Every morning the Street of Walls team puts out an update on market levels, today’s top stories, and active M&A deals.
Today’s Top Stories:
- Facebook Reserves Tickers: Facebook has reserved FB as its ticker on both NDAQ and NYX and each are campaigning aggressively to get the co to list on their respective exchange
- CS on Dividend Stocks: “In 2011, S&P 500 companies which paid a dividend returned 1.4%, while nondividend payers were down by 7.6%. We expect companies to continue increasing dividends in 2012 and find that within particular sectors and industry groups, significant dividend increases can lead to enhanced performance and higher beta” (Credit Suisse)
- Ford’s Earnings: “Ford’s earnings release combines a softer-than expected quarter across all automotive regions with a guide that, while in line with our operating expectations, implies improvement form the 4Q pace and a small tax rate boost to EPS. All regions were below our and consensus estimates by about $100mn per region; in particular South America margins contracted by 618bp y/y, implying a sharp weakening in the Brazil marketplace” (Barclays)
- Goldman on Home Sales: “despite the record low nominal mortgage interest rate, households’ expectation of future house price appreciation remains depressed which implies that the real mortgage rate is still elevated. However, the team’s projection for stabilization in house prices in late 2012 should provide a boost to home sales activity going forward. Moreover, renewed Fed purchases of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) could reinforce this effect. Second, measures of mortgage lending standards – including the Fed’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS) and an alternative measure that tracks the fraction of first-lien purchase mortgages requiring full documentation – suggest that credit supply remains limited” (GS)
- Credit Suisse Bonuses Down 30%: Switzerland based Credit Suisse told senior banks this week that bonus compensation will decline 30% versus last years pay http://bit.ly/wjtLEv
- JCP Restructuring Initiatives: “His note talks of 900mm in cost saves and the path to a company with industry leading margins. That said, he’s cautious on the sales opportunity and highlights in his voice blast that the last time he witnessed a dept store cancel the sales promotions they were known for, sales dropped 7%” (Barclays)
- RBS Pays CEO: European investment banking firm said CEO Stephen Hester will receive a bonus of around £963,000, paid fully in stock that won’t vest until ’14 (WSJ)
- Gingrich Leading Romney: Newt Gingrich is outpacing Mitt Romney among Republican voters nationwide, but he also is showing evidence of the vulnerabilities that could hurt the former House speaker in a general election, according to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll http://on.wsj.com/xnxR6s
- CAT’s CEO Likes FED Policy: “The loose money policies of the Fed are very appropriate right now,” Doug Oberhelman told CNBC Thursday. “Interest rates should be low. Money supply growth should be high.” (CNBC)
- Marathon Files 13F: There is approximately $7.9bn market value worth in the securities held. Some of their larger holdings include Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway B shares, Cablevision, Costco, Liberty Global and Rogers Communications http://bit.ly/xC8W7h
M&A Watch:
- Weekly M&A Trends: Announced M&A volumes for the week rose +35% to $25.9 billion. ECM volumes declined by -61% from a tough comparable last week http://bit.ly/Ap6olP
- EMN +10% to acquire SOA for $22/cash + 0.12 EMN shs. Total transaction = $3.38B
- Roche says it is disappointed that ILMN is unwilling to participate in discussions re: acq proposal
