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Friday, December 23, 2011
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: AT&T, Verizon Communications ...
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL ? December 21, 2011 ? Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include AT&T Inc. ( T), Verizon Communications Inc. ( VZ), Sprint Nextel Corp. ( S), MetroPCS Communications Inc. ( PCS) and Leap Wireless International Inc. (LEAP).
Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513
Here are highlights from Tuesday?s Analyst Blog:
AT&T Scraps T-Mobile Merger
After many twists and turns, the AT&T Inc. ( T) and T-Mobile merger story finally reached in its last chapter, but with an unsuccessful ending. Following a nine-month fight to win approvals, the second largest U.S. wireless service provider dropped its $39 billion bid to purchase T-Mobile USA.
The move came a few weeks after AT&T withdrew its application from the Department of Justice (DoJ) following heavy regulatory attacks. The DoJ in August and the Federal Communications Commission in November blocked the proposed takeover citing concerns relating to unfair competition, layoffs, higher prices, lower innovation and investments in the industry. According to the regulators, the combination would have created a duopoly market for the U.S. wireless industry, giving AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc. ( VZ) almost 80% control over the U.S. wireless post-paid market.
In fact, even the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. ( S) had opposed to this merger. This was an obvious reaction as the combined company would be almost three times that of Sprint and consequently hurt its profitability. The failed deal comes as a respite for its turning post-paid wireless business. ??
Furthermore, the effects of the merger on smaller and lower-cost wireless carriers like MetroPCS Communications Inc. ( PCS) and Leap Wireless International Inc. (LEAP) was unclear. While the combination would have put pressure on these carriers to purchase more spectrums for future broadband networks, it would have also made deals and contracts more expensive and therefore impossible for the smaller players to outbid bigger competitors in spectrum auctions and business partnerships.
With the termination of the deal, AT&T?s hopes of becoming the largest U.S. wireless carrier, dethroning Verizon are shattered. The company was in need for additional airwaves to expand its advanced high-speed 4G services given its exponential growth in mobile broadband traffic. Already criticized for dropped calls and poor network coverage, AT&T will face more constraints in its capacity deployment than Verizon, no doubt hurting subscriber growth. Moreover, AT&T might lower its profit forecast for the next year as it had already assumed merger-related benefits and spending.
The collapse is no less a loss for T-Mobile. The fourth wireless operator will again have to struggle to deploy high-speed services in an intensely competitive environment. Since T-Mobile does not have substantial spectrum to deploy its 4G services and is continuously losing money, its parent company Deutsche Telekom is seeking another buyer.
AT&T agreed to pay T-Mobile $3 billion in cash and $1 billion for spectrum access for dropping the deal. As a result, the company will take a $4 billion charge in the fourth quarter against its takeover. AT&T and T-Mobile nevertheless has entered into the roaming agreement to sell each other?s product and services.
Announced in March, this was the largest takeover plan in the wireless industry since 2004.
We prefer to maintain our long-term Neutral recommendation on AT&T. The company retains the Zacks #3 (Hold) Rank for the short term (1?3 months).
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About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
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About Zacks
Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leon Zacks. As a PhD from MIT Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.
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Read the full analyst report on T
Read the full analyst report on VZ
Read the full analyst report on S
Read the full analyst report on PCS
Read the full analyst report on LEAP
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Monday, December 19, 2011
?Tis the Season! Weelicious Recipes for the Holidays
Weelicious creator Catherine McCord shares her top kid-friendly and low calorie holiday treat recipes.
Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/bAe_zpOMF30/
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
Drive Through Hoops To Save Money On Insurance - The ...
Of all the regular costs that dog car owners, liability insurance is among the cruelest. You only get the best rates if you never file claims, so careful drivers end up subsidizing the costs incurred by reckless ones. The best drivers can hope for is to find the lowest rate by shopping around and taking advantage of every discount.
Thousandaire advocates checking with your insurer for discounts. He found a way to score a defensive driving class discount by taking an online class. To make the deal even sweeter, he found an online coupon that saved $5 on the class.
If you have a clean driving record, you can call your insurance agent and ask if you're eligible for cheaper rates. If you get stonewalled, it may be time to start looking for quotes from competitors.
Save $220 on Car Insurance for Defensive Driving [Thousandaire]
Source: http://consumerist.com/2011/12/drive-through-hoops-to-save-money-on-insurance.html
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Intel merges four mobile units into one, argument over parking spaces forthcoming
Intel merges four mobile units into one, argument over parking spaces forthcoming originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
Europe debt woes prompt year-end flight from risk (Reuters)
SINGAPORE (Reuters) ? Asian shares fell into bear market territory for the year and commodities and the euro nursed stinging losses Thursday, as fears that Europe's debt crisis is still worsening prompted investors to dump riskier assets and seek shelter in the dollar.
The gloomy mood was not improved by a private sector survey indicating China's factory output will shrink again in December, adding to the headwinds facing a global economy struggling with sluggish U.S. growth and the euro zone sliding back into recession.
"We're quite bearish about the world at the moment," said Damien Boey, equity strategist at Credit Suisse in Sydney. "You're looking at basically the three major economies in the world causing problems."
European shares were expected to make an uncertain start, with financial bookmakers calling major indexes to open flat or slightly higher, while S&P 500 index futures were down 0.4 percent, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street.
The market view that a European Union summit last week had failed to produce a solution to the crisis was reinforced when Italy was forced to pay an eye-watering 6.47 percent on 5-year bonds Wednesday, a record borrowing cost for the euro era.
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HSBC China flash PMI: http://link.reuters.com/hyd55s
Japan BOJ Tankan: http://link.reuters.com/pez55s
Euro zone crisis in graphics: http://r.reuters.com/hyb65p
Interactive timeline: http://link.reuters.com/rev89r
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Japan's Nikkei fell 1.7 percent and MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was down 2.1 percent, following losses of around 1 percent on Wall Street and a steeper sell-off in Europe Wednesday.
The MSCI Asia ex-Japan is down 20 percent for 2011 -- the rule-of-thumb definition of a bear market -- while the Nikkei has lost about 18 percent. Both have underperformed global equities (.MIWD00000PUS), which have lost around 12.5 percent, and U.S. stocks (.SPX), which are only down around 3.5 percent.
Europe remains investors' biggest worry, with markets still braced for ratings agency downgrades of euro zone sovereigns.
"Markets are frustrated and disappointed, waiting for a road map on the resolution of the two-year-old debt crisis," said Ong Yi Ling, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore. "Risk assets are all down. The debt crisis will be with us at least through the first half of 2012."
SLOWING CHINA
Hong Kong (.HSI) and Shanghai's (.SSEC) benchmark indexes were among the biggest losers in Asia after the release of HSBC's China flash PMI, the latest piece of data to show the world's second largest economy losing steam.
Wider market reaction was muted, but the survey reinforced the consensus that China's manufacturers are struggling with waning global demand and tight credit conditions.
"Risk reduction has been a theme with investors looking to cut losses on the year and ahead of a choppy 2012," said Larry Jiang, chief investment strategist at Guotai Junan International Securities in Hong Kong.
Wednesday's stock market declines in the West were dwarfed by carnage in commodity markets, where oil, gold and copper shed 4-5 percent.
Gold has been hammered in recent days as fund managers liquidate their holdings, either to cover losses elsewhere or to lock in profits on an asset that is still up more than 10 percent for the year.
"Some macro hedge funds are liquidating gold holdings and taking profits in a difficult year," said James Steel, chief technical analyst at HSBC.
The precious metal fell further Thursday, losing 0.5 percent to around $1,566 an ounce, while U.S. crude oil inched up to $95.20 a barrel and Brent crude bounced more than 70 cents to around $105.80.
The euro fell as low as $1.2944, its weakest level since January 11, and was later steady around $1.2985.
A downgrade by ratings agency Fitch of five major European financial groups, including France's Credit Agricole to A-plus from AA-negative, added to the already euro-negative sentiment.
This comes on top of the prospect of further cuts by rival Standard & Poor's, which warned earlier this month it could downgrade the ratings of 15 of the 17 euro zone members.
"I can see the U.S. dollar keep trending higher while the euro flounders," said Joseph Capurso, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
(Additional reporting by Miranda Maxwell in Melbourne, Clement Tan in Hong Kong, Jane Lee in Kuala Lumpur and Frank Tang in New York; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
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NASA Backs Away from Imposing Controls on Commercial Crew Program (ContributorNetwork)
Alan Boyle of MSNBC reports that NASA has at the last minute revised its approach to the next phase of the commercial crew program, designed to develop private space craft to service the International Space Station through government subsidies.
NASA had planned, according to a proposed Commercial Crew Integrated Design Contract, to exert a great deal of control over the design of the commercial vehicles that would carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. However, thanks in large part due to lack of funding, the space agency will retain the relatively hands off approach it has employed for the cargo spacecraft being developed thus far.
How has NASA conducted the Commercial Orbital Transportation Systems program?
Under the COTS program, first initiated under President George W. Bush, NASA provided guidelines for the development of commercial cargo spacecraft. Certain milestones in the development and testing of these spacecraft were defined. Subsidy money was paid out once NASA had determined that each milestone was achieved. The advantage of this approach, which was stipulated as a Space Act Agreement, was that the commercial space companies retained flexibility over how they achieved each milestone, with NASA providing over all guidance.
How did NASA propose changing this arrangement for the crewed phase?
NASA proposed to exert a far greater control over the design and development of commercial spacecraft during the crewed phase. Designs would have to be approved by NASA. NASA would reserve to itself the ability to demand more testing at each milestone as it saw fit. To implement this new arrangement, hugely time consuming and expensive auditing requirements would be imposed. NASA would embed teams of its own employees to oversee the development of the crewed commercial spacecraft.
The commercial space companies and commercial space advocates chaffed at this proposed new arrangement. They maintained that it would result in unnecessary expense and would consume too much time. NASA responded that the new approach was necessary to ensure crew safety.
What changed?
Congress appropriated less than half of the Obama administration's request for commercial crew. NASA subsequently decided that it lacked the money to impose the arrangement dictated by the Commercial Crew Integrated Design Contract. The space agency has therefore chosen to retain the Space Act Agreement approach for the crewed phase. Currently, the first commercial crew flights to the ISS are scheduled for 2017.
What has been the political reaction to the revision?
Both Rep, Ralph Hall, the chairman of the House Science Committee, and the ranking member, Rep. Bernice Johnson, have expressed skepticism, citing concerns for crew safety. Both the Space Access Society and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation look upon the NASA decision with favor, however.
Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times and The Weekly Standard.
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