Comcast shares are traded up sharply yesterday in a lousy tape following publication of a couple articles on Bloomberg reviewing an interview with CEO Brian Roberts. Roberts is reiterating comments he made several weeks ago at a Wall Street conference indicating that he is “more confident” now than he was in February when the company […]
Private equity speculation comes to Canada. More rumors about a takeout of BCE Inc (BCE), formerly Bell Canada, emerged yesterday with speculation about a buyout led by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan with the help of Providence Equity. BCE shares closed up more than 6% but remain well below a rumored bid from this group […]
Sam Zell’s ESOP driven takeover of Tribune (TRB) is being met with a lot skepticism by the mainstream business press and newspaper industry observers. The gist of the skepticism is that employees are being asked to take on a huge risk by using their retirement savings to finance a very highly leveraged buyout of a […]
Endeavor Acquisition Corporation (EDA) announced that the deal to purchase American Apparel (AA) will proceed. AA met the requirement that 2006 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) be at least $30 million. An additional requirement that 2007 budgeted EBITDA reach $50 million was waived. The press release says that AA did not have […]
For the second consecutive month there were no changes to Northlake’s Market Cap and Style models. The signals are still flashing large cap and value. As a result, in the portion of the portfolios Northlake manages that are dedicated to the ETF rotation strategy, I continue to own the S&P 500 (SPY) and the Russell […]
Central European Media Enterprises (CETV) shares had an outstanding first quarter, gaining 26.4%. Part of the gains recouped a $5 decline from mid-November through year end, a bullish period for the market when CETV would be expected to outperform. Gains this year are tied to several factors. First, fourth quarter results were quite favorable and […]
Here is your Monday Morning Media Madness in honor of tonight’s final game of March Madness. • Is anyone else bored by the prospect of another national title game between Buckeyes and Gators? Probably not CBS (CBS) which is enjoying a good year in ratings for the hoops tourney, up 2% vs. a year ago. […]
As mentioned in my overview of the 2007 Prudential Midwest Media Day, I came away from my meeting with Disney (DIS) with increased confidence in the outlook for March quarter earnings. The March quarter represents 2Q07 for DIS and will be reported after the close on May 8th with a conference beginning at 4:30 EDT. […]
I spent Tuesday at Prudential Securities Midwest Media Day. This is a great conference using a unique format combining very small group discussions with one-on-one meetings. Over the course of the day I met with CBS (CBS), Lee Enterprises (LEE), DreamWorks Animation (DWA), EW Scripps (SSP), Omnicom (OMC), Moody’s (MCO), and Disney (DIS). Special thanks […]
The market had its best week since 2003. The weekend is 75 degrees and sunny in Chicago. Same forecast for today. All the windows are open creating the perfect sleeping weather we all covet. Is all this good news a sign I should make a new buy today? Or does all this good news mean […]
