Charlotte, NC Named Best Place to Live Apparently, there's just something about North Carolina. For the second year in a row, America's best city in which to live lies within its borders, according to Relocate-America.com's annual list. This year, Charlotte, N.C., is in the top spot, the site announced this week. Last year's winner was Asheville, N.C., which slipped to No. 7 on this year's list. Other top places are runner-up San Antonio, TX, Chattanooga, TN, Greenville, SC and Tulsa, OK. Charlotte dethrones Asheville, N.C., as best place to live - MarketWatch
Jumbo Loan Rates Finally Decline The interest rates for jumbo mortgage loans are coming down, but standards for qualifying are much tighter. Jumbo loan rates finally decline - Bankrate.com
Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Chelsea Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CHTP) to Perform from Outperform after their survey suggested physicians believe currently available generic treatments are adequate in neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, which could impact the company's lead drug Droxidopa.
Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) was cut to Sell from Hold at Citigroup on valuation, as they estimate fair value at $13.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Goldman downgraded Kellogg (NYSE:K) to Neutral from Buy and Hershey Foods (NYSE:HSY) to Sell from Neutral.
Today was a mixed day, which is evident in the tape. Today we had one of the top food deals announced, yet Warren Buffett came out and said we were in a recession. There were also concerns that the housing market will continue to slide along with general credit conditions, and that black stuff in the barrels was up $0.25 at $118.77 on last look.. Here were the unofficial closing levels:
Bebe Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: BEBE) fell after a downgrade by Roth Capital Partners from a Buy to a Hold rating, citing disappointing sales and conservative guidance. The company reports earnings Thursday. Shares fell by more than 10% to $9.86 on the news.
Stock futures got a boost this morning from a possible $22 billion deal as Buffett's Berkshire and Mars consider buying Wrigley. Also in on investors' mind is this week's Federal Reserve meeting and rate decision as well as oil nearing $120 a barrel again.
U.S. stocks finished mixed on Friday, with the Dow industrials rising 42 points, or 0.33%, and the S&P 500 up 9 points, or 0.65%. The Nasdaq composite, however, found itself in the red following a cautious outlook from Microsoft the day before, and finished the day down almost 6 points, or 0.25%.
Without much economic news today, investors will focus on the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee two-day meeting starting Tuesday. On Wednesday, Fed chairman Bernanke will announce the policy decided and most economist expect a quarter point rate cut, but also for the Fed to halt the cuts after that as inflationary pressures have been rising.
Also, attention will be on oil prices, which once again hit an all-time high of $119.93 a barrel Monday. A refinery strike closed a pipeline system that delivers a third of Britain's North Sea oil to refineries in the U.K. as well as supply outages in Nigeria have caused oil to climb again despite the strengthening dollar.
Another big new item this morning, and one that helped boost sentiment is that of Mars and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) nearing a deal to buy chewing gum giant Wm. Wrigley Jr. (NYSE: WWY) for more than $22 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Wrigley, which has a market capitalization value of roughly $13.6 billion, is seeing its shares climbing over 23% in premarket trading.
While Northwest (NYSE:NWA) and Delta (NYSE:DAL) have decided to merge, Continental (NYSE:CAL) will take the road in the other direction by electing to stay independent.
According toThe Wall Street Journal "Continental's statement comes as the industry faces soaring fuel prices." The trouble is that whether airlines merge or not, crude oil prices continue to rise.
Continental has probably made a wise decision. There is no guarantee that the marriage of NWA and DAL will help either company. Mergers mean lay-offs and that often means strikes. If there are labor walk-outs the new carrier could face weeks of being unable to fly and unable to collect revenue. Merged reservation systems can also take months to integrate.
Continental will be on its own, but if fuel continues it sharp ascent, it won't matter.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
50 Most Innovative Companies The companies that make up BusinessWeek's annual ranking nurture cultures that value creative people in good times and bad. The top company by industry include Apple, Pfizer, Goldman Sachs, Disney, Toyota, GE, Marriott, Wal-Mart and BP. The World's Most Innovative Companies
Are There Too Many Women Doctors? As an MD shortage looms, female physicians and their flexible hours are taking some of the blame. Are There Too Many Women Doctors?
Futures eased slightly this morning as the market sought to catch its breath after sprinting higher Wednesday. All indices had strong gains after better-than-expected first-quarter earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase, Coca-Cola Co., and Intel Corp. The Dow industrials finished up 257 points, or 2.08%, the S&P 500 rose 30 points or 2.27% and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 64 points or 2.8%.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) reported very strong Q1 figures after the close Wednesday. The company had income from continuing operations of $2.3 billion, or $1.65 a share, up from $1.8 billion, or $1.21 a share, a year ago. IBM was aided by the weakness of the U.S. dollar, with some 65% of revenue coming from overseas. eBay also had a good quarter, with profit climbing 22%.
However, there was a disappointing earnings report from Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) this morning. The company lost $1.96 billion, or $2.19 a share, compared with net income of $2.16 billion, or $2.26 a share, a year ago, after billions of dollars of writedowns related to the subprime crisis. Merrill plans to cut about 4,000 jobs, or 10% of its workforce. Nokia (NYSE: NOK)'s quarterly income rose 25% to 1.22 billion euros, up from 979 million euros a year earlier, but missing analysts expectations of 1.38 billion euros, according to Bloomberg News. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) also missed analysts' estimates for the quarter, with profit falling 18%.
The U.S. dollar hit another all-time low against the euro, while oil prices hit an all-time high of more than $115 a barrel. According to the U.S. Energy Department, inventories of gasoline fell 5.5 million barrels last week. Related to the ongoing increase in oil prices, Continental Airlines reported a loss for the first quarter, while Southwest Airlines earnings declined. However, American Airlines yesterday posted a smaller-than-expected loss.
In the news today, Yahoo! moves closer to deal with Google on outsourcing search advertising, according to the Wall Street Journal.Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is expected to release earnings this afternoon.
In economic data, unemployment claims for the week ending April 5 will be released at 8:30 a.m. EST; the Philadelphia Fed report will be out at 10:00 a.m.
What Are You Going to Do With Your Tax Rebate? Starting in early May, more than 130 million Americans -- or at least, those who have filed a tax return by the deadline at midnight tonight -- will receive tax rebates ranging from $300 to $600, or $1,200 for married couples, plus $300 for each dependent child. The rebates, which represent a one-time cut in 2008 tax rates, are intended to help rescue the economy from recession by encouraging consumer spending. But will Americans spend the rebates? What are you going to do with your tax rebate? - USATODAY.com
World's Richest Women They're glamorous, powerful and very, very rich. What's not to envy? In 2008, Forbes counted 99 female billionaires, 16 more than last year, but still representing slightly less than 9% of the world's 1,125 billionaires. Only 10 women billionaires are self made, having built their vast fortunes themselves. Whether it be beauty, power, brains or all of the above, these 12 billionaires all have admirable assets beyond what even money can buy. In Pictures: The World's Billionaire Women - Forbes.com
U.S. stock futures were down slightly this morning, reflecting nervousness about economic data and earnings reports due out today.
Stocks fell Tuesday for the second session in a row after disappointing earnings from Wachovia surprised the market. The Dow industrials ended the day down 23 points, the S&P 500 lost 5 points, and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 14 points.
In the news, Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) announced yesterday that they will combine to form the world's largest airline, with a market value of $17.7 billion. The new airline will be called Delta. United and Continental may be next in line to tie the knot.
In another blow to the ailing airline sector, oil prices rose to an intraday record of more than $112 a barrel Tuesday as the U.S. dollar continued to weaken against other major currencies.
There was evidence of continuing deterioration in the housing market -- according to a report by RealtyTrac for March, U.S. foreclosure filings rose 57% and bank repossessions more than doubled from last year. However, there was some good news from Detroit as Ford announces plans to step up production of the compact Focus by 30% to meet strong demand.
Economic data due out today includes the Producer Price Index, a measure of wholesale inflation, at 8:30 a.m. EST, the Empire State Manufacturing Survey at 8:30 a.m. EST, and the Housing Market Index at 1:00 p.m. EST.
MTB), State Street (NYSE: STT) all reporting before the open. After the close, all eyes will be on Intel and Washington Mutual, as they report earnings.
What works for two airlines should work for two others. At least that is the thought process behind a possible merger of United (NASDAQ:UAUA) and Continental (NYSE:CAL). They believe that if there are financial and marketing advantages to the Delta (NYSE:DAL) merger with Northwest (NYSE:NWA) that they should go next.
According toReuters the two carriers "have laid most of the groundwork for a merger, two people briefed on the matter said, and could have a deal ready "pretty quickly" if Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines announce a tie-up." Now that the Delta/Northwest deal is done, they are likely to speed up that process.
While the value of airline mergers is dubious, two big mergers could cause regulators to turn down both. The marriages are based on the idea that airlines can cut costs in personnel, marketing, and route consolidation. If the is true, it means lay-offs and service to fewer cities. It also could help an airline to raise ticket prices as it becomes the sole providers to air travel out of some cities.
Two big airline mergers have to make the US government looks at whether it is good to have only three large airlines in the US, including AMR (NYSE:AMR) instead of five.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: The airline sector, Siemens and Internap were today's noteworthy downgrades:
Lehman downgraded the airline sector to Neutral from Positive, citing higher fuel costs and the weakening economy. AirTran (NYSE: AAI) and U.S. Airways (NYSE: LCC) were downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight. UBS said it can no longer recommend airline stocks due to weakening economy, high fuel prices, and less likely industry consolidation. The firm downgraded Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL), Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) and U.S. Airways to Neutral from Buy.
Goldman removed shares of Siemens (NYSE: SI) from their Conviction Buy List as they believe the company may book additional charges of $1.2B this year.
Jefferies cut Internap (NASDAQ: INAP) to Underperform from Buy as they believe the 10-K filing delay and revenue quality questions reduce visibility into the health of the business.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Wachovia lowered Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) to Market Perform from Outperform.
SI International (NASDAQ: SINT) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Cowen.
Look for the stalled Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) / Northwest Airline (NYSE: NWA) deal talks to regain momentum and the merger to be announced in the week ahead, an analyst confidently told BloggingStocks Thursday.
Independent stock analyst C. Leonard Bauer, formerly of Prudential, said the Delta / Northwest talks may be stalled by the inability of the companies' pilots unions to reach an agreement on seniority lists, but that traditional, formidable hurdle will not stop this deal from coming to fruition due to its "strong marriage fundamentals."
Attractive fundamentals
Bauer said three fundamentals will drive the deal: absence of overlapping city pairs, economies of scale and passenger demand.
"First, there's the overall flight route fit. Delta and Northwest have only 10 or 12 cities pairs that overlap, so from a destination coverage standpoint, the deal is very attractive," Bauer said. "Second, the new company will have massive economies of scale and will be a force in the new global market. This will be a profitable airline."
Is the U.S. airline sector on the eve of another transformation? One analyst thinks it may be, if recent merger rumblings are any indication.
The Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) / Northwest Airline (NYSE: NWA) merger discussions and chatter that Germany's Lufthansa is considering an investment in a potential merger between United (NASDAQ: UAUA) and Continental (NYSE: CAL) suggest to independent equities analyst C. Leonard Bauer that a new commercial aviation paradigm may be up ahead.
"When you look back at the last 30 years, you can say that the 1980s, clearly, was the decade when mergers were needed to meet the demands of the new market, basically the mass consumer market in the U.S.," Bauer told BloggingStocks Wednesday. "Those larger carriers' lowered seat prices led to a huge increase in domestic travel, which helped bring flight travel to the typical citizen."
In the airline industry, it seems that any deal will do. Northwest Airlines Corp. (NYSE: NWA) is already fairly far along in discussions about merging with Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL). Now UAL Corp.'s (NASDAQ: UAUA) United Airlines is talking with Continental Airlines Inc. (NYSE: CAL). But one set of negotiations in not enough for Continental. It is also talking to AMR Corp.'s (NYSE: AMR) American Airlines, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required). The paper reports "the talks were exploratory, and it isn't clear they will go further."
Airlines are seeking mergers under the premise that combining companies saves costs. While that is true to some extent, the marriages also hurt customer service -- badly. Putting together incompatible reservations and service operations can take years and be extremely complex, which can make it hell for consumers who just want to take an airplane ride from here to there. Bad customer service is a sure way to drive off fliers, and that is not good for revenue.
The savings in a merger also might not be as great as imagined. Fuel costs stay the same. The number of pilots and crews may drop some, but that can also cause labor disputes and strikes that interrupt service. The number of people needed to handle customer support and processing of reservations probably cannot be cut by much, especially if retaining revenue with unhappy fliers is important.
In an industry where mergers and Chapter 11 filings have been part of the landscape for decades, combining airlines may be no panacea. It is good to remember that the two most successful carriers in the United States, American and Southwest Airlines Corp. (NYSE: LUV) have never been much enamored of merging.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
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Stock futures got a boost this morning from a possible $22 billion deal as Buffett's Berkshire and Mars consider buying Wrigley. Also in on investors' mind is this week's Federal Reserve meeting and rate decision as well as oil nearing $120 a barrel again. 
Futures eased slightly this morning as the market sought to catch its breath after sprinting higher Wednesday. All indices had strong gains after better-than-expected first-quarter earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase, Coca-Cola Co., and Intel Corp. The Dow industrials finished up 257 points, or 2.08%, the S&P 500 rose 30 points or 2.27% and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 64 points or 2.8%. 
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Look for the stalled 
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Nordstrom and Kohl's post smaller-than-expected Q1 profit declines
Oil hits record $127.43 on supply concerns, raised Goldman forecast
