Impact U.S. budget crisis stock market drop

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Stock market news today - Impact U.S. budget crisis stock market drop : Lack of progress in negotiations for a deal to avoid a U.S. budget crisis before a January deadline sent world stock markets lower on Wednesday.
President Barack Obama and U.S. lawmakers have until Jan. 1 to reach a deal to trim the country's unwieldy deficit. Otherwise, a series of automatic tax increases and sharp spending cuts will take effect that could drag the world's No. 1 economy into recession.

A high-ranking member of the U.S. Senate unnerved investors and sent Wall Street lower on Tuesday after expressing frustration over the budget impasse and the looming "fiscal cliff."

In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.3 percent to 5,784.61. Germany's DAX lost 0.2 percent to 7,316.69. France's CAC-40 fell 0.3 percent to 3,491.57.

Wall Street headed for a lower open, with Dow Jones industrial futures falling 0.1 percent to 12,850. S&P 500 futures were down 0.1 percent at 1,395.40.

Stock market losses began earlier in Asia. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.2 percent to close at 9,308.35, a day after closing at a seven-month high.

South Korea's Kospi shed 0.7 percent to 1,912.78 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2 percent to 4,447.30. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.6 percent to 21,708.98.

Obama plans to make a public case this week for his strategy for dealing with the issue as he pressures opposing lawmakers to allow tax increases on the wealthy while extending tax cuts for families earning $250,000 or less.

On Wall Street, reports released Tuesday showing increases in U.S. consumer confidence and orders for machinery and equipment failed to boost stocks significantly.

"If one could just take politicians and the fiscal cliff out of the picture, an optimistic outlook would be far easier to cobble together. There's been depressingly little news of cliff breakthroughs, or even developments, of late," said analysts at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore in an email commentary.

Mainland China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9 percent to 1,973.52, a four-year low. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 1.9 percent to 750.97.

Linus Yip, strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong, said the steep drop in Shanghai can be attributed to the expiration of lock up periods for some investors, which allows them to sell their shares and creates a glut on the market for the stock.

Otherwise, the drop among Asian stock markets represents profit-taking by investors who've enjoyed substantial gains in the past two months, Yip said.

Among individual stocks, Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways fell 2.2 percent after ending its 40-year partnership with the tourist body Tourism Australia and suspending a $50 million marketing deal. Japan's Toshiba Corp. fell 4.1 percent. Kobe Steel Ltd. plunged 6.5 percent.

Benchmark oil for January delivery was down 12 cents to $87.03 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 56 cents to finish at $87.18 per barrel on the Nymex on Tuesday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.2932 from $1.2939 on Tuesday in New York. The dollar fell to 81.80 yen from 82.17 yen.For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Phoenix insurance stock ratings

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Phoenix insurance stock ratings :  Phoenix Inc. (NYSE:PNX) is having a tough week. The company’s rating falls from a D to a F rating. Phoenix is the holding company of Phoenix Life Insurance Company. The stock receives F’s in Earnings Growth, Earnings Momentum, Earnings Revisions, and Equity. The stock price has dropped 26.4% over the past month, worse than the 1% decrease the S&P 500 has seen over the same period of timeFor the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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China taxes stock dividends for individuals 2013

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2013 China will apply scale to taxes on stock dividends for individuals : China will apply a sliding scale to taxes on stock dividends for individuals from January 1, 2013, as authorities struggle to restore investor interest in swooning domestic equities markets.
According to an announcement on the Ministry of Finance's website on Friday, dividends will be taxed at diminishing rates over time.

Dividends from shares held for less than one month will be taxed at 20 percent, while stocks held for more than one month but less than one year will be taxed at 10 percent. For stocks held for over a year, the rate drops to 5 percent.

"The longer investors hold shares, the lower their tax burden is," said the announcement.

"This will encourage long-term investment strategies and suppress short-term speculation."

The tax rate on dividends is currently a flat 10 percent.

Chinese market reformers have carried out piecemeal reforms to transaction fees and other minor regulations this year to encourage investors to return to trading stocks.

Head securities regulator Guo Shuqing has repeatedly criticized the preference of many retail investors to engage in short-term speculation on lesser known tickers, encouraging investors to buy and hold blue-chip shares instead.

These moves have yet to inspire the markets. China's CSI300 index, which tracks the largest tickers on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, fell to its lowest level this year on Friday. The Shanghai Composite Index is down over 8 percent this year after shedding 22 percent in 2011.For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Why MegaFon Shares price down debut in london stock market

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Stock market today - Why MegaFon Shares price down debut in london stock market : Shares in Russian mobile phone operator MegaFon tumbled yesterday on a disappointing stock market debut in London. The company, controlled by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who has a 30 per cent stake in Arsenal Football Club, raised £1.1bn selling stock to investors.

But the shares - priced at $20, at the bottom of the $20 to $25 range and valuing the firm at £6.9bn - fell to $19.60.

MegaFon chief executive Ivan Tavrin, who attended a ceremony at the London Stock Exchange to mark the start of trading, put on a brave face, claiming the demand for shares was 'a clear endorsement of MegaFon's investment case'.

The MegaFon offering was the largest by a telecoms company in London since Orange in 2001 and took the total amount raised by Russian new issues on the London Stock Exchange to £5.1bn this year.

It was the biggest listing by a Russian company since aluminium producer Rusal raised £1.4bn in Hong Kong in 2010.

MegaFon joins 65 Russian companies quoted in London which have raised £42.9bn since 2004. The company’s shares are jointly traded in Moscow and London.For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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2013 UnitedHealth profit analysts estimated

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Stock market today - 2013 UnitedHealth profit analysts estimated  :  UnitedHealth Group Inc , the largest U.S. private health insurer, said on Monday it expects 2013 earnings of $5.25 to $5.50 per share, below analysts' expectations.

The outlook backs up comments the company made in October that analysts' estimates for 2013 were too high due to the weak economy and government efforts to rein in the deficit. At that time, the Wall Street consensus was for earnings of $5.60 per share.

UnitedHealth shares fell 93 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $53.01 in Monday morning New York Stock Exchange trading.

Revenue should be $123 billion to $124 billion next year, higher than the Wall Street target, UnitedHealth said in a statement ahead of a Tuesday meeting with analysts and investors.

Analysts had expected 2013 earnings of $5.58 per share on revenue of $119.12 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"As expected, 2013 guidance seems conservative, but prudently so, as it's a first look at the year and there is still a cloud of uncertainty around the 'fiscal cliff' and debt ceiling issues," Sheryl Skolnick, an analyst at CRT Capital Group, said in a research note.

The fiscal cliff and debt ceiling issues could affect the economy and UnitedHealth's Medicare Advantage government health insurance program for older people, Skolnick said.

UnitedHealth has a history of beating its forecasts, Oppenheimer analyst Michael Wiederhorn said in a research note. He also said it was not immediately clear if the Wall Street consensus outlook for 2013 revenue was comparable and included sales from Brazil's Amil Participacoes SA . UnitedHealth is in the process of buying the Brazilian company for $4.9 billion.

UnitedHealth also reaffirmed its 2012 outlook for earnings of $5.20 to $5.25 per share.For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Google Consumer Surveys Election Data, Some Comments

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The Google election data (link here) would be a fun dataset to play around in Tableau (link here), except I don't have the time right now.

Note that Google surveyed the population with the following questions:
    1. Who do you want to win the US Presidential Election?
    2. Regardless of who you want, who do you think will actually win the Election?

In regards to question two, Justin Wolfers (and co-author David Rothschild) noted in a paper (link here) that framing the question this way yields more accurate results.

I haven't look at the underlying data closely, but I would think the Google dataset should be able to either validate further (or cast doubt) on the paper finding. There’s also a NPR article about this (link here).

U.S. stock Dow Jones futures Down today

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Stock market today - U.S. stock Dow Jones futures Down today : U.S. stock-market futures headed lower on Monday, with investors focusing on continued negotiations over the so-called fiscal cliff and discussions among euro-area finance ministers over the next tranche of Greek aid.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 54 points, or 0.4%, to 12907, while those for the Standard & Poor's 500 index eased 6.7 points, or 0.5%, to 1398.60.

Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 10 points, or 0.4%, to 2624.25.

"We could see U.S. markets start positively, but they're a bit nervous about Greece," said Henrik Drusebjerg, senior strategist at Nordea Bank. He said prospects for a so-called Santa Claus rally lie in the hands of global politicians.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4% on Friday, its first close above 13000 since Election Day on Nov. 6. The index netted a 3.4% weekly gain, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.6%.

Later on Monday, European finance ministers will meet to try and approve the latest aid payment to Greece, after failing to agree last week with the International Monetary Fund over those conditions.

"It's far too early to say that's irrelevant," said Drusebjerg. "Most investors are hoping for a deal today that will kick the can more than three months down the road."

"Without agreement on how to reduce the debt, euro-zone ministers and the IMF do not want to resume payments of loan tranches to Athens, even though Greece has met all the conditions, because they have no guarantee on whether the need for emergency financing will ever end," added Max Cohen, financial sales trader at SpreadEx, in emailed comments.

U.S. politics make up the other focus for investors. Lawmakers will return to Washington for a three-week session after the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Some Republican lawmakers reportedly said over the weekend that they are ready to break a longstanding promise not to raise taxes.

And leading Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin, speaking on ABC's "This Week" program on Sunday, also was guardedly optimistic about a deal.

"It's a step towards a solution," said Drusebjerg. "There's now also movement from the Democrats. It's some part of a sign they're willing to work together."

He said markets got a lift last week on signs that consumers were actively spending on Black Friday.

"That's given some hope that Christmas shopping this year will be a lot better than expected, and that could be a pickup for the U.S. economy," he said. But he said failure on the part of U.S. politicians over the fiscal cliff or European politicians regarding Greece could stymie economic growth.

While no major economic data are on the calendar for Monday, retailers could be in focus again after reports that a record number of consumers were out in force over the holiday shopping weekend.

The Monday after Thanksgiving--known as Cyber Monday--also is a key day of shopping for the e-commerce world, with one analysis suggesting sales could hit $1.5 billion.

In other markets, European stocks weakened ahead of the Greece talks, and after weekend elections in Spain, which were won by Catalonian separatists. Oil and gold prices also fell.

Risk aversion drew investors to the dollar, though. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Armour Residential REIT Stock Prediction 2013

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Stock market today - Armour Residential REIT Stock Prediction 2013 : Armour Residential REIT, Inc. (ARR). Armour Residential is a Florida-based mREIT established in 2008. Per their website, Armour invests in hybrid adjustable rate, adjustable rate and fixed rate residential mortgage-backed securities issued by or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies or U.S. Government sponsored entities such as:


    Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae);
    Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, (Freddie Mac); and
    Government National Mortgage Administration, (Ginnie Mae).

A week ago, the entire mREIT sector experienced a flash crash due to tax rate concerns on dividends and tightening spreads, taking ARR down with it on very high volume. The mini-crash in the sector has since subsided, with many mREIT's recovering in short order once investors began to realize the sky wasn't, in fact, falling.

I think ARR is an excellent value pick for 2013 for four reasons:

1. Current dividend yield is approximately a whopping 16%.

2. Insiders have been buying of late.

3. U.S. Real Estate market is starting to heat up again

4. Shares of ARR are presently trading under book value at $6.77 a share.

The stock has already priced in a drastic cut to the dividend, but even an unworldly reduction of 50% still gives a yield of 8%. A drastically reduced dividend yield in ARR would therefore still beat many more conservatively financed REITs, with the added benefit that ARR pays out monthly. Given that few stocks can offer a double-digit yield, a monthly distribution, and the strong potential for capital appreciation, Armour Residential is my top value pick for 2013.

Shares of ARR 2013,  ARR stock projection 2013, ARR dividend yield 2013, ARR Current dividend yield, ARR stock prices 2013, Armour Residential REIT  2013

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Synovus Financial Corp (SNV) Stock prediction 2013

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Stock Market Today - Synovus Financial Corp (SNV) Stock prediction 2013 ; Synovus Financial Corp (SNV). Synovus Financial Corporation is a financial services and bank holding company with branches throughout the Southeastern United States. Synovus offers commercial and retail banking, financial management, insurance and mortgage services.
The story of SNV is quite interesting. After being one of the most profitable small, community-based banks in the Southeast for over a decade, the company imploded in 2008 due to the housing crisis.

 The stock plummeted from over $30 a share to under $2, where it languished for some time. Synovus began turning the corner in 2011, however, by paring down its loan losses. Recent quarters, in fact, have shown a return to modest profitability of 2 cents a share (3rd Quarter data). The stock has responded in kind by gaining over 18% in the last three months, and looks to be going much higher. With improving housing numbers possibly coming down the pike in 2013 (see above),

SNV holds the clear potential to be a multi-bagger in short order. At worst, the stock may stall at current levels, which would still give investors a decent dividend yield of approximately 1.80% for holding. Like ARR, SNV is also trading under book value at $2.35 a share. Synovus Financial Corp is my second favorite value stock for 2013 and beyond.

SNV stock 2013, SNV shares prices 2013, Synovus Financial Corp 2013, Synovus Financial Corp projection 2013, SNV deviden 2013, SNV stock perfomance 2013For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Why Bob Iger Disney CEO buy apple stocks

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Why Bob Iger Disney CEO buy apple stocks, Imfact Bob Iger buy apple share, effect Bob Iger buy apple share, Iger’s purchase of Apple stock :  Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL): $1 Million Worth of Shares Purchased by Disney CEO Bob Iger , The chief executive of Disney and a member of Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL)’s board of directors, Bob Iger, recently dished out funds to buy a whopping $1 million dollars worth of shares in Apple. This move clearly indicates his bullish approach after the company’s stock experienced unexpected losses.

The news of Iger’s purchase of Apple stock with a worth of $1 million was highlighted in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Business Insider. The report of the purchase comes only one week after Iger exercised a million options on Disney stock, which fetched him a sum of $17.9 million.

History certainly repeats itself because Iger had bought $1 million worth of shares of Apple a year back, when the price of the stock was $375. He purchased the shares right at the time of joining Apple’s board. He was offered more than $84,000 in stock when he became a board member.

Michael Eisner, who was Iger's predecessor failed to maintain the partnership between Steve Jobs' Pixar and Disney and the two companies slowly became estranged. But Iger redoubled his efforts in repairing the relationships between the companies and his hard work bore fruits. He also worked with Jobs to include content from Disney in iTunes, at a time when other studios were hesitant to enter into an agreement with Apple.

A week back, Apple’s stock plummeted and was at a record six-month low of $527.28. There were many speculations such as concerns over a U.S. capital gains tax rate hike expected in 2013 and a dismal Q3 with only 14 million iPads being sold. Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets encouraged investors to buy in while the stock price of Apple remains low.

Apple stocks prices will $1,000 per share

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Stock Market today - Apple stocks prices will  $1,000 per share : Analyst and AppleInsider contributor Andy Zaky has issued a rare "buy" recommendation of AAPL stock — only his sixth since 2006. Read why he thinks Apple's stock is headed for $1,000. History has repeatedly taught us that the best time to buy Apple is when the bearish sentiment in the stock has reached the pinnacle of extreme pessimism. When every guest on CNBC is calling for the imminent demise of Apple, when every headline is making a case for why Apple has peaked, and when the stock continues to slide by over a 2 percent a day right in the face of a market rally, that’s when you know it’s time to buy.
The last two times we publicly advised investors to buy Apple was on Thursday, May 17, 2012 when Apple was at $530 a share and on Friday, June 17, 2011 when Apple was at $320 a share. In both cases, Apple bottomed out on the following trading session and then went on a 30 percent-plus rally. We have only ever published five public buy recommendations on Apple and each one was published within a few days of Apple’s final bottom. We have never missed a long-term price-target on Apple.
Today, Apple has reached one of those very rare buy points. At $630 a share, Apple’s stock has the potential to rally over 60 percent over the coming 12-month period. And that’s assuming Apple merely continues to trade at the same depressed valuation it has been trading at over the last several quarters now. If Apple’s valuation were to somehow improve, we can see Apple reach $1000 a share much sooner than many expect — perhaps even as early as next July.
The simple truth is that despite all of the sensationalist rubbish surrounding the launch of iPhone 5 ranging from “Mapplegate” to purple hazes or scratched iPhone cases, Apple is selling literally every iPhone 5 that it can make in what has been called the most aggressive international roll-out in consumer electronics history.
What’s more, based on the expected smartphone growth rates estimated by IDC and Gartner, the consensus among analysts is that Apple will sell somewhere between 160 million to 180 million iPhones in 2013. This expectation is further supported by the very aggressive capital expenditures Apple has been making ahead of this international rollout as well as the capital expenditures Apple plans to make next year.
In fact, Apple’s massive increases in capital expenditures suggests the company expects to build and ship more iOS devices in the first two quarters of 2013 than it shipped all of last year. Horace Dediu at Asymco has put together a pretty compelling piece showing the relationship between capital expenditures and build plans for iOS devices. Apple’s planned expenditures shows that the company is planning to ship a massive number of iOS devices this year. A number that can dwarf all current expectations.
Yet, assuming that Apple delivers at the low end of the range, the company will likely report just a little over $66.00 per share in 2013. At a 15 P/E ratio, that would put Apple at $990 a share before the end of next October.
In the post-financial crisis era, Apple’s P/E ratio peaked at 35.87 in fiscal Q4 2009. Since that time, the stock has underwent a very long multi-quarter process of P/E compression until things sort of flattened out in fiscal Q4 2011. Since that time, Apple’s P/E ratio has more or less stabilized and has been well contained within a range of 14.5 to 15.5. One can very safely assume that Apple will continue to trade around this level for the foreseeable future. It’s right near the S&P 500 average and a fitting valuation for the world’s only mega-cap growth company.
The chart below shows Apple’s average quarterly P/E ratio from Q1 2010 until Q4 2012. As you can see, the curve began to flatten out a little over year ago around fiscal Q3 2011. And since that time, Apple has more or less traded at the same 14.5 to 15.5 P/E ratio level


This flattening out of Apple’s P/E compression curve clearly indicates that the market believes Apple’s true value relative to its actual earnings stands at roughly a 15 multiple. That is the level at which the market has been very comfortable pricing shares of Apple on a very consistent basis over the past year and a half.
Go back to Apple’s fiscal Q1 2012 for example. The day before Apple reported earnings, the stock was trading at a 15.4 P/E ratio. Apple reported one of the biggest earnings blowouts in the company’s history which caused Apple’s P/E ratio to fall from 15.4 down to 12.5 over night.
As a result of this collapse in the P/E ratio, Apple saw one of the biggest rallies in its history which aimed to correct Apple’s overly depressed valuation. The stock went on an almost vertical parabolic rally from $420 a share up to $644 in just two and a half months time. This rally helped bring Apple back to its center of gravity near the 15-P/E ratio level.
In fact, since June 2011, any time Apple’s valuation fell substantially below a 15 P/E ratio, the stock found a lot of buying interest which helped bring Apple up to fair value at 15x earnings.
Yet, aside of the issue of valuation, Apple is now also technically oversold and trading at a level that will likely constitute the low-end of the range for the stock over the next few months. While Apple may very well revisit these lows at some point in time over the coming weeks, it is still sitting near the low-end of the range. That’s what makes Apple an extraordinary buying opportunity today.
Buying Apple down here at $630 a share will make any fund manager’s year. It’s an easy 60 percent gainer over the next 12-month period. Apple should be a top holding of the average fund, and smarter fund managers are riding this thing all the way to the bank. It is pretty much a no brainer at these levels.
Finally, it is important to note that we’re already starting to see a lot of very interesting parallels between the hyper-bearish sentiment in Apple during the fall of 2011 and the hyper bearish sentiment that we’re seeing in Apple in the fall of 2012 (today).
In both years, the sentiment reached a bearish extreme peak despite the fact that Apple was busy selling millions upon millions of iPhones and showing no signs of actual weakness whatsoever. In both 2011 and 2012, the sentiment was driven by the same sort of abstract and non-concrete B.S. we basically see in every sentiment driven sell-off in Apple. Instead of pointing to any actual or real issues impacting Apple’s sales or margins, the attack on Apple has been largely very vague and very general at best.
In 2011, the bears argued that the passing of Steve Jobs meant the death of innovation at Apple. And as an example of this, the bears pointed to Apple’s lack of innovation with the so-called “disappointing” iPhone 4S. While Wall Street was disappointed with the iPhone 4S, the rest of the planet was busy buying the device in droves. During the launch quarter, the iPhone 4S represented 1 out of every 4 smartphones sold which was by far Apple’s biggest penetration within the smartphone space. Even though the form factor didn’t change, the iPhone 4S was far more successful than the iPhone 4 in terms of penetration within the smartphone market.
In 2012, we’re seeing the same exact nonsense. Wall Street by all accounts appears to be largely disappointed with the iPhone 5. The bears have argued that Apple’s fumble with its Maps App suggests that the company lacks leadership without Steve Jobs. A fund manager even argued that the iPhone 5 felt more like a toy instead of a smartphone, and that his personal assessment somehow suggests that Apple will struggle to sell iPhone 5’s.
Meanwhile, Apple is busy selling every iPhone 5 it can make and has already suggested that it plans to sell 50-60 million iPhones this quarter which would drive EPS up to nearly $20.00 or 44.2 percent higher than the year-ago period. Yet, instead of breaking out above $700 a share in an effort to stay ahead of P/E compression that will surely hit the stock once Apple reports earnings, Apple has tumbled 12 percent off of its highs. Apple is setting up to repeat what happened in January 2012 and it seems a lot of people are just sitting there twiddling their thumbs.
In 2011, we had Steve Cortez leading the bear raid against Apple. Cortez was the most prominent Apple bear with his admitted big short position on the stock that he was not shy about disclosing pretty much every day on Fast Money. On November 25, 2011, Apple’s stock reached $363.50 a share. Exactly four months later, Apple’s stock-price was 75.17 percent higher and we never heard from Cortez again.
While Cortez lead the bear raid in the fall of 2011, Doug Kass of Seabreeze Partners is leading the bear raid in the fall of 2012 today. It will be interesting to see if Kass has any comment about his Apple short position or any comment about his commentary on why Apple is peaking when the stock rallies to $1000 a share next year. Like Cortez, we probably won’t hear from Kass until he comes out with another recommendation to short Apple at $1000 a share.
Apple is very cheap at these levels and is getting very close to a final bottom. While it could very well rebound and then struggle a little after earnings, the fact of the matter is, Apple at $630 a share presents us with an extraordinary buying opportunity. The stock is headed straight for $1000 a share. Don’t get too caught up in bearish sentiment. It’s time to buy Apple.Source http://appleinsider.com
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details of the new Bell Canada and Astral Media proposal for CRTC

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details of new Bell Canada and Astral Media proposal for CRTC : Bell Canada and Astral Media Inc. have submitted a new proposal to the federal broadcast regulator, saying they’ve found ways to address the CRTC’s concerns over the level of ownership concentration in some markets.
The companies say in the joint announcement Monday that the revised deal is worth $3.38 billion, subject to approval by the CRTC and the Competition Bureau — about the value of the original deal.

Bell Canada’s parent (TSX:BCE) originally agreed in March to buy Montreal-based Astral (TSX:ACM.A) for $3.4-billion but the CRTC killed the deal last month — saying Bell would end up with too much market share in some areas, despite the companies’ view that they had stayed within regulatory thresholds.

We heard Canadians and the CRTC loud and clear — they want assurance that Astral joining with Bell Media will directly benefit consumers and creators,” BCE chief executive and president George Cope said in the statement.

“We’re ready to deliver more choice for listeners and viewers, more opportunity for content creators, and more competition for the broadcasting industry,” Cope said.

“Bell and Astral are happy to move forward with a new proposal that benefits all Canadians, in both official languages, in communities large and small across the nation, with new ideas, new funding and new choices.”

Ian Greenberg, president and CEO of Astral Media, said the companies are “committed to making sure that the consumer always comes first.”

He repeated the two companies’ position that there will need to be “constant investment and innovation” in a rapidly changing media landscape, where foreign broadcasters are having an greater impact.

“Together, Astral and Bell Media have the scale to invest, compete and deliver on the opportunities ahead for all Canadians,” Greenberg said.

They’re aiming to close the deal by June 1, although each company has the right to postpone the closing date to July 31.

The companies say their new proposal includes a “revised package of tangible benefits” to support Canadian TV and radio content, promote home-grown talent and engage consumers in the broadcasting system.

Bell has also asked for an CRTC exception to allow the Montreal station TSN Radio 690 (CKGM) continue to operate as an English-language sport talk radio channel.

Bell and Astral say details of the new Astral-Bell proposal will be made available by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission when it launches a public consultation on the application.

BCE will continue to pay about $50 per class A share of Astral (TSX:ACM.A) and $54.83 per class B share (TSX:ACM.B), including a combination of cash and up to $750 million of BCE shares.

However, the agreement between the companies will be amended so that Astral can pay its shareholders a dividend of 50 cents on Feb. 1 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 15.

Astral class A shares were up more than four per cent, or $1.85, to $46.25 in the early going on the Toronto Stock Exchange, while B class shares were up more than nine per cent to $53.89.

BCE shares were up eight cents to $42.07.

Astral Media owns 25 TV specialty services including the Movie Network, and more than 80 radio stations.

Bell has postponed the deadline for the deal until Dec. 16 and both parties can further extend it by one month.

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Why Nokia stock prices rose november 19 2012

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Why Nokia shares prices rose november 19 2012 : Nokia shares rose about 5.5 percent to 2.23 euros today after the trading opened in the morning. It is believed that the reports about strong sales of new Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices in Germany led to this increase in share prices.
Nokia acknowledged on Facebook page that they are working with retailers and partners to meet the demand as it got sold out at many stores.

    We are very pleased with the great interest in our new Lumia smartphones. Due to high demand we have received reports that the Lumia 920 is already sold out in many stores. We are already working on that again, all models in the colors will be available in Germany as soon as possible to get ready in the shops are.

I think it’s a good news for Nokia. If they can deliver Windows Phone 8 devices on time to all the countries as soon as possible, they can meet everyone’s expectation.


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Apple stock analysis november 19 2012

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Apple stock analysis november 19 2012 : Apple Inc. (AAPL) advanced the most in six months as an analyst at Topeka Capital Markets said the shares are undervalued after retreating from a record high in September.

The shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple rose 4.1 percent to $549.17 at 10:19 a.m. in New York, and earlier touched $550 for the largest gain since May 21. The stock peaked at a record of $702.10 on Sept. 19.

“The sell off in Apple’s stock over the past eight weeks has gotten to the point of being ‘insanely insane’ given the depressed valuation, new blockbuster products for the holiday season, the attractive long-term growth opportunities that lie ahead and the company’s ability to distribute significant cash flow to investors,” Brian White, an analyst at Topeka Capital Markets, wrote in a research report today. He recommends buying the shares and has a 12-month price estimate of $1,111.

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How will impact fiscal cliff on auto industry 2013

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Stock market today - How will impact fiscal cliff on auto industry 2013 : The dangers for the US economy posed by the so-called 'fiscal cliff' of tax rises and spending cuts if agreement is not reached on closing the yawning federal budget deficit, are now causing concern among automakers.
Failure to reach an agreement could tip the US economy into recession in 2013, commentators say. While the smart money is on a deal being done in time, agreement between the President and (Republican led) Congress is yet to be reached.  If it is not reached by the end of the year, automatic tax rises and spending cuts worth US$600bn will be triggered from January 1. The 'cliff' is supposed to act as an incentive to reach consensus, however difficult (and it is), and help focus minds on getting budgetary agreement by the end of this year.

Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, has warned in a speech this week that the fiscal cliff poses a "substantial threat" to the US economic recovery.

The possible consequences for the US economy are now also beginning to provide concern to the auto industry in the US, which is continuing to enjoy recovering volume and profitability despite a relatively weak US economy.

A number of executives have recently voiced their concerns, including Bill Ford and Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne. Ford noted that it is “vitally important for the economy that we work this out" and Marchionne admitted that he has been following the issue with “much anxiety”.

However, Lacey Plache, chief economist at Edmunds, sees compromise ahead. The “good news,” she says, “is that even the experts assign a low probability to the government doing nothing about these potential fiscal changes. The more likely compromise scenarios involve more limited tax hikes and spending cuts and, as such would have a more limited economic impact, including on car sales in 2013.”

Edmunds forecasts a 15m unit light vehicle car market for the US in 2013 and sees limited risk to that forecast.

Plache notes that President Obama ran on a platform of raising taxes and has strongly supported letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire for relatively affluent individuals. But she says that such tax increases would affect only about 4-5% of car buyers and these wealthy buyers would be less likely to not make car purchases.

Another potential tax rate change identified by Plache is the failure to extend the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch for inflation. She says that would affect nearly 30m Americans in the prime car-buying income brackets and is therefore “unlikely to happen since both Democrats and Republicans have traditionally supported the patch”.

The one likely tax change that would affect the majority of car buyers is the elimination of the 2% payroll tax cut, but this cut was always in place as a temporary measure for one year and as such was not likely to have been spent on new car payments expected to last three years on average.

Plache says that the likely tax rate changes should not substantially lower car sales in the near term. In the longer run, though, she cautions that the growth of car sales could slow if higher tax rates for the "wealthy" result in enough less spending and investment that job cuts result.

As far as federal spending goes, the likely impacts for car demand are also limited. The spending cuts appear to be less at risk for going into effect than the tax increases, Plache notes. “President Obama has said that he would oppose the US$55bn in defence spending cuts, for one, and he is unlikely to support any cuts that result in significant job reductions,” she maintains. The one likely spending cut she identifies, the end of extended unemployment benefits, should not directly affect car buyers since the vast majority of recipients are unlikely to be buying new cars.

Edmunds.com forecasts US sales of 15m light vehicles in 2013, an increase of 4% over the 14.4m total expected in 2012. Economic uncertainty due to unresolved fiscal issues at home and (actual and feared) spillover effects from slowing economies abroad will continue to slow the pace of American economic growth, including car sales, Edmunds says. But Edmunds also says that many of the same factors in play now will still support car sales momentum in 2013. It says the release of pent-up demand from buyers who deferred sales during the recession will intensify as credit conditions further loosen and the increasingly aged fleet drives more consumers back to the new car market.

Edmunds also points out that sales will receive a boost in 2013 from an expected nearly 500,000 additional lease returners compared to 2012, who will lease or buy a new vehicle when their current leases terminate.

But top level auto industry eyes are sure to be on the federal budget negotiations ahead. The US light vehicle market recovery since 2009 has raised volumes on lean cost bases for a big profitability boost. Moreover, it has been an upbeat story that has helped to counter bottom line negatives elsewhere in the world (notably Europe). Bill Ford sums up the prevailing feeling right now: “There seems to be good will on both sides to get it done,” he told reporters this week. “But Ford is not isolated from what happens to the rest of the economy.”

(source http://www.just-auto.com/ )
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Daimler profit margins expected 2013

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Stock market today - Daimler profits prediction 2013 : Mercedes-Benz maker warns that it will miss its earnings forecast this year by about €1bn and will not improve profit margins next year as expected

Germany's Daimler warned on Wednesday that it would miss its earnings forecast this year by about €1bn (£808m) and would not improve profit margins next year as expected, blaming "significantly more difficult market conditions".

To combat the accelerated slump in the western European car market, Daimler revealed plans to cut €2bn in costs by the end of 2014 to support sagging returns at its core Mercedes-Benz Cars division, the bulk of which would be front loaded.

The luxury carmaker, in financial results inadvertently released a day ahead of schedule, said it now expected only €8bn in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) from its ongoing business in 2012, rather than the original outlook for flat profits of about €9bn.

"Due to the economic challenges, Daimler will not match the high prior-year EBIT in full-year 2012, but will still post good earnings once again," the chief executive, Dieter Zetsche, said in the statement sent out by email.

Most analysts no longer expected the car and truck maker to maintain its forecast for 2012, which was supposed to be a "transitional year" that would pave the way next year for the group to hit divisional targets that had been in place since February 2011.

"We regard Daimler's Q3 numbers combined with the muted outlook for the rest of this year and 2013 as a major setback for the Daimler bulls. We continue to believe investors are finding better risk/return in VW and BMW," the Credit Suisse analyst Arndt Ellinghorst wrote following the results.

Earlier on Wednesday, Volkswagen reaffirmed operating profit would be flat this year, while BMW's chief financial officer told Reuters in an interview that the group would retain its 2012 outlook.

The Bernstein analyst Max Warburton called its decline versus BMW and Volkswagen "saddening", seeing little hope for investors over the next 12 months in part because he expects Daimler will have to cut its dividend either for this year or the next.

Daimler's CEO had already scaled back his ambitions somewhat, saying last month that the Mercedes division would fall short of its profit target despite record vehicle sales.

He had also cast doubt on the 2013 goal of raising the EBIT margin for Mercedes to 10%, which Zetsche has aimed for since May 2010.

In the statement on Wednesday, Daimler said Mercedes would only earn €4.4bn this year compared with the €5.2bn originally sought. All other industrial divisions – trucks, vans, and buses – were each forecast to earn roughly €200m less than previously expected.

Daimler added that it could no longer achieve its divisional EBIT margin targets next year, which included reaching 10% at Mercedes and 8% at Trucks. Last year they were 9% and 6.5%, respectively.

"The achievement of those targets has become much more challenging due to the significantly more difficult market conditions prevailing at present," the Daimler statement said.

"The group assumes that the targets will be not met until a later date, but continues to pursue them vigorously, with the support of measures taken and programmes initiated in all divisions," it added.

A significant portion of the planned €2bn in cost cuts at Mercedes will be achieved by the end of 2013, in part by reducing fixed costs, spending for research and development and fixed capital investment.

The company also said its third-quarter operating profit dropped 2% to €1.92bn, better than the average forecast of €1.87bn given by analysts in a Reuters poll of 12 banks and brokerages.

Daimler burned through €200m in cash during the third quarter mainly due to inventory stockbuilding of the new Mercedes A-Class ahead of its September launch. Net liquidity in its industrial business shrank to €8.21bn at the end of September – its lowest level since the end of the first quarter in 2010.

Concerned by the high level of cash burn so far this year even before making a substantial future payment needed to increase its stake in its Chinese import sales company, Bernstein's Warburton recommended investors steer clear of Daimler for now.

"Arguments have been put forward for Daimler – arguments based on model cycle and an element of 'surely it can get better'. One day Daimler will likely get better," he wrote. "But right now it is hard to see why."

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Auto sales growth forecast 2013

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Stock market today - Auto sales growth forecast 2013 : , although at a slower rate than in recent years. Edmunds.com forecasts sales of 15 million light vehicles in 2013, an increase of 4 percent over the 14.4 million expected in 2012. This would make 2013 the first year of non-double-digit sales growth since the recovery began. Economic uncertainty due to unresolved fiscal issues at home and (actual and feared) spillover effects from slowing economies abroad will continue to slow the pace of American economic growth, including car sales.

But many of the same factors in play now will still support car sales momentum in 2013. The release of pent-up demand from buyers who deferred sales during the recession will intensify as credit conditions further loosen and the increasingly aged fleet drives more consumers back to the new car market. Importantly, sales will receive a boost in 2013 from an expected nearly 500,000 additional lease returners compared to 2012, who will lease or buy a new vehicle when their current leases terminate.
More Sales Per Driver ExpectedEdmunds.com's forecast assumes that the rate of new car sales per licensed driver will continue to increase as it has each year since hitting a recession low of 0.05 in 2009. This rate is expected to be 0.067 in 2012 and 0.0695 in 2013. Even after 4 years of growth, sales per driver will remain substantially below its yearly average of 0.086 from 1999-2007. However, new car sales (and thus sales per driver) were likely inflated during that period because consumers spent more freely due to the wealth effects of the housing price bubble and the stock market bubble.
Prior to these "bubble years," annual sales per driver averaged 0.083 from 1993-98. The driver population is larger now than in the mid-1990s, having increased by 2 million drivers per year on average since 1991. But, while nearly 20 years of quality improvements have undoubtedly led to less frequent vehicle replacement, there is likely room for the rate of sales per driver to grow beyond 0.0695. Leasing is more readily available now, which can lead to more frequent replacement. And the rate of 0.0695 assumes conservative growth given that sales per driver have increased 10 percent per year on average during the recovery. (Growth of 10 percent in 2013 would result in a rate of sales per driver of 0.074, or 16.1 million auto sales.)
Influx of Lease Returners to Create a Sales SurgeA key reason that sales will increase at a faster rate than drivers in 2013 is that substantially more car leases will terminate in 2013 than in 2012, increasing the pool of likely buyers. The growth in lease returners reflects the slowdown in leasing during the recession that bottomed out in 2009, resulting in many fewer lessees available to return to market in 2012. The revival of leasing since 2010 should noticeably impact new car sales in 2013. Assuming that 70 percent of 2010 leases were 3-year leases and 30 percent of 2011 leases were 2-year leases and that 75 percent of lease expirations result in the lease or purchase of a new car, then 484,000 more lessees will return to the market in 2013 than in 2012.

Release of Pent-Up Demand: Still Going StrongThe greater number of sales from lease returners will add strong support to auto sales in 2013. Edmunds.com expects other factors to contribute as well. In particular, the release of pent-up demand from buyers who deferred sales during the recession will not only continue in 2013, but will likely do so at a higher rate than in 2012. One source that could draw more consumers back to the market is the increasingly aging fleet — the average age of vehicles in operation reached 11 years in the first quarter of 2012, according to Experian, despite an increase in vehicle trade-in age this year. Another source could be a more favorable pricing environment. With all of the top automakers generally healthy and looking to grow, the potential for supply to outpace demand and lead to lower net prices for consumers is high.
Greater access to credit also could spur a greater release of pent-up demand in 2013. After severely contracting during the recession, credit began expanding in the first half of 2010. The share of subprime new car loans returned to pre-recession levels in the second quarter of 2012. While the return of subprime lending could suggest a slowdown in the expansion of credit, the Federal Reserve's new open-ended asset-buying plan is intended to keep banks flush with cash and thus willing to increase lending. Even though the main target of the Fed's plan is mortgage lending, auto loan borrowers could benefit from spillover effects. Plus, the actual number of subprime loans is still below 2007 levels due to the current lower level of sales, raising the possibility of continued growth — although the fallout from the subprime bubble makes it unlikely that subprime borrowers will regain access to credit markets to the same extent as during the bubble. There is also room for credit expansion in the prime segment — recent Edmunds.com data showed that more consumers are getting auto loans with zero percent APRs, a trend that could bring out more buyers if it continues in 2013.
The Sales Growth SlowdownAlthough the above factors will support auto sales in 2013, Edmunds.com expects auto sales to grow at a slower pace next year because, quite simply, economic uncertainty continues and risk to the economy abounds. Even though the Fed's recently updated forecasts for 2013 GDP and unemployment both showed improvement, the global situation remains precarious. While numerous analysts are currently more optimistic following the launch of the Fed's plan and a similar one from the European Central Bank both aimed at triggering growth by promoting investment and spending, it remains unclear whether such plans will actually work as intended; in fact, the success of previous plans has been much debated. The potential for the economic recovery to remain sluggish in 2013 cannot be ignored and as a result, the downside risk to auto sales growth remains significant.For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Yield Curve on 2012-11-20

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The very short end of the yield curve continues to behave erratically. My best guess to its cause is still the concerns relating to the fiscal cliff. Nonetheless, the yield curve as a whole shifted up today. That shift might be attributed to the following action by the Federal Reserve chairman, as noted in a Bloomberg news article (link here):

“The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 1.67 percent from 1.61 percent as Bernanke’s comments suggested that a fiscal deal could remove impediments to growth. Stocks erased losses, with the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index advancing 0.1 percent to 1,387.82 at the close of trading in New York after losing as much as 0.7 percent.”

Newsmap (website link here) suggests that the “hottest” news at around 3 P.M. today are Twinkies, Chinese political news, and something positive relating to the fiscal cliff situation. I only included business news in the filter. For those of you that have never heard of Newsmap, here’s the description from the creator’s blog (link here):

“Newsmap is an application that visually reflects the constantly changing landscape of the Google News news aggregator.”

Thus, it appears the change in the yield curve today is due to two pieces of news – one affecting the very short end and the other affecting the longer end of the curve.

Gold, Silver Prices rose watch U.S budget deal

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Stock market news today : Gold, Silver Prices rose watch U.S budget deal : Gold prices were rising Monday as confidence increased that Congress would reach a U.S. budget deal to avoid deep spending cuts and tax relief measures that could automatically go into effect at the beginning of 2013.
Gold for December delivery was rising $18 to $1,732.70 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price traded as high as $1,732.70 and as low as $1,713.40 an ounce, while the spot price was jumping $20, according to Kitco's gold index.

Silver prices for December delivery were gaining 66 cents to $33.03 an ounce, while the U.S. dollar index was shedding 0.48% to $80.80.

Preliminary feedback on the so-called fiscal cliff talks suggested negotiations were "constructive" and on a promising path to reach a deal.

In other words, the headlines suggest early negotiations struck a positive tone, but politicians have outlined few, if any, particulars to the deal. Gold investors may be wise to keep a close watch on budget discussions

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Reliance stock prices Analysis november 20 2012

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Reliance stock prices Analysis november 20 2012 : Reliance Capital Ltd BSE 0.01 % surged over 2 per cent in early trade on Tuesday after the financial services major has begun talks to sell 26 per cent equity in its general insurance arm to a foreign partner.
"The company is also open to selling further stake in life insurance and mutual fund units," PTI said in a report on Monday. Reliance Capital has already sold 26 per cent stake in each of its mutual funds and life insurance units to Japanese financial services major Nippon Life.

At 09:40 am, Reliance Capital was trading 2.9 per cent higher at Rs 386.75. It has hit a low of Rs 382.20 and a high of Rs 387.95 in trade today.

Nippon holds 26 per cent stake in Reliance Capital Asset Management, which it acquired for about Rs 1,450 crore. Besides, Nippon has also purchased a 26 per cent stake in Reliance Life for over Rs 3,000 crore.

Currently, foreign investment is capped at 26 per cent in the insurance business in India, but there are no such cap in the mutual funds segment. However, the government is considering increasing the foreign investment limit in the insurance sector to 49 per centFor the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Analysis Easyjet dividend profit margins jump

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Stock market today - Analysis Easyjet dividend profit margins jump : EasyJet, the biggest airline operating in Scotland, delighted investors yesterday with a high-flying set of results, but even a doubling of the dividend failed to quieten its founder and rebel shareholder.
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has been waging war on the easyJet board over its remuneration and aircraft investment plans. He has also called for chairman Sir Michael Rake to step down, claiming he is too busy.

Yesterday, despite the budget carrier's 38% rise in pre-tax profit to a record £317 million on revenues up 11% to £3.85 billion, and a 5% jump in the share price as the dividend was hiked from 10.5p to 21p, a spokesman for Sir Stelios said: "Mike Rake has got too many fingers in too many pies - there are still questions remaining."

He said Sir Stelios was claiming a couple of victories: in the raising of the dividend from one-fifth to one-third of pre-tax profit; and the efficient utilisation of the existing fleet.

"The cash that will be spent on the dividend and paying down debt suggests this is not a company about to go on a spending spree for new aircraft, which is the last thing we want given the situation in Europe."

Carolyn McCall, easyJet's chief executive, said: "The strength of easyJet's business model and strategy coupled with the hard work and dedication of the easyJet team has delivered record profits as well as a significant increase in returns for shareholders during the year."

She said shareholders would "benefit from easyJet's success with £85m of dividends", adding that the figures "demonstrate easyJet is a structural winner in the European short-haul market against both legacy and low-cost competition".

Pre-tax profit margins were up from 7.2% to 8.2% despite a £182m increase in unit fuel costs; passenger numbers rose 7.1% to 58.4 million; and return on capital jumped from 9.8% to 11.3%.

Load factors were up from 87.3% to 88.7%, with revenue per seat up by an underlying 7.5%.

Part of the improvement was down to the increased proportion of larger A320 aircraft in the fleet, easyJet said, and to exceptionally low levels of disruption compared with previous years.

EasyJet carried more than 4.5 million passengers to and from its four Scottish airports in the year to June, and expects that to reach almost 5 million in the current year. The airline will fly six new routes from Edinburgh next March, including the capital's first direct flights to Berlin, Hamburg and Reykjavik, creating 160 jobs and adding 140,000 passengers a year.

Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said: "Set against the difficulties the industry has been facing, typified by the recent Iberia announcement [of a major restructuring], easyJet has managed to shoot the lights out."

Analysts at Oriel Securities said: "We continue to believe the shares are cheap ... the change to the dividend policy is a strong signal of confidence in the future."

Espirito Santo's analysts said the current year would be "relatively subdued - with cost headwinds from fuel, exchange rates, higher airport charges and a more normal level of operational disruption"

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Why Xstrata merger with Glencore

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Stock market News Today - Why Xstrata merger with Glencore : Both Xstrata and Glencore shareholders have voted overwhelmingly to merge the mining and commodity giants. Almost 80% of Xstrata investors voted in favour of the $31bn (£19.5bn) deal.
However, they did not reach a large enough majority on a separate resolution to keep on the mining company's key managers under a "golden handcuffs" retention plan.

Earlier, Glencore said 99.42% of its shareholders supported the deal between the two Anglo-Swiss companies. The merger would still need competition approval by the European Commission.

The merger offer was first announced in February, when Glencore offered 2.8 shares for each Xstrata share. After months of negotiations, the offer was increased to 3.05 shares in September.

Under the revised terms, Glencore's chief executive Ivan Glasenberg demanded to head the combined group.

At Tuesday's Xstrata meeting, the company's shareholders did not pass a resolution that would have seen a £140m retention package for 72 of its senior management.

The vote will be seen as a coup for Glencore's Mr Glasenberg, and prompted Xstrata chairman John Bond to announce that he would step down once a new independent chairman of the merged group was found.

Xstrata chief executive Mick Davis expressed regret at the result of the pay vote, which the board had recommended.

"I regret the decision of shareholders not to approve these retention arrangements for the members of my senior and operational management deemed crucial to the success of the combined group as, in my view, this introduces unnecessary risks to the merged company's future value proposition," he said.

"Shareholders, however, have spoken clearly and we respect their views.

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How payday loan bullies are stealing your cash

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Stock market news today - How payday loan bullies are stealing your cash : Payday loan companies have been caught threatening customers, grabbing cash without permission and rolling over debts as many as 12 times.
A devastating report has revealed how these controversial firms, which offer short- term instant loans with annual interest of up to 14,000 per cent, are leaving customers struggling with massive debts and unable to buy food or pay bills.

Payday lenders claim they are performing a public service — making it easier for  borrowers who can’t get easy credit from banks to pay bills. They say their customers are generally satisfied.

But the investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) revealed an 800 per cent jump in the number of complaints about such companies in just two years.

It also discovered these firms were dipping into customers’ bank accounts without asking — leaving borrowers unable to meet essential living costs.

A spokesman for debt charity StepChange said: ‘This report reveals the systemic failures at the heart of the payday loan industry. This is its last chance to show that it’s serious about protecting customers from the rogue elements with which the sector appears to be riddled.’

The OFT found some lenders were actively encouraging customers to delay paying off their loans in a process called rolling over.

This means customers don’t pay back their original borrowing within the agreed time and roll it over for another few weeks.

When doing this, customers are hit with huge charges and extra interest, which can cause the size of a debt to balloon.

For example, a borrower with QuickQuid — one of Britain’s biggest lenders — who rolled over a £400 loan the maximum of five times over two months would see their debt swell to £1,286 — more than three times the amount they had originally borrowed. The report revealed that 80 per cent of firms fail to check whether borrowers could afford the extra costs, and let customers roll over loans up to 12 times.

Others did not put a limit on the size of debts, so loans ran out of control even faster.

Payday firms also failed to check how many loans a borrower had at one time.

StepChange said it had seen borrowers juggling as many as 36 loans at once and owing tens of thousands of pounds.

But when borrowers start to struggle with their repayments, they are often tormented by their lender.

The OFT found some payday lenders would bully customers, constantly ringing them  at work or home and refusing to deal with debt charities.

It is investigating several  firms, and has issued a strongly worded warning to payday lending trade groups, saying they need to improve urgently.

Britain’s biggest payday lender Wonga says it has not received a letter from the OFT saying it is being investigated. Debt charities say the average payday loan borrower owes £1,458, typically more than their monthly  salary. Some owe as much as £17,000.

An estimated three million people turned to payday lenders in the past year.

There are around 250 of these firms in the UK, and they are raking in an estimated £1.9 billion a year from desperate borrowers who can’t get credit from their banks.

A spokesman for payday lenders’ trade body the Consumer Finance Association says: ‘We understand the OFT’s concerns around some of the practices adopted  by some lesser players in the payday-  lending market.

‘Our biggest advocates are our customers themselves. So as well as highlighting  areas of poor practice, the OFT must acknowledge the high levels of satisfaction and the value our customers place on short-term credit products.’

Sourcer http://www.thisismoney.co.uk
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Hot Gold Stocks today november 19 2012

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Hot Gold Stocks today november 19 2012 : Gold jumped one percent on Monday, improving last week’s losses, on augmented risk appetite as the dollar show flexibility. Spot gold increased 1.02 percent to $1,731.00 an ounce by 1430 GMT, having former rise to $1,732.10. U.S. gold advanced 0.97 percent to $1,731.40. The gold market’s consideration is mainly focused on the financial plan talks between U.S. President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders.

New York’s SPDR Gold Trust GLD, holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded-fund (ETF), jumped 0.22 percent on Friday, while those of the major silver-backed ETF, New York’s iShares Silver Trust SLV, dropped 0.45 percent for the same period.
Here we are going to discuss some gold stocks showing positive moves.

Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX)
During mid day trading, Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) jumped +1.51% to $34.23 and the volume was 3.11 million shares. Its fifty two week range was $30.84-$52.43. The total market capitalization remained $33.74 billion.

ABX is ahead its 52 week low with 11.09% and its last month price volatility remained 2.89%. Its beta coefficient was 0.42 with a target price of $51.40. Company’s current year earnings per share grew with 29.15% while the five year EPS growth rate was +25.85%.

Kinross Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:KGC)
Kinross Gold Corp reported that the Company remains on pathway to achieve its fiscal 2012 production estimate of approximately 2.5-2.6 million gold alike ounces from its ongoing operations, and its expenditure of sales prediction of $690-$725 per gold equivalent ounce.

Kinross Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:KGC) +1.37% to $9.63 in mid day trading and total traded volume was 2.68 million shares. KGC has market cap of 10.96 billion while its outstanding shares are 1.14 billion.

Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM)
Shares of Newmont Mining Corporation entered into oversold region, striking an RSI reading of 29.0, after changing hands as low as $47.86 per share. By evaluation, the present RSI reading of the S&P/TSX Composite Index is 32.9.

Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM) advanced +1.28% to $47.26 with the total traded volume of 2.48 million shares in mid day trading on Monday. In its share capital NEM has 491.54 million outstanding shares while 490.11 million shares have been floated in market. NEM has insider ownership of 0.02% with its institutional ownership remained 83.03%.

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United parcel service stock Analysis 2013

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United parcel service stock Analysis 2013 : Leading cargo carrier firm United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) has introduced new service rates for 2013 that will be effective from December 31, 2012.
The new published rates will reflect a 4.5% hike for all UPS Air and U.S. origin international services. Further, the UPS Ground services will now be costlier by 4.9%.

The existing rates have been revised to take into account the effects of higher base rates and reduced fuel surcharges. For the UPS Air and International Services, average base rate went up by 6.5% and is partially adjusted by the 2% dip in fuel surcharge prices.

On the other hand, increase in the UPS Ground service rates underlines a 5.9% jump in average base rate, adjusted by 1% lower Ground fuel surcharge rates.

Atlanta, Georgia based United Parcel also announced a 4.9% hike in its Next Day Air Freight, Second Day Air Freight and Three Day Freight shipment rates within and between the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

We believe that the renewed rates will likely bring in more profits for the company. However, most of the customers will be affected by the inflated rates amidst the prevailing sluggish macroeconomic conditions.

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UPS stock prediction 2013, ups shares prices 2013, UPS Ground service rates, UPS Service Rates 2013, ups stock forecast 2013.For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Apple Stock analysis november 20 2012

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Apple Stock analysis november 20 2012 : Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) led the cavalry higher yesterday, rebounding from heavy selling over the last two months to give the beleaguered market some leadership.  Leading stocks, especially in tech, had been breaking down the hardest during this multi-week correction, which is a sign of diminished risk appetite that traders do not like to see. AAPL surged more than 7% yesterday on no news. 
The stock is still below all of its moving averages, but as we often see, the 21-day MA is acting like a magnet.  There is a gap at around $575 in AAPL that could pose as some short-term resistance if we get there over the next few trading days.For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Hewlett-Packard HPQ stock november 20 2012

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Hewlett-Packard HPQ stock november 20 2012 : Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) is down nearly 11% this morning after “major improprieties” have come to light in its $10 billion acquisition of Autonomy.  The “seriously flawed” transaction resulted in a $8.8 billion asset impairment charge that was reported when the company reported earnings this morning.  The unforeseen issue was “linked to serious accounting improprieties, disclosures failures and outright misrepresentations at Autonomy that occurred prior to HP’s acquisition,” said HP.For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Best Health Care Provider stocks strong to buy This week

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Best Health Care Provider stocks strong to buy november 2012 : This week, seven Health Care Provider stocks are improving their overall ratings on Portfolio Grader. Each of these stocks is rated an “A” (“strong buy”) or “B” overall (“buy”).
UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) ups its rating to a B (“buy”) this week after earning a C (“hold”) in the week before. UnitedHealth Group provides healthcare services, including health benefit plans and services to national employers, non-employer based insurance options and health and well-being services for individuals aged 50 and older. In Portfolio Grader’s specific subcategories of Equity and Cash Flow, UNH also gets A’s. The stock currently has a trailing PE Ratio of 9.90. For more information, get Portfolio Grader’s complete analysis of UNH stock.

This is a strong week for Chemed (NYSE:CHE). The company’s rating climbs to B from the previous week’s C. Chemed provides hospice care, and plumbing and drain cleaning services in the United States. For more information, get Portfolio Grader’s complete analysis of CHE stock.

The rating of Healthways (NASDAQ:HWAY) moves up this week, rising from a C to a B. Healthways provides specialized, comprehensive diabetes and cardiac disease management services to physicians, health plans, and hospitals. For more information, get Portfolio Grader’s complete analysis of HWAY stock.

AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) improves from a C to a B rating this week. AmerisourceBergen is a pharmaceutical services company that offers drug distribution and related services to healthcare providers and pharmaceutical manufacturers. For more information, get Portfolio Grader’s complete analysis of ABC stock.

HealthSouth (NYSE:HLS) gets a higher grade this week, advancing from a C last week to a B. HealthSouth provides inpatient rehabilitative healthcare services. For more information, get Portfolio Grader’s complete analysis of HLS stock.

ExamWorks Group (NYSE:EXAM) is progressing from last week’s rating of B (“buy”) as the company improves to an A (“strong buy”) this week. ExamWorks Group is a provider of independent medical examinations, peer and bill reviews, and related services. For more information, get Portfolio Grader’s complete analysis of EXAM stock.

BioScrip (NASDAQ:BIOS) boosts its rating from a B to a A this week. BioScrip provides pharmacy and home health services in the United States. The stock has a trailing PE Ratio of 8.50. For more information, get Portfolio Grader’s complete analysis of BIOS stock.

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Download Stock Trader calendar 2013

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Format: Kindle Edition
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1-month Constant Maturity Yield Falling 6 Basis Points Today

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The 1-month constant maturity yield fell 6 basis points relative to yesterday, while changes of other maturities are within what I would consider normal fluctuations. In terms of news, there are no 4-week bill auction today. There are some positive chatter about the fiscal cliff. For example, here:

“Optimism that President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders will reach a deal on the budget deficit and avoid the "fiscal cliff" helped stocks notch their first advance in four days.”

Looking back, the 1-month yield on Nov 1, Nov 2, and Nov 3 are 0.06, 0.08, and 0.09. It is 0.07 today and 0.13 yesterday. From what I can tell, the jump most likely is due to the news about fiscal cliff.