chinaman711
09-05-2006, 08:14 PM
Indie Research
The BullMarket.com Market Wrap: September 5th, 2006
Tuesday September 5, 5:19 pm ET
By the BullMarket.com Staff
Stocks traded mixed for much of the day before closing slightly higher. Crude oil prices also slipped on a day in which a potentially huge offshore deposit in the Gulf of Mexico was announced by Chevron (NYSE: CVX - News) and partners Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN - News) and Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO - News). Treasury prices slipped, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury note up 6 basis points. The pullback in the 10-year was the biggest in nearly two months, prompted in part by the fact that the yield had recently hit a five-month low.
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The Gulf of Mexico oil deposit wasn't a previously unknown find, but one in which the oil wasn't easily recovered because it was in a formation under deep water 270 miles southwest of New Orleans. New deepwater rigs can now extract oil from such formations, recent tests show. The deposits could yield anywhere from 3-15 billion barrels of oil and natural gas and would significantly increase U.S. reserves. Pride International (NYSE: PDE - News), which operates the kind of deep-water rigs needed to get at such deposits, could be a long-term beneficiary.
Miners Phelps Dodge (NYSE: PD - News) and Inco (NYSE: N - News) announced that they have shelved their merger agreement after it became clear that most Inco investors weren't in favor of the deal. Phelps Dodge will receive a $125 million termination payment from Inco. That leaves Brazilian mine operator Companhia Vale do Rio Doce as the only suitor for Inco, a Canadian based nickel miner. At one point earlier this summer, Phelps Dodge, Inco, and another Canadian mining concern, Falconbridge (NYSE: FAL - News), agreed to combine into what would have been North America's largest nickel and copper producer, but that deal fell apart when Switzerland-based Xstrata won control of Falconbridge.
The media world was roiled by the news that Sumner Redstone, the 83-year-old chairman of Viacom (NYSE: VIA - News), helped engineer the ouster of the company's CEO, Tom Freston. Phillipe Dauman, a long-time lieutenant of Redstone's, was named CEO, and the company rehired another Redstone protege, Thomas Dooley, as executive VP and chief administrative officer. The company's board said it was disappointed with the performance of the stock, blaming Freston for a weak, ineffective outreach to Wall Street. He's only had the top job since the beginning of the year, when Viacom split off CBS (NYSE: CBS - News). Investors reacted negatively, pushing Viacom down -5%.
In another surprise personnel move, struggling automaker Ford Motor (NYSE: F - News) announced this afternoon that it had lured Boeing (NYSE: BA - News) executive Alan Mullaly, 61, to assume day-to-day command of the company as CEO. Current CEO William Clay Ford Jr. will remain chairman, and will work actively with Mullaly to continue Ford's restructuring. Mullaly was the executive in charge of Boeing's commercial airline division, a key segment of that company's operations.
In the technology sector, memory chip designer Rambus (Nasdaq: RMBS - News) got a boost from an enthusiastic "buy" rating from American Technology Research. The research report said investors have "misunderstood" the company's prospects and that the stock could trade substantially higher depending on the outcome of several pending lawsuits. The company has been the target of several patent infringement cases. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD - News), meanwhile, rose 6% after a Thomas Weisel upgrade to "outperform" from "peer perform."
The BullMarket.com Market Wrap: September 5th, 2006
Tuesday September 5, 5:19 pm ET
By the BullMarket.com Staff
Stocks traded mixed for much of the day before closing slightly higher. Crude oil prices also slipped on a day in which a potentially huge offshore deposit in the Gulf of Mexico was announced by Chevron (NYSE: CVX - News) and partners Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN - News) and Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO - News). Treasury prices slipped, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury note up 6 basis points. The pullback in the 10-year was the biggest in nearly two months, prompted in part by the fact that the yield had recently hit a five-month low.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Gulf of Mexico oil deposit wasn't a previously unknown find, but one in which the oil wasn't easily recovered because it was in a formation under deep water 270 miles southwest of New Orleans. New deepwater rigs can now extract oil from such formations, recent tests show. The deposits could yield anywhere from 3-15 billion barrels of oil and natural gas and would significantly increase U.S. reserves. Pride International (NYSE: PDE - News), which operates the kind of deep-water rigs needed to get at such deposits, could be a long-term beneficiary.
Miners Phelps Dodge (NYSE: PD - News) and Inco (NYSE: N - News) announced that they have shelved their merger agreement after it became clear that most Inco investors weren't in favor of the deal. Phelps Dodge will receive a $125 million termination payment from Inco. That leaves Brazilian mine operator Companhia Vale do Rio Doce as the only suitor for Inco, a Canadian based nickel miner. At one point earlier this summer, Phelps Dodge, Inco, and another Canadian mining concern, Falconbridge (NYSE: FAL - News), agreed to combine into what would have been North America's largest nickel and copper producer, but that deal fell apart when Switzerland-based Xstrata won control of Falconbridge.
The media world was roiled by the news that Sumner Redstone, the 83-year-old chairman of Viacom (NYSE: VIA - News), helped engineer the ouster of the company's CEO, Tom Freston. Phillipe Dauman, a long-time lieutenant of Redstone's, was named CEO, and the company rehired another Redstone protege, Thomas Dooley, as executive VP and chief administrative officer. The company's board said it was disappointed with the performance of the stock, blaming Freston for a weak, ineffective outreach to Wall Street. He's only had the top job since the beginning of the year, when Viacom split off CBS (NYSE: CBS - News). Investors reacted negatively, pushing Viacom down -5%.
In another surprise personnel move, struggling automaker Ford Motor (NYSE: F - News) announced this afternoon that it had lured Boeing (NYSE: BA - News) executive Alan Mullaly, 61, to assume day-to-day command of the company as CEO. Current CEO William Clay Ford Jr. will remain chairman, and will work actively with Mullaly to continue Ford's restructuring. Mullaly was the executive in charge of Boeing's commercial airline division, a key segment of that company's operations.
In the technology sector, memory chip designer Rambus (Nasdaq: RMBS - News) got a boost from an enthusiastic "buy" rating from American Technology Research. The research report said investors have "misunderstood" the company's prospects and that the stock could trade substantially higher depending on the outcome of several pending lawsuits. The company has been the target of several patent infringement cases. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD - News), meanwhile, rose 6% after a Thomas Weisel upgrade to "outperform" from "peer perform."