Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Industry Analysis.

Description:  t’s complete ‘Panemonium’ for investors and fans alike as moviegoers queue up for The Hunger Games and shares of Lionsgate soar.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 03/23/2012

Link:  http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2012/03/23/mkts-bz-hunger-games.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion:

  • Explain how you would evaluate the affect a blockbuster film would have on a company like Lionsgate.
  • How would you estimate the impact its success would have on related businesses?
  • Do you think the stock price reflects current or future earnings of the film?

Posted by & filed under Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis, Market Analysis.

Description: With the yields on 10-year Treasuries — considered a risk-free asset by the market — moving sharply higher since the beginning of the year, many investors are beginning to ask: Is this the end of what has been a 30-year bull run for bonds? The improving U.S. economy and an easing debt crisis in Europe have been credited with sending bond prices lower and yields higher.

Source:  BNN.ca – video report

Date: 03/23/2012

Link:  http://www.bnn.ca/News/2012/3/23/The-end-of-the-bond-bubble.aspx

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the financial highlights presented in the report.
  • Do you agree with the sentiments?
  • Do you agree with the recommendations?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Financial Planning, Growth & Valuation, Management Issues.

Description:  Now that it will start paying a regular dividend, Apple Inc. has become a must-have for portfolio managers with blue-chip stocks in their investment funds.

Source: Marketwatch.com

Date: 03/20/2012

Link:  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-becomes-a-portfolio-must-have-stock-2012-03-20?siteid=nwtwk

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the reasons given for such positive endorsement of Apple.
  • Do you agree with the assessments?
  • What are risks associated with Apple stock?
  • How can an investor mitigate those risks?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Governments & Regulators, Growth & Valuation, Market Analysis.

Description:   The LIBOR trading scandal could turn out to be far worse for Wall Street than its mortgage troubles.

Source:  Fortune.com

Date: 03/23/2012

Link:  http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/03/23/the-wall-street-multibillion-scandal-no-one-is-talking-about/?iid=SF_F_LN

Questions for discussion:

  • What is the basis of the scandal, according to the report?
  • What is your opinion of the report?
  • What do believe will happen next?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Governments & Regulators, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis.

Description:   US Airways Group Inc. (LCC), seeking support for a possible American Airlines (AAMRQ)merger, is discussing a takeover plan with some creditors of the bankrupt carrier and their advisers, people with knowledge of the talks said.

Source:  Bloomberg.com

Date: 03/23/2012

Link:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-23/us-airways-said-to-brief-amr-creditors-on-takeover-plan.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the thinking presented in the article related to the merger.
  • Do you think a deal like this would be good and if so, for whom?
  • How would you value this deal?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Financial Planning, Industry Analysis.

Description:  Despite calls from some investors to backtrack from the consumer business, Cisco has bought NDS Ltd., a software maker for set top boxes.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: 03/15/2012

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2012/03/15/mkts-bz-cisco-nds.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion:

  • Do you think this is a good move by Cisco?
  • Do you think investors will be happy with the decision?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Industry Analysis.

Description:  Greg Smith’s Op-Ed in the New York Times slamming Goldman Sachs has caused a media fallout but traders say they aren’t surprised.

Source: Fortune.com – video report

Date: 03/14/2012

Link:  http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2012/03/14/n-traders-goldman-oped.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the opinions reported.
  • Do you agree with these views?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Governments & Regulators, Growth & Valuation, Management Issues.

Description:  Some day, when they write the definitive history ofGoldman Sachs (GS), Wall Street’s 143-year-old warehouser of brass rings, the date March 14, 2012, will stand in infamy. If you haven’t already heard, that’s when Greg Smith, an executive with the bank in London, resigned with guns a-blazing, in a corporate revenge fantasy worthy of a sequel to Office Space. The 12-year veteran—he started as a summer intern during college—penned an op-ed in the New York Times that wasted zero time to cut to the damning chase:

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: 03/14/2012

Link:  http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-14/goodbye-to-goldman-will-blankfein-be-next

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the criticisms made by Greg Smith.
  • How has this report evaluated the impact on the firm?
  • What are the managerial implications for Goldman?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Economic Analysis, Growth & Valuation, Market Analysis.

Description:   Investors are beginning to wonder if this Energizer Bunny of a rally can just keep going without taking a break or a fall.

Source:  Reuters.com

Date: 03/16/2012

Link:  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/16/us-usa-stocks-weekahead-idUSBRE82F1AF20120316

Questions for discussion:

  • What is the basis for concern in the market and Apple in particular?
  • What is your opinion?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Governments & Regulators, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis.

Description:   In 2007, Brazilian geologists made the biggest oil find in the Americas in three decades. Buried more than five miles below sea-level, the discovery was estimated to raise the country’s crude reserves by 62 percent.

Source:  Bloomberg.com

Date: 03/13/2012

Link:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-13/brazil-faces-new-oil-boom-curse-as-the-world-s-resource-engine.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the issues raised in the article about resource based industries?
  • How can investors inside and outside Brazil be expected to respond?
  • How will the currency likely be affected as resources rise or fall in value?
  • What are the implications for investors?