Archives for November 2009

November 2009 - Page 3 of 10 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From

Hot Stocks: Comcast Looks to Expand Its Brand with Potential NBC Universal Takeover

With a possible buyout of General Electric Co.'s (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal Inc. in the works, Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is adapting to a changing technological landscape.

Comcast, the United States' largest cable television provider, is hoping to avoid becoming the next newspaper or record company by expanding its role from an entertainment medium to a content provider.

"The world of cable delivery is about to change," Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR) analyst James McQuivey told the Los Angeles Times. "Cable companies for years have made their living by selling consumers hundreds of television channels bundled together. But the future is going to be very different, and cable companies instead will be selling an 'entertainment experience.'"

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OECD More Than Doubles 2010 Forecast, as China Leads the World Out of the Recession

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) more than doubled its 2010 forecast for developed nations, saying that strong growth in Asia – particularly China – would help pull the “more feeble” West out of its financial malaise.

After predicting in June that the combined economy of its 30 member nations would grow 0.7% in 2010, the OECD raised its forecast for developed economies to grow 1.9% next year and 2.5% in 2011. Economic output will contract by 3.5% this year, the Paris-based organization said today.

We now have the numbers that support a recovery in motion,” Jorgen Elmeskov, the OECD's acting chief economist, told Bloomberg News. “It's still a slow recovery because of considerable headwinds from the need to adjust the balance sheets of households, enterprises and financial sectors.”

The OECD cautioned that the recovery is still fragile in developed nations, while pointing to China as the main catalyst for a global rebound.

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Although President Obama Warns of a "Double-Dip" Recession, Money Morning Expects U.S. Recovery to Continue

In a warning that focuses on the need to contain the soaring federal deficit, U.S. President Barack Obama yesterday (Wednesday) said that a continued accumulation of government debt could be enough to blunt the recovery and then drop the U.S. economy into a “double-dip” recession.

It was President Obama's most-severe warning yet about the dangers of growing budget deficits at a time when the U.S. unemployment rate is at 10.2% and climbing. The comments were made to Fox News during an interview granted in Beijing during the president's nine-day trip through Asia.

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Investment News Briefs

U.S. Rep: Give Regulators Power to Break Up Financial Giants; GM IPO Could Come in Q4 2010, Official Says; Fed May Not Increase Interest Rates Until 2012; Wells Fargo to Buy Back $1.3 Billion in Auction Debt; GE Says Appliance and Lighting Businesses Improving; October Housing Starts Miss Estimates; DirecTV Hires Pepsi Exec as New CEO; AMD to Pay Off $1 Billion in Debt;

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Why Gold Will Reach a Record $2,000 in 2010

Gold has surged 60% in the past 12months and it’s not letting up. The “yellow metal” is continuing that scorching surge into the last part of the year, establishing new highs on a near-daily basis. In fact, gold established yet another record price yesterday (Wednesday) when it peaked at $1,153.40 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

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And the records are going to keep on coming.

With the U.S. dollar in a freefall and global gold demand rising, analysts say the precious metal will likely continue its bullish trend through at least the first half of 2010. It could rise as high as $2,000 an ounce, which would represent a 73% gain from current record levels.

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New Technology Turns Coal Into Clean, High-Powered Gas

[Editor’s Note: Money Morning recently conducted a Q&A with Dr. Kent Moors on the future of energy. Dr. Moors last wrote about Marcellus Gas Shale, a new energy-sector profit play.]

A new fuel technologyunveiled just two weeks agois about to revolutionize the energy business.

I saw it firsthand.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) asked me to present “The Future of Natural Gas” at the company’s Gas Turbine Symposium in Greenville, S.C. That’s where GE revealed a new generation of its market-leading turbine technology.

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SEC Filing Shows Buffett Played It Safe Ahead of His Burlington Northern Buyout

Having gone “all in” on a U.S. economic recovery with his $44 billion acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (NYSE: BNI), Warren Buffett showed a less aggressive stance in Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) Nov. 16 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Buffett trimmed Berkshire's holdings in riskier businesses that have uncertain futures, such as newspapers, healthcare companies, and credit ratings agencies in favor of more stable long-term picks such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM).

The 13-F filing showed that as of Sept. 30 Berkshire had increased its Wal-Mart holdings by almost 90% over the summer, adding 18 million shares worth nearly $1 billion.

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Battle for Cadbury Gets Sticky as Hershey & Italy's Ferrero Mull Offer

Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) and Italian-based confectioner Ferrero SpA are considering a possible bid for U.K. candy giant Cadbury PLC (NYSE ADR: CBRY), raising the potential for a costly bidding war. But should a battle take place, U.S. food giant Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) is still the odds-on favorite.

Hershey, the maker of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, said in a statement it's “reviewing its options,” leaving open the door to an offer but not saying one would be forthcoming. Ferrero, the Italian maker of Tic Tacs and Nutella spread, said it was in “preliminary stages of evaluating its options in respect to Cadbury,” according to Reuters.

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When Stimulus Spending Winds Down, Will U.S. Businesses Step in For Tapped-Out Consumers?

[Editor's Note: This is Part II of a two-part story that looks at the prospects for the U.S. economy in 2010. It's part of Money Morning's annual "Outlook" forecasting series. In the days and weeks to come, watch for additional installments addressing the 2010 outlook for gold, oil, banking, foreign markets and other key topics. Part I of the U.S. economy forecast story appeared yesterday (Tuesday). ]

It's no secret that government spending has been fueling much of the growth in the $14.2 trillion U.S. economy. And if consumers aren't ready for the handoff when that stimulus spending winds down – and they certainly don't appear to be – it will be up to the U.S. business sector to carry the ball.

And it's not at all clear that Corporate America is ready, willing or able to fulfill that role.

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Investment News Briefs

Hu Silent on Yuan; Troubled U.S. Banks May Get Chinese Bailout; SEC Sanctions Doubled in Last Fiscal Year; October PPI Gains; Playboy CFO Quits Amid Talk of Buyout; U.S. Home Builders Still Discouraged; GM Could Lay Off Up to 10,000 European Workers; Costco Stops Coke Product Orders Over Price Dispute

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