Liberty Media, Southwestern, more
By CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 2:32 PM ET Oct. 13, 2001
Stocks tow atch
Investors could see a boost Monday on big name stocks like Amazon.com (AMZN: news, chart, profile), Apple Computer (AAPL: news, chart, profile), BMC Software (BMC: news, chart, profile), Broadcom (BRCM: news, chart, profile), Ciena (CIEN: news, chart, profile) Corning (GLW: news, chart, profile), Tellabs (TLAB: news, chart, profile) and Siebel Systems (SEBL: news, chart, profile), due to a Barron's article over the weekend. The article featured Morgan Stanley strategists Byron Wien and Steve Galbraith's recent picks of about 100 stocks that dropped at least 75 percent from their highs before last week's rally with market valuations over $1 billion as bargain-basement deals for investors. See full story.
Hand-held device maker Handspring (HAND: news, chart, profile) may unveil new wireless products on Monday according to Marc Cabi, an analyst at CS First Boston. Cabi said Handspring is "pushing to a commercial launch at carriers early next year" The devices are set to be much smaller than early Palm OS smart phones and could set off a wave of catalysts for recovery over a 12 to 18 month period, Cabi said. Shares closed up 31 percent to $2.19. See full story.
Coca-Cola's ad allocations could give ad-agency giant Interpublic (IPG: news, chart, profile) a positive jolt. Interpublic shop McCann-Erickson, already lead agency on the flagship Coke Classic brand, will get Cherry Coke on top while Lowe Lintas gets Diet Coke, most of Coke Light and various other beverages including coffees and teas marketed through a joint venture with Nestle. Meanwhile, FCB Worldwide picks up Powerade, Minute Maid juices, High C, Fruitopia and Dasani brands, among others. Various Interpublic small-fry also stand to benefit from Coke's account shift, with chunks of new business large and small. WPP (WPPGY: news, chart, profile) gets all Sprite, Diet Sprite and Fanta worldwide -- no small potatoes -- with the exception of Japan where Dentsu keeps the business for all Coca-Cola brands. Meanwhile, Publicis (PUB: news, chart, profile) also holds on to Coke Light in much of Europe. Last year, Coca-Cola (KO: news, chart, profile) spent $900 million on U.S. advertising. Interpublic shop McCann-Erickson, already lead agency on the flagship Coke Classic brand, will get Cherry Coke on top while Lowe Lintas gets Diet Coke, most of Coke Light and various other beverages including coffees and teas marketed through a joint venture with Nestle. See full story.
Beef and pork processor IBP (IBP: news, chart, profile) said it would pay to settle a lawsuit filed against it by the EPA over alleged environment violations at some of its facilities. As part of the settlement, IBP will pay $2.25 million to the EPA and $1.85 million to Nebraska. It will also install additional improvements at one of its wastewater treatment plants. In return, the EPA will drop its lawsuit against the beef and pork processor, as well as drop its claims of environmental violations by the company. IBP said the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing. It also said it will install a full nitrification system at Dakota City, Nebraska to reduce ammonia levels in the wastewater treatment process.
Liberty Media (LMCA: news, chart, profile) sent a proposal to Liberty Satellite & Technology (LSATA: news, chart, profile) to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Liberty Satellite & Technology that Liberty Media doesn't already own. Shareholders of Liberty Satellite would receive 0.09 shares of the media giant's series A common stock for each share of LSAT common stock. The satellite and technology company said it would respond to the proposal as soon as its board of directors reviewed the proposal. Share of Liberty Media closed down 53 cents to $12.37, while Liberty Satellite shares closed up 6 cents to $1.08 Friday. See full story.
A federal judge appointed a mediator late Friday in the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust suit against Microsoft (MSFT: news, chart, profile). In a conference phone call, attorneys for Microsoft and the government agreed on upon Professor Eric D. Green of Boston University School of Law to help settle the case. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly then formally named Green. See full story.
A short trader is betting on the red at MGM Mirage (MGG: news, chart, profile), according to Alan Abelson's column in Barron's. Despite the recent positive turnaround in Las Vegas casino fortunes since the post Sept. 11 scare on the Strip, Abelson's source doesn't like the company's debt load or earnings prospects at its present P/E of 17. Shares traded down 5 percent Friday to $24.27.
Quintiles Transnational (QTRN: news, chart, profile) and WebMD (HLTH: news, chart, profile) settled litigation between the two firms that will end business dealings with each other. WebMD will buy back its 35 million shares of stock that Quintiles owns for $185 million in cash. WebMD will continue to provide data to Quintiles until Feb. 28 and Quintiles has no obligation to share operating income with WebMD or to fund product development. Also, if WebMD is purchased before June 30, 2004, at a price greater than $4 a share or a total of $500 million, Quintiles will receive a contingent payment. Shares of Quintiles closed down 60 cents, or 4 percent, at $14.91. WebMD shares were down 23 cents, or 6 percent, at $3.52.
After the market closed Friday, Southwestern Energy (SWN: news, chart, profile) reported third-quarter net income of $5 million, or 20 cents a share, beating the consensus estimate by 4 cents a share. In the year-ago period, the company reported a loss of $800,000, or 3 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter totaled. Cash flow from operating activities totaled $22.7 million, up 72 percent compared with the year-ago period. The improved results were attributed to higher realized prices for both natural gas and oil and a 17 percent comparative increase in production volume. Shares closed down 25 cents to $12.25 ahead of the news. See full story.
Verticalnet (VERT: news, chart, profile) said its CFO Gene Godick resigned to "pursue entrepreneurial interests." He will stay at the company until the end of the month. Verticalnet appointed its COO, David Kostman, as interim CFO. Shares of the business-to-business software maker closed down 2.9 percent at $1.32 ahead of the report.
Weyerhaeuser (WY: news, chart, profile) said late Friday that it sent a letter to Willamette's (WLL: news, chart, profile) chairman and to its CEO outlining its commitment to forming a "business combination" among the two companies and saying that it's ready to start negotiations immediately. "We strongly discourage Willamette from taking any actions that may impeded or delay such negotiations or otherwise impair Willamette shareholder value," said Weyerhaeuser chairman Steven Rogel in a statement. The letter comes one day after Willamette sent a letter to Weyerhaeuser offering to talk about a hostile takeover bid, if Weyerhaeuser raised its purchase price. Shares of Weyerhaeuser closed down 41 cents at $51.18. Shares of Willamette closed up 43 cents at $46.08.
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