Courtesy of Tyler Durden
- Appliance makers counting on “cash for clunkers”-type rebate program to revive sales.
- Asian stock markets were mixed on Thursday. Shanghai’s index rebounds 2.1%.
- China’s first-half current-account surplus reported down 32%.
- Crude oil futures hit 2-month high as US inventories fell unexpectedly by 8.4M barrels.
- Democrats prepare to go it alone on health care overhaul without GOP support.
- GDP in OECD countries stabilized in Q2, with support from exporters Germany, Japan.
- Obama administration to cut 2009 budget-deficit estimate to $1.58 trillion.
- Obama administration developing plans to wind down clunker rebates program.
- Ahold net profit falls 42 percent in Q2 but sales, operating profit up.
- BBVA wins a US government auction for Guaranty Financial Group.
- BJ’s Wholesale’s Q2 net falls 3.9%, hurt by decline in sales, lower prices.
- China Mobile’s 1H net edges up 1.5% to $8.1B, as competition intensified.
- E*Trade shareholders approve $1.7B debt exchange with Citadel.
- Eaton Vance beats by a cent; posts Q3 EPS of $0.28. Revs slip 19.2% to $228.4M.
- Fidelity assets rise 8% to $2.8 trillion; expands its market share.
- Hedge funds have nearly doubled bearish bets on Volkswagen since mid-July.
- Limited Brands’ Q2 net drops 27% to $74.3M; sees Q3 loss of $0.07-0.12/sh.
- Lincoln Natln Corp. to sell its asset management unit to Macquarie Group for $428M.
- Macquarie Infrastructure may split into two separate, listed entities.
- News Corp., Scripps Networks, NBC said to bid for Cox’s Travel channel.
- Northrop seek a buyer for its TASC advisory unit; sale could fetch $1B.
- PetSmart sees Y09 EPS at $1.37-1.45 vs. cons est. of $1.53.
- Rio Tinto’s first-half profit falls nearly 65 percent on falling commodity prices.
- Royal Ahold NV’s Q2 net falls 42% to $277M, beats expectations.
- RWE expects Poland to soon deregulate domestic power prices.
- Sears Holdings reports a $94M loss for the Aug. quarter compared to a $65M gain.
- Stora Enso to permanently close 2 sawmills; incur restructuring chrgs of $836.4M.
- Switzerland to sell $5.6B UBS stake after US tax-lawsuit accord.
- UBS to give 4,450 US account holders names as part of US-Swiss tax-evasion deal.
- Viacom announces a debt offering of $750M of senior notes.
Economic Calendar: Data on Initial Claims, Leading Indicators to be released today.
Recent Egan-Jones Rating Actions:
BOYD GAMING CORP (BYD)
ARVINMERITOR INC (ARM)
US CONCRETE INC (RMIX)
OVERSEAS SHIPHOLDING GROUP INC (OSG)
KIRBY CORP (KEX)
CHATTEM INC (CHTT)
ALBERTO-CULVER CO (ACV)
HESS CORP (HES)
GATX CORP (GMT)
CARDINAL HEALTH INC (CAH)
COMERICA INC (CMA)
TJX COS INC (TJX)
DEERE & CO (DE)
Data provided by Egan-Jones Ratings and Analytics