Jim Cramer Blog

Pepsi (PEP): stock went down almost 2 points. The quarterly report showed that the raw costs hurt the numbers in many of their domestic products, and thinks that many people are concerned that price increases will hurt sales. Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi was on the show to discuss the numbers, which she was very happy with. Nooyi thinks they can handle increased commodity costs and that earning will continue to increase.
Next, Cramer dressed up like a matador and talked about a Spanish stock. Cramer thinks that Spain has a good bull market, and that Banco Santander (STD) will prosper from its home market and the strength of the Euro compared to the US. Cramer said STD will make some acquisitions in the US and Latin America, growing and diversifying the bank's asset base. Cramer could see the stock making a 20% increase in the stock and a dividend increase as well.
Cramer took a couple of phone calls. First caller asked about Wells Fargo (WFC), and Cramer said that he likes the stock, but not as much as STD. The next caller asked about the Commerce Bank (CBH) merger, and Cramer said that the market had already priced an acquisition into the stock price in that case. The next caller asked about Banco Popular (BPOP), and Cramer said that he is not willing to buy that stock.
Sell Block
Cramer focused on the reasons you should sell Chipotle (CMG). Cramer is sad to see the stock go, but it is up 200% since he originally recommended it, and doesn't like the stock at this price.
PetSmart (PETM) CEO of the company was on the show. He discussed the fact that some of the company's sales are affected by weather patterns, and warmer weather hurts profits. Cramer still recommends the stock.
Finally, Cramer said that you should sell any Allegheny Technologies (ATI) stock you might have left from his recommendation of it last year.

Labels: ATI, CBH, CMG, Jim Cramer, Mad Money, Mad MOney Recap, PEP, PETM, STD, WFC

Buy Synovus (SNV), First Horizon (FHN) and Huntington (HBAN), Jim Cramer said Wednesday on CNBC's Stop Trading! segment.
Cramer said the regional banks are reasonably priced after the recent spell of yield curve inversion. He believes a weak dollar and a Fed easing campaign will make these franchises attractive to overseas buyers like Spain's Santander (STD).

Labels: CNBC's Stop Trading, FHN, HBAN, Jim Cramer, SNV, STD, Stop Trading

A consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland PLC said Tuesday it will launch a hostile bid of 71.1 billion euros ($95.5 billion) for ABN Amro, topping a friendly offer from Barclays PLC and pressing Bank of America Corp. for control of the Dutch bank's U.S. arm.
The offer by the RBS group is for 38.40 euros ($51.59) per share of ABN Amro Holding NV, mostly in cash. It is at least 10 percent more than Barclays' all share offer worth 34.69 euros ($46.59) at current levels. ABN Amro's shares fell 0.6 percent to 35.87 euros ($48.19), suggesting serious investor doubts about which deal will prevail.
Either bid, if successful, would be the largest in the history of the financial industry.

Labels: ABN, BAC, BCS, STD

A bevy of better-than-expected earnings reports from companies with strong sales overseas inspired a broad stock market advance today. The world's best-known market indicator, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, steamed past the 13,000 point mark for the first time in its history, while the Nasdaq composite and the S&P 500 also notched solid gains. Crude oil prices continued to move like a yo-yo, gaining over $1 a barrel to reverse a similar-sized drop yesterday. The 10-year Treasury note eased today.
Pacing today's gain was aircraft maker Boeing (NYSE: BA - News), which posted a 27% increase in its Q1 profit. Revenue rose 8% to $15.4 billion, outpacing the expectations of Wall Street. Growth was driven by strong orders for commercial airliners along with defense-related orders. Alcoa (NYSE: AA - News), another Dow component, added 5.3% after revealing that it is exploring the spin-off or sale of its packaging business, which is home to the Reynolds brand of aluminum and plastic wraps.
Defense contractors Raytheon (NYSE: RTN - News) and General Dynamics (NYSE: GD - News) managed more modest increases in their quarterly results. General Dynamics posted a 16% increase in its earnings for the quarter ended March 31, while Raytheon achieved a 21% gain. Analysts said that while spending on defense by the U.S. government is still robust, the battle between the Democratic Congress and the White House over a timetable for pulling out of Iraq clouds the picture somewhat for these companies.
Snack and soft drink maker PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP - News) said strong international sales and a good performance out of its Frito-Lay snack division propelled the company to a 16% Q1 earnings gain. CEO Indra Nooyi said investors can expect the company to remain in the acquisition market to supplement earlier moves into brands perceived as more "healthy." Recent acquisitions include Izze Beverage, Naked Juice, and Bluebird Foods.
On the tech front, online retailer Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN - News) leapt 27.0% to its highest price in about two years after announcing that profits more than doubled from the corresponding quarter a year ago. Amazon's profits grew to $111 million, or 26 cents a share, from $51 million, or 12 cents a share. Specialty glass maker Corning (NYSE: GLW - News) added 5.3% after reporting a 27% increase in Q1 net income and issuing an optimistic forecast for the current quarter. The company said sales to the telecom sector were driving growth.
In M&A activity, a consortium of banks led by Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland stepped up with new bid for ABN Amro (NYSE: ABN - News). Fortis Ltd. and Banco Santander Central Hispano (NYSE: STD - News) joined RBS in submitting a bid for the Danish bank that tops the offer announced by Barclay's (NYSE: BCS - News). Amro's shares jumped 5.2% on the news. The key to the deal is Amro's LaSalle Bank subsidiary, which RBS wants in order to cement its toehold in the U.S. market. Barclay's said it would sell LaSalle to Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News). Amro's board earlier endorsed Barclay's bid, and analysts wondered whether the side deal for LaSalle could be undone.
By the BullMarket.com Staff

Labels: AA, ABN, AMZN, BA, BAC, BCS, GD, GLW, PEP, RTN, STD

Stocks moved modestly to the downside today on profit taking in the wake of Friday's strong advance despite the announcement of big merger deals in the banking and biotechnology sectors. Oil prices also rose sharply, topping $65 a barrel in New York trading as traders reacted to instability in Nigeria following national elections in the oil-producing nation that opponents claim were rigged in the government's favor. The 10-year Treasury note moved higher to begin the week.
Today's news was dominated by M&A activity. As anticipated, Britain's Barclay's (NYSE: BCS - News) announced that it has agreed to acquire Dutch bank ABN Amro Holdings (NYSE: ABN - News) for just over $91 billion. As part of the deal, ABN Amro said it would sell its Chicago-based LaSalle National Bank subsidiary to Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News) for $21 billion. Proceeds from that sale will be distributed to shareholders of the combined banks after the sale is concluded. The offering price is slightly below last Friday's close, but represents a more than 30% premium over the price ABN shares were trading at when the talks began.
The Barclay's-ABN combination will create the world's fifth-largest bank and world's largest institutional asset manager. The two companies had been locked in exclusive negotiations for the last month. Recently, Barclay's rivals Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander Central Hispano (NYSE: STD - News) sought to offer their own bids of ABN. The Dutch bank said it favors Barclay's offer, but has not ruled out a competing bid should one arise. The other banks want to see details of the LaSalle transaction before deciding whether to proceed with bids of their own.
In other merger news, Britain's AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN - News) said it would buy biotech MedImmune (Nasdaq: MEDI - News) for $15.2 billion, or $58 a share, which is a 21% premium over Friday's closing price. MedImmune's board had put the company up for sale under pressure from major shareholders. Its top products include the FluMist influenza treatment and Synagis, a treatment for respiratory problems in infants, and it has a solid pipeline of drugs in development. MedImmune's shares rose 17.8% on the news. Subscribers may read our take on this deal and its implications for other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in today's edition.
In earnings news, Kimberly Clark (NYSE: KMB - News), which makes Kleenex tissue and other paper products, said its Q1 profit jumped 70% on strong sales growth and cost cutting. Revenue rose 8%. The company, however, also noted that rising pulp prices could impact future results. Its shares declined -1.2%. Like other companies with significant overseas sales, Kimberly Clark's results were aided by the weak U.S. dollar, which makes its products cheaper overseas.
Novartis (NYSE: NVS - News) reported an 11% increase in first-quarter earnings. Its profit rose to $2.17 billion, compared with $1.96 billion in the same quarter last year. Strong sales of its hypertension drug Diovan and its leukemia treatment, Gleevec, helped to fuel an 18% increase in revenue to $9.8 billion. Shares of toymaker Hasbro (NYSE: HAS - News) added 7.7% after the company reported a profit of nearly $33 million, or 19 cents a share, for the quarter that ended April 1st, compared with a loss of -$4.9 million, or -3 cents per share, in last year's comparable period.
By the BullMarket.com Staff

Labels: ABN, AZN, BAC, BCS, HAS, KMB, MEDI, NVS, STD