Bloomberg reports that CEO Karmazin said Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) will eliminate executive positions to cut costs. No doubt, after the only two U.S. satellite radio companies merged, there are some redundancies. He also said the company could report $300 million in earnings next year excluding some items.
What's more, Sirius XM will introduce new products. Perhaps these will include what the blogosphere is buzzing about today -- a new Internet application that would stream Sirius XM to portable devices, namely the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, as noted by Citigroup's Tony Wible.
Apple's iPod and iPhone products, as well as other digital music players, have been named as competitors to satellite radio by Karmazin himself. If these reports are true, could he be trying to transform them from competitors into boosting the company's user base, creating a complementing, rather than competing, services?
Today was a volatile day in the markets as stocks started out flat to slightly positive early on, went negative, but then came back throughout the day. Traders had no real economic numbers, but oil trading under $115 and gold down another 3% has traders cheering beyond any lagging economic numbers.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) rose sharply in today's final minutes. An analyst at Citigroup noted that the company could sell as many as 380,000 units of its Kindle e-book reader this year, which could in turn increase its Audible subscriptions and could raise its e-book sales. Shares were up over 9% at $87.86 in today's final minutes.
Today's markets started out strong and got stronger.
If you were a conspiracy theorist you might even make a crack noting that Wall Street had already seen the dovish FOMC comments which signaled that rate hikes are not a certainty until after the election. Throw in a substantial drop in oil to new recent lows of under $119.00 per barrel, and the rest is all gravy.
Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels: D.J.I.A. 11,615 (+331) S&P500 1,283.28 (+34) NASDAQ 2,347.36 (+62) 10YR T-NOTE 4.007% (+0.035%) 52-Week Lows Top Analyst Downgrades Top Analyst Upgrades
Archer-Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) saw shares down over 5% in today's final minutes. Despite the stock being close to new fresh lows, traders were very unenthusiastic after the company missed earnings expectations.
Jefferies upgraded shares of Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they see a long-term buying opportunity following the recent correction. The firm maintains a $29 target.
Moody's (NYSE: MCO) was upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at Lehman.
Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.
Analyst downgrades:
Jefferies downgraded shares of Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) to Hold from Buy on concerns about the company's ability to hit expectations and drive margin expansion in the face of an eroding CDMA revenue stream. The firm lowered their target to $7.25 from $11.
B. Riley cut Charlotte Russe (NASDAQ: CHIC) to Neutral from Buy on concerns about how well the company can perform with the interim management team, especially in light of the current retail environment. The firm lowered their target to $14 from $17. Roth Capital downgraded shares to Sell from Hold to reflect the management uncertainty and lowered their target to $9 from $14.
Goldman cut Warner Music (NYSE: WMG) to Sell from Neutral and Deere (NYSE: DE) to Neutral from Buy.
Analyst initiations:
Banc of America expects top-line growth at Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) to be driven by Denosumab and for investors to look to the stock for biotech exposure following the potential acquisition of Genentech (NYSE: DNA). The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $70 target.
Sirius Satellite (NASDAQ: SIRI) was initiated at JP Morgan with a Neutral rating.
Today was really about watching the oil ticker and seeing crude break down under the $124.00 mark. OPEC's president said in the right circumstances that oil could go back under $80.00. Median home prices fell almost 16% in May. The US's failed trade talks with China at the W.T.O. hardly mattered. It even looked like people on Wall Street were in a good mood today as the dollar hit a monthly high. After a near $3.00 drop to under $122.00 you have to wonder.... Can gasoline hit $3 again this year?
Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) saw another gain of 2% to $31.45 in the final minutes after yesterday's earnings gains. But the key to today's move besides the market was massive stock options trading.
3 Blue Chip Stocks to Watch After nearly a decade, these growth stocks are finally showing some signs of life. They include Wal-Mart, ConocoPhillips and Burlington Northern. Blue chips: A growth spurt - CNNmoney
The One Stock to Buy Now We asked eight up-and-coming and top mutual fund managers what one stock they would buy now. Some of their recommendations are household names. Others might surprise you. They include Nike, Cisco, ExxonMobil, Noble Corp., Canon, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Nalco Holding Co and Cognizant. The One Stock They Would Buy - Kiplinger
Today was another day of strong selling, led by financial stocks and by earnings more than anything major. On last look oil was up more than $1.00 to almost $125.00 per barrel. Today is a reminder that a low valuation alone is not a reason to buy.
Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) managed to show its first substantial earnings beat. It also raised guidance on planned price hikes. Shares were up 5.5% in today's final minutes at $31.00.
U.S. stock futures were lower early Monday as investors concerns over the banking sector grew. Federal regulator seized two more banks, 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank, which were scheduled to reopen on Monday as Mutual of Omaha Bank branches. The Senate also passed a major housing bill over the weekend, and this could actually give a boost to mortgage lenders like Fannie (NYSE: FNM). Meanwhile, oil prices rebounded as European markets declined. As of 8:00 a.m., it seems Wall Street would start weak.
Reporting earnings today are Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) - Kraft reported 58 cents earnings per share excluding items, beating estimates of 50 cents; Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) - Verizon reported earnings of 67 cents per share, excluding items, beating estimates by 2 cents; and after the close of trading, Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN).
Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) stock is jumping over 17% in premarket trading after announcing late Friday its experimental osteoporosis drug, denosumab, significantly reduced the risk of bone fracture in post-menopausal women in a large trial. Rodman & Renshaw and Jefferies & Co both upgraded Amgen to Market Outperform and to Buy respectively.
Unilever NV (NYSE: UL) will sell its North American laundry detergents business to private equity investor Vestar Capital Partners for $1.45 billion (euro924 million). Unilever said the sale consistent with its strategy of divesting non-core businesses and concentrating on a few core ones.
The merger saga of XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) and Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) has gone on for so long that yesterday's FCC approval was almost a letdown. The companies have lost hundreds of millions of dollars over the year-and-and half since the marriage was first proposed.
The green light comes with some draconian conditions. According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "As part of the deal, the companies have agreed to a three-year price cap as well as promising to bring interoperable radios to the market within a year." The price cap arrangement could hardly be worse for the new operation. Each company still bleeds red ink and has over $1 billion in debt.
The ability to raise prices to consumers could be the key to the survival of satellite radio. The industry's major source of subscribers is new car sales. Those may not recover for two years. The combined company will have close to $2.5 billion in debt, and may have to raise more money. In the current environment, that will be hard. Depending on how the capital comes in, current common shareholders could be diluted.
The news of the approval should be accompanied with some joy, but, it won't be. That may be why the shares in both companies trade so low.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
If you were getting used to the bulls running the show, the bears whispers of "Remember us?" turned much louder today. If you were looking for the day we finally got profit taking after a monster rise in financial stocks, it came. Weak housing data was said to be one of the key issues for the market, but the more than 400,000 weekly jobless claims filed was much worse than expected. Oil didn't skyrocket but it did at least catch a bid today and oil was back up to over $125.00 per barrel late in the day. If you want a big figure, PIMCO's Bill Gross said that total financial writedowns could see $1 Trillion.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) saw a mega-surge after the market decided that its above estimate earnings and somewhat conservative guidance was to match the environment rather than to be any red flag. Shares were up a sharp in today's final minutes.
Today we saw another market gain, but several key stocks gave back some recent gains. The oil inventories report as well as reports Hurricane Dolly only took down a max of 8% of Gulf of Mexico and nearby production, helped lower oil prices over $3.00 to under $125.00 per barrel. Today was rather light on the economic front so the market was led higher mostly thanks to earnings from DJIA components. Longer-term rates rose on Fed comments today calling for rates to rise sooner rather than later, although that was independent and slightly different than the actual Beige Book comments.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was the winner of DJIA components after reporting earnings this morning, particularly since it has lost nearly one-third of its value. Shares were up 4% at $33.11 in today's final minutes.
"Republican commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate is the only FCC member left to vote on the deal and she is expected to do so shortly, two FCC officials close to the negotiations said," the paper said. "She is expected to sign off on the deal in exchange for a consent decree that resolves several enforcement issues involving the satellite radio companies and a combined fine of about $20 million, an FCC source close to the deal."
Even with the regulatory hurdles just about cleared, the future of satellite radio is far from clear. As my colleague Douglas McIntyre noted earlier today, losses at both companies are narrowing but their subscription growth rates are slowing. Both firms also are more than $1 billion in debt.
Though I am a big fan of the medium, I wonder sometimes whether its moment in the sun has past. Remember BetaMax and 8-track players were considered cutting edge at one time.
Three of the commissioners of the FCC have voted on the Sirius (NASDAQ: SIRI) merger with XM Satellite (NASDAQ: XMSR). Two have voted in favor, and one has voted against. That leaves two other votes. In other words, the deal could still be killed.
One of the remaining commissioners has indicated that he would vote for the merger if the companies would agree to a six-year price cap on their services. According toThe Wall Street Journal, "The offer was viewed as an attempt to start negotiations, but the companies so far are showing little interest in haggling."
Is it any wonder? The most recent earnings reports from the two companies indicate that, while their losses are getting smaller, their subscription growth rates are slowing. Each firm has more than $1 billion in debt and neither has ever had an operating profit. In other words, if the companies cannot raise their rates the chances of them becoming profitable are significantly curtailed.
The FCC may be putting Sirius and XM in an almost impossible position. If they are willing to make moves which could hurt their earnings longterm, they may get the votes they need for approval. If not, the merger could be scuttled.
The future of satellite radio is now based on two bad outcomes.
Today was a volatile day in the markets as stocks started out flat to slightly positive early on, went negative, but then came back throughout the day. Traders had no real economic numbers, but oil trading under $115 and gold down another 3% has traders cheering beyond any lagging economic numbers. 
Today's markets started out strong and got stronger. 
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Here are some highlights from this past week's 
U.S. stock futures were lower early Monday as investors concerns over the banking sector grew. Federal regulator 
Stocks have their worst week in six years
Why haven't the Republicans said much about the economy?
Chasing Value: Are you watching WaMu?
