S&P 500 companies more than double stock repurchases in the third quarter

Publié le 20 décembre 2010
(http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/S-P-500-companies-double-capress-2875263445.html?x=0)

NEW YORK, N.Y. - S&P 500 companies more than doubled their stock repurchases in the third quarter.

While many U.S.-traded businesses held off on buybacks during the recession, repurchases appear to be on the rise again now that signs are emerging that economic conditions are improving.

Standard & Poor's said Monday that buybacks surged to US$79.56 billion in the third quarter from $34.85 billion a year earlier, making it the fifth straight quarter of increased repurchases.

Information technology companies, including Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp., made up 28.6 per cent of all buybacks, while health care companies repurchased less stock than in the prior-year period.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. also made large buybacks in the quarter.

Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P indexes predicts a slight rise in fourth-quarter buybacks.

Stock buybacks lower a company's shares outstanding, raising earnings per share and expanding the percentage size of shareholders' stakes.

The S&P 500, Financial Sector May Have Been Naughty This Year

Publié le 15 janvier 2010
(http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/sp500-financial-sector-banks-investors-traders/12/15/2010/id/31699?camp=syndication&from=yahoo)

Editor's Note: JW Jones offers more content at OptionsTradingSignals.com.

Market pundits and prognosticators are all worried as to whether Santa is going to deliver presents to Wall Street this year. While we have seen the S&P 500 reach new highs in December, it's facing a wall of resistance around the S&P 1250 area. Based on price action today, Santa may not be coming to Wall Street in 2010.

Market participants are aware that the holiday season tends to usher in light volume and declining volatility, historically. When volume is light and volatility is declining, there is generally a bias to the upside as equities typically grind their way higher. In the recent past, Santa has come to Wall Street and delivered gifts of good fortune to those that were heavily invested in the domestic financial markets.

Unfortunately, the financial sector in particular has behaved poorly, and if it doesn't start behaving, Santa may not come to Wall Street at all in 2010. Apparently Santa and Mr. Market are good friends as they both like to watch the financial sector closely.

The action in the KBW Banking Index (BKX) recently has not been inspiring. In fact, the action suggests that the financial sector may potentially be putting in an intermediate- to longer-term top. Before coming to any conclusions, we need to watch the price action in the financial sector play out before jumping in on either side. As Minyanville founder Todd Harrison often writes, “As go the piggies, so goes the poke.”

Essentially what he is saying is that without the banks participating in a rally, the broader market will have limited upside. If the banks are sold heavily, the broader market is likely to follow. As can be seen from the chart illustrated below, the BKX tested recent highs and has failed on its first attempt to break out. As most traders are already aware, every time a level is tested it becomes weaker, so my firm will be watching to see if this level is tested again in the near future. Illustrated below is the daily chart of the BKX banking index:




Price action in coming days will help us determine if this is just a pause before a breakout or if the BKX index is telling us that prices are headed lower in the financial sector. If the KBX, XLF, and KRE start to break down, as traders we should anticipate that the broad markets, such as the S&P 500, will likely follow.

The Tuesday morning session saw the S&P 500 climb higher, only to be sold off in the afternoon, eventually closing up around 1.13 points (+0.09%) while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.98 points (+0.42). However, the Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF) closed the day down (-0.89%), the KBW Banking ETF (KBE) closed down (-1.55%), the KBW Banking Index was down (-1.52%), and the KBW Regional Banking ETF (KRE) closed up (+0.28%). While the broader markets were in positive territory, the banks for the most part were under suspicious selling pressure.

The S&P 500 weekly chart indicates that we are approaching some major overhead resistance levels. Is the financial sector trying to warn us of potential downside? Is the rollover in the banking sector a head fake before they break higher and the S&P 500 follows suit? It is impossible to know for sure at this point, but I for one will be monitoring the financial sector quite closely for any clues about possible direction on the broad domestic indices.




Is Santa going to put a lump of coal in Wall Street's stocking this year? That question will be answered in due time, but for now investors and traders alike should be watching the banks as the broader markets will struggle to rally without their participation.

No New Normal as Strategists Predict 11% S&P 500 Gain

Publie le 13 decembre 2010
(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-13/no-new-normal-next-year-seen-by-strategists-predicting-11-gain-in-s-p-500.html)

Rising profits and cash balances will push the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the biggest three- year advance since the 1990s, surpassing forecasts for below- average returns, strategists at Wall Street’s biggest banks say.

The benchmark gauge for American equities will rise 11 percent from last week’s close to 1,379 in 2011, bringing the increase since 2008 to 53 percent, the best return since 1997 to 2000, according to the average of 11 strategists in a Bloomberg News survey. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s David Kostin, the most accurate U.S. strategist this year, said sales growth will spur a 17 percent rally in the S&P 500 through the end of 2011.

Market analysts say earnings will hit record highs, keeping valuations below historical averages at the same time government spending aids the economy. Reaching their average forecast for 2011 would give the index annualized gains of 15 percent over three years, twice the rate anticipated by Pacific Investment Management Co.’s new normal theory that anticipates deficits and increased regulation will limit returns.

“Your new normal may not be quite so new,” said Barry Knapp, the New York-based head of equity strategy for Barclays Plc, who expects the S&P 500 will reach 1,420. “There’s nothing to worry about with earnings. We’ll get some margin expansion, and we’re still at a pretty good stage in the economic cycle. From my perspective, I’ve tried to think about all the risks. I just think the outlook is favorable, so favorable that I struggle to see how the equity market doesn’t perform well.”

Tax Breaks

Stocks rose last week, pushing the S&P 500 up 1.3 percent to an almost 27-month high of 1,240.40, after President Barack Obama said he would agree to a two-year extension of tax cuts enacted under his predecessor, George W. Bush. The index has gained 11 percent this year.

The S&P 500 erased gains in the final hour of trading today, advancing 0.06 point, or less than 0.1 percent, to 1,240.46 at 4 p.m. New York time.

A Dec. 10 report showed U.S. consumer confidence jumped to a six-month high and the trade deficit narrowed more than economists estimated as exports rose to the highest level since 2008.

“Company balance sheets have never been stronger,” said Kostin, citing Goldman Sachs data showing companies hold more than $1 trillion in cash, the most ever compared with the value of their assets. “We expect S&P 500 firms will increase spending in all categories, with the fastest growth in acquisitions and share repurchases.”

Hiring Slump

Equities climbed on Dec. 9 when Mohamed El-Erian, the chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer of Pimco, raised his forecast for next year’s U.S. growth as policy makers spend up to $600 billion to buy Treasuries through so-called quantitative easing. Pimco said the economy may grow 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 from the year-earlier period, up from 2.5 percent.

Pimco, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, said since May 2009 that gains in financial assets would be below historical averages for years to come. Bill Gross, the other co- chief investment officer, said on Dec. 3 that a Labor Department report showing hiring trailed forecasts in November shows gross domestic product isn’t expanding fast enough to sustain market rallies.

‘Stable Wings’

“The old normal was 6 to 7 percent,” Gross said in a Dec. 3 radio interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene. “The new normal is a 3 percent plus or minus nominal GDP. It speaks to 2 percent growth and 1 percent inflation. We are running at a half-size-paper-airplane type of economy as opposed to one with stable wings and full thrusting jet engines.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said in an interview broadcast Dec. 5 by CBS Corp.’s “60 Minutes” program that the economy is barely expanding at a sustainable pace and that he may increase bond purchases. China, the world’s fastest- growing major economy, said this month it’s moving to a more “prudent” monetary policy to counter inflation.

Kostin, Goldman Sachs’ New York-based strategist who said last year the S&P 500 would end 2010 at 1,250, wrote in a note Dec. 6 that below-average bond yields help create a “superb backdrop” for equities. He expects the S&P 500 to finish 2011 at 1,450, the second most-bullish call among 11 firms surveyed. Total per-share earnings among companies in the index may rise to $94 next year, he said.

The profit forecast would be a record and compares with an average prediction of $92 a share in the Bloomberg News survey of strategists. The index trades at 13.5 times that estimate, compared with a median price-earnings ratio of 16.4 since 1956, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Higher Yield

The S&P 500’s earnings yield, or annual profit divided by share price, was 6.45 percent at the end of last week, according to Bloomberg data. That was 3.13 percentage points more than payouts on 10-year Treasuries and about 2.4 points more than the average interest on U.S. corporate bonds as measured by Barclays Plc. The spread between S&P 500 earnings and corporate bond yields is close to the highest level in more than two decades.

That suggests stocks are cheap relative to bonds and may spur investments by individuals, institutions and companies in 2011, Kostin said.

More than 70 percent of companies exceeded analysts’ profit estimates in the third quarter. That was the sixth straight period that many beat projections, the longest stretch since at least 1993, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

‘Chance of Great’

Jonathan Golub at UBS AG in New York expects a 6.8 percent rise to 1,325 in the S&P 500 through 2011, fueled by sales growth of as much as 7 percent. Next year looks “good, with a chance of great” for equities, he said in an interview. “You really get to good based on earnings alone. We’re entering into a self-sustained recovery,” and there’s “a very accommodative backdrop being provided by the Fed,” he said.

Record cash means companies can increase mergers, acquisitions and share repurchases, Golub said. Buybacks will amount to $375 billion by the end of this year, the fourth- largest annual total since at least 1985, should they continue at the current rate, according to Birinyi Associates Inc.

Hewlett-Packard Co., which has $10.9 billion in cash and equivalents, plans to repurchase shares, Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak said Dec. 8 at an investor conference in San Francisco. The Palo Alto, California-based personal-computer maker added $10 billion in August to $4.9 billion already available for buybacks.

Shares for Takeover

Schlumberger Ltd., the largest oilfield services provider, is considering buying back some of the 176 million shares issued this year after an acquisition, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Gould said on an Oct. 22 conference call.

Golub said earnings valuations based on profit estimates for 2011 are the best way to judge value, and they show prices have been depressed by an overly pessimistic view of the economy. UBS’s forecast for the S&P 500 in 2010 a year ago matched Goldman Sachs’ at 1,250.

“Is the market discounting weaker growth rates? You have a multiple that’s so substantially below normal it would appear that that’s the case,” Golub said. “But as the economy continues to surprise on the upside, there’s a process by which the market starts to discount greater success. I’m not calling for a lower-return year.”

"No Red Alarms or Red Alerts": Traders Sadana, Dispennette Say 'Buy the Dips'

Publie le 10 decembre 2010
(http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/no-red-alarms-or-red-alerts-traders-sadana-dispennette-say-buy-the-dips-yftt_535704.html)

Since major average hit multi-year highs earlier this week, the broad market has moved sideways in a relatively tight range. On Friday morning, an early rally attempt petered out quickly and major averages were recently hovering near breakeven.

But expect more gains, at least in the near-term, according to Smita Sadana, CEO of Sunrise Capital and David Dispennette, founder of The Stock Playbook. (Editor's note: The accompanying video was taped last Friday at Minyanville's Festivus event; technical difficulties prevented us from airing it until today.)

"There's no red alarms [or] red alerts on my screens: I think dips are getting bought and they are going to be bought," Sadana says. "There's no [technical] divergences, no disconnects in the market that I see."

In a recent presentation, Sadana provided the following rationale for her bullish view:

* The S&P 500 found major support at its 50-day moving average during the latest pullback.
* Market Internals holding strong: The advance-decline Line has kept pace with the market advance.
* Several ancillary indexes have broken out through recent highs, such as Dow Transports, Russell 2000, Semis, Energy and Retail.
* Strength in the Russell, semis and emerging markets signifies an increased appetite for risk, which bodes well for future market action.

Suggesting momentum plays like Apple, Google and Netflix are "getting tired," Sadana sees rotation into a host of other areas, including financials and semiconductors while commodities are "still hot."

In terms of recommendations, she likes (and owns) financials such as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, as well as emerging market plays like India.

"I do see some macroeconomic worries in the future [but] I don't think in the trading environment we have something to be worried about," Sadana says.

Dispennette largely agrees, suggesting "there's a bill to be paid" for QE2 and predicting the S&P 500 is likely to be right near current levels a year from now. But "it looks like we might have clear sailing" for now, he says. "I would buy dips like Smita said."

Dispennette prefers small-cap stocks and is particularly bullish on China. "They'll have some bumps along the road but I don't there's a bubble," he says.

Dispennette's recommendations include food processors like Zhongpin, and Yuhe International, edible alcohol producer China New Borun and insurer CNinsure.

How to Capture Gains in an Overextended Market

Publie le 10 decembre 2010
(http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=^VIX#symbol=^vix;range=6m;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=;

Simon Maierhofer, On Friday December 10, 2010, 6:51 pm EST

It's said that an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.

Fortunately for investors today, prevention seems to be overrated as the Fed is pumping liquidity into the markets.

The Fed feels indifferent that QE2, which is not much more than an asset purchase program, rewards the very banks (NYSEArca: KBE - News) and financial institutions (NYSEArca: XLF - News) that profited immensely from creating the 2007 bubble.

Ironically, the money being spent on 'preventing' a continuation of the economic meltdown is inflating another bubble. Today's easy money is coming from a different spigot, but it'll have the same effect - another bubble.

Stairs Up - Elevator Down

All is well as long as prices go up, but that can reverse suddenly. A commenter on ETFguide.com's message board used the analogy that the market is climbing up the stairs but taking the elevator down.

The chart below shows the long-term performance of the S&P 500 (SNP: ^GSPC) since the 2000 tech (NYSEArca: XLK - News) crash in one month candles. Note how the bear market moves much faster than a bull market.

In this article we'll discuss 1) How to make money on the upside without being vulnerable to another steep sell off and 2) What the chances are of a sharp correction visiting Wall Street.



Be Alert

Don't buy and then stick your head in the sand. Read between the lines and evaluate the investment environment. There are indicators that tell you when a market is overheating. This doesn't mean stocks will drop like a rock, but it's a good warning signal.

For example, on April 16, 2010, the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter noted an extremely low put/call ratio and predicted a sharp decline. The put/call ratio indicated that investors/traders were so confident in rising prices that only one out of three bought put protection.

Puts serve as a safety net. Without a safety net, the bottom can drop out of the market. The 'Flash Crash' painfully highlighted the results of sentiment extremes combined with anemic put protection.

A similar setup occurred in December 2008 when the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter predicted that optimism above Dow 9,000 will lead to a new low below Dow 7,400. Within the next 2 months, the Dow (DJI: ^DJI) and Nasdaq (Nasdaq: ^IXIC) lost between 24% and 29%.

Sentiment measures are a valuable indicator. However, it appears that QE2 has skewed the effectiveness of sentiment indicators. With much of QE2 money going straight into stocks (NYSEArca: VTI - News) and commodities (NYSEArca: DBA - News), sentiment readings will likely reach historic extremes before another significant top is reached.

Many Options

There are various ways to protect your long positions. The most straight-forward way is to buy put options. A put option gives you the right to sell a stock or ETF at a predetermined price (the strike price) regardless of what happens to the stock.

If you owned 100 shares of SPY at $123 ($12,300), a March strike price of $123 would cost you around $500. A $500 'insurance premium' would allow you to sell SPY at $123 on or before March 18, 2011, regardless of where SPY will trade in the future.

Instead of buying a put to protect your position, you can also sell a call to generate income and/or offset losses. You can sell the right to buy your SPY at $123 at any given time on or before March 18, 2011 for about $450. This limits your upside but guarantees an additional $450.

Volatility (Chicago Options: ^VIX) is low right now, this means options tend to be cheaper. Therefore, put protection is more affordable while selling calls doesn't generate as much income.

Prominent Support/Resistance

Support and resistance levels for stocks are like traffic lights for cars. Stocks are not guaranteed to stop at resistance or bounce off support, but like a car, if it's going to stop, it will be at a light.

If one light is green (support resistance is broken), the car is allowed to move on until it hits the next light.

Via its outlook for the month of November, the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter highlighted the importance of the monthly pivot at 1,170. Pivots are support resistance levels and are derived by calculations of previous new highs, lows and the distance between them. Pivots can be calculated for hourly, daily, weekly and monthly time frames.

On November 7, the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter stated that: 'Any correction that doesn't drop below monthly pivot will likely result in new highs.' Throughout November, the S&P retested 1,170 on five separate occasions, but never broke below it, resulting in a new high.

Using the monthly pivot, investors could have covered short positions, entered long positions, or bought puts right around 1,170.

Trailing Sell-Stops

Trailing buy or sell-stops are the most basic way to enjoy the upside and limit the downside (or vice versa). A trailing stop will move the exit price as long as the stock/index moves in the 'right' direction. Once it moves beyond your point target in the 'wrong' direction, the position is closed.

Trailing stop orders can protect you from a brewing storm, but can also get you stopped out at the worst time. Using pivots can increase the effectiveness of trailing stops.

Bernanke - A Disguised Bear

We've discussed various avenues to protect against an unwanted decline. Is such a decline possible, even likely?

If you haven't watched Bernanke's interview on CNBC's 60 Minutes, I encourage you to do so. Yes, Bernanke showed again that he'll unleash more QE if needed, but his assessment of the economy was outright disturbing for the bulls.

To rationalize QE2, Bernanke highlighted how bad things really are and that inflating asset prices via QE2 is about the only hope. Fortunately, he's about 100% sure that QE2 - and perhaps QE3, QE4, etc. - will succeed.

A 100% expectation of success from an entity with a flawed track record is not comforting, especially coming from someone who said in 2005 that a housing bubble 'is a pretty unlikely possibility' and therefore, failed to prevent the post 2007 crash. The odds are that the Fed is simply inflating a new bubble in an effort to rectify the damage of the previous bubble bust.

But you can't profit today on a bubble that isn't ready to bust, so we'll zoom in on short-term opportunities. In November, the S&P (SNP: ^GSPC) bounced off the monthly pivot at 1,170 and is rallying towards the next resistance cluster. With sentiment at multi-year extremes, the next level of resistance may repel stocks.

The December support and resistance levels are available now to subscribers of the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter and will aid in assessing the potential up and down side for the next few weeks, providing an early warning system to protect against any unwanted surprises.

Stocks may fly as fear fades

XSP.to Dec 9, 3:00PM EST: 14.21 Up 0.06 (0.42%)
From Dec 6 to Dec 10 +1.64%





Dec 10, 4:59PM EST: 1,240.40 Up 7.40 (0.60%)
S&P 500 INDEX,RTH (^GSPC)
From Dec 6 to Dec 10 +1.45%





Dec 10, 4:14PM EST: 17.61 Up 0.36 (2.09%)
VOLATILITY S&P 500 (^VIX)
From Dec 6 to Dec 10 -6.88%
From June 11 to Dec 10 -38.83%




Publie le 5 decembre 2010
(http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stocks-may-fly-as-fear-rb-2088367007.html?x=0&.v=1)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Europe's sovereign debt crisis will still hang over global markets this week, but on Wall Street, investors will not be afraid to bet on stocks.

Wall Street showed its ability to hold onto gains, or quickly recover from losses last week despite Europe's debt woes, suggesting that investors are confident of a sustained rally.

"When things don't fall apart on bad news, you know that the market is no longer vulnerable. The overall sentiment is pretty solid," said Randy Frederick, director of trading and derivatives at Schwab Center for Financial Research in Austin, Texas.

The outstanding put-to-call ratio on index options, heavily focused on the S&P 500 benchmark, dropped from 1.32 for the shortened Thanksgiving holiday week to 1.29, showing bullish signs for the week ahead.

The ratio, which is always greater than 1, is the primary hedging vehicle for institutional investors. The ratio rises with a market rally as the possibility of a pullback also increases.

"The ability (to not fall apart) is helping investors remain upbeat on short-term prospects for stocks. We may not see this continue until the end of January next year, but the month of December certainly looks encouraging."

The CBOE Volatility Index or VIX (Chicago Options:^VIX - News), Wall Street's so-called fear gauge, fell on Friday despite a decline in stocks earlier in the day as traders saw fewer reasons to buy protection.

The index, which usually moves inverse to the S&P 500 benchmark, strayed from the relationship and closed at its lowest since April.

The iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures exchange-traded note (LSE:BARC.L - News; Pacific:VXX - News) also notched a new year low of $41.11 on Friday. The ETN, which offers directional volatility exposure, is based off of the front two-month futures on the VIX.

"There is definitely a trend in the VXX to try to get short in the ETN," said Dan Deming, a VIX options trader at Stutland Equities.

S&P 500 UP ABOUT 10 PCT FOR YEAR

Fears that Europe's debt crisis could spiral out of control have pushed stocks off two-year highs hit earlier this month. Last week, the S&P 500 was down 3 percent from November 5.

But the index recovered to the early November levels last week as fears were countered by a spate of healthy economic data and an upbeat outlook on consumer spending during the holiday shopping season.

"Europe is kind of its own play now," Jeff Roach, chief economist at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina, said, adding that investors are starting to brush off the longer-term macro issues.

On Friday, stocks closed out their best week in a month with the Dow Jones industrial average (DJI:^DJI - News) up 2.6 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 (^SPX - News) up 3 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq:^IXIC - News) up 2.2 percent, after shrugging off tepid jobs numbers for November.

For the year so far, the S&P 500 is up 9.8 percent, while the Dow is up 9.2 percent and the Nasdaq is up 14.2 percent.

ISM FORECASTS, TRADE GAP ON TAP

Economic indicators this week will be fairly light, with the Institute for Supply Management releasing its semi-annual economic forecasts for the U.S. manufacturing and services sectors on Tuesday. The weekly mortgage data on Wednesday and jobless claims on Thursday will still get close scrutiny.

On Friday, Wall Street will watch the international trade deficit for October, which is projected to dip to $43.8 billion from September's $44 billion, according to economists polled by Reuters.

Also due that day at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT): November import prices, seen up 0.8 percent versus October's gain of 0.9 percent, and November export prices, seen up 0.6 percent vs. October's gain of 0.8 percent. At about 9:55 a.m. EST (1455 GMT), investors will get a preliminary reading on December consumer sentiment from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. The forecast calls for the sentiment index to rise to 72.5 in December from November's final reading of 71.6.

As the year wraps up, portfolio managers will continue to chase outperforming stocks and sell some laggards to keep their balance sheets healthy.

The three-day moving average of stocks hitting new 52-week highs on the New York Stock Exchange accelerated at the end of November and is now close to 250, while stocks making new 52-week lows edged down in December and remained slight.

The portfolio managers are "all trying to scramble to catch up. They have performance risk, they have bonus risk and ultimately, they have job risk," said Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; Additional reporting by Leah Schnurr and Doris Frankel; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Verizon to Introduce Its 4G Network on Sunday

Publie le 1 decembre 2919
(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/technology/02verizon.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=verizon&st=cse)

NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon Wireless says its new 4G wireless broadband network will start accepting customers on Sunday in 38 cities.

Initially, only laptop users will be able to take advantage of the higher data speeds offered by the network, compared with Verizon’s 3G network. The speeds are somewhat higher than those offered by T-Mobile USA and AT&T in places where their 3G networks have been upgraded to the highest speeds.

Verizon is charging less for 4G than for 3G. One data plan will cost $50 a month for 5 gigabytes of data, compared with $60 for 3G.

Another plan will provide 10 gigabytes of data for $80 a month. The Verizon Wireless chief technology officer, Tony Melone, said he expected many customers would find 5 gigabytes was not enough. When downloading at top 4G speeds, it takes about an hour to exhaust a monthly allotment of 5 gigabytes of data.

Mr. Melone said Verizon should have 4G smartphones available by next summer.

The 4G coverage areas include the cities on the Boston-to-Washington stretch as well as in California, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Seattle.

A Sprint Nextel subsidiary, Clearwire, already has an active 4G network that uses a different standard than Verizon’s.

Des profits records à la Royale

Publie le 3 decembre 2010
(http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Economie/2010/12/03/002-resultats-banque-rbcscoatia.shtml)

La Banque Royale du Canada déclare des profits nets de 5,2 milliards de dollars pour son exercice financier. Il s'agit d'une hausse de 1,4 milliard ou 35 % par rapport à l'an dernier.

Par action, le bénéfice net est de 3,46 $ comparativement à 2,57 $ il y a un an.

Au quatrième trimestre, la RBC a vu ses profits nets diminuer comme ses concurrentes CIBC et TD. Ils atteignent 1,121 milliard contre 1,237 milliard pour la même période en 2009.

La grande banque canadienne a dû enregistrer une perte de 116 millions de dollars relativement à la vente de Liberty Life Insurance Co. N'eût été cette perte, la RBC aurait déclaré le même bénéfice que l'an dernier pour la même période.

Les services bancaires canadiens et les services de gestion du patrimoine et assurances ont fortement contribué aux profits de l'institution bancaire.

La hausse du dollar canadien a également eu un impact négatif sur les résultats de la banque.

Tout en hausse à la Scotia

La Banque Scotia termine l'année avec des profits en hausse de 20 % pour atteindre 4,239 milliards de dollars. Contrairement à ses concurrentes, la Banque publie des résultats à la hausse aussi au quatrième trimestre.

Pour l'année, le bénéfice par action est de 3,91 $ contre 3,31 $. Des résultats records pour l'entreprise.

La vedette des fonds négociés en Bourse

Publie le 24 octobre 2009
(http://lapresseaffaires.cyberpresse.ca/finances-personnelles/sur-le-radar/200910/23/01-914475-la-vedette-des-fonds-negocies-en-bourse.php)

En date du 3 decembre 2010 :

S&P/TSX Composite index (Interi (^GSPTSE)
At 10:01 EST: 13,160.94 Down 2.59 (0.02%)

iShares S&P/TSX Capped Composi (XIC.TO)
At 10:07 EST: 20.79 CAD Down 0.01 (0.05%)

iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index (XIU.TO)
At 10:17 EST: 18.91 CAD Down 0.04 (0.21%)
Les fonds négociés en Bourse (FNB) ne cessent de gagner en popularité. Environ 7 milliards de parts de FNB ont été transigées en 2008 à la Bourse de Toronto, soit quatre fois plus que l'année précédente. Le nombre sera largement supérieur en 2009: il dépassait déjà les 13,7 milliards pour les neuf premiers mois de l'année.

Le plus populaire des FNB canadiens est le fonds iShares CDN LargeCap 60 Index (XIU), qui piste l'indice S&P/TSX 60. Près de 65 millions de parts de ce fonds ont changé de main dans la semaine du 12 octobre, soit plus du double du deuxième FNB le plus populaire, le Horizons BetaPro Gaz naturel baissier +. Au fonds XIU, la firme spécialisée Morningstar Canada préfère toutefois son petit frère, le iShares CDN Composite Index (XIC), qui piste l'indice S&P/TSX plafonné.

Ces FNB, qui offrent une exposition à faible prix au marché canadien, ne sont pas sans risques. Le marché canadien est restreint. Les titres les plus populaires, et potentiellement les plus surévalués, dominent les indices et augmentent les risques en cas de recul boursier, note Brian O'Neill, analyste principal chez Morningstar. Il n'y a qu'à penser à Nortel, au début des années 2000.

Or, le XIC est plus largement diversifié que le XIU et chaque titre y est plafonné à 10%, observe M. O'Neill. Cela atténue les risques potentiels.

Sauf que pour des performances semblables, le fonds XIU a un ratio de frais de gestion de 0,17%, contre 0,24% contre le XIC. «Mais la différence de frais de gestion en faveur du XIU n'est pas suffisante pour compenser son risque plus élevé, explique M. O'Neill. C'est pourquoi nous sommes un peu plus à l'aise avec le XIC.»

D'avril à mai, le fonds XIU a offert un rendement de 30,3%, contre 32,3$ pour le XIC.

Canada’s S&P/TSX to rise to 14,500 in 2011, UBS says

As of Decembre 3rd 2010 :

S&P/TSX Composite index (Interi (^GSPTSE)
At 10:01 EST: 13,160.94 Down 2.59 (0.02%)

iShares S&P/TSX Capped Composi (XIC.TO)
At 10:07 EST: 20.79 CAD Down 0.01 (0.05%)


Publie le 2 decembre 2010
(http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/Canada+rise+2011+says/3912542/story.html)

Canada’s benchmark equity index will rise about 12% by the end of 2011 as corporate profits continue to increase and low yields make corporate bonds less attractive than stocks, UBS AG’s chief Canadian strategist said.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index will advance to 14,500 even if corporate earnings increase less than two-thirds as fast as analysts estimate on average in a Bloomberg survey, George Vasic said in a note.

“As we move further down in the year, the macro risks will become less cataclysmic,” Mr. Vasic said in an interview in Toronto. “There isn’t a better game in town. Of all the major asset classes, it’s tough to come up with something that has better medium-term potential” than stocks.

Canadian stocks are cheaper than they have been most years since 1988, according to Mr. Vasic, who uses a model that compares share prices with book value, return on equity and corporate bond yields. Investors using simpler valuation models, such as comparing share prices to profits alone, fail to realize the potential for further price gains, he said. The S&P/TSX trades for US$17.50 per dollar of estimated profit over the next year, compared with an average of US$15.06 since the beginning of 2006.

“There is more valuation headroom than most investors appreciate,” he said. In September 2009, when the S&P/TSX was near 11,500, Vasic forecast the index would rally to 13,500 by the end of 2010. The Canadian benchmark has gained 10% this year, closing at 12,952.88 yesterday, as commodity prices have surged on demand from emerging markets and easing concern that the economy will return to recession.

The index advanced 128.51 points, or 1%, to 13,081.39 today as of 10:30 a.m. in Toronto as banks gained after National Bank of Canada boosted its quarterly dividend.

Corporate profits are likely to climb again in 2011, despite historically high unemployment, as companies squeeze out more productivity gains, Mr. Vasic said. S&P/TSX profits rose 7.4% in the third quarter from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg data.

“The profit cycle is ahead of the economic cycle,” he said.

Unemployment isn’t as bleak as many assume, Mr. Vasic said. Employment in the U.S. rose in October for the first time in five months, a sign businesses may be starting to gain confidence in the prospects for a faster pace of growth. Seventy-five percent of Canadian exports went to the U.S. last year, according to Statistics Canada.

U.S. employment should continue to increase in 2011, led by small and medium-sized businesses, as regional banks loosen their lending policies, he said.

China’s efforts to restrain inflation and the European debt crisis, which have limited equity gains this year, are unlikely to derail advances in 2011, Mr. Vasic said. China is likely nearing the end of its tightening phase, and progress toward coordinating tax and spending policies should help Europe recover.

With Canadian corporate bond yields below 4% and the Bank of Canada likely to double its benchmark interest rate to 2% by the end of next year, investors will have to turn to equities if they want a reasonable return on their investment, Mr. Vasic said.

“Bond investors at this point would be lucky to get their coupon,” he said.

Of the three industries that make up 76% of Canadian stocks by market value — financial, raw-material and energy companies — Mr. Vasic said financials are most likely to outperform the rest of the market in 2011. Banks, which have climbed 7% in 2010, should continue to benefit from historically low interest rates.

Energy stocks may trail the broader market as crude oil, held back by excess capacity, trades between US$70 and US$90 a barrel in New York. The fuel closed at US$84.11 a barrel yesterday.

Vasic’s valuation method shows European stocks, especially those in the U.K., have even more room to gain next year than do Canadian equities. The Stoxx Europe 600 index has lagged behind the S&P/TSX and S&P 500 this year, gaining 3.1%, as sovereign-debt concerns have held back equities there as well as bonds.

“If we go back to a situation where the world appears to be stabilizing, well I’m sorry, but quality doesn’t do as well as garbage,” he said.

Bloomberg News


Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/Canada+rise+2011+says/3912542/story.html#ixzz173tX04Ki

Les profits de la Banque Royale chutent de 9%

Publie le 3 decembre 2010
(http://lapresseaffaires.cyberpresse.ca/economie/services-financiers/201012/03/01-4348809-les-profits-de-la-banque-royale-chutent-de-9.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_BO4_la_2343_accueil_POS2)

(Montréal) La Banque Royale du Canada (T.RY) a annoncé vendredi que ses profits ont reculé de 9% à 1,12 milliard de dollars au quatrième trimestre, après que l'institution ait inscrit une perte liée à la vente de sa division Liberty Life aux États-Unis.

Le bénéfice par action s'est établi à 0,74$, par rapport à 0,82$ au trimestre comparable l'an dernier, alors que les profits étaient de 1,24 milliard.

Les analystes sondés par la firme Thomson Reuters tablaient sur un BPA de 1,00$.

Sans les éléments inhabituels, dont la perte liée à la vente de Liberty Life, les profits de la Royale auraient progressé de 10% par rapport au quatrième trimestre de 2009.

La banque précise avoir engrangé des profits records au niveau des services bancaires au pays, ainsi qu'une forte croissance au niveau de la gestion de fortune et des assurances.

Les revenus ont également reculé à 7,2 milliards, comparativement à 7,5 milliards il y a un an.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Royal Bank (TSX: RY.TO) says its fourth-quarter profit slipped nine per cent to $1.12 billion as it booked losses related to the sale of its Liberty Life insurance division and weak results from its retail banking operations in the United States.

"Overall we are certainly disappointed with our international banking segment," president and chief executive Gordon Nixon told a conference call with financial analysts.

Canada's biggest bank said the results were equal to 74 cents per share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, down from $1.24 billion, or 82 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.

Revenue was $7.2 billion, down from about $7.5 billion at the same time last year.

Cash earnings per share was 84 cents, which was below analyst expectations of $1 per share, according to those surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

In October, the Royal Bank announced an agreement to sell Liberty Life to Bermuda-based reinsurer Athene Holding Ltd. for US$628.1 million, saying it's concerned the division cannot properly compete at its current size.

The bank booked a $116-million loss on the sale. A year earlier, the quarterly results included a $1-billion charge to reflect the reduced value of intangible assets.

Excluding the special items in both years, Royal's fourth-quarter earnings rose $481 million, or 10 per cent, driven by record earnings in Canadian banking and solid growth in wealth management and insurance.

Royal has been refocusing its international strategy outside of the United States as its operations in the Southeast continue to struggle while an economic recovery hits further turbulence.

The bank's international banking business lost $157 million in the quarter compared with a loss of $125 million a year ago.

"In international banking, our U.S. retail bank continues to be challenged by weak economic and credit conditions and we remain focused on restoring its operating performance and returning to profitability," Nixon said.

Royal Bank is the country's largest bank by assets and market capitalization, and has 77,000 employees serving more than 18 million clients. The bank has operations across Canada, the United States and more than 50 other countries.

For the year, the bank reported net income of $5.2 billion, an increase of 35 per cent from a year ago. Revenue was down to $28.3 billion from $29.1 billion.

As of December 3rd :
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RY.to 53.10 -2.62 -4.76%

Les fonctionnaires ontariens et Manuvie s'allient

Publié le 29 novembre 2010
(http://www.journalmetro.com/economie/article/705041--les-fonctionnaires-ontariens-et-manuvie-s-allient

TORONTO - La Financière Manuvie et la branche d'investissement privé de la Fiducie du régime de retraite du Syndicat des employés de la fonction publique de l'Ontario (SEFPO) font partie d'un groupe qui prévoit investir jusqu'à 2,1 milliards $ dans des actifs d'infrastructure énergétique et de stockage et distribution de gaz naturel aux États-Unis.

Par l'entremise de sa filiale John Hancock, Manuvie investira jusqu'à 450 millions $ et le groupe des marchés privés de la Fiducie du régime de retraite du SEFPO (OPTrust) allongera jusqu'à 400 millions $ dans deux sociétés de placement immobilier.

Un de ces deux fonds s'appellera Electric Infrastructure Alliance of America (EIAA), tandis que l'autre portera le nom de Gas Infrastructure Alliance of America (GIAA).

Des filiales de la société texane Hunt Power administreront les fonds immobiliers et investiront jusqu'à 322,5 millions $ en espèces et en actifs, tandis que la japonaise Marubeni allongera jusqu'à 500 millions $ et que la firme de services financiers TIAA-CREF investira jusqu'à 450 millions $.

Dans le cadre de l'accord, les fiduciaires obtiendront une participation dans Sharyland Distribution and Transmission Services, une société affiliée de Hunt Power.

Les demandes d'approbation réglementaire ont été déposées auprès de la commission des services publics du Texas et les décisions finales sont attendues d'ici mai 2011. La construction devrait être complétée en 2013.

OPTrust gère le régime de retraite du SEFPO, qui compte plus de 82 000 membres et retraités. C'est l'un des plus grands syndicats du secteur public au Canada.

L'action de Manuvie (TSX:MFC) a gagné lundi 5 cents à la Bourse de Toronto, où elle a clôturé à 14,46 $.