Category: Online Stock Trading Software

Specialty materials maker, Rohm & Haas Company (ROH) inspired stock buyers with surprisingly positive fourth quarter earnings news. The Philadelphia based chemicals company credited much of its earnings successes to impressive performances by their electronic materials and chemical businesses. Analysts had widely anticipated 78 cents per share earnings during the fourth quarter. Rohm & Haas easily beat those expectations by netting 91 cents per share, and a net income of $180 million. The news was somewhat surprising giving current economic conditions and last year’s 80 cents per share fourth quarter earnings for the company.

During the fourth quarter, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) had a 9.5% rise in net income due to the foreign exchange rates, fervent consumer-products sales and a year-earlier charge. The company’s revenue for medical-devices rose 11.3% due mainly in part to currency impacts. However, sales from the Cypher, which is the company’s drug-coated stents has declined. The stents are tiny mesh devices used to prop open heart arteries. Medicine coated stents are used to help tackle re-narrowing. Reports have shown that these devices may carry a higher risk of blood-clotting than those uncoated in medications. These drug coated stents have been declining in sales since 2006, therefore, reducing stock trading and stock investing performance.

Investors, stock investing in Apple Inc. (AAPL) were disappointed because the iPod and Macintosh PC maker’s stock went down as much as 18%. Apple’s (AAPL) stock investing shares fell almost $28 to $127.90 in the company’s earnings report for December quarter. Apple (AAPL) delivered a 58% growth in net income for the period. But it issued a forecast for the current quarter that was below Wall Street’s predictions. This drop put Apple (AAPL) stock investing shares at its lowest point since August.

Aeropostale (ARO) said on Thursday that its December sales at stores open at least one year rose by 12.2%. Analysts, on average, had expected its same-store sales to rise 3.7%, according to Thomson Financial. Total sales for the period ended January 5 surged 17.5 percent to $313.5 million from $266.7 million in the 2006 period ended December 30. Aeropostale said it expects to report fourth-quarter earnings of about 87 cents a share, above its prior guidance of 82 cents to 84 cents a share.

Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp will take a 35% stake in Delta Petroleum Corp. (DPTR), under an agreement for the firm to make a $684 million investment in the energy company and acquire shares at a price representing a 23% premium from Friday’s closing price. Under the deal, Tracinda will buy 36 million shares of Delta stock at $19 a share. Shares of Delta closed Friday at $15.51.

Toyota (TM) Motor Corp., long lurking in the wings to snatch and keep the title of the world’s biggest automaker from rival General Motors (GM), might get there even sooner than expected.

In the last few year’s H-P’s (HPQ) strategy on printers has changed from capturing the market share based on number of printer’s sold to ‘number of pages printed’ on H-P printers. While H-P has a 47% market share in the printer’s business, only about 1.6% of world’s total pages are printed on H-P machines. This would be the focus of H-P’s strategy as it moves ahead.

With an increased suite of product offerings, McDonald’s (MCD) continues to show impressive sales growth as compared to its competitors. The overall sales worldwide rose by 16.3% and the same-store sales grew by 8.2%. This boost has come from markets outside of US. While, the US market grew by 4.4%, Europe grew by 10.8% and the rest of world grew by an impressive 12.0%. The news is the latest in a series of good reports for McDonald’s, including the October’s third-quarter filing, which reported net income up 27% despite increased dairy costs, mostly on cheese.

As oil approaches $100 a barrel, consumers are beginning to become seriously interested in alternative energy, energy saving technologies and other green (and potentially less expensive) technologies.

The Market news yesterday and today is somewhat discouraging. The trinity of bad news came in the form of GM taking a $37 billion dollar loss on their third quarter profits, China is considering dumping their considerable reserve of US currency for the stronger and more stable Euro and Oil surpassing inflation adjusted highs as it trades at nearly $100 a barrel.