: Rare Good News For A Gaming Company
Edited by Thomas Granahan
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
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11:26 (Dow Jones) Good news for gaming stocks has been hard to come by, but
here's something: MGM Mirage (MGG) has been awarded an offshore Internet
gaming license by the Isle of Man. Award comes earlier than expected.
Impact? Good news for Cryptologic (CRYP), a pioneer in the online gaming
technology space. (ROB)
11:15 (Dow Jones) To show how patternless the recent selloff has been, look
at the 61 companies to go public this year. From the close on 9/10 to
yesterday, the best performer has been an insurance stock, Willis Group
(WSH), which is up 15% over that time, according to Thomson Financial. But
another insurance stock, Odyssey Re (ORH) is among the worst, losing 30%.
Some energy stocks are up, others are down. Same with medical companies.
But, there are more losers than winners. Just seven of the 61 2001 IPOs
traded higher during that period. (RJH)
11:05 (Dow Jones) Who needs advertising when you have syndication? Gerard
Klauer Mattison's Jeffrey Logsdon initiates coverage of Fox Entertainment
(FOX) with an outperform rating and $23 price target, in part because "of
our expectations for accelerating earnings from television syndication over
the next four years." He sees more than $1.2 billion in incremental Ebitda
over the next two to three years starting in 2Q '02. Fox syndicates shows
created by its entertainment studio, including "The Practice" and "Ally
McBeal." (BS)
10:57 (Dow Jones) Circuit City's (CC) 2Q results weren't scintillating by
any stretch, but looking up the page from the 3-cent bottom line, there are
a few things worth smiling about, says Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown's Dan
Wewer. The company's balance sheet looks strong, and inventories are 25%
lower. Looking ahead, this fall promises a string of new video game and PC
launches. "Clearly, they're not winning the fight with Best Buy (BBY),"
Wewer said. "But at least they're going to be around at the end of the day.
Some people had been seriously wondering about that." Circuit City shares
have been battered about as low as they can go, Wewer says. So he's raising
them to market perform from underperform. (JMC)
10:48 (Dow Jones) Some worries out there that energy stocks, especially
those with exposure to the natural-gas market, could take a hit, further
pressuring the broader averages, with the release of the American Gas
Association storage report, which is due at 11:30 a.m. EDT, after having
been delayed from its usual Wednesday release. (ROB)
10:44 (Dow Jones) Dallas Fed president McTeer says the 3% fed funds level is
a ceiling that won't be breached, driving home the Fed's commitment to
providing as much liquidity that it can. (MSD)
10:37 (Dow Jones) Last week's terror attacks will likely have negative
effects on the Internet sector in the near and medium terms, writes ABN Amro
analyst Arthur Newman. The biggest effect will probably be on companies that
rely heavily on advertising, such as Yahoo (YHOO), CNET Networks (CNET), and
to a lesser extent, AOL Time Warner (AOL), according to Newman. Newman is
lowering his '01 EBITDA forecast for AOL to $10.3B from $10.5B and his '02
estimate to $12.4B from $12.6B. Newman also sees particular risk for Amazon
(AMZN) and Ticketmaster (TMCS). He writes that further weakening in the
economy will make it "challenging" for Amazon to meet its numbers, while
event cancellations and safety concerns are likely to affect Ticketmaster.
(RS)
10:28 (Dow Jones) Greenspan took time to reiterate his new economy
credentials, saying "for the longer run, prospects for continued rapid
technological advance and associated faster productivity growth are scarcely
diminished." (MSD)
10:22 (Dow Jones) Risk arbitrageurs have been scrambling to lock in profits.
Nevertheless, the stock market gyrations and increased economic uncertainty
since last week's terrorist attacks in the U.S. could sink returns for arb
firms to their lowest levels since the massive hedge fund Long-Term Capital
Management nearly collapsed in late 1998, some takeover analysts say. Scott
Keller, president of dealanalytics.com, estimates that returns will range
from up 1% or 2% to "down a percentage in the low double digits." He
expects, however, that the bulk of firms will show returns "just down
marginally" below zero. That's a far cry from the more than 25% some
aggressive arbs raked in last year. (JAW)
10:12 (Dow Jones) Treasury Secretary O'Neill says the U.S. economy continues
to be "strong and resilient" in the aftermath of terrorist attacks that
crippled the heart of the U.S. financial system. "The nation's financial
markets, in spite of having sustained a terrible blow, continue to
function," he says. "This is not to say that the events of Sept. 11 have had
no effect on our financial community. But thanks to careful planning and
preparation for potential disaster, and swift action by both the private and
public sectors, the United States' financial system is operating with only
temporary disruption."
10:10 (Dow Jones) Much of what Greenspan is saying today serves mostly to
flesh out what the Fed said when it cut rates on Monday. The comments are
also serving as a bit of an explainer for the massive amount of Fed
liquidity adding it's done over the last week. (MSD)
10:06 (Dow Jones) Treasury Secretary O'Neill says the quick return of the
markets should be a cause for happiness, although he does note that economy
faces uncertainties over the short-term. (MSD)
10:00 (Dow Jones) Greenspan warns the U.S. economy will suffer "significant"
short-term harm from the terrorist attacks last week, possibly by causing
investors to disengage from financial markets and consumers to stop
spending. But in testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, Greenspan said
the country's long-term economic prospects haven't been dimmed much by the
attacks.
9:48 (Dow Jones) Nevada Power, a unit of Sierra Pacific Resources (SRP),
sees its deferred energy costs totaling between $800 million and $900
million by Dec. 1. On that date, Nevada Power has to file an application
with the Nevada PUC to seek recovery of the costs through rate increases in
the next three years. Nevada Power had deferred energy costs of $489 million
as of July 31, compared with $272.8 million at the end of June. The deferred
costs represent operating expenses utilities can't recover from customers
due to regulated energy rates. (RG)
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 09-20-01
11:26 AM
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