Wednesday, January 06, 2010

MORNING COFFEE


Google Unveils Nexus One.  Google (GOOG) unveiled its Nexus One mobile phone yesterday, marking the search giant's entrance into online retailing. Google will sell the unlocked phone directly to consumers for $529.00, along with other devices, like Motorola (MOT) phones, that use its Android operating system. A locked version is available for $179.00 on T-Mobile (DT). The phone will be available on Verizon Wireless (VZ) and Vodafone (VOD) networks later this spring.


GMAC Post Major Loss.  GMAC expects to post Q4 loss of around $5 billion, largely because of writedowns on risky mortgage assets.  $3.8 billion of the loss came from the planned sale of a mortgage unit that CEO Michael Carpenter called "a millstone around the company's neck." The government owns a 56% stake in GMAC, and could see its holdings rise to 80%.


Dodd Says No More.  Senator Christopher Dodd (D, CT), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, plans to announce his decision not to seek re-election this year. Dodd, once closely connected to the insurance and hedge fund industries, has been under the gun since the housing crisis began because of possible special deals he received from Countrywide Mortgage.  This comes after Byron Dorgan (D,ND) and Bill Ritter (D,CO) made similar announcements.


Buffett Says No.  Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/BRK.B), Kraft's (KFT) largest shareholder, came out against a proposal to issue as many as 370 million shares to help finance Kraft's hostile bid for Cadbury (CBY). Berkshire called the share issue a “blank check” and urged investors to voice their opposition.


Mosaic Company (MOS): FQ2 EPS of $0.24 missed estimates by $0.11, on revenues of $1.7B (-43%) in-line.


Family Dollar Stores (FDO): Q1 EPS of $0.49 beats by $0.02 on revenue of $1.8B (+4%) in-line.
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    Futures: Dow -0.2%. S&P -0.3%. Nasdaq -0.1%. Crude -0.2% to $81.64. Gold +0.6% to $1124.80.
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    Asia, Nikkei +0.5% to 10,731. Hang Seng +0.6% to 22,417. BSE+0.1% to 17,701. Shanghai closed.
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    Europe at midday, London -0.3%. Frankfurt flat. Paris closed.

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