That star is our dog, Sky, who is now emerging to compete in sheep herding competition this Spring. Here's a link to a YouTube video of him in a lesson this past weekend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6Cyx_ru46k
He's responding to whistle commands and does a fine gather (aka an "outrun"), drives the sheep through various "gates" and then "sheds" one off the rest of the flock He really likes doing that. We have high hopes for him in the trials, but he's really our pet first. His aunt, Krypto, does this, too, but started lessons as an older dog, so is a bit behind. She might catch up fast as she's very smart.
Markets
Alcoa missed earnings. What a shocker - not ! Alcoa is a poorly managed company and is a serial misser. That company needs to be taken over by someone with better management.
Book of the Week
If you want to understand the early history of Central Asia, then read this book: The Empire of the Steppes: a history of Central Asia by René Grousset. This book covers Central Asia from the beginnings circa 2000 BC to the 18th century. Drawing hugely on Chinese sources, the changing cultures and peoples who populated this regions are described from the early Indo-European tribes, to the Turkic and Mongol tribes, the Arab invasions and on and on.
The book lays out many interconnections of cultures of China, India, Persia, Tibet and even to Rome. Why is this huge area dominated now by Turkic peoples and the religion of Islam ? How connected is Tibet to China ? What role did the "Silk Road" play and who created it ? The book has historical facts to help one understand all this.
I haven't finished it yet, but have already learned a huge amount. It's very dry history, but this book has the facts.
As a bonus, it helps one understand the art and culture of Afghanistan in antiquity. I wish I had read it before seeing the exhibit on the art of Afghanistan at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC last summer. I would have better understood the cultures that produced the art.
Word of the Day
"Sapid" - adjective [$10] literary
Sapid means 1. having (especially an agreeable) flavor; savory; palatable; not insipid; 2. literary (of talk, writing, etc.) not vapid or uninteresting. Sapid is the antonym of insipid in both meanings.
Sentence: Bunkerman made a particularly sapid multicultural pizza last weekend with a blue corn meal crust, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, a pesto sauce, Polish smoked sausage, black olives, red peppers and elephant garlic. Primo ! And he has leftovers tonight ... with a fine red wine ... mmmmmmmmmm.
Showing posts with label earnings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label earnings. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Good Earnings News
Intel reported surprisingly good earnings and revenues last evening. From Briefing.com:
"Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.33 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.28; revenues fell 8.0% year/year to $9.4 bln vs the $9.04 bln consensus. Intel reports Q3 gross margin 57.6% vs 55.5% consensus and prior guidance to upper half of 51-55% range. Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $9.7-10.5 bln vs. $9.51 bln consensus. Intel guides Q4 gross margin 59-65% vs 56.7% consensus ... "
"China had a particularly strong qtr. US continued to ride strong consumer sales with the back-to-school cycle exceeding co's expectations... Channel sales out have shown healthy sequential growth for three quarters in a row. Inventory in the channel remains slightly below normal levels ... "
From memory, a majority of Intel's revenues come from overseas sales. This is my thesis for the call option purchases with expiration dates well beyond earnings reports. In hindsight, I suppose I should have included Intel in the stock selections. Oh well ...
Actions
Doing nothing but sitting and awaiting earnings reports from the companies in my call option book. As mentioned before, if the stocks ramp strongly into earnings, I'll likely take some profits pre-earnings. Also, hitting S&P 1100 will likely induce me to take partial profits as that was part of my initial plan. I don't usually change a plan if and as it works out. Doing that without new good cause seems to very bad luck - perhaps it shows hubris and angers the trading gods.
Word of the Day
"Recondite" - adjective [$10] an old word from the card file
Recondite means 1. hidden from sight: concealed; 2. incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge: deep; 3. of, relating to, or dealing with something little known or obscure.
Sentence: After listening to Sen. Olympia Snow's reasons for voting for the committee version of ObamaCare, her true reasons remain recondite. All she really said was the "something" needed to be done. Wow, such erudition ! Not ! Fool or knave ? I suspect "fool" in this case. A knave would surely have had a better reason.
"Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.33 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.28; revenues fell 8.0% year/year to $9.4 bln vs the $9.04 bln consensus. Intel reports Q3 gross margin 57.6% vs 55.5% consensus and prior guidance to upper half of 51-55% range. Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $9.7-10.5 bln vs. $9.51 bln consensus. Intel guides Q4 gross margin 59-65% vs 56.7% consensus ... "
"China had a particularly strong qtr. US continued to ride strong consumer sales with the back-to-school cycle exceeding co's expectations... Channel sales out have shown healthy sequential growth for three quarters in a row. Inventory in the channel remains slightly below normal levels ... "
From memory, a majority of Intel's revenues come from overseas sales. This is my thesis for the call option purchases with expiration dates well beyond earnings reports. In hindsight, I suppose I should have included Intel in the stock selections. Oh well ...
Actions
Doing nothing but sitting and awaiting earnings reports from the companies in my call option book. As mentioned before, if the stocks ramp strongly into earnings, I'll likely take some profits pre-earnings. Also, hitting S&P 1100 will likely induce me to take partial profits as that was part of my initial plan. I don't usually change a plan if and as it works out. Doing that without new good cause seems to very bad luck - perhaps it shows hubris and angers the trading gods.
Word of the Day
"Recondite" - adjective [$10] an old word from the card file
Recondite means 1. hidden from sight: concealed; 2. incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge: deep; 3. of, relating to, or dealing with something little known or obscure.
Sentence: After listening to Sen. Olympia Snow's reasons for voting for the committee version of ObamaCare, her true reasons remain recondite. All she really said was the "something" needed to be done. Wow, such erudition ! Not ! Fool or knave ? I suspect "fool" in this case. A knave would surely have had a better reason.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Weeding
A tougher market and economy tends to weed out the weak companies and stocks. Poor management and poor strategies can be hidden in strong markets in a strong economy, but when both struggle, the weak pay for their errors.
AA reported earnings yesterday, missing on EPS but beating on revenues. High prices for alumina and aluminum were offset by higher energy price, so management said. Anyone following that stock for a few years knows they serially miss earnings estimates. Management is just poor. Hence no surprise here that AA missed ... again.
AMD to cut 10% of its workforce. This weak and overleveraged company just can't compete with the much stronger INTC.
Greenspan [ aka "Elmer" ] says that house prices might stabilize this year. Gosh, does it take a genius to see that ? And he gets paid for that ? Anyone observing the speed with which buyers scooping up foreclosed properties in many areas can see that prices are clearing. Well, maybe Elmer reads this blog. That's ok, it's free to all. If he can scam that hedge fund to pay him for repeating what he reads here, fine. [joke]
My "opinion" is that the beefer shorts, who have taken short interest to new records again, will find some bad news in the early earnings reports to attack again. So wait for dips to buy good stocks for a long term hold. When the dust clears, they will find themselves greatly overextended and risking serial underperformance, hence beefer oblivion. So the ensuing rally will create a grinding move higher for many months.
This is just my outlook ... "real" facts can change it at anytime.
Words of the Day
"Parecious" - adjective [$100] Botanical
[this is an "aeiou" sequential vowel word - see yesterday's post]
Parecious is a variant of paroicous, meaning (of certain mosses) having the male and female reproductive organs beside or near each other.
Sentence: I really can't come up with a natural usage for "parecious", but in humor, I suppose that the Clintons haven't achieved a parecious joint physical state for decades, due to Bill's adultery or Hillary's ... uh ... that's enough fun.
"Parol" - adjective and noun [$10] a Law term pronounced pa rol' with a long "o" or par' el, first syllable as in the golf term - par.
Parol means (adjective) 1. given orally; 2. (of a document) not given under seal; (noun) an oral declaration.
Sentence: When questioned, Hillary prefers parol answers without oaths so she can lie without risk of perjury.
"Prevaricate" - verb, intransitive [$10] (I knew this one, but it fits for today)
Prevaricate means 1. to speak or act evasively or misleadingly; 2. quibble, equivocate.
Sentence: Both Clintons prevaricate with such skill that any parol response must be transcribed and then subject to exegesis to understand the meaning and possibilities of their statements.
AA reported earnings yesterday, missing on EPS but beating on revenues. High prices for alumina and aluminum were offset by higher energy price, so management said. Anyone following that stock for a few years knows they serially miss earnings estimates. Management is just poor. Hence no surprise here that AA missed ... again.
AMD to cut 10% of its workforce. This weak and overleveraged company just can't compete with the much stronger INTC.
Greenspan [ aka "Elmer" ] says that house prices might stabilize this year. Gosh, does it take a genius to see that ? And he gets paid for that ? Anyone observing the speed with which buyers scooping up foreclosed properties in many areas can see that prices are clearing. Well, maybe Elmer reads this blog. That's ok, it's free to all. If he can scam that hedge fund to pay him for repeating what he reads here, fine. [joke]
My "opinion" is that the beefer shorts, who have taken short interest to new records again, will find some bad news in the early earnings reports to attack again. So wait for dips to buy good stocks for a long term hold. When the dust clears, they will find themselves greatly overextended and risking serial underperformance, hence beefer oblivion. So the ensuing rally will create a grinding move higher for many months.
This is just my outlook ... "real" facts can change it at anytime.
Words of the Day
"Parecious" - adjective [$100] Botanical
[this is an "aeiou" sequential vowel word - see yesterday's post]
Parecious is a variant of paroicous, meaning (of certain mosses) having the male and female reproductive organs beside or near each other.
Sentence: I really can't come up with a natural usage for "parecious", but in humor, I suppose that the Clintons haven't achieved a parecious joint physical state for decades, due to Bill's adultery or Hillary's ... uh ... that's enough fun.
"Parol" - adjective and noun [$10] a Law term pronounced pa rol' with a long "o" or par' el, first syllable as in the golf term - par.
Parol means (adjective) 1. given orally; 2. (of a document) not given under seal; (noun) an oral declaration.
Sentence: When questioned, Hillary prefers parol answers without oaths so she can lie without risk of perjury.
"Prevaricate" - verb, intransitive [$10] (I knew this one, but it fits for today)
Prevaricate means 1. to speak or act evasively or misleadingly; 2. quibble, equivocate.
Sentence: Both Clintons prevaricate with such skill that any parol response must be transcribed and then subject to exegesis to understand the meaning and possibilities of their statements.
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