Greif Plummets on Q3 Earnings Results
by Insider Scoop - August 31st, 2011 5:25 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Shares of Greif (NYSE: GEF) are trading lower in the after-hours following the release of the company’s Q3 earnings results. Currently, shares are lower by 8.70%, trading at $51.00; they ended the regular session higher by 1.69%, at $55.86.
Greif reported Q3 EPS of $1.18 on revenues of $1.12 billion; the Street was looking for $1.33 per share on revenues of $1.11 billion. Revenues increased 21.8% year over year.
The company lowered FY2011 EPS guidance to $4.15-4.30, from $4.50-4.75.
Michael J. Gasser, chairman and chief executive officer, said, “Our strong growth in net sales for the quarter benefited from acquisitions during the last 12 months, higher selling prices and the positive impact of foreign currency translation. Product demand for the Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services segment in North America and Western Europe was lower than anticipated during the final three weeks of the quarter.”
“There has been some recovery in demand based on August orders and shipments, on a seasonally adjusted basis, but at a lower level than earlier in the year. We are implementing actions to mitigate the financial impact of these developments.”
Greif, Inc. is a producer of industrial packaging products and services with manufacturing facilities located in over 50 countries. The company offers a line of industrial packaging products, such as steel, fiber and plastic drums, rigid intermediate bulk containers, closure systems for industrial packaging products, transit protection products, water bottles and reconditioned containers, and services such as container lifecycle management, blending, filling and other packaging services, logistics and warehousing.
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DiggIs It Time For The Financial World To Panic? 25 Reasons Why The Answer May Be Yes
by Zero Hedge - August 31st, 2011 4:49 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by Tyler Durden.
Every now and then it is easy to forget that the one or two “better than expected” data points blasted by flashing headlines do nothing that merely mask what is an otherwise quite deplorable and deteriorating reality. For the disconnect between America and the rest of the world look no further than this chart showing the dramatic divergence between the DJIA, which has just gone positive for the year, and every other major global stock market. Yet for those who require a narrative to go with their numbers, here is The Economic Collapse with the latest of their traditionally comprehensive bulletins, this time summarizing the “25 signs that the financial world is about to hit the big red panic button.”
From The Economic Collapse:
The following are 25 signs that the financial world is about to hit the big red panic button….
#1 According to a new study just released by Merrill Lynch, the U.S. economy has an 80% chance of going into another recession.
#2 Will Bank of America be the next Lehman Brothers? Shares of Bank of America have fallen more than 40% over the past couple of months. Even though Warren Buffet recently stepped in with 5 billion dollars, the reality is that the problems for Bank of America are far from over. In fact, one analyst is projecting that Bank of America is going to need to raise 40 or 50 billion dollars in new capital.
#3 European bank stocks have gotten absolutely hammered in recent weeks.
#4 So far, major international banks have announced layoffs of more than 60,000 workers, and more layoff announcements are expected this fall. A recent article in the New York Times detailed some of the carnage….
A new wave of layoffs is emblematic of this shift as nearly every major bank undertakes a cost-cutting initiative, some with names like Project Compass. UBS has announced 3,500 layoffs, 5 percent of its staff, and Citigroup is quietly cutting dozens of traders. Bank of America could cut as many as 10,000 jobs, or
…
RANsquawk Market Wrap Up – Stocks, Bonds, FX etc. – 31/08/11
by Zero Hedge - August 31st, 2011 4:41 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by RANSquawk Video.
S&P 500 Snapshot: Up 0.49% for the Day, Down 5.68% for the Month
by Chart School - August 31st, 2011 4:35 pm
Courtesy of Doug Short.
The S&P 500 closed up 0.49% after slipping briefly into the red during the last ninety minutes of trading. August 2011 is now on the books as the worst S&P 500 monthly performance since May 2010. The index is in the red year-to-date at -3.08%, which is 10.61% below the interim high set on April 29.
From an intermediate perspective, the index is 80.2% above the March 2009 closing low and 22.1% below the nominal all-time high of October 2007.
Below are two charts of the index, with and without the 50 and 200-day moving averages.
For a better sense of how these declines figure into a larger historical context, here’s a long-term view of secular bull and bear markets in the S&P Composite since 1871.
For a bit of international flavor, here’s a chart series that includes an overlay of the S&P 500, the Dow Crash of 1929 and Great Depression, and the so-called L-shaped “recovery” of the Nikkei 225. I update these weekly.
These charts are not intended as a forecast but rather as a way to study the current market in relation to historic market cycles.
Patent Consultant David Martin Says Google Buying ‘Crap Patents’ in Motorola Mobility Deal
by Insider Scoop - August 31st, 2011 4:27 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Martin, founder and chairman of patent consulting firm M-Cam, speaking on Bloomberg said that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) made “an immense mistake” buying Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI).
“First of all, what they bought is crap. Motorola sold off its good assets. Back in the day they sold off their MPEG patents to GE in a securitization deal, after that they took a bunch of the Freescale patents and sold those.”
Martin Says Google may actually have increased its liability buying these patents. “Google thought through the present, but actually didn’t do its homework on the past. The target they’ve painted on themselves is immense.”
Southcross Energy Purchases Enterprise Alabama Intrastate
by Insider Scoop - August 31st, 2011 4:23 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Southcross Energy today announced that the company has purchased Enterprise Alabama Intrastate, LLC, a subsidiary of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD). EAI’s assets consist of approximately 388 miles of natural gas pipelines and 21,545 horsepower of compression in northwest and central Alabama. Throughput on the pipeline system averages approximately 108 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
QE3 Levitation Day 3… Brings the DJIA To Positive For The Year, In Comic Contrast With The Rest Of The World
by Zero Hedge - August 31st, 2011 4:10 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by Tyler Durden.
And so it continues, as it was outlined yesterday, and the day before. There is little to add here: 50 ES points in three days on substantially below average volume (red area chart), robots gunning for VWAP, and nothing but hollow expectations for QE3 despite the clear quandary for the Fed that absent a clear deflationary threat, read a plunge in stocks, it will be very difficult for Bernanke to sell easing to the dissenting votes. The important thing: unlike every other relevant market in the world (Belarus may be a notable exception), the DJIA is now green for the year. In the meantime bonds continue to ignore the whole move in stocks. Of course, if this is just a career protection rally for the end of the month, the reconnection of stocks with gravity tomorrow will be painful. Alternatively, gravity will be even more painful if the Fed does end up disappointing on September 21, which it may have no choice but to do if stocks price all of it in by then.
And an even more amusing relative volume chart: the entire 100 point ES move since the lows has been on below average volume.
Stock hope vs Bond reality:
And here, once again, is why America is number one… in market manipulation.
Bernie Madoff Responds To Charlie Gasparino’s Fox Business Network Story
by Insider Scoop - August 31st, 2011 4:08 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Convicted Ponzi scheme architect Bernie Madoff responded to FOX Business Network’s Charlie Gasparino’s story which pointed out the lies that Madoff continues to spin from his prison cell. Madoff’s response came via “lengthy and somewhat rambling emails,” in which he not only refuted Gasparino’s story, but called Gasparino a “typical hatchet job reporter rather than someone (he) truly respected in the past.” Madoff maintains that Harvard Business School “is building an Entrepreneur course” around his career and he has received over “one hundred requests worldwide” for media interviews from his prison cell. Excerpts from the report are below, courtesy of Fox Business Network.
On Bernie Madoff’s response to Charlie Gasparino challenging the veracity of his claims:
“The guy who wronged so many people now says he was wronged by me. What has Madoff so peeved, according to a couple of lengthy and somewhat rambling emails he sent me yesterday, is that I somehow doubted much of what he told me during nearly two months of telephone and email chats, and by doing so I’ve become a ‘typical hatchet job reporter rather than someone (he) truly respected in the past.’”
On Madoff’s defense to his relationship with the Harvard Business School:
“Some of the things Madoff takes issue with include my reporting on his alleged relationship with the Harvard Business School. Madoff wrote me in one of our first emails that he ‘is building an Entrepreneur course’ around his role in creating the largest electronic market on Wall Street. I reported that Harvard denied any and all involvement with Madoff, but Madoff is undeterred in his quest to show he has a relationship with the school. In his latest emails, he says my initial FBN story was sent to him by the actual ‘Harvard Business School Professor I have been working with,’ and that he has received from this unnamed professor a ‘letter and numerous e-mails concerning Harvard Business School’s professor’s course project with me.’”
On what media outlets have requested interviews with Madoff:
“‘As for your comments about my use of the media to somehow feed my ego,’ Madoff writes, ‘Of the more than one hundred requests I have received worldwide, I have only granted three interviews; two for books and…
GTSI Authorizes $5M Share Repurchase Program
by Insider Scoop - August 31st, 2011 4:05 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
GTSI (NASDAQ: GTSI) announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program pursuant to Rules 10b5-1 and 10(b)-18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 permitting the Company to repurchase up to $5,000,000 in shares of the Company’s common stock.
This program is effective immediately and the common stock may be repurchased from time to time in open market transactions or privately negotiated transactions in the Company’s discretion. The timing and amount of shares repurchased will be determined by the Company’s management based on its evaluation of market conditions and other factors. The repurchase program may be increased, suspended or discontinued at any time.
Remember The 15 Sigma Surge In Greek Financial Stocks This Week? Here Is An Update
by Zero Hedge - August 31st, 2011 3:52 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by Tyler Durden.
Remember the 15 sigma move (yes, the move was 15 standard deviations) in Greek financial stocks on the failed attempt by the country to create its very own TBTBF bank with some Petrodollar support? Here is a quick update of how that ended up.
And a longer-term perspective.
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