Top 10 News Items 11/8-11/12: Cisco Reports Very Concerning Q4 Numbers, China Set to Fight Inflation, Gold, Silver Pull Back from All-Time Highs
Here is a recap of the top news items from this week:
1. Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) shocked the Street with a rare bad earnings report and guidance this week. The stock fell more than 16% on Thursday, the worst performance the stock has ever seen on a day following its quarterly results. While the latest quarters results were mostly inline, Cisco issued guidance which was just-plain bad. Downside in the tech bellweather brought down the Nasdaq sharply.
2. On Friday stocks in China fell sharply on fears that the central bank will tighten more aggressively to deal with rising inflation. Concerns of a Irish default and Euro debt contagion also contributed to the weakness. On Thursday, consumer prices in China came in hot at 4.4% for October, raising fears that inflation could begin spinning out of control.
3. Gold and silver came off all-time highs this week, with pundits citing stabilization in the dollar due to renewed European debt contagion concerns and speculation that China could soon begin to tighten aggressively. Gold finished down 2.6% to around $1,365. Silver fell 2.4% to around $25.94.
4. Investors are showing extreme concern that the Irish government will likely default on its sovereign debt, as weeks of work by the country to alleviate concerns over its creditworthiness have not appeared to meet goals. The government in Ireland is finishing a plan to come up with 15 billion euros ($20.1 billion) in savings. After nearly 3 straight weeks of downside, the Irish banks trading on the NYSE (Allied Irish Banks (NYSE: AIB) and Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) recovered -- what some would call a dead cat bounce.
5. On the M&A front, Chevron (NYSE: CVX) announced this week that it will acquire Atlas Energy (Nasdaq: ATLS) in a $4.3 billion deal which includes debt. The offer was made at $43.34 per share in total, a 37% premium to Atlas Energy’s closing share price on November 8.
6. Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Q4 earnings were leaked on Thursday afternoon. Following an initial sharp move lower given a quarterly miss on both earnings and sales, shares of Disney closed Friday's trading session up more than 5%.
7. Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK) announced that they have filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The Company will continue to operate in the ordinary course of business as “debtor-in-possession” under the jurisdiction of the Bankruptcy Court and in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and the orders of the Bankruptcy Court.
8. On Friday, Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) boosted its quarterly dividend by 15% from 15.75c to 18c per common share. With Intel shares closing this week's session at $21.53, the dividend yield moves from 2.97% to 3.34%.
9. Shares of Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) fell more than 3% on Wednesday as the company lowered guidance: sees Q1 sales down 1 percent and declines in EBIT and EPS of 7 percent and 6 percent, respectively. For the year, Campbell sees net sales growth of 1 to 3 percent, EBIT comparable to the prior year and EPS growth of 2 to 4 percent from the fiscal 2010 adjusted base of $2.47. The Wall Street consensus is $2.64.
10. priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) posted better-than-expected Q3 results this week, sending shares up more than 8% on Tuesday. The company reported quarterly EPS of $5.33, versus the analyst estimate of $4.97. Revenue for the quarter was $1 billion, which compares to the estimate of $973.63 million. On guidance, the company sees Q410 EPS of $2.91 - $3.06, versus the consensus of $2.68. Also sees Q410 sales up about 31 - 36% from Q409.
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1. Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) shocked the Street with a rare bad earnings report and guidance this week. The stock fell more than 16% on Thursday, the worst performance the stock has ever seen on a day following its quarterly results. While the latest quarters results were mostly inline, Cisco issued guidance which was just-plain bad. Downside in the tech bellweather brought down the Nasdaq sharply.
2. On Friday stocks in China fell sharply on fears that the central bank will tighten more aggressively to deal with rising inflation. Concerns of a Irish default and Euro debt contagion also contributed to the weakness. On Thursday, consumer prices in China came in hot at 4.4% for October, raising fears that inflation could begin spinning out of control.
3. Gold and silver came off all-time highs this week, with pundits citing stabilization in the dollar due to renewed European debt contagion concerns and speculation that China could soon begin to tighten aggressively. Gold finished down 2.6% to around $1,365. Silver fell 2.4% to around $25.94.
4. Investors are showing extreme concern that the Irish government will likely default on its sovereign debt, as weeks of work by the country to alleviate concerns over its creditworthiness have not appeared to meet goals. The government in Ireland is finishing a plan to come up with 15 billion euros ($20.1 billion) in savings. After nearly 3 straight weeks of downside, the Irish banks trading on the NYSE (Allied Irish Banks (NYSE: AIB) and Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) recovered -- what some would call a dead cat bounce.
5. On the M&A front, Chevron (NYSE: CVX) announced this week that it will acquire Atlas Energy (Nasdaq: ATLS) in a $4.3 billion deal which includes debt. The offer was made at $43.34 per share in total, a 37% premium to Atlas Energy’s closing share price on November 8.
6. Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Q4 earnings were leaked on Thursday afternoon. Following an initial sharp move lower given a quarterly miss on both earnings and sales, shares of Disney closed Friday's trading session up more than 5%.
7. Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK) announced that they have filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The Company will continue to operate in the ordinary course of business as “debtor-in-possession” under the jurisdiction of the Bankruptcy Court and in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and the orders of the Bankruptcy Court.
8. On Friday, Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) boosted its quarterly dividend by 15% from 15.75c to 18c per common share. With Intel shares closing this week's session at $21.53, the dividend yield moves from 2.97% to 3.34%.
9. Shares of Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) fell more than 3% on Wednesday as the company lowered guidance: sees Q1 sales down 1 percent and declines in EBIT and EPS of 7 percent and 6 percent, respectively. For the year, Campbell sees net sales growth of 1 to 3 percent, EBIT comparable to the prior year and EPS growth of 2 to 4 percent from the fiscal 2010 adjusted base of $2.47. The Wall Street consensus is $2.64.
10. priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) posted better-than-expected Q3 results this week, sending shares up more than 8% on Tuesday. The company reported quarterly EPS of $5.33, versus the analyst estimate of $4.97. Revenue for the quarter was $1 billion, which compares to the estimate of $973.63 million. On guidance, the company sees Q410 EPS of $2.91 - $3.06, versus the consensus of $2.68. Also sees Q410 sales up about 31 - 36% from Q409.
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