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San Francisco Giants Managing Partner Magowan To Retire
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? Peter Magowan, managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants, will retire at the end of this season, the team announced Friday. Magowan assumed the role in 1993, helped keep the major league baseball franchise in San Francisco and oversaw both the building of a new stadium and the controversial tenure of superstar Barry Bonds. Magowan will be succeeded by William Neukom, a former general counsel for Microsoft Corp. , according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.
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UAW Local OKs Deal To End GM Crossover Plant Strike: Report
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? The United Auto Workers approved a deal toend a monthlong strike at General Motors Corp.`s Delta Township plant near Lansing, Mich., The Associated Press reported late Friday. Production at the plant will resume Monday, according to the AP. The plant makes the GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave and Saturn Outlook, GM`s popular crossover vehicles.
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Japanese Yen May Fall On Lower Currency Option Volatility
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Implied volatility is one of the most tried and true methods for objectively measuring expected volatility in the spot market. Derived from currency options with different maturities, implied volatilities are used to help predict potential movements in the spot market and is one of the most popular strategies of systems traders and other professional hedge funds.
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EUR/USD: Are European Investors As Optimistic As ECB President Trichet?
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Investor sentiment throughout the Euro-zone is anticipate to improve very slightly in May as the ZEW survey is forecasted to edge up to -44.2 from -44.8. Nevertheless, this is not very far from the record low seen last month, and this news will not be entirely surprising as the European Commission?s most recent surveys of economic, industrial, and services sector confidence all dropped more than expected.
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Bernanke Asks Congress To Accelerate Authority To Pay Interest
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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asked Congress to accelerate the date when the Fed can pay interest on reserves, a power that would give it better control over interest rates and more leverage to battle the credit crunch.BernankeIn the letter to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi May 13, Mr. Bernanke noted Congress gave the ?
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Paulson To Visit Middle East At The End Of May
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) ? The Treasury Department announced Friday that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will travel to the Middle East at the end of May. In a statement, the department said Paulson was going to the region ?to reiterate the U.S. commitment to open investment and discuss the economic benefits of nations around the world remaining open for investment.? Oil producing countries are accumulating foreign exchange reserves at a rapid clip as the price of oil has skyrocketed. Paulson and other G7 leaders are anxious that these surpluses do not grow so large. Paulson will visit Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
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U.S. Stock Indexes Close Mixed, But Score Solid Weekly Gains
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) ? U.S. stocks were mixed Friday, but still scored impressive weekly gains, as crude-oil prices broke to another record high and consumer confidence slumped, overshadowing a surprising rise in April home construction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.86 points to end at 12,986.8, giving it a weekly gain of 1.9%. The S&P 500 gained 1.78 points to 1,425.35, lifted by energy and utility shares, ending 2.7% higher than last Friday`s close. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.88 points to 2,528.85, up 3.4% on the week.
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3M, Sony Sign License Agreement On Optical Film Technology
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? 3M Co. said late Friday it signed a license agreement with Sony Corp. granting Sony rights to use certain 3M optical film technology for its LCD televisions. Financial terms of the license agreement were not disclosed.
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Market Spotlight: Banana Producers
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Life is sweet for banana producers. In the first quarter, Chiquita Brands, the No. 2 banana producer in North America, swung to a better-than-expected profit as it raised prices. Banana sales rose 12 percent to $584 million, helped by tight supply and a weak dollar.
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Crude Closes Above $126 To End Slightly Higher For The Week
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? June crude closed at $126.29 a barrel Friday, up $2.17 for the session after Goldman Sachs raised its forecast for oil prices to an average of $141 for the second half of the year. Crude futures were up 0.3% for the week.
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Fitch Hikes Devon Energy To `BBB+`; Outlook Stable
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? Fitch Ratings on Friday upgraded Devon Energy Corp.`s issuer default rating and senior unsecured notes to BBB+ from BBB. The rating hike reflects the company`s robust credit profile and a debt reduction expected during 2008, said Fitch. The outlook has also been revised to stable.
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Sector Roundup: Semiconductors, Internet
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The chip sector fell Friday, hurt in part by a possible post-earthquake downturn in China. NEW YORK ? Shares of major Internet companies traded mostly lower Friday, with eBay Inc. dipping after an analyst said that a recent survey indicates the online auctioneer's conversion rates, or listings that result in sales, are down again.
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Sen. Dodd Praises Fed Chief As ?Activist?
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Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) had high praise for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, saying the central bank chief has been a responsive advocate for consumers during the recent credit turmoil.Dodd?I thought Ben Bernanke, I don?t want to use the word ?progressive? and ruin his career, but he?s been an activist on ?
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Biovail Unit Settles With DoJ For $24.6 Mln Over Cardizem
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? Biovail Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Biovail Corp. , will pay $24.6 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice related to activities surrounding the 2003 commercial launch of Cardizem, the pharmaceutical company said Friday. Biovail Pharmaceuticals will also plead guilty to charges relating to making payments to induce purchasing or ordering of Cardizem. The agreement eliminates any criminal liability for Biovail and does not impact its ability to conduct business in the United States.
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Report: Lehman To Begin Job Cuts Monday
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Investment banking giant Lehman Brothers will begin trimming its workforce by around 5% starting on Monday, cable news network CNBC reported Friday. Lehman had previously announced it would lay off about 1,400 workers as part of a drive by Chief Executive Officer Dick Fuld to cut costs and refocus the bank`s core businesses. A Lehman spokeswoman declined to comment on the report to MarketWatch Friday. In the aftermath of a global credit crunch and massive write downs on bad bets on mortgage securities, international banks have said they will cut as many as 70,000 jobs in the coming year.
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ConocoPhillips, Aramco To Build Large Saudi Refinery: Report
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? Saudi Aramco and ConocoPhillips plan to build an enormous refinery in Saudi Arabia, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday on its Web site. The Conoco-Aramco refinery will be on the Red Sea side of the Arabian peninsula and is scheduled for a 2013 startup, according to the Journal. The newspaper reported the size of the refinery will be comparable to another planned refinery to be built by Aramco and Total SA , which is estimated to cost about $10 billion and expected to refine about 400,000 barrels a day.
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Gold Closes Just Below $900 To Gain 1.6% For The Week
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? June gold closed at $899.90 an ounce in New York Friday, up $19.90 for the session to score a gain of 1.6% for the week. Analysts attributed the strength to the rally in oil futures to nearly $128 a barrel, which fed the metal`s appeal as an inflation hedge.
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Energy Dept To Stop Shipping To Oil Reserves In July: Report
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? The Energy Department canceled oil shipments into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve beginning in July when the current purchase contract expires, the Associated Press reported Friday. The Energy Department will not sign contracts for new shipments of 76,000 barrels of oil a day for the six-month period beginning July 1, the news agency said. The reserve is 97% full, holding 701 million barrels of crude.
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Fed And Bubbles: First, Heal Thyself?
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Federal Reserve officials have been chatting more about what to do about bubbles, but some are arguing that the central bank should look more closely at its own role in creating bubbles through both supervisory and monetary policy. Policymakers have basically reaffirmed the orthodox view that as far as monetary policy goes, they shouldn?t use ?
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British Pound In Early Stages Of Large Bull Move
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Once the darling of directional speculators, the British Pound has traded sideways in 2008. However, a big move is brewing. Technical factors indicate that the Pound is in the early stages of a bull move that could exceed 2.04 by the middle of July.
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People`s United, Home Bancshares Poised To Perform Well
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People?s United Financial Inc., Home Bancshares Inc. and BancorpSouth Inc. may be among leading consolidators in the banking industry and could become some of the best performing stocks in the business during a recovery, analysts at Sandler O?Neill & Partners said on Friday.
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Assurant Board Hikes Quarterly Dividend To 14 Cents
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? Assurant Inc.`s board raised the quarterly dividend by 17% to 14 cents a share, the provider of specialty insurance said Friday. The dividend will be paid on June 10 to shareholders of record as of May 27.
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Paulson Upbeat About Economy And Health Of Financial Markets
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) ? Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Friday the U.S. economy should rebound later in the year and financial markets are recovering nicely from the recent turmoil. In remarks prepared for a local business group, Paulson said expanded on recent themes that he has made in public appearances. He said there are ?signs of progress? as capital and credit markets stabilize. In addition, the economic stimulus checks will bolster consumer spending during the summer, he said. Paulson went into great detail to show that the administration`s HOPE NOW initiative with the mortgage industry was producing desired results of minimizing foreclosures. Paulson`s remarks suggest that he is not eager to embrace either a second stimulus package or any of the innovative ideas being floated around Washington to help struggling homeowners.
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Despite Risks, Airline Consolidation Is Benefical: S&P
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) ? Despite the checkered history of airline mergers, consolidation is likely to the help the industry cut costs and raise additional revenue, according to a report from Standard & Poor`s, a debt-credit rating firm. Airlines rarely deliver on expected gains, and in the case of the proposed Delta Air Lines and Northwest merger, it`s likely the cost of new labor contracts will help to offset their $1 billon in cost-cust forecast, S&P said. ?However, bear in mind that not meeting projected financial benefits is not the same thing as notproviding any benefits at all,? the firm said. ?In the case of US Airways and America West, despite their labor troubles, the combination did generate higher revenues and probably saved US Airways from liquidation,? the firm said.
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IBM Signs Up New Brazilian Services Deals
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? IBM Corp. on Friday said it signed two new large services deals in Brazil as part of its effort to expand in South America. One deal is to provide file-management services to Rede Brasil Sul de Comunicacao, a Brazilian entertainment company. Terms of that deal weren`t disclosed. The second deal, to provide data and disaster recovery services to BNDES, a financial firm, is valued at about $5.1 million. IBM shares were down $1.57 at $126.89 in Friday trading.
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Bank Stocks Decline On Key, Regions Downgrades By Merrill
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Bank stocks fell almost 3% in early trading Friday after Merrill Lynch downgraded Regions Financial Corp. and KeyCorp to sell from neutral on fears of declining credit quality. Merrill trimmed its earnings estimates for Regions by 88 cents to $20.44 and by 93 cents to $24.16 for KeyCorp; the downgrades pushed both banks` shares down more than 5% in morning trading. Analyst Ed Najarian told investors in a research note that Merrill continues to expect large loan loss reserves at the nation`s larger regional banks, but sees the potential for recovery in 2009. Merrill maintained its sell rating on other regional banks Wells Fargo & Co. [s:WFC], SunTrust Banks Inc. [s:STI] and Wachovia Corp. .
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Moody`s May Downgrade Sprint-Nextel
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? Moody`s Investors Service on Friday placed Sprint Nextel`s Baa3 senior unsecured long-term debt rating and its Prime-3 short-term debt rating on review for possible downgrade. ?The review is prompted by our concerns that the company`s ability to restore the health of its operations and generate adequate levels of free cash flow may be curbed by powerful competitive challenges and slowing subscriber growth,? said the ratings agency in a statement. Moody`s warned that Sprint`s ratings may fall if it concludes that the company will have difficulty turning around its operations within a reasonable period and as a result its ratio of free cash flow to debt remains materially below 10% for an extended period of time.
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TAF Might Deserve A Place As A Fed Fixture
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The Federal Reserve?s five-month-old program to auction billions in cash to banks hasn?t been a credit crisis cure-all, yet economists say it warrants a permanent place in the Fed?s toolbox.Fed officials this week publicly praised the program, known as the Term Auction Facility, and one official pushed back against a controversial paper questioning the program?s ?
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Dollar Pressured By Weak Consumer Sentiment Reading
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? The dollar was mostly lower Friday, despite better-than-expected housing data released earlier, after a weak consumer sentiment index reading kept alive doubts about the strength of the U.S. economy. The University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment index fell to 59.5 in May from 62.6 in April, below economists` consensus expectation of 61.0. The euro was buying $1.5495, up from $1.5443 in late North American trading Thursday. The dollar index, which compares the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, was at 73.136, down from 73.340 late Thursday. The British pound was at $1.9496, up from $1.9477 late Thursday, and the greenback bought 104.55 Japanese yen, down from 104.64 Thursday.
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Lockheed Martin Wins $1.4 Bln Air Force Contract For GPS
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) ? Lockheed Martin said late Thursday it received a contract from the U.S. Air Force to build its next-generation Global Positioning Systems, or GPS III, for $1.4 billion. In a news release, the Bethesda, Md.-based military contractor said it would work with General Dynamics and ITT Corp. to produce eight GPS IIIA satellites, with first launch projected for 2014. Eight GPS IIIB and 16 GPS IIIC satellites are planned for later increments. Lockheed Martin said the work would create 500 new jobs for the company. Shares of Lockheed Martin were down a fraction early Friday at $108.36; General Dynamics slipped a fraction to $92.70, and ITT shares lost a fraction to $66.60.
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