here are some heavy weights:
SocialPicks Weekly Newsletter - Apple, UnitedHealth, eBay, and More
Fri Apr 25 19:36:35 -0700 2008
Welcome to Issue #3 of The SocialPicks Weekly Newsletter, where we highlight some of the best content that SocialPicks has to offer.
Analysis Roundups - Bringing You the Web's Best Stock Analysis and Market Commentary
Roundup #1: Microsoft's Earnings and the Yahoo! Bid - The market wasn't pleased with Microsoft's latest results, as concerns about weak Vista sales and a rough corporate IT spending environment took their toll. But are there some overlooked positives to be found in the report? And what did the company's conference call tell us about its chances of acquiring Yahoo!? Analysis from Metue.com, 24/7 Wall Street, Henry Blodget, Pacific Crest, Piper Jaffray, and Goldman Sachs.
Roundup #2: Apple's Earnings and P.A. Semi Acquisition - Everyone's favorite fruit company saw a better market reception to its earnings than Microsoft, as Mac sales proved strong and worst-case fears about iPhone sales were dispelled. Gross margins were an area of concern for many, however. Should this issue give Apple investors pause, or is the long-term growth story so strong that it can be overlooked? And what does Apple's acquisition of P.A. Semi tell us about its future plans? Analysis from WC Power Tech Fund, Sramana Mitra, Andrew Horowitz, Trader Mark, RBC Capital, Needham & Co., and Bernstein Research.
Roundup #3: UnitedHealth's Earnings - Rising health care costs, declining membership levels, and a rough political environment have taken their toll on UnitedHealth, as its latest earnings show. But is all of this already accounted for by the stock's low valuation and reduced growth expectations? Or is the company's business model so weak that more investor heartache lies ahead? Analysis from Seeking Alpha, Click Broker, The Motley Fool, and BMO Capital.
Roundup #4: Netflix's Earnings - Subscriber growth remains strong for Netflix, and the company appears to be weathering the competitive threat posed by Blockbuster quite well. But a weak earnings forecast, along with a weak implied forecast for revenues per subscriber, didn't sit well with the market. Is the stock's drop justified? Or do Netflix's growth opportunities and stock buyback plans make it a buy? Analysis from The Motley Fool, The Market Speculator, Piper Jaffray, The Stockmasters, and Metue.com.
Roundup #5: Fast-Food Restaurant Stocks - McDonald's announced earnings this week, with the market showing a tepid response on account of weak same-store sales in the U.S. But can strong international growth offset the U.S. market? And what about the company's value from a real-estate standpoint? Also, what are the growth outlooks for rivals such as Yum Brands! and the recently-acquired Wendy's? Analysis from The Creating Wealth Blog, Buckingham Research, BloggingStocks, and Goldman Sachs.
Roundup #6: AT&T's Earnings, and the Implications for Competitors and Suppliers - AT&T reported solid results this week, propelled by a healthy wireless business and growth in its U-Verse TV service. Do these numbers spell trouble for TV and wireless rivals? And at the same time, can AT&T's strength in these areas offset its weakness in traditional wireline operations? Also, what does the company's vagueness on iPhone sales imply for Apple? Analysis from 24/7 Wall Street, Jim Cramer, TechCrunch, and Citigroup.
Roundup #7: Bank of America's Earnings and Financial Industry Liquidity - A combination of trading losses and write-offs on bad housing loans put a dent into Bank of America's results, and also its stock price. With industry conditions as they are, will the company be able to raise the capital it needs to weather the current storm effectively? And if so, at what cost to shareholders? Analysis from BloggingStocks, Ockham Research, WSJ.com, and Deutsche Bank.
Roundup #8: eBay's earnings - Plenty of concerns were aired about eBay following its latest earnings. Slow core business growth, a weak consumer spending environment, and limited revenues for Skype were all seen as reasons to give investors pause. Yet at the same time, Paypal and international growth managed to stand out as bright spots. Do the positives outweigh the negatives for eBay at its current stock price? Analysis from Sramana Mitra, Zacks.com, The Motley Fool, AmTech Research, and Bernstein Research.
Roundup #9: Market and Macro Commentary - To what extent have market fears about a recession been inflated by the panic felt on Wall Street? Does it make more sense right now to invest in high-risk or low-risk sectors of the economy? What do polls of investor sentiment tell us about the market's future direction? How are the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 looking from a technical analysis standpoint? And do the latest housing sales numbers throw cold water on the idea of a quick rebound for the sector? Analysis from Seeking Alpha, StraightStocks, The Bonddad Blog, and Trader Mark.
Next Week's Lookout Stocks:
MA MasterCard Inc rate / discuss
GM General Motors Corp rate / discuss
PG The Procter & Gamble Company rate / discuss
Good luck with your investing, and we invite you to check out the SocialPicks web site, where new stock picks, analysis, and market commentary is being posted all the time.
Sincerely,
The SocialPicks Team
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