Visit StreetInsider.com at http://www.streetinsider.com/news.php?st=p&id=4036739 for the full story.

Chesapeake Corporation (CSK)

Q2 2008 Earnings Call Transcript

Complete Story »

Visit StreetInsider.com at http://www.streetinsider.com/news.php?st=p&id=3933400 for the full story.

The markets closed lower as oil prices rebounded and unemployment rose. The Dow fell 52 points to 11,326 while Nasdaq dropped 15 points to 2311.

Visit StreetInsider.com at http://www.streetinsider.com/news.php?st=p&id=3869479 for the full story.

In mid-August I predicted that “major” bankruptcies for 2008 would reach 225 (see Bankruptcies Revisited). Through October there had been 172 such bankruptcies, as reported by Bankrupctydata.com. That implied a pace of around 210 bankruptcies, well short of my prediction. At the time however, I suggested that the filing pace was likely to quicken in November and December as the economy deteriorated at a more rapid clip. Sure enough, the final numbers bear out my prediction. According to Bankruptcydata.com, “major” filings reached 231 in 2008. 231 bankruptcies falls far short of the 289 “major” bankruptcies in 2000 and 383 in 2001[More...]

Many investors wonder whether or not there are advantages to being long or short one commodity versus another or if all commodities will roughly trade in the same manner. Like many of the other questions I tackle here on the website, there is no exact answer (as is the case with many questions dealing with the financial markets) to these questions.  Even though there is no precise mathematical science to answer this question, there are many identifiable factors involved that can shed light on what to many seems to be a difficult and never-ending puzzle.<span[More...]

To say that it has been a rough third quarter for Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK: 16.22, 0.00 (0.00%)) would be the understatement of the year.  Shares of the largest natural gas company in the United States have fallen from a intra-day peak of $74.00 all the way down to a measly $9.84.  Rumors, all of which ended up being false, had speculators predicting that the natural gas giant would default.  Credit default swap spreads on Chesapeake that default in a one year period have risen to[More...]

Clean Energy Fuels is a supplier of natural gas as an alternative fuel across North America and designs, builds, finances, and operates fueling stations and supplies compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas. The company serves approximately 275 fleet customers operating 14,000 natural gas vehicles in public transit, refuse hauling, airports, taxis, seaports, and regional trucking markets. As of December 31, 2007, Clean Energy Fuels Corp. owned and operated 170 natural gas fueling stations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Washington, Georgia, Wyoming, and Canada. Clean Energy Fuel was founded by billionaire T. Boone Pickens, who has made much of his fortune investing in energy markets. Investors should note the company’s shares suffered on Wednesday after California voters struck down a proposition that offered tax rebates to buyers of more fuel-efficient cars. California-based Clean[More...]

Friedman Billings Ramsey is out with a major downgrade on Auto Zone (NYSE:AZO) taking their rating to Underperform from Mkt Perform while lowering tgt to $110. At a minimum, the firm does not think that AZO's stock price will be able to keep up with its peers, nor with the overall equity market. As with other retailers, sales have likely slowed for the sector since the end of AutoZone's fiscal year (August, 2008). When AZO had last reported, comp store sales were +0.6% and had been helped for that period by the tax stimulus. At Gabelli's after-market automotive conference yesterday in Las Vegas, the firm found most companies generally cautious about current sales trends. Therefore, they estimate that AZO's same-store sales are currently tracking at -2% for 1Q09E. <br[More...]

Two Veteran Wall Street Analysts Review the April 4, 2008 Edition of the Value Line Investment Survey

Two Veteran Wall Street Analysts Review the October 5, 2007 Edition of the Value Line Investment Survey