Nintendo Stock Falling In Japan Despite Record Breaking Sales -01/21/09 at 2:24 AM CSTby Perry Rod

While video game sales break new records all across the world, video game stocks have seen better days. American publishers Activision (ATVI), Electronic Arts (ERTS), Take Two (TTWO) and THQ (THQI) have all seen their stocks dramatically fall over the year.  The latter has had the worst hit, sinking 86% in a year while others have been cut by over ...

Never Underestimate a Virtual Monopoly Like eBay -01/14/09 at 11:42 AM CSTby Perry Rod

Ebay (EBAY) may be a great case in point about the current state of market valuation and the lack of confidence in stocks in general.  As of September, eBay's balance sheet was very strong, with over 3 billion in cash, representing about $2.50/share.  Meanwhile, their shares now trade at around $13 while analysts estimate earnings of about $1.65...

A 2009 Look At Best Buy - Is It Even a "Buy" ? -01/02/09 at 5:11 PM CSTby Mahyar Hashemi

I've been following retailer Best Buy (BBY) for several years.  I always liked the logo, the store and their clean aggressive business model. But I'm surprised that the stock has even held up as well as it has given the market declines.  A year ago, earnings expectations were more than $4 and now the current year's guidance is at $2.60 with the...

Is Oil Staging A Comeback Because of War Speculation? -12/31/08 at 1:24 PM CSTby Perry Rod

Israel's attack on Gaza has a lot people wondering whether or not their aggressive move is a prequel for an Iranian attack.  An attack on Iran would send oil prices soaring as Iran's only immediate line of defense would be to blame the United States and disrupt ships that go through the Persian Gulf. Indeed, with light trading in crude oil futures an...

PlanetOut Inc. - An Illustration of Today's Market -12/25/08 at 1:24 AM CSTby Perry Rod

PlanetOut Inc. (LGBT) is a great example of the devastation of today's stock market. At the end of September, LGBT had 8.2 million in CASH and very little debt.  They had approximately 4 million in accrued liabilities. Gay.com is their main website and it is safe to say that the domain name itself is worth 3 million.  So lets put that all toge...

Where Is The Government When You Need It? -12/11/08 at 12:13 PM CSTby Perry Rod

In the case of the U.S. automobile bailout, the U.S. Government has been slow to respond.  And that may be a good thing. Perhaps it gives them a chance to review and be thoughtful about what they should do. Perhaps they will consider it all carefully from all sides. But who are we kidding.  Where the media goes, the government goes.  When T...

Carmakers Likely To Get What They Want -12/04/08 at 1:24 PM CSTby Reggie Abaca

The question is not will they get the cash.  The question has become: how much will they get? After all the whining and attacking of executives for flying into Capital Hill on corporate jets, those same executives are driving into Washington in fuel efficient cars to ask for more money than was originally proposed.  Perhaps they learned from the...

At Least 30,000 More Jobs Cut - Just Another Day -12/04/08 at 1:01 PM CSTby Reggie Abaca

Here's the list: AT&T said it would cut 12,000 jobs, which is 4% of its workforce. Credit Suisse Group said it would cut 6,500 staff jobs, 11% of its worldwide work force. DuPont said it would cut 2,500 jobs. Viacom Inc. said it would cut 850 jobs, or 7% of its workforce. Jefferies Group said it was cutting 358 jobs. The Carlyle Group said Wednesday t...

Will The American Consumer Save the World Economy? -11/30/08 at 12:04 PM CSTby Mahyar Hashemi

Retail industry research firm, ShopperTrak RCT, has declared that total Black Friday sales rose 3% this year, to about $10.6 billion nationwide. So far, that appears to be higher than expected as analysts have cut their outlooks considerably. Overall sales for the holiday are expected to rise 2.2%, which would be higher than the 2002 holiday, where sales ...

OPEC Makes No Decision on Production Cuts -11/29/08 at 3:54 PM CSTby Reggie Abaca

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries left a Cairo meeting without an agreement to cut production, according to various media reports. In recent years, the international oil cartel has seen significant disagreement between its member countries, especially between U.S. allies in Arab nations like Saudi Arabia and U.S. adversaries Iran and V...

Carl Icahn Buys More Yahoo -11/28/08 at 2:18 PM CSTby Mahyar Hashemi

Carl Icahn has had a difficult time in this market. Most reports suggest he has dropped well over 50% of his total value this year. His stake in Yahoo (YHOO) has been another recent loser, despite Icahn's success of taking a minority position on Yahoo's board of directors. Today it was reported that Icahn bought more shares of Yahoo and upped his stake in...