Category: Stock Option Investment Advice

News reports on Thursday stated mortgage lender Countrywide Financial (CFC) has siphoned off an $11.5 billion credit facility to fund its operations as they are having an increasingly hard time raising money. This news prompted Fitch (a stock rating agency) to lower Countrywide’s long-term default rating from A to BBB+.

Throughout May and June the PowerOptions blog reported on industry news and potential covered call trades with July expiration dates. Many of our ideas would have yielded a 0-6% return, but the proposed trades shown in the table below would have potentially returned 6-15.8%.

On Monday, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit northwest Japan knocking out the production lines of a large auto part manufacturer. Reports suggest this could affect as much as 70% of Japan’s domestic auto industry.

General Electric (GE) and Hitachi (HIT), in a move anticipating the resurgence of Nuclear Power amid global environmental concerns and electricity demand, have entered into a joint operating agreement. Audio Podcast: An audio podcast of this article is available at: poweropt.com/podcasts/2007_07_11_GE.mp3

Today on the PowerOptions blog, we will take a look at four promising companies from Warren Buffet’s stock portfolio. Buffet is known for his value hunting and his patient and long view style. In 1997, he penned the line, “Lethargy bordering on sloth remains the cornerstone of our investment style: This year we neither bought nor sold a share of five of our six major holdings.”

Oracle Corporation (ORCL) stated on Tuesday, in a public announcement, fourth-quarter profits rose 23% from a year ago. The large software producer attributed the gains to increased sales of new software contracts and from increased market share.

Wal-Mart (WMT) plans to enter the consumer-banking world with around 1,000 Wal-Mart MoneyCenters in stores across the US by the end of 2008. The chain will also sell prepaid Visa debit cards. This will provide lower-income shoppers, who may not have access to conventional banking, a way to participate in cashless transactions.

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating a total of three online-advertising potential mergers. The three antitrust reviews involve merger deals Microsoft, Yahoo and Google are proposing with three web-advertising firms.

Although the tie may seem somewhat tenuous, natural grocer Whole Food’s (WFMI) proposed merger with rival Wild Oats (OATS) may have more in common with the XM (XMSR) and Sirius (SIRI) merger than you think. Both companies have to get past a reluctant Federal Trade Commission.

Wachovia Corporation (WB) will acquire the A.G. Edwards Inc. (AGE) brokerage in a deal set for execution later this year. The merger will create the nation’s second largest brokerage after Merrill Lynch (MER). The overall cash and stock value of the deal is estimated at $6.8 billion.