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DK/GAK - where are you?
drummer, when ya get back preliminary DD is checking out,,
http://ecpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa/servlet/cpa.app.coa.CoaLetter
havent found the Earth Services company yet, must not be from Texas
lol your welcome, it'd be nice if you could spell it
ATOS video!!
http://www.capture3d.com/
Real piece of work here!
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/judge_to_sentence_murderer_sta.html
Sick!!!!!!!
weather wise, yes it was, market wise, yes it was
Won't be long till Chrysler is back on the market!
He has my vote!
I like #8!!!!!!!
All of it actually!!!!!
"I HAVE DECIDED TO BECOME A WRITE-IN CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT IN THE YEAR 2012..
HERE IS MY PLATFORM:
(1). Any use of the phrase: 'Press 1 for English' is immediately BANNED!!!. English is the official language; speak it or wait outside of our borders until you can.
(2). We will immediately go into a two year isolationist attitude in order to straighten out the greedy big business posture in this country. America will allow NO imports, and we'll do no exports. We will use the 'Wal-Mart 's policy, 'If we ain't got it, you don't need it.' We'll make it here and sell it here!
(3). When imports are allowed, there will be a 100% import tax on it coming in here.
(4). All retired military personnel will be required to man one of the many observation towers located on the southern border of the United States (six month tour). They will be under strict orders not to fire on SOUTHBOUND aliens.
(5). Social Security will immediately return to its original state If you didn't put nuttin in, you AIN'T gettin nuttin out. Neither the President nor any other politician will be able to touch it.
(6). Welfare. -- Checks will be handed out on Fridays, at the end of the 40 hour school week, the successful completion of a urinalysis test for drugs, and passing grades.
(7). Professional Athletes -- Steroids? The FIRST time you check positive you're banned from sports ... for life.
(8). Crime -- We will adopt the Turkish method, i.e., the first time you steal, you lose your right hand. There is no more 'life sentences'. If convicted of murder, you will be put to death by the same method you chose for the victim you killed: gun, knife, strangulation, etc.
(9). One export of ours will be allowed: wheat; because the world needs to eat. However, a bushel of wheat will be the EXACT price of a barrel of oil.
(10). All foreign aid, using American taxpayer money, will immediately cease and the saved money will help to pay off the national debt and, ultimately, lower taxes. When disasters occur around the world, we'll ask The American People if they want to donate to a disaster fund, and each citizen can make the decision as to whether, or not, it's a worthy cause.
(11). The Pledge of Allegiance will be said EVERY day at school and every day in CONGRESS.
(12). The National Anthem will be played at all appropriate ceremonies, sporting events, outings, etc.
My apology is offered if I've stepped on anyone's toes .... nevertheless...
GOD BLESS AMERICA !
Sincerely, Bill Cosby "
CPF.....I would hold for a double in the future with this. Look at the 3 month chart!
AAV you would up on this one too!
NCS Bulls against the Bears!
PRGN you would still be up on this one!
ABAT did nicley!
Would have been a nice gain providing you sold on thursday!
Which is just watching the chart!
I know my old supervisor is regretting it! He is still unemployed! He was making well over a 100K a year. Well he got his 100K! 75K in cash, which is 45K after taxes.....They also had to pay taxes for the car voucher 25K which is only really 15K!
So from the 100K they got 60K including the new vehicle that they will have to pay full coverage insurance on!
I feel bad for him, however it was his choice and bad decision!
And no unemployment monies comming in I would think!
Anyone that took the buyout are now loosing out on about 1.4 million dollars over the next 15 years.
Thats the big picture here!
We're already checking some prototype parts for the FIAT plus updates to our current modles. Things are looking bright again otherwise I wouldn't be here now inspecting, come on noon!
Glad I didn't take the sucker money buyout!
LOL!!! Do pot holes with mud in them count?????
Might pick up an old beater Jeep just for that reason!!! Ya got me thinking on this one!
pretty, too bad it'll never see any mud
here is the one I've been looking into!
http://www.jeep.com/en/2010/wrangler_unlimited/
Toyota looking to recall 4 million cars for accelerator failures!
http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/04/news/companies/Toyota_NHTSA_recall/index.htm?section=money_latest
Testing out scan software is where I got all these tickers! Some did very well....
Will post some more in a few days for next week!
This sure turned into a pump and dump! Glad I sold out at 6.30! Don't like black candles during the day! Usually means bad news next day with PPS!
BLC +.33
up .50 cents already!
Ford Sells $2.5 Billion of Convertible Notes (Update1)
Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print | A A A By Gabrielle Coppola
Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the only major U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy, sold $2.5 billion of convertible notes, 25 percent more than planned, in the largest offering of the debt this year.
Convertible bonds have returned 36.7 percent this year, rebounding from a 33 percent loss in 2008, the worst performance for the securities since at least 1988, according to Merrill Lynch & Co.’s All Convertibles index.
Ford is taking advantage of the improving market for convertibles to reduce debt, said Bill Feingold, co-founder of Hillside Advisors LLC, which advises clients on investing in the securities. The company will pay the same conversion premium on the notes as in its last offering of similar debt almost three years ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“If you can raise money now in almost identical terms to what you raised three years ago, you should probably be doing it,” Feingold, who is based in Valhalla, New York, said yesterday in a telephone interview. “They’re raising money when they can, not when they have to, and to me that’s a sign of a well-run company.”
Ford will pay a 4.25 percent coupon on the senior notes due in 2016, the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker said in a statement posted on its Web site. The notes, which cannot be called for the first five years, may be converted to common stock or cash at maturity. The conversion premium is 25 percent higher than the closing price of Ford shares yesterday.
Bigger Greenshoe
The automaker initially planned to sell $2 billion of convertible notes. The total offering size may reach $2.875 billion if underwriters exercise a so-called over-allotment option, or greenshoe, according to the statement. Ford said the greenshoe was increased to $375 million from $300 million.
“This was a successful transaction and the results exceeded our expectations,” Lewis Booth, Ford’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in the statement.
In the December 2006 offering, Ford issued $4.5 billion of 4.25 percent bonds with a 25 percent conversion premium, Bloomberg data show. The notes, which mature in 2036 and can be called in 2016, rallied to 103.25 cents on the dollar as of yesterday from 26 cents on Jan. 2, according to Trace, the bond- price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Positive Cash Flow
Ford, which lost $30 billion from 2006 through 2008, said Nov. 2 it had positive cash flow of $1.3 billion in the third quarter, its first positive cash-flow quarter since 2007. The third quarter’s $1.1 billion pretax profit was the first since the initial quarter of 2008, Ford said.
Ford shares fell 14 cents, or 1.85 percent, to $7.44 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They declined to $7.34 at 8:23 a.m. today before U.S. markets opened. The stock closed last year at $2.29.
The automaker will also offer as much as $1 billion in common shares through broker-dealers in December.
When a company raises equity through a convertible, “people tend to focus on the dilution it causes,” Feingold said. “This is going to give the company, however, much more time, if you want to bet on the upside, before they have to go back and figure out where some more money’s going to come from.”
Ford arranged $23.4 billion of debt in late 2006, including a five-year, $11.5 billion bank line, giving it more cash than rivals General Motors Co. or Chrysler Group LLC. To obtain the financing, Ford had to put up all major assets including its blue oval logo as collateral.
Credit Line
Ford said this week it’s raising as much as $3.3 billion, while paying down a portion of a $10.7 billion line of credit to strengthen its balance sheet. The company is seeking to repay 25 percent of the revolver and push out the maturity of the remaining $8 billion liability by two years to 2013.
“Ford has developed a knack for approaching the capital markets at exactly the right time with the right deal,” Shelly Lombard, a senior high-yield analyst at New York-based Gimme Credit LLC, wrote in a report yesterday.
Ford’s offering surpasses Intel Corp.’s $2 billion sale in July of 3.25 percent convertible notes due in 2039 as the largest convertible bond offering of 2009, Bloomberg data show. Intel, the world’s biggest computer-chip maker, is based in Santa Clara, California.
Companies have sold $25.1 billion of equity-linked securities this year, compared with $61.1 billion in all of last year and $95.3 billion in 2007, the data show.
Honda profit plunges, but car giant raises full-year forecast
Updated 7/29/2009 8:40 AM | Comments 17 | Recommend 7 E-mail | Save | Print |
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By Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
TOKYO — Honda's quarterly profit dwindled to $79.8 million (7.5 billion yen) but the automaker raised forecasts for the full year on optimism about better auto sales.
Honda (HMC) said Wednesday its April-June quarter profit plunged 96% from a year earlier, battered by slumping car sales and a strong yen, which offset benefits from cost cuts.
The results for the fiscal first quarter were better than the flood of red ink some analysts had forecast.
The numbers also show that Japan's No. 2 automaker, reputed for ecological small cars including the Insight hybrid and the Accord sedan, is holding up better than its rivals during the global economic slump.
Tokyo-based Honda raised its forecast for the full year through March 2010 to a $585.1 million profit from $425.5 million.
Other Japanese automakers, including Toyota, the world's biggest, are forecasting deep losses for the full fiscal year.
Even with the raised forecast, Honda will be posting a 59.9% decrease in profit for the fiscal year, for the second consecutive year of slipping profits.
The previous fiscal year, Honda had posted a 137 billion yen profit — a result that's dismal for once-booming Honda, reflecting the fallout from the global financial crisis, which hit last year.
Honda's quarterly sales tumbled 30.2% to $21.3 billion from a year earlier.
It sold 766,000 vehicles around the world during the quarter, down 20.4%, mainly because of crashing sales in the key North American market.
For the full fiscal year, Honda expects to sell 3.295 million vehicles globally, better than its April projection for selling 3.2 million vehicles. For the fiscal year ended March 31, Honda's global vehicle sales totaled a stronger 3.52 million vehicles.
With mature markets like the U.S., Europe and Japan stagnant, Honda is looking to new markets for growth. Honda said earlier this week that it posted record production for Honda in China for the first half of this year.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-07-29-honda-profit-plunges_N.htm?obref=obinsite
Fiat beats analyst forecasts; GM sales hot in China
Posted 7/23/2009 12:35 AM | Comments 18 | Recommend 6 E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions |
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Posted on Nov 4 2009 5:23AM
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Posted on Nov 3 2009 10:01AM
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By James R. Healey, USA TODAY
A spate of attention-getting announcements Wednesday was the latest mark of an increasingly chaotic, financially challenged, global auto industry.
Chrysler's savior, Fiat, continues to lose money. General Motors is becoming almost a Chinese car company. Hyundai tops a fresh study evaluating new model launches in the U.S., while Toyota brings up the rear.
Details:
•Italian industrial conglomerate Fiat Group, which took 20% ownership of Chrysler on June 10 and controls the Detroit company, reported Wednesday in Italy that it lost 168 million euros ($239 million) in the second quarter. That was down from a profit of 604 million euros ($859 million) a year ago. It was Fiat's second-consecutive quarterly loss, but it was better than the first quarter and beat analysts' forecasts.
Fiat, planning to revive Chrysler with an infusion of small cars and fuel-efficiency technology, said that despite the net loss, it made an operating profit equivalent to $440 million and cut debt to $8.1 billion from $9.4 billion.
Meanwhile, its Chrysler Group announced it will match the U.S "cash-for-clunkers" incentive of up to $4,500 for some models. The move is meant as an attention-getter for wary shoppers — especially those who don't also qualify for the government voucher.
Rather than a fat new discount, the deal "balls everything into one incentive," spokesman Rick Deneau says. "Our dealers were telling us, 'Keep it simple.' "
•General Motors said even it was surprised by its second-quarter sales success in China. GM reported global sales of 1.94 million worldwide and said a 62% jump in China offset a 32% tumble in the U.S., still considered GM's home market though 72% of quarterly sales were in other countries.
Mike DiGiovanni, GM's head of global market and industry analysis, said the number of Chinese entering the middle class, and able to afford new cars, should drive more growth. China accounted for 21% of GM's sales in the second quarter, at more than 450,000 vehicles, not far behind 538,000 in the U.S.
•South Korean maker Hyundai was tops in a newly created study by consultant J.D. Power and Associates ranking new vehicle launches. It said the 2009 Hyundai Genesis launch outscored 26 others. Second: 2009 Ford F-150 pickup. Worst: 2009 Toyota Matrix.
The index evaluates sales, dealer profits, rebates, quality of the new model and how it stacks up against rivals in styling, features and performance.
Contributing: The Associated Press, Reuters.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-07-22-fiat-earnings-gm-china_N.htm?obref=obinsite
As Chrysler sits on blocks, what will Fiat do to fix it?
Updated 4h 34m ago | 22 Comments | 4 Recommend E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions |
Enlarge By Mark Ralston, AFP/Getty Images
A Chrysler dealer in Los Angeles advertises low prices in October. The car giant has gotten $13.8 billion in government aid over the past few months.
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By James R. Healey, USA TODAY
Fiat and Chrysler Group are scheduled to spend an almost unblievable six hours Wednesday briefing analysts and journalists about the U.S. automaker's five-year business plan, or survival plan, if you prefer.
Word already has spread about a number of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep models that are supposed to be discontinued by 2012. Less has been said about what Fiat Group models might replace them. The accuracy of those reports, which have kept Chrysler scurrying to stamp out rumors without giving away too much in advance, will be verified or refuted today.
PHOTOS: Fiat puts stamp on Chrysler lineup
Great grist for the mill.
But what's not been telegraphed is what the industry's deep thinkers say is more important — the financials.
How will Fiat, itself struggling, keep Chrysler alive financially until, presumably, resuscitating it with small, fuel-efficient Fiats, bigger Alfa Romeos, perhaps even Lancias built on Chrysler's big-car, rear-drive chassis? Modifying or redesigning the Italian cars and fuel-efficient powertrains to meet U.S. regulations and consumer expectations could take a couple of years.
And what North American factories will build them, bringing a sigh of relief to communities that depend on those factory jobs? The automaker must make about 40% of its U.S. sales volume in the U.S. under a promise made to the Treasuary department to get emergency federal loans.
If the auto executives can't or won't detail a robust financial plan Wednesday to keep Chrysler in business the next few years, then the $13.8 billion in government loans, the layoffs and plant closings, the dealer cuts the past few months — meaningless.
"If they don't announce financial details, people assume the worst," says Brad Coulter, a turnaround specialist at consultants O'Keefe and Associates. "We're only a few months from the bankruptcy, and the credit markets aren't completely convinced about the turnaround. There is great reluctance to lend into the auto sector," he says — a charriness that could become outright refusal if a company can't prove it has a chance to survive.
And Uncle Sam's wallet is closed. "Treasury has stated that it has no plans to provide additional assistance," a report earlier this week from the U.S. General Accountability Office pointed out.
Chrysler Group was formed to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June by assembling Chrysler's best assets and giving Italy's Fiat, a huge industrial conglomorate that includes Fiat Auto, management control and a 20% stake in the new Chrysler Group. Fiat's fuel-efficiency technology, stylish designs and worldwide distribution network are to be its contribution to Chrysler.
"Fiat's clearly announced that it's not going to put any money into Chrysler. That'll have to change," to satisfy lenders, Coulter says. The domino effect also could take down suppliers who depend heavily on Chrysler business. Lenders would shun them, too, Coulter forecasts.
Fiat might not be able to kick in cash, even if it were to change its mind.
Debt-rating agencies Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's both rate Fiat's bonds in junk category, saying the company has too much debt, has tapped out its lines of credit and would find it difficult to raise money in today's credit-pinched reality.
Fiat Group reported a net loss the first three quarters of 565 million euro ($786.6 million). A year ago, it reported a nine-month profit of 1.5 billion euro.
Operating profit was in the black but still way off: 296 million euro ($435.2 million) for the first three quarters, vs. earnings of 2.7 billion euro a year ago.
Debt had climbed to 8.1 billion euro ($11.9 billion) at the end of September, from 3.7 billion euro at the end of 2008, Fiat reported.
Despite the intense interest in how Chrysler will pay its way the next several years, Fiat executives "don't get it about transparency. They'll disclose as little financial information as possible," predicts Rebecca Lindland, director of auto reseach for the Americas at consutlants IHS Global Insight.
"I don't see being so pessimistic beforehand," says Barbara Castellano, associate director of corporate ratings in Standard & Poors's Milan, Italy, office. "It's in the interest of Chrysler to put out the best possible plan."
S&P's Sept. 25 report on Fiat, the most recent, noted that Marchionne, for 2009, "has targeted a ?1 billion reduction in (Fiat's) industrial debt. This seems challenging in our opinion."
The report cautions: "We see a risk that Chrysler's turnaround could absorb a greater share of Fiat's energies than what we currently assume. We could review the ratings if management is distracted by this new challenge or if the integration appears to us to be disadvantageous for Fiat."
Castellano points out that "Marchionne has been a crucial part of the Fiat turnaround" from near-bankrupcty in 2004 to profits within a few years.
Three years ago, Nov. 8 and 9, 2006, Fiat hosted analysts, investors and journalists at a two-day affair in Italy called Fiat Investor and Analyst Days. Fiat laid out pretty specific financial details. Those included earnings projections, debt forecasts, yearly cash cushions and other details for 2007 — '10.
That confab, like the Chrysler event Wednesday, was meant to introduce CEO Sergio Marchionne's plan for the automaker. He's now CEO of Chrysler, too. It is, perhaps, not surprising in that context that Fiat would assume a several-hour, one-day presentation is modest.
What the curious hope to hear discussed today, in addition to the financial issues:
•Product plans. Will Chrysler, as the advance chatter has it, really kill the venerable PT Cruiser, a signature product for the brand?
What will replace the compact and midsize cars that are supposed to be on the chopping block, such such as the Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Nitro and Dodge Avenger?
Chrysler emphasizes that it won't abandon the compact and midsize car market that makes up roughly half of U.S. car sales.
•Badging intentions. Which Fiat Group vehicles will be sold in the U.S.? Will they carry their own brand names, or be marketed as Chrysler Group vehicles — a midsize Fiat Group sedan replacing the Avenger, for example.
•Manufacturing plans. Where will the new vehicles and powertrains be made? How many will be for the U.S. market and how many for export?
•Dealer setups. If Fiat intends to sell under its own Fiat, Alfa Romeo and even Lancia brands in the U.S., will all Chrysler Group dealers handle those models? Or will they be pitched as rewards that the best dealers can sell?
•Design and styling dominance. Will Chrysler design its own vehicles, Fiat relying on the Detroit automamker's famililarity with the U.S. market and Chrysler's repuration for adventurous styling?
•Quality concerns. Fiats have scored at or near the bottom in the most recent J.D. Power and Associates satisfaction surveys of owners of two-year old cars in the U.K., France and Germany. Fiat insists those rankings don't account for improvemenst made the past two years.
Still, does Fiat understand the importance of trouble-free autos to U.S. buyers? And can it boost the mediocre scores that Chrysler Group vehicles have in U.S. rankings?
•Marketing savvy. Can any paln account for the voodoo of properly marketing a vehicle?
"Look at the Dodge Journey," a crossover SUV, says Lindland. "It's just the type of vehicle people are looking for, a great product that nobody knows about. There's been such a painfully small amount of marketing money dedicated to it."
Perhaps most important, does Fiat really know and understand the fans of domestic autos, especially Chryslers and Dodges?
Think of those buyers as "sitting down with an American cheeseburger and fries," Lindland says, "and thinking, 'beer.' Fiat's red wine."
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-11-03-rescue-fiat-chrysler_N.htm?csp=34
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