It is still fairly thin in analyst upgrades and downgrades as this week marks the return of investment banking and research departments from what is nearly a two-week hiatus. Here are the few stand-out calls we have seen early this morning with more than two hours to the open: Altera (NASDAQ: ALTR) Raised to Outperform at Wachovia. Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan. BCE (NYSE: BCE) Cut to Sector Perform at Scotia. Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan. Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) Raised to Outperform at Wachovia. PDL BioPharma (NASDAQ: PDLI) Raised to Neutral at...

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Like smart hedge fund operators, these CAPS investors have bet against a stock -- and won big.

CAPS members who score 100 points in 100 days have become some of the best investors around.

It's been a year of a few ups and a lot of downs for one of Light Reading's most-featured vendors

During the week of inactivity (a.k.a. vacation) I had time to reflect on the year that was 2008. If I had to describe 2008 in one word it would definitely be historic and shocking. OK that’s more than one word. Historic 2008 will long be remembered as the year in which large institutions disappeared in the matter [...]

Filed under: Market matters, Scandals, Research in Motion (RIMM), Barrick Gold (ABX), Canada, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT)

You can imagine my surprise when I checked the Canadian markets and saw them totally unchanged. After several refreshes when the zeroes didn't budge, I even panicked. Then I saw the headline (how did I miss it before) that trading was halted on the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange due to a computer glitch. Not only that, but there's also no estimate when trading will resume.

The exchanges have actually failed to open at the regular time of 9:30 a.m. EST, and as one reporter put it "have been dead in the water since." If this is frustrating and stressful for me, I can't imagine what the mood is like on Bay Street; how traders and other market professionals must feel.

I'm not sure what could be done if there are big swings and news out of the U.S. While it's true the Canadian markets don't totally track their American counterparts, as they're heavily weighted in oil and commodities and react to news from those sectors often, they are still affected by what's going on at Canada's biggest trading partner to the south.

Still, it may not be the end of the world as the Canadina holidays also don't exactly follow the American ones and there are days when the TSE is closed while the American markets are open. Also, there are four alternative trading systems in Canada, two at least have reported to be functioning and operational. While volumes there were higher than usual for these system, they were hardly normal for the market as a whole. No doubt, though, these systems will get a boost following this fiasco.

Continue reading Canadian markets halted due to a glitch -- can it happen in the U.S.?

Canadian markets halted due to a glitch -- can it happen in the U.S.? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Law, Private equity

It's been the key question for Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN): Deal or no deal?

Now we know. This week, the company reached an agreement with its private equity sponsor, Apollo Management, to end its $6.5 billion buyout transaction.

For the past six months, the parties have been embroiled in heated litigation with Huntsman getting the edge as the Delaware court ruled that Apollo had to use best efforts to close the deal . As a result, Apollo's settlement is not cheap. The fees come to about $1 billion.

Although, it's a good deal for both parties. Apollo could have lost even more money if the merger agreement had been enforced. As seen with the collapse of the BCE (NYSE: BCE) deal, there is no appetite for multi-billion-dollar deals. And since Huntsman is in a highly cyclical business - specialty chemicals -- it would have likely made it difficult to justify a buyout.

The dispute is far from over, though. Huntsman is still pursuing a lawsuit with its bankers -- Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank -- on the deal. In other words, Huntsman may even snag even more money from the broken deal.

Still, Wall Street isn't too thrilled. In today's session, Huntsman's shares are down 44% to $3.27 by midday trading.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

Apollo out of the Huntsman noose originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Uncertainty and instability in the credit markets, financial markets, and the overall global economy has forced many companies to back out of potential merger and acquisition deals slamming stock prices and exchange traded funds (ETFs). A study by Thomas Reuters indicated that the total value of canceled mergers for the quarter is at ...

Several large companies announced dividend increases over the past week. One of the most notable bullish calls came from the telecom sectors as AT&T (T) showed confidence in its business model by increasing its dividend payment to shareholders for the twenty fifth consecutive years. Despite the tough macroeconomic conditions AT&T (T) is still committed to raising its quarterly dividend. The board announced a 2.5% increase of the quarterly payment to to $0.41/share. The stock currently yields 5.70%. One thing that still concerns me with AT&T however is the high current dividend payout ratio. You could check my analysis of AT&T from this link. BCE, the Canadian telecom company whose privatization agreement failed[More...]

Schaeffer's analyst Colleen S. King takes a look at the major news of the day on Wall Street.

Schaeffer's Laura Houser takes a look at today's options activity

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