Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Trader Talk with Bob Pisani - CNBC.com

Several factors helping stocks this morning: oil continues to drop, lots of legislation moving through Congress, and several important companies reaffirming full year earnings.

After the close, Washington Mutual

WASHINGTON MUTUAL INC
WM

5.82 UNCH 0
NYSE




[WM 5.82 --- UNCH (0) ]reported earnings notably below expectations. The bad news is that there is more credit deterioration, which is creating more provisions for losses. The good news is the company felt they had "sufficient capital", with $40 b of available liquidity at the end of the quarter, and that 2008 would be the peak year of loss provisioning.

Elsewhere, earnings are coming in fast, and what you want to look for here is the frequent recurrence of the word, "reaffirms full year guidance."

1) Two slightly different results from two aerospace giants. Boeing

BOEING COMPANY
BA

69.26 UNCH 0
NYSE




[BA 69.26 --- UNCH (0) ]was a bit light on top and bottom line in what one analyst called a "messy" quarter, though they did reaffirm their full year guidance for 2008 and 2009. They had previously announced they would take a charge for a delayed military plane contract. They cited strong global demand for their products and services.

General Dynamics

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP
GD

83.45 UNCH 0
NYSE




[GD 83.45 --- UNCH (0) ]did beat on top and bottom line, and guided higher for the full year, $6.00-$6.05 from $5.55-$5.65.

2) Whirlpool

WHIRLPOOL CORP
WHR

68.15 UNCH 0
NYSE




[WHR 68.15 --- UNCH (0) ] beat on top and bottom line and reaffirmed full year guidance (they had lowered guidance in April). Still, this was impressive, given that they had significantly higher material and oil costs. North American sales declined 4 percent from the prior year. But sales in Europe were up 17 percent, much of it due to currency gains. Up 8 percent pre-open.

3) Pfizer

PFIZER INC
PFE

18.35 UNCH 0
NYSE




[PFE 18.35 --- UNCH (0) ] beat by a penny and beat on the topline, they too reaffirmed full year guidance.

4) McDonald's

MCDONALDS CORP
MCD

60.12 UNCH 0
NYSE




[MCD 60.12 --- UNCH (0) ]beat, and international sales continue strong. U.S. comp sales were up 3.4 percent, Europe up 7.4 percent, Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa up 5.5 percent.

5) A bit of a surprise from wholesaler Costco

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP
COST

72.00 UNCH 0
NASDAQ




[COST 72.00 --- UNCH (0) ]. They pre-announced earnings "well below" consensus of $1.00, due largely to higher inflation costs. They particularly noted the pressure to hold prices, despite cost increases. This is creating pressure on rival BJ's Wholesale[BJ 40.75 --- UNCH (0) ], which is down 9 percent pre-open.

6) Finally, watch the housing bill. The House is expected to vote on it today, and the President has dropped his opposition to it. Fannie and Freddie trading up, as they would be beneficiaries.



Key Earnings Phrase: Reaffirms Full Year Guidance - Trader Talk with Bob Pisani - CNBC.com



Opening View: Washington Mutual, E*Trade, and VMware Report Earnings

Costco Wholesale (COST: View sentiment for COSTsentiment, chart, options) is topping this morning's earnings news, despite being one of the few companies not releasing their quarterly results. Specifically, COST warned that fourth-quarter profit would be "well below" analyst expectations. The company blamed the forecast on higher fuel costs, greater-than-anticipated inventory charges, and slightly lower-than-planned merchandise profits. In an attempt to appease shareholders, COST expanded its stock buyback plan by $1 billion and reiterated its 16 cents-per-share quarterly dividend.

Diving into the heart of earnings season, Washington Mutual (WM: View sentiment for WMsentiment, chart, options) reported a second-quarter net loss of $3.33 billion, or $6.58 per share. The nation's largest thrift boosted loan-loss reserves by $3.74 billion to $8.46 billion during the latest quarter. Excluding one-time items, WaMu lost $3.34 per share compared to expectations for a loss of $1.05 per share.

Also in the financial sector, shares of E*Trade Financial (ETFC: View sentiment for ETFCsentiment, chart, options) are primed for a negative open after posting a gain of more than 10% yesterday. After the close last night, ETFC posted a second-quarter net loss of $94.6 million, or 19 cents per share. The loss was wider than expected, with the consensus on Wall Street looking for a loss of 14 cents per share. E*Trade noted that losses in its mortgage portfolio were a bit higher than expected, but that loan delinquency growth continued to moderate.

Elsewhere, Yahoo! (YHOO: View sentiment for YHOOsentiment, chart, options) reported that second-quarter profit and sales fell short of analysts' estimates. Net income for the period fell to $131 million, or 9 cents per share, while net revenue rose 8% to $1.35 billion. Analysts were looking for a profit of 10 cents per share on revenue of $1.38 billion.

Finally, shares of VMware Inc. (VMW: View sentiment for VMWsentiment, chart, options) are poised to open more than 11% lower this morning after the company's second-quarter earnings report. For the period, VMW reported an ex-items profit of $92 million, or 23 cents per share, on revenue of $456 million. The figures largely bested analysts' expectations for earnings of 22 cents per share on $459 million in revenue. However, the company scuttled the report when it placed third-quarter sales estimates between $462 million and $468 million, versus Wall Street's expectations for revenue of almost $497 million.



Opening View: Washington Mutual, E*Trade, and VMware Report Earnings



NYSE Arca Morning Update


Stocks trading on NYSE Arca at a price more than 15% away from the previous trade day's consolidated close price. (As of 08:30:00 ET)

Stock
Tuesday's Close Current Price Pct Chng Current NYSE Arca Vol
PHLY

$35.54

$57.96

63%

11,336

AEHR

$7.62

$5.48

( 28%)

8,000

ADCT

$13.35

$10.39

( 22%)

17,250

ANAD

$8.86

$7.07

( 20%)

9,650

UAUA

$8.38

$9.80

17%

120,002

LCC

$4.21

$4.86

15%

54,200

10 Most Active stocks on NYSE Arca as of 08:30:00 ET

Based on Dollar Volume: Based on Share Volume:
Stock
Dollar Volume
SPY
$193,765,591
QQQQ
$44,700,610
AAPL
$37,864,858
COST
$31,398,176
IWM
$27,047,624
GLD
$14,309,272
USO
$11,272,795
WMT
$10,299,187
SKF
$9,744,139
XLF
$8,389,748
Stock
Share Volume
SPY
1,512,507
QQQQ
992,930
COST
481,807
WM
440,325
XLF
380,491
IWM
377,425
ERIC
371,000
EMC
305,422
FNM
260,541
FRE
231,016


NYSE Arca Morning Update


Pre-Market Trading Most Active Stocks - NASDAQ Premarket

NASDAQ - Pre-Market Ten Most Advanced

Active Share Volume Declined

Symbol

Company Name

Market
Close
Last Sale (Pre-Market) % Change
(Pre-Market)
Share
Volume

(Pre-Market)

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp.
$35.55 $57.75 62.45% 185,210

Cobra Electronics Corporation
$2.11 $2.85 35.07% 22,100

StoneMor Partners L.P.
$16.49 $19.82 20.19% 3,200

Infinera Corporation
$8.99 $10.20 13.46% 6,000

Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
$280.23 $313.99 12.05% 73,167

UAL Corporation
$8.41 $9.30 10.58% 644,796

XOMA Ltd.
$2.19 $2.41 10.05% 11,700

JetBlue Airways Corporation
$4.50 $4.90 8.89% 233,524

NII Holdings, Inc.
$47.37 $51.50 8.72% 211,520

Illumina, Inc.
$84.10 $89.93 6.93% 20,561

As of 7/23/2008 9:18:14 AM

NASDAQ - Pre-Market Ten Most Declined

Active Share Volume Advanced

Symbol

Company Name

Market
Close
Last Sale (Pre-Market) % Change
(Pre-Market)
Share
Volume

(Pre-Market)

Aehr Test Systems
$7.67 $5.44 29.07% 62,075

ANADIGICS, Inc.
$8.87 $6.60 25.59% 1,037,108

ADC Telecommunications, Inc.
$13.37 $10.23 23.49% 396,913

Wavecom S.A.
$9 $7.82 13.11% 6,000

Costco Wholesale Corporation
$72 $63.08 12.39% 3,035,937

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.
$58.75 $51.90 11.66% 55,386

E*TRADE Financial Corporation
$4.05 $3.61 10.86% 597,050

Arkansas Best Corporation
$44.93 $40.50 9.86% 6,833

FormFactor, Inc.
$18.50 $17.50 5.41% 4,500

Panera Bread Company
$51 $49.06 3.80% 7,300

As of 7/23/2008 9:18:40 AM



Pre-Market Most Active Stocks - NASDAQ Premarket

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