BloggingStocks

Halliburton (HAL) rises on WSJ oil industry commentary

Brent Archer — 2008-07-14T13:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Analyst reports, Good news, Industry, Halliburton (HAL), Options, Oil

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) shares are trading higher today after an analyst wrote in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend that despite rises in oil prices, many oil stocks and oil service companies are undervalued based on price/earnings ratios. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on HAL.

After hitting a one-year low of $30.00 in January, the stock hit a one-year high of $55.38 earlier this month. HAL opened this morning at $48.23. So far today the stock has hit a low of $48.23 and a high of $50.08. As of 1:05, HAL is trading at $48.90, up $1.03 (2.1%). The chart for HAL looks bullish but deteriorating, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August bull-put credit spread below the $42.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 11.5% return in just five weeks as long as HAL is above $42.50 at August expiration. Halliburton would have to fall by more than 13% before we would start to lose money.

HAL hasn't been below $44 at all since April and has shown support around $45 recently. This trade could be risky if the price of oil drops off in the coming month, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find around $45 where it formed a bottom in early May.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in HAL.

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'Persistent profits' from oil services

Steven Halpern — 2008-06-24T13:15:00+00:00

Filed under: International markets, Newsletters, Mutual funds, Halliburton (HAL), Schlumberger Limited (SLB), Commodities, Oil, Stocks to Buy

The need for oil drilling services will continue even if the price of oil declines, according to Richard Lehmann. Here, in his The ETF Investor, he looks at a favorite way for investors to play this trend.

"Oil prices have a triple or quadruple price boost associated with them. The first is supply/demand dynamics, the second is the weak dollar, the third is speculative fervor and the fourth inflation fears.

"A pundit said that last year it took 65 Euros to buy a barrel of oil and today it still takes 65 Euros to buy a barrel of oil. This illustrates the effect the weak dollar is having on U.S. prices and the international price of oil.

"Inflation protection used to be the province of gold, but now it seems oil is serving a similar function. We think the current oil bubble has not run its course.

"One of our past recommendations, the Oil Service Holders Trust (NYSE: OIH), was first suggested in February 2006 at a price of $101.50. We recommended it again in December 2007 at a price of $179.83.

"We like the fund better than raw oil prices because of persistence. Even if oil prices were to decline, production, exploration and development would persist even after. The tighter oil supplies and the greater difficulty of extracting oil from old wells, will keep these companies in business for years beyond peak oil production.

"This fund holds a limited number of equities in the oil service industry. Its top 10 holdings currently acount for 70% of the fund and its top positions are Transocean (NYSE: RIG) at 16.93% of the portfolio; Schulmberger (NYSE: SLB), at 10.73%; Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) at 9.83%; and and Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI), at 8.29%."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

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Before the bell: BCE, HAL, MOT, FSLR, GOOG, AAPL, MO ...

Melly Alazraki — 2008-06-23T08:21:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Deals, Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), Motorola (MOT), Halliburton (HAL), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Penney (J.C.) (JCP), Altria Group (MO)

Before the bell: Wall Street set to rebound boosted by deals

BCE Inc. (NYSE: BCE) shares are jumping over 10% in premarket trading after Canada's Supreme Court overturned a Quebec Court decision, clearing the way for the $52 billion leveraged buyout by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and U.S. private equity firms. The buyers might still negotiate the price down though.

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) withdrew a $3.6 billion offer for Britain's Expro International after the U.K. oil services firm stuck by a smaller bid from a private-equity consortium.

Some analyst calls this morning:

J.C. Penney Co. (NYSE: JCP) was upgraded by Deutsche Bank to Buy from Hold and the price target upped to $46 from $45.
Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) was downgraded by Piper Jaffray to Sell from Neutral on continued weakness in North American market. The target price was cut to $7 from $9.75. Shares are down over 2% in premarket trading.
First Solar (NYSE: FSLR) price target was upped at Lehman Brothers from $280 to $335. Shares are up over 2.5% in premarket trading.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), which along with more than 30 partners announced in November a plan for new handsets based on the Android mobile software to be out by the second half of this year, now says that the handsets won't arrive until the fourth quarter. And even this belated schedule is a problem for some of its partners.

Meanwhile, Softbank, the carrier that would distribute Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s iPhone in Japan, said Monday it will sell for 23,040 yen, or $215. But the discount isn't so obvious as Softbank said people will get a discount in their mobile phone bills that will calculate to their paying $215 for the iPhone over two years.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) said on Monday it would buy social networking start-up Plazes -- a smaller rival to services like Twitter and Jaiku -- as it tries to expand into Internet services. The price was not disclosed.

Altria Group Inc (NYSE: MO)'s Philip Morris USA has cancelled its Marlboro Ultra Smooth cigarettes in a move firther highlighting its challenges to grow its tobacco business as U.S. cigarette sales decline, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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Oil up $11 to $138 -- $200 a barrel this summer?

Peter Cohan — 2008-06-06T16:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Halliburton (HAL)

CNNMoney reports that oil closed up a record $11 a barrel today -- closing at $138. Can $200 a barrel be far off?

As I posted, this record price spike could have something to do with speculators' fear that they will no longer be able to take advantage of the swaps loophole the gives them unlimited ability to control the oil market. Perhaps rumors that regulators will close the loophole are scaring speculators to buy up as much oil as they can before the loophole closes.

Or it could be a plunge in the dollar. As I posted, the European central banks are talking about raising interest rates further to fight inflation. But the Fed is only talking about inflation and not doing anything about it. The dollar has lost 70% of its value since January 2001. With oil trading in dollars, it's taking more and more of them to buy a barrel of oil.

Don't expect the government to help. Do you have any idea how much more money a rise in oil prices helps enrich Dick Cheney? His Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) shares alone are up 150% since January 2001 during which time the price of oil has risen 475%. No reason to stop that gravy train rolling.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Halliburton.

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Halliburton (HAL) lifted by oil futures surge

Brent Archer — 2008-06-06T13:57:00+00:00

Filed under: Analyst reports, Good news, Industry, Halliburton (HAL), Options, Technical Analysis, Oil

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) shares are trading are trading higher today, after a Morgan Stanley analyst's prediction that oil could hit $150 a barrel in the next month sent oil futures soaring. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on HAL.

After hitting a one-year low of $30.00 in January, the stock has hit a new one-year high today. HAL opened this morning at $49.74. So far today the stock has hit a low of $49.61 and a high of $51.12. As of 12:40, HAL is trading at $50.01, up 71 cents (1.4%). The chart for HAL looks bullish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a July bull-put credit spread below the $45 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 13.6% return in just six weeks as long as HAL is above $45 at July expiration. HAL would have to fall by more than 9% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

HAL hasn't been below $45 by more than a few cents since early April and has shown support around $48 recently. This trade could be risky if the price of oil heads lower, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find around $45 where it formed a bottom over the past two months.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in HAL.

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Halliburton jumps on the M&A bandwagon

Tom Taulli — 2008-05-23T12:06:00+00:00

Filed under: Private equity, Halliburton (HAL), Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

Expro, which is a UK oil services company, is a hot property. The company recently agreed to a £1.6 billion buyout from a group of private equity firms, which include Candover Partners, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners (NYSE: GS) and Alpinvest Partners N.V.

Now, Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) is making a play for Expro. The offer is £1.71 billion (which comes to about $3.38 billion).

Of course, high crude prices are driving the deal. What's more, Halliburton needs to expand its international footprint as the US business languishes. Another benefit: Expro has some key technologies that allow for deep drilling capabilities.

But, in light of the quick changes in the oil landscape - as well as the possibility of other suitors coming to the table - we are likely to see more bids for Expro.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

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Newspaper wrap-up: Former Citigroup CEO admits flaw in succession plan

Laurie Pasternack — 2008-05-23T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Halliburton (HAL), Citigroup Inc. (C), Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

MAJOR PAPERS:

In what may trump a GBP1.6B bid from a private-equity led consortium consisting of The Goldman Sachs Group Inc's (NYSE: GS) Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Candover Investment (OTC: CDRIF), and Alpinvest, Expro International Group (OTC: EXPRF) said it received a GBP1.71B bid proposal from Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL), the Wall Street Journal reported. Expro said the proposal "does not amount to a firm intention to make an offer and is subject to certain preconditions."
The Wall Street Journal also reported that the oil industry and some U.S. lawmakers are looking to end long-standing bans on domestic drilling put in place to protect areas that are environmentally-sensitive, fueled by concerns about global energy.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Citigroup Incorporated's (NYSE: C) former chairman and CEO Sandy Weill acknowledged that choosing Chuck Prince as his successor in 2003 turned out not to be the "right thing" for the company and was flawed. Instead of handing the job to Prince, Weill said the board should have fostered competition among the bank's top managers for the job.

OTHER PAPERS:

According to the Washington Post, MedImmune, a unit of drug giant AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE: AZN),settled with Genentech Inc (NYSE: DNA) a lawsuit over a patented component of its best-selling drug Synagis, which is aimed at preventing respiratory infections in infants. No details of the settlement were provided.

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Before the bell: As oil resumes rally, stocks set to decline

Melly Alazraki — 2008-05-23T07:41:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Market matters, Halliburton (HAL), Gap Inc (GPS), Economic data, Oil, Housing

Stock futures were lower Friday morning as one again crude prices resumed their seemingly endless move upward. The market may also be agitated about further data upcoming about the housing market.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks ended higher two days of heavy losses as finally crude-oil futures retreated, giving some relief to the markets. The Dow industrials finished 24 points higher, or 0.19%, the Nasdaq Composite rose 16 points, or 0.67%, and the S&P 500 added 3 points, or 0.26%.

Only one economic report is due out today. April existing-home sales will be released at 10 a.m. EDT, and economists expect it to decline yet again.

Oil prices rose Friday, as supply concerns once again took center stage especially with growing global demand. After tumbling around $4 overnight from a record above $135 a barrel, light, sweet crude for June delivery was up $1.29 to $132.10 a barrel.

With the long weekend just around the corner, trading might be lighter than usual today. U.S. markets will be closed Monday for Memorial Day.

Despite the market softening somewhat lately, deal news have been increasing. Today, we hear that Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) has made a conditional bid of $3.36 billion for Expro International Group PLC (OTC: EXPRF), the British oil services firm. The all-cash proposal is about 6% higher than the previous one.

Meanwhile, Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) on Thursday postponed its annual meeting from July 3 to late July. No doubt, Yahoo!'s board, afraid of losing control following Carl Icahn's call to replace the board. Yahoo's board may use the time to either negotiate a deal with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), a partnership with another company, or prepare its defense. This the second time Yahoo has postponed its annual meeting.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) reported results after the close Thursday, saying that while revenue dropped 5%, it managed to still boost its first-quarter profit by 40% by managing inventory and cutting costs. Gap said that it earned $249 million, or 34 cents per share on $3.38 billion in revenue. It beat estimates of 30 cents per share but missed the expected $3.42 billion in revenue. GPS shares traded 2.5% higher in after-hours.

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Apple, Oil, & Steel were rays of light on gloomy market day

Sheldon Liber — 2008-05-20T20:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Major movement, International markets, Other issues, Bad news, Rants and raves, Apple Inc (AAPL), Market matters, Halliburton (HAL), Reliance Steel and Aluminum (RS), Valero Energy (VLO), Anadarko Petroleum (APC), Politics, Commodities, Oil, Headline news, Precision Drilling TR (PDS)

Today was a very gloomy day in the stock market with Oil reaching new highs and everything else losing -- almost. Among the few winners, and I mean very few, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), oil, and specialty steel were up. I went through my watch list and found this very short list of winners:

Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) $78.49, up +$0.95 or 1.23%

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) $185.90, up +$2.30 or 1.25%

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) $49.92, +$0.85 up +$1.73%

Precision Drilling TR (NYSE: PDS) $27.90, up $1.13, or 4.22%

Reliance Steel and Aluminum (NYSE: RS) $67.37, +0.$52, or 0.78%

Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) $50.12, up +$0.43 or 0.87%

Every day people are asking how high oil prices will go and every day someone guesses much higher. Those folks will continue to be correct until they are wrong so I will stay out of the prediction business. Of course the "guess" is my choice of words, for there are plenty of people who would like you to believe they actually "know" something.

I was wondering lately why oil prices have shot up 500% for a barrel during a period of time when demand has not even doubled. The best I can figure is the collapsing dollar is a third of the increase, demand is a third of the increase and speculation is the last third.

When things like this happen the conspiracy theorists come out of the woodwork, and they join ranks with the politicians to bad mouth "big oil" and all kinds of taxes and penalties and new regulations are threatened. How about, conservation, alternative energy, and allowing carefully planned off-shore oil exploration. Here's a BIG idea -- how about having any kind of cohesive energy policy at all.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I own shares of APC, PDS & VLO.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: Oil's not the widespread tax it used to be

Jim Cramer — 2008-05-19T09:22:00+00:00

Filed under: General Electric (GE), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Market matters, Halliburton (HAL), Schlumberger Limited (SLB), Alcoa Inc (AA), Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Bank of America (BAC), Boeing Co (BA), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Chevron Corp (CVX), duPont(E.I.)deNemours (DD), Office Depot (ODP), Deere and Co (DE), Honeywell Intl (HON), United Technologies (UTX), Eaton Corp (ETN), Anadarko Petroleum (APC), Oil, Stocks to Buy, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI), Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC), Union Pacific Corporation (UNP), Cramer on BloggingStocks, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT)

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says lots of companies now thrive with crude up here.

Oil's not a tax on everything -- it's a tax on the consumer. That's what I come down to when I see the charts this weekend and ponder what's happening in so much of industrial America.

Company after company that I examine -- the new techs, as I call them -- actually benefit from higher oil prices. Or they can pass them on with ease, because of the worldwide demand being so strong.

Take all of the companies involved with making a Boeing (NYSE: BA) (Cramer's Take): Boeing itself, Alcoa (NYSE: AA) (Cramer's Take), Honeywell (NYSE: HON) (Cramer's Take) and Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP) (Cramer's Take) being good examples. Each of these is necessary because the new Dreamliner burns lots less fuel, and with fuel the biggest airline cost, it stands to reason that higher energy prices make the plane more desirable even at a higher price point.

Or how about all of the companies involved with process and flow control and efficient motors: Parker-Hannifin (NYSE: PH) (Cramer's Take), Emerson (NYSE: EMR) (Cramer's Take), Eaton (NYSE: ETN) (Cramer's Take) and Flowserve (NYSE: FLS) (Cramer's Take). Those work higher with higher energy prices. CSX (NYSE: CSX) (Cramer's Take), Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) (Cramer's Take), Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) (Cramer's Take), Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) (Cramer's Take) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) (Cramer's Take) are smaller energy users than trucks, and they ship plenty of ethanol and fertilizer.

Of course everything farming: Deere (NYSE: DE) (Cramer's Take), Monsanto (NYSE: MON) (Cramer's Take), Du Pont (NYSE: DD) (Cramer's Take), AGCO (NYSE: AG) (Cramer's Take), Potash (NYSE: POT) (Cramer's Take), Agrium (NYSE: AGU) (Cramer's Take), Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) (Cramer's Take) and Archer Daniels (NYSE: ADM) (Cramer's Take) (these are big companies in market cap now, powers of the S&P or companies just waiting to get into the S&P but stalled by a lack of mergers). And everything that drills, ships and transports oil and gas: Rowan (NYSE: RDC) (Cramer's Take), Parker (NYSE: PKD) (Cramer's Take), Weatherford (NYSE: WFT) (Cramer's Take), Cameron (NYSE: CAM) (Cramer's Take), Noble (NYSE: NE) (Cramer's Take), Transocean (NYSE: RIG) (Cramer's Take), FMC Tech (NYSE: FTI) (Cramer's Take), Oceaneering (NYSE: OII) (Cramer's Take) and so many others -- and of course, Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) (Cramer's Take) and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) (Cramer's Take).

And then there is oil and gas itself, ever a larger portion of the S&P. Look at the charts during last week's run: Apache (NYSE: APA) (Cramer's Take), Anadarko (NYSE: APC) (Cramer's Take), Nabors (NYSE: NBR) (Cramer's Take), Exxon (NYSE: XOM) (Cramer's Take), Chevron (NYSE: CVX) (Cramer's Take), Occidental (NYSE: OXY) (Cramer's Take), XTO (NYSE: XTO) (Cramer's Take), Southwestern (NYSE: SWN) (Cramer's Take), Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK) (Cramer's Take), Ultra (NYSE: UPL) (Cramer's Take): these all count.

Coal, of course, is a huge beneficiary. Infrastructure works because these companies get the benefits of the oil companies' largesse by being able to build energy-related production centers.

Even the autos can be viewed as benefitting, as the newer cars use less gas than the old ones, making them viable alternatives in multiyear paybacks. Along those lines, energy-efficient appliances get a boost.

Then there are the myriad energy-alternative plays that are always dominating the headlines but haven't yet made it into the S&P or are very small parts of the S&P: the wind plays -- Trinity (NYSE: TRN) (Cramer's Take), Woodward Governor (NASDAQ: WGOV) (Cramer's Take), Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) (Cramer's Take) (also insulation); solar -- First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) (Cramer's Take) ($24 billion market cap), SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR) (Cramer's Take), and all the Chinese plays that people love so much.

Pipelines galore: Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMP) (Cramer's Take), Enterprise (NYSE: EPD) (Cramer's Take), Boardwalk (NYSE: BWP) (Cramer's Take), so many others.

Many companies are neutral -- financial, telco, utilities -- although some benefit from the price umbrella of higher oil costs and can pass on costs they don't have. Tech's been fairly neutral. The weaknesses we have seen in tech are related to consumer slowdown (customers such as Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) (Cramer's Take)) or financial. Media's neutral, too. Health care can't be considered a negative either when it comes to energy consumption.

Most of the conglomerates say they are energy-positive: United Tech (NYSE: UTX) (Cramer's Take) and, famously, GE (NYSE: GE) (Cramer's Take), which has said that its fortunes should improve as oil goes higher, although we haven't seen that yet.

We know there are plenty that don't. Anything that is sold in the supermarket. Anything retail. Anything that uses oil or natural gas and can't really pass it on: Minerals and mining (although global demand really helps), glass (although recycling really helps, as in the case of Owens-Illinois (NYSE: OI) (Cramer's Take)), and chemicals and the paper producers.

But those companies aren't that important anymore, even though they dominate the consciousness of the marketplace, despite the encroachment of energy as a part of the S&P 500.

In fact, if finance could turn itself around -- something that seems increasingly possible, although it has sucked up a huge amount of capital and done nothing -- you could argue that we are on the cusp of a major move as it dawns on people that energy isn't the tax it used to be.

There are plenty of 30,000-foot flaws to this. We have seen time and again that our own growth in this country is heavily consumer-related. But the industrial growth owes itself not to the U.S. consumer, but the worldwide consumer.

All of these facts can go far toward explaining how higher oil prices have not been able to block the advance of the S&P or the Dow Jones averages. In fact, if the latter were more responsive to energy -- the Chevron nod was accompanied by ne'er-do-well Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) (Cramer's Take) instead of a Deere or another oil play like an Occidental or a Schlumberger -- we would be taking out 13,000 with ease.

All of this is worth thinking about when you are gloomy, because it doesn't add up to a decline, it explains the advance.

Keep it in mind during the next downturn. It explains a lot why they've been fairly shallow.

And I don't expect anything deeper now that finance seems to have stabilized.

RELATED LINKS:

Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. At the time of publication, Cramer was long XTO and Owens-Illinois.

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Newspaper wrap-up: GM plants to start production after strike settled

Laurie Pasternack — 2008-05-19T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, General Motors (GM), Halliburton (HAL), Citigroup Inc. (C)

MAJOR PAPERS:

General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) plants that were idled during the American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc (NYSE: AXL) strike are set to resume production mow that the strike has been settled, the Wall Street Journal reported.

OTHER PAPERS:

The Telegraph reported that Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) is expected to determine this week whether it will make a GBP1.8B counter bid for its British competitor, Expro International Group (OTC: EXPRF).
The Telegraph also reported that U.K.-based Imperial Tobacco Group Plc (NYSE: ITY) could conduct a GBP5B rights issue this week. The company has suggested that it needs the funds in order to retain its investment-grade credit rating following its acquisition of Altadis.

WEB SITES:

According to Bloomberg, regulatory filings show that banks such as Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) are failing to acknowledge at $35B of additional writedowns in their income statements.

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Earnings highlights: Ford, Boeing, McDonald's, PepsiCo, JetBlue and others

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-04-27T11:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Starbucks (SBUX), PepsiCo (PEP), Ford Motor (F), McDonald's (MCD), Halliburton (HAL), Boeing Co (BA), Hershey Co (HSY), Coach Inc (COH), ConocoPhillips (COP), Yum Brands (YUM), duPont(E.I.)deNemours (DD), Lockheed Martin (LMT), U.S. Steel (X), UAL Corp (UAUA), Dow Chemical (DOW), JetBlue Airways (JBLU), Goodyear Tire and Rubber (GT), Delta Air Lines (DAL)

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AXL) reported a strike-related Q1 loss.
Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) Q1 profit tripled on increased demand and higher prices.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) posted better-than-expected earnings despite Dreamliner delays.
Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) better-than-expected quarter didn't impress Jim Cramer.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) reported Q1 earnings and revenue above analysts' forecasts.
Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) reported a big loss on a one-time charge and fuel costs.
Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) posted a smaller-than-forecast profit drop and predicted a good Q2.
EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD) Q1 earnings rose 26% but missed expectations.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) surprised Wall Street by swinging to a profit in the first quarter.
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) easily surpassed analyst estimates for the first quarter.
Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) Q1 earnings and revenue rose due to international growth.
Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) profit fell but was in line with analysts' expectations.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) reported a narrower-than-expected loss in the first quarter.
Lockheed-Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) posted solid Q1 results and raised its full-year outlook.
McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD) easily beat Q1 estimates due to gains overseas.
Northwest Airlines Corp. (NYSE: NWA) reported a larger-than-expected loss due to fuel costs.
PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) posted solid Q1 results that were merely inline with expectations.
Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG) earnings were flat, but beat Wall Street expectations by a penny.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) posted strong results on strong demand and price hikes.
Sonoco Products Co. (NYSE: SON) reported better-than-expected Q1 results and revised guidance.
Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) preliminary Q2 results were lower than analyst's expected.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) beat earnings expectations and reaffirmed its guidance.
UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA) posted a worse-than-expected Q1 loss on rising fuel prices.
US Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) better-than-expected quarter didn't impress Jim Cramer.
Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Q1 profits soared on overseas strength, and raised its guidance.

Also, Jim Cramer discusses "crummy lenders" and Jonathan Berr wonders if Ford's turnaround is for real. Joseph Lazzaro considers Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) as a barometer of the economy. One analyst thinks financials may have hit bottom and it may be time to buy, and Jon Ogg looks at what short sellers are making of tech stocks. Ted Allrich discusses what to sell/what to buy.

Upcoming results to watch for include Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN), CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS), Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC), U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X), Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), General Motors (NYSE: GM), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT), Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), and Chevron (NYSE: CVX).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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Weatherford International (WFT): Share price cycles in bullish 'flag'

Larry Schutts — 2008-04-22T13:36:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Halliburton (HAL), Schlumberger Limited (SLB), Technical Analysis, Stocks to Buy

Weatherford International (NYSE: WFT) provides equipment and services for the drilling and production sectors of the oil and gas industry. The firm specializes in contract drilling, formation evaluation, well installation/completion systems, "fishing" services, oil recovery, and pipeline services. The company operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 40,500 people worldwide. Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) and Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) are competitors.

The stock popped with the sector last Friday, when crude oil concluded a six percent weekly gain with its fourth new closing high. On Monday, the firm reported essentially in-line first quarter results and announced a 2-for-1 stock split (payable May 23).

The news was good, but WFT shares pulled back slightly, as they began to consolidate the previous week's gain in a bullish "flag" pattern. Prices frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling on entry. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the issue with nine "strong buys", nine "buys" and four "holds". Analysts see a 28% growth rate, through the next year. The WFT Price to Book ratio (3.92) and EPS Growth rate (23.17%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutional investors hold about 95% of the outstanding shares. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 500 Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $47.48 and $85.57. A stop-loss of $71.00 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com. He does not hold positions in any of the stocks mentioned above.

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Q1 profits up for Merck, Halliburton, and NetFlix

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-04-21T18:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Halliburton (HAL), Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Merck and Co (MRK)

Some good news: Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL), and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) on Monday all reported increased earnings in the first quarter.

Merck said it nearly doubled its first-quarter profit, due to a scheduled $1.4 billion payment from a partner.

The drug maker posted net income of $3.3 billion, or $1.52 per share, for the January-March period, up from $1.7 billion, or 78 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding one-time items, Merck earned 89 cents per share, beating by three cents the forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Revenues totaled $5.82 billion, up 1% from $5.77 billion in the first three months of 2007, but below analysts' expectations of $6.11 billion. The company attributed the slow sales growth to the weak U.S. dollar.

Merck shares fell Monday 13 cents, to close at $39.63. Shares are down 23% in the past year.

Halliburton said it earned $584 million, or 64 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, up 6% from a year-earlier profit of $552 million, or 54 cents per share. Revenue rose to $4.03 billion from $3.42 billion a year earlier. The company attributed the results to growth in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 64 cents per share on revenue of $3.99 billion.

Halliburton shares rose three cents to $47. 46 Monday. They had reached an all-time high of $47.77 during trading Friday.

Netflix's first-quarter profit climbed 36% due to accelerating subscriber growth, but a tepid outlook caused Netflix shares to plunge more than 12% in after-hours trading.

Netflix said it earned $13.4 million, or 21 cents per share, during the first three months of the year, compared with net income of $9.9 million, or 14 cents per share, at the same time in 2007. Revenue rose 7% to $326.2 million.
The earnings were in line with analysts' expectations.

Netflix ended March with 8.24 million subscribers, a gain of 764,000 customers during the first three months of the year. But the company warned that it would be more difficult to attract customers in the current quarter.

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Cash-rich companies, 2008 Fortune 500 & trillion dollar mortgage bomb - Today in Money - 4/21

Allan Halprin — 2008-04-21T09:17:00+00:00

Filed under: Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), eBay (EBAY), Wal-Mart (WMT), Coca-Cola (KO), Walt Disney (DIS), International Business Machines (IBM), Halliburton (HAL), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Money and Finance Today, Bank of America (BAC), Boeing Co (BA), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Procter and Gamble (PG), Mattel, Inc (MAT), Oracle Corp (ORCL), Merck and Co (MRK), Lilly (Eli) (LLY), EMC Corp (EMC)

In the News:

· Bank of America Profit Plunges 77% in 1Q

· Merck Earnings Top Estimates as Profit Nearly Doubles

· Gas Prices Rise 16 More Cents; Expected to Rise 30 Cents More Over Next Few Weeks

· National City Bank Close to $6 Billion Cash Infusion

· Eli Lilly 1Q Profit Doubles as Cialis, Cymbalta Sales Rise

· Mattel Delivers 1Q Loss on Product & Legal Costs

· Halliburton 1Q Profit Rises

· Google Named World's Most Powerful Brand for Second Year Over GE

· Skype to Sell Unlimited International Calls for $9.95/Month

· Red Envelope Files for Bankruptcy

· Yahoo's Last Stand: Tomorrow's Earnings Report Could Sway Microsoft Deal

Wal-Mart Tops Fortune 500 List
The retail giant is on top for the second year in a row, while AT&T moves up and GM slips. See who ranks where on the definitive list of America's largest companies and why.
FORTUNE 500 2008: Annual ranking of America's largest corporations from Fortune Magazine

Stocks: Where the Big Bucks Lurk
A closer look at S&P's list of stocks with big cash hoards and top analyst rankings show these 20 companies are sitting pretty. They include Apple, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Disney, EMC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, J&J, Microsoft, Oracle, Paychex, P&G to name a few.
Cash-Rich Companies

Mom's New Battle: The Food Price Bulge
As American families face the double whammy of higher gas and food prices, moms nationwide are resorting to considerable ingenuity to stretch their monthly grocery budget. Beyond clipping coupons, families are embracing generic grocery brands, and making their own baby food and detergent.
Soaring food prices elicit creative solutions from moms - CNNmoney

Trillion-Dollar Mortgage Bomb
Among the nightmares lurking around the corner for the already battered housing and credit markets would be a meltdown at mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Risks are rising that Fannie and Freddie may need a government bailout that could cost far more than previous rescues.
Concerns rising that Fannie and Freddie could need bailout - CNNmoney

Mortgage Rates at Low Point
Eyeing a home loan? Current mortgage rates are about as low as they'll go this year.
Mortgage Rates at the Low Point - Kiplinger.com

7 Sure-Fire Ways to Become an Identity Theft Victim
If you like red tape and the feeling of being used, follow these steps to ensure your identity is no longer yours.
How to become an identity theft victim - Bankrate.com
Also: 8 Tips to Limit Your Exposure to ID Theft
Also: Former ID Theft Victim Helps Others

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Before the bell: Futures dip on Bank of America numbers

Sarah Burns — 2008-04-21T07:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Halliburton (HAL), Bank of America (BAC), Merck and Co (MRK), Texas Instruments (TXN)

U.S. futures are down this morning after Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) released disappointing figures for the quarter. The country's second-largest bank said net income plunged to $1.21 billion, or 23 cents a share, from $5.26 billion, or $1.16 a share, a year ago. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 41 cents a share.

Meanwhile, Merck (NYS: MRK) said first-quarter income jumped 94% to $3.3 million, or $1.52 a share, from $1.7 million, or 78 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding a $1.4 billion gain from the AstraZeneca partnership and restructuring charges, Merck posted income of 89 cents a share. Worldwide sales climbed 1% to $5.8 billion, aided by the weak U.S. dollar.

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) said Q1 earnings rose to $584 million from $552 million, while revenue increased to $4.03 billion from $3.42 billion, a year earlier. Elli Lilly reported earnings of $1.06 billion, or 97 cents a share, up from $508.7 million, or 47 cents. Analysts had expected somewhat better numbers from Lilly.

Despite a week of mixed earnings reports, the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 surged Friday, each ending the week up more than 4%. This is another big week of earnings reports, with Texas Instruments reporting today after the bell.

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