdaq’s CCEO Robert Greifeld had this to say in a statement, “We deeply regret the problems encountered during the initial public offering of Facebook. We failed to meet our own high standards based on our long history of providing outstanding technology to our members and exchange customers.”


Boeing Sues US Air Force Over Delta IV Rocket

Boeing logo

Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) is suing its biggest client, the US Air Force, for $385 million. Boeing alleges that it is owed nearly $400 million for Delta IV rocket launch services. Boeing and the United Launch Alliance, a JV with Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), filed an official complaint on June 14 to “preserve their rights to recover these costs.”

The issues according to Jeena McMullin, a company spokeswoman, are “legitimate, allowable costs of the Delta IV program that Boeing incurred prior to the creation of ULA in 2006.”

These issues date back to creation of the Defense Department’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. This program began in the mid 90s in an effort to cut the cost putting government satellites in orbit.

The US Air Force has declined to comment on the suit citing pending legal action.


Unemployment Claims Surged Last Week, Home Sales Fall

Stock Market News

Initial claims for unemployment jumped 34,000 to an adjusted 386,000 last week, one week after claims had fallen 24,000 due to auto plants shutting down for the first week of July. Economists were expecting a rise to 365,000 last week. Now the four week moving average for new claims is at 375,500.

The labor market continues to struggle for the third straight month as worries over U.S. fiscal policy and debt problems in Europe grow. Each of the past three months has seen sub 100,000 job growth.

The Fed, which many were looking to for another round of stimulus, continued to reiterate this week that they will act if no progress is being made towards higher employment.

The housing industry is also seeing poor data today with existing home sales in June down 5.4%. The number of first time home buyers made up only 32% of all sales in June, down from 34% in May. In a health housing market, first time buyers would make up 40% of sales.

Prices of homes rose 5% last month to $189,400. This was due in large part because sales of more expensive homes rose and sales of cheaper homes fell.

Stocks reacted negatively to this news this morning, but have since recovered thanks to positive news out of Europe. The Dow has rallied 56 points today, the Nasdaq is up 32 points and the S&P 500 is up 6 points.


Morgan Stanley Plans Cuts This Year

Market News

Morgan Stanley is planning to cut more staff this year and expects its workforce to fall by 7%. These job cuts come as the bank prepares for weaker economic growth across the world and lower trading volume.

Morgan Stanley reported a 24% drop in second quarter revenue to $6.95 billion, but the bank’s second quarter earnings mostly beat what analysts were predicting. Morgan Stanley posted a profit of $564 million, $0.29 per share. In the same quarter last year, the bank posted a loss of $558 million or $0.38 per share.

Revenue from its other businesses also dropped due to weak trading. Merger advisory revenue fell more than 50% to $263 million and equity and debt underwriting revenue fell 34% to $621 million.

Shares of Morgan Stanley are trading down 5.37% right now at $13.24 on heavy volume. More than 33 million shares have been traded so far today, about 6 million more than it usually trades.


Despite Poor Sales, J.C. Penney Stays With New Pricing Strategy

JC Penney

J.C. Penney’s CEO, Ron Johnson, said its new pricing strategy would remain in place despite hurting sales initially. Johnson, who used to run Apple’s retail stores, says he is treating J.C. Penney like a start-up company.

At a Fortune magazine Brainstorm Tech Conference he said he had the full support of the company’s board of directors when it comes to the new pricing strategy. Same store sales took a massive hit in the first quarter of nearly 19% as the company moves away from hundreds of sales events to everyday lower prices.

Johnson believes that J.C. Penney confused its customers when introducing this new pricing strategy, “Our execution wasn’t what we needed,” he said. “Our pricing is kind of confusing. Our marketing kind of overreached.”

J.C. Penney is also moving forward with using its stores to house different kinds of brands such as Martha Stewart home products.

J.C. Penney’s stock is in need of an overhaul as it has lost 43% of its value so far this year and is currently trading at $19.71 a share.


Latest Earnings from IBM and eBay

Stock News

Stocks ended the day up for the second straight day led mostly by techs. Investors also kept a close eye on additional testimony from Ben Bernanke in which he continues to pledge the central bank is ready to inject more stimulus as needed. Thanks to the past few days of gains, the three major indexes are positive for the month.

Earnings continue to come at a fast pace with IBM and eBay reporting today after the market close.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) reported second quarter revenue of $25.8 billion and net earnings of $4.1 billion thanks to strong demand for software services. The company’s earnings per share came in at $3.51/share, beating analyst estimates of $3.43/share. Revenue was a bit lower than expected, coming short of expectations of $26.27 billion. IBM shares are up nearly 2% in after hours trading following second quarter earnings.

eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) saw revenue jump 23% in the second quarter to $3.4 billion. Profit also saw a 16% jump to $730 million, or $0.56 per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $3.4 billion and EPS of $0.55 per share. EBAY shares are up more than 4% in after hours trading at $42.47 following these results.


Yahoo! Looks to Marissa Mayer for Turnaround

YHOO logo

In what came as a surprise to many, Yahoo! picked Google’s Marissa Mayer to become the company’s newest CEO. Mayer was an engineer with Google and has established Silicon Valley credentials. She beat out acting CEO Ross Levinsohn to become Yahoo!’s third CEO in just one year. Many believe that this hiring signals that Yahoo! will renew its focus on web technology and step back its online content efforts.

Mayer was Google’s first female engineer and is credited with envisioning Google’s simple homepage that it still uses to this day. She was reported to be very interested in the position when Yahoo’s board reached out to her in June. “This is a very competitive and a tough space. I don’t think that success is by any means guaranteed,” she said to Reuters. “My focus is always end-users, great technology and terrific talent.”

Mayer is set to start her new job on Tuesday. The company will also release its quarterly financial results that day, but the new CEO will not join the post-release conference call.

Marissa Mayer joins the ranks of other women CEOs including Meg Whitman (Hewlett Packard), Ursula Burns (Xerox) and Virginia Rometty (IBM).

Yahoo shares are reacting positively to the news and are up more than 1% in pre market trading at $15.89


Coca Cola and Goldman Sachs Earnings

New York Stock Exchange

Earnings season continues and two of the biggest companies posted their earnings this week. Goldman Sachs destroyed analysts’ estimates with their earnings despite a big drop from last year’s earnings. Coca-Cola reported slightly lower quarterly profit on Tuesday, but revenue beat expectations.

Goldman reported second quarter earnings excluding certain items of $1.78 per share. This was 4% lower than last year’s earnings, but blew past estimates of $1.12 per share. Many analysts predicted lower earnings as they believed the European debt crisis could affect their investment bank division.

It did, Goldman saw a 17% drop in investment banking revenue with financial advisory profits falling 26%. Its fixed income, currency and commodities client execution jumped nearly 40% to $2.19 billion.

Goldman shares are up on the positive quarterly results and are currently trading at $97.68.

Coca-Cola saw its net income fall slightly in its most recent quarter at $2.79 billion, down from $2.80 billion a year ago. EPS came in at $1.21, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.19 per share. Revenue was also up 3% to just over $13 billion, beating estimates of $12.98 billion.


IMF Says “Hard Landing” Possible in China, Cuts Forecast

Wall Street

The IMF now sees China’s growth forecast at 8% for 2012 and 8.5% for 2013 versus 8.2% and 8.8% respectively.

China’s second quarter saw growth fall as exports and consumer spending weakened. Its growth for the quarter was just 7.6%, its lowest in three years. Analysts are looking for a rebound to begin in the second half of the year, but they say it could take longer than previously expected.

China’s leaders have also been warning of a weaker recovery with their Premier, Wen Jiabao, saying over the weekend the recovery was not stable. He also has promised to offer tax breaks and other economic aid to companies suffering from poor exports.

A long economic slowdown in China will have far reaching implications. This could cause the country to reduce its imports of oil and other commodities affecting the economies of Brazil and Australia among others who look to Asia to export their goods.

China has taken actions to help their situation including cutting their interest rates twice since June and pumping money into their economy. Leaders are taking a more cautious approach though after they saw inflation rise in following its 2008 stimulus.


GlaxoSmithKline Finishes Deal to Acquire Human Genome

GSK logo

GlaxoSmithKline is set to acquire Human Genome Sciences for around $3 billion, ending a three month pursuit of the company. Over the weekend, Glaxo raised its bid for Human Genome to $14.25/share, up from $13/share which Human Genome rejected.

Glaxo will now have full rights Benlysta, a lupus drug, and other medicines. Some of the other medicines include drugs for diabetes and heart disease that are currently in late-stage development.

Both companies’ boards have approved of the deal.

Human Genome Sciences are currently trading at $14.20/share while GlaxoSmithKline shares are up 0.65% at $45.29.


Citigroup Sees Earnings Fall 12%, but Better than Expected

Citigroup logo

Citigroup reported quarterly results on Monday and saw earnings fall by 12% due to losses from its credit crisis era assets. Despite these losses, the bank’s results were better than many analysts had expected.

Citigroup is still dealing with the economic crisis from 2007 and 2008. The bank set up Citi Holdings in 2009 to hold assets and businesses it was looking to offload after the credit crisis. The losses from these holdings increased to $920 million in the second quarter, up from around $660 million a year ago.

Cost cutting helped Citi’s results for the second quarter. Cost cuts in their investment bank helped get rid of $322 million in expenses allowing the bank’s net income to jump nearly 20% to $1.4 billion. Citibank has been laying off staff at its investment bank for the past three quarters and CFO John Gerspach said there could be more in upcoming quarters, but they would not be significant.

Citigroup’s overall net income fell to just under $3 billion, or $0.95 a share. This is down from $3.34 billion, or $1.09 a share in the same quarter last year. Excluding certain items, the bank earned $1.00 per share. Analysts were expecting $0.89 per share.

Citigroup shares are currently trading up 0.58% today at $26.81.


Corn Prices Surge as USDA Cuts Corn Outlook

Corn

The Department of Agriculture said corn will average 146 bushels per acre, down from its June estimate of 166 bushels per acre. This steep cut caught some traders off guard as they expected a more conservative decline in outlook.

Corn prices jumped following this news with December contracts up $0.23 to $7.40 per bushel. Prices have been rising steadily over the past few weeks and are up 34% in the past month. The 12% outlook cut it one of the largest in recent times according to the chairman of USDA’s World Agriculture Outlook Board.

China, which usually imports 7 million tons, is forecasted to import 5 million tons in the marketing year beginning on September 1.

Other crops including wheat and soybean also saw their forecasts lowered by the USDA. Poor yields and droughts all around the world has decimated the wheat crop with the USDA lowering forecasts of wheat crop in Russia by 4 tons, Kazakhstan by 2 tons and China by 2 tons.


More Austerity for Spain

EU

Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, announced new taxes and spending cuts as the nation tries to slash 65 billion euros from the budget deficit by 2014 in order to meet targets it agreed on with the EU. Rajoy proposed a 3 point hike to the country’s sales tax, raising it to 21%. The PM also outlined cuts to unemployment benefits and civil service pay during a parliamentary speech.

“These measures are not pleasant, but they are necessary. Our public spending exceeds our income by tens of billions of euros,” Rajoy told parliament.

Rajoy also announced new taxes on energy and plans to privatize ports, airports and rail assets. He did keep one campaign promise though and didn’t touch pensions.

Spain is in its fifth year of economic recession with an unemployment rate at 24.4% and tax revenue falling. The country’s economic turmoil is now the center point for the EU crisis and investors worry Spain will join Greece, Portugal and Ireland in needing a bailout.

The EU gave Spain a little more leeway on Tuesday and the country now has till 2014 instead of 2013 to get its deficit down to 3% of GDP.

Hundreds of miners marched through Madrid to protest the new measures that include a 60% cut in coal subsidies.


Housing Sector Sees Good Data For a Change

Housing

New single-family home sales rose to a two year high in May, giving some hope the housing market may be recovering. Sales jumped 7.6% last month to an adjusted 369,000 unit annual rate. This is the highest its been since April of 2010. Economists were expecting around 346,000.

While the housing market may be beginning to recover it still has a long way to go. May sales were only a quarter of the peak reached in July 2005 and the entire market is still constrained by an over abundance of previously owned homes.

“The level of new home sales in May was still quite depressed but the combination of more affordable prices and ultra-low mortgage rates appears to be supporting a decent rise off the bottom for housing demand,” said Michael Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan in New York.

Residential construction will also contribute to the GDP this year for the first time since 2005.