“(NaturalNews) Amid all the controversy over genetically-modified (GM) crops and their pesticides and herbicides decimating bee populations all around the world, biotechnology behemoth Monsanto has decided to buy out one of the major international firms devoted to studying and protecting bees. According to a company announcement, Beeologics handed over the reins to Monsanto back on September 28, 2011, which means the gene-manipulating giant will now be able to control the flow of information and products coming from Beeologics for colony collapse disorder (CCD)….”
Comments »Monthly Archives: April 2012
Sen. Inhofe Opens Investigation On EPA For “Crucify” Remarks
A top EPA official has apologized for comparing his agency’s enforcement strategy to Roman crucifixion — as Republican Sen. James Inhofe launched an investigation and told Fox News the comments are part of a campaign of “threats” and “intimidation.”
Al Armendariz, the EPA administrator in the Region 6 Dallas office, made the remarks at a local Texas government meeting in 2010. He relayed to the audience what he described as a “crude” analogy he once told his staff about his “philosophy of enforcement.”
“It was kind of like how the Romans used to, you know, conquer villages in the Mediterranean,” he said. “They’d go in to a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw, and they’d crucify them.
“And then, you know, that town was really easy to manage for the next few years,” he said.
Read the rest here:
Comments »Federal Judge Rules Drug Testing on State Workers Unconstitutional
“In a 37-page opinion (PDF), U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro ruled that Scott’s executive order for blanket testing of 85,000 state employees violated the ban on unreasonable search and seizures.”
Comments »“Sustainable Development”
Tag me as what ever you like, but i do think better stewardship is needed for the successful future of mankind.
Here is some info on the U.N.’s vision of the future…
Comments »NASA Study: Harmful Methane Gas Release From Arctic Warming
Accretive Health Engages in “a high-pressure boiler-room-style sales atmosphere”
Part 2: More Evidence Surfaces on the BP Cover Up
Business is supposed to be predicated on competition, best quality offered, and owning to your mistakes. With all the news of bribery and such it would appear there is a lot more in the shade than we would expect.
Comments »LMAO
EGYPT TO PASS “FAREWELL” LAW THAT ALLOWS MEN TO HAVE SEX TO DEAD WIVES’ CORPSE
These people are out of their fucking minds. Barbarian hordes.
Egypt’s National Council for Women is campaigning against the changes, saying that ‘marginalising and undermining the status of women would negatively affect the country’s human development’.
This video comes to mind when reading depravity such as the article above.
Comments »European Markets Close Mostly Down for the Day
Today’s 52 Week Highs and Lows
NYSE
New Highs 77 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ AT&T T 32.00 5,458,503 Acadia Realty Trust AKR 22.96 27,158 Advance Auto Parts AAP 92.60 420,171 American Tower REIT AMT 64.92 276,579 Ametek AME 50.26 224,831 AutoZone AZO 394.23 233,437 BRT Realty Trust BRT 8.65 11,898 Blyth BTH 88.49 35,748 Brown Forman A BF/A 84.13 1,606 Cabelas CAB 41.61 861,174 Calpine CPN 18.50 1,049,376 Canadian Natl Railway CNI 84.66 171,555 Carters CRI 57.27 573,547 Coca-Cola KO 75.24 1,633,853 Colgate-Palmolive CL 99.84 543,020 CoreSite Realty COR 25.50 61,815 Crown Castle Intl CCI 57.78 481,638 Dupont Fabros Technology DFT 27.04 1,291,006 Enbridge Inc ENB 40.64 70,546 Equifax Inc EFX 47.24 412,429 Estee Lauder EL 65.08 343,334 Everest Re RE 99.95 364,655 Fair Isaac FICO 45.00 90,299 Federal Realty Inv Trust FRT 100.09 35,597 Fidelity National FIS 34.00 651,442 FleetCor Technologies FLT 40.44 44,064 H&Q Healthcare HQH 16.99 24,713 H&Q Life Sciences HQL 14.27 22,961 Heartland Payment HPY 30.71 53,705 Horace Mann Educators HMN 18.36 166,062 Horizon Tech Notes 2019 HTF 25.32 1,400 InterXion Holding INXN 20.30 584,433 Jarden Corp JAH 43.23 537,515 LeapFrog Cl A LF 9.46 124,145 Lockheed Martin LMT 92.20 595,830 Macerich MAC 61.88 91,837 Mangd Durtn InvGr Mun Fd MZF 15.92 8,984 MarineMax HZO 11.24 443,698 Mastercard MA 450.83 296,153 Mead Johnson Nutrition MJN 87.27 796,345 Montpelier Re MRH 20.94 188,367 Movado Group MOV 28.52 90,384 NVR Inc NVR 778.37 14,016 Navigant Consulting NCI 14.62 44,765 Newcastle Inv NCT 7.05 481,127 NewMarket Corp NEU 225.90 97,653 NextEra Energy NEE 64.85 498,186 PNC Fincl Svcs PNC 66.38 440,895 PPG Industries PPG 104.30 252,118 Pfizer PFE 22.99 5,662,724 Polaris Indus PII 81.91 210,427 Raytheon RTN 54.62 898,623 Regis Corp RGS 18.70 164,488 Roper Indus ROP 102.11 196,958 SandRidge Miss Tr II SDR 22.24 409,679 Schiff Nutrition Intl WNI 16.18 13,426 Sherwin-Williams SHW 121.59 355,691 Simon Property Group SPG 152.93 270,386 SolarWinds SWI 46.38 1,851,429 Standard Pacific SPF 4.90 1,455,767 Sturm Ruger RGR 56.28 200,486 Taiwan Semi Mfg TSM 15.57 5,712,510 Taubman Ctrs TCO 77.88 91,523 Teledyne Tech TDY 65.73 19,869 Teradyne Inc TER 18.01 3,132,138 Tim Hortons THI 55.92 70,055 Time Warner Cbl TWC 83.64 1,166,569 Total Sys Svcs TSS 23.69 358,164 TransDigm Group TDG 125.87 120,781 Tyler Tech TYL 41.61 94,141 Unilever PLC UL 34.74 673,209 Vantiv Inc VNTV 22.00 245,324 Watson Pharma WPI 75.95 4,940,024 Western Digital WDC 44.44 1,517,308 Williams Cos WMB 33.60 1,699,021 Wisconsin Energy WEC 36.30 153,130 Wyndham Worldwide WYN 49.84 871,895 New Lows 9 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ ACCO Brands Corp. Wi ACCOw 10.51 3,875 BB&T Capital Trust VI BBTpB 25.28 116,410 BuildaBear BBW 4.26 36,618 Chesapeake Engy 4.5% pfd. CHKpD 78.01 17,155 Goldcorp GG 38.76 6,091,249 MetroPCS Comm PCS 6.79 7,939,682 Oaktree Capital Group OAK 39.25 14,400 Pampa Energia ADS PAM 6.78 13,304 Promotora de Info ADS PRIS 1.95 14,860
NASDAQ
New Highs 60 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Access National ANCX 12.73 5,527 Allegiant Travel ALGT 63.59 54,473 Amer Cap Agency Pfd A AGNCP 25.50 12,500 AmeriServ Fincl ASRV 2.95 7,150 Amgen AMGN 70.93 1,341,770 Arch Capital Grp ACGL 39.35 532,121 Ardea Biosciences RDEA 31.74 480,953 Arris Grp ARRS 12.90 790,648 Cirrus Logic CRUS 26.73 5,827,051 Crimson Exploration CXPO 5.13 128,665 Delta Natural Gas Co DGAS 41.70 1,151 Discovery Comm C DISCK 49.02 61,206 Discovery Comm A DISCA 52.58 202,471 Dunkin' Brands Group DNKN 33.54 852,373 Epoch Hldg EPHC 26.46 25,339 Equinix EQIX 170.87 1,943,021 Fidelity Southern LION 8.47 5,606 First Citizens Banc FCZA 7.06 2,851 First United FUNC 8.60 9,622 Flexsteel Industries FLXS 20.63 1,636 Hain Celestial Group HAIN 47.60 134,567 Hercules Tech Growth Cap HTGC 11.38 62,611 Hibbett Sports HIBB 58.70 39,071 Homeownrs Choice wt HCIIW 2.79 3,300 Jacksonville Bancorp JXSB 16.06 300 Kulicke & Soffa Inds KLIC 13.04 359,721 Liquidity Services LQDT 54.57 112,122 MHI Hospitality MDH 3.46 4,600 MWI Veterinary Supply MWIV 92.97 4,503 Madison Square Garden MSG 35.72 24,114 Mattersight MATR 9.43 13,100 Netease Inc. NTES 61.45 413,553 O'Reilly Automotive ORLY 104.81 929,714 OSI Systems OSIS 65.33 64,659 Onyx Pharmaceuticals ONXX 47.80 879,566 PDF Solutions PDFS 9.23 26,278 Peapack Gladstone PGC 15.57 254 Penford PENX 7.92 1,925 Points International PCOM 12.24 12,925 Pozen POZN 8.12 234,454 Preferred Bank PFBC 13.00 32,050 Radware RDWR 38.71 17,696 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals REGN 145.04 1,801,390 Ross Stores ROST 60.59 275,134 SBA Comm SBAC 53.23 434,666 Santarus SNTS 6.18 66,787 SeagateTech STX 31.49 2,751,006 Sucampo Pharm (Cl A) SCMP 8.49 12,573 Synergy Pharmaceuticals SGYP 5.34 78,437 Taylor Devices TAYD 12.18 7,175 Texas Cap Bancshares Wt TCBIW 23.82 1,200 Texas Capital Bancshares TCBI 37.76 278,012 Top Image Sys TISA 5.59 279,426 Trinity Biotech PLC (ADS) TRIB 11.70 23,553 UMB Fincl UMBF 48.15 82,037 Utd Natural Foods UNFI 49.46 64,142 Verisk Analytics Inc VRSK 48.79 220,218 Wayside Tech Group WSTG 17.50 6,958 Wilshire Bancorp WIBC 5.09 370,691 Yadkin Valley Fincl YAVY 3.17 33,426 New Lows 17 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Actions Semiconductor ADS ACTS 1.62 3,800 Brightpoint CELL 6.90 115,350 CH Robinson Worldwide CHRW 59.55 639,590 Ceradyne CRDN 24.00 263,914 Clearfield Inc CLFD 4.17 77,548 CommTouch Software CTCH 2.74 7,665 Dynamics Research DRCO 7.66 48,273 Green Plains Renew Engy GPRE 7.72 543,881 InterDigital IDCC 29.19 959,325 Marshall Edwards MSHL 0.61 16,276 NII Hldgs NIHD 14.51 6,135,174 ProShs UlShrt Nsdq Biot BIS 22.31 100 Rimage RIMG 9.04 10,499 Skywest SKYW 9.23 69,297 Torm A/S TRMD 0.32 6,900 Verastem VSTM 9.65 1,072 Zipcar ZIP 11.52 807,625Comments »
Today’s Heat Map and A/D Lines
Most Active Trades This Morning
AKAM, CRUS, CTXS, CROX, EA, EQIX, HTWR, HRB, LOGI, NUAN, SKX, STMP, TQNT, XLNX
Comments »Uncle Sam Has Dozens of Companies in Their Sites for Bribery; $DE, QCOM, $DIS, & HP to Name a Few
The SEC and the justice department have their work cut out for them as they plan to investigate dozens of U.S. companies….
Comments »AstraZeneca, $AZN, CEO to Leave Company
Johnson and Johnson, $JNJ. Raises Their Dividend by 7%
The SEC is Formally Investigating Chespeake Energy, $CHK.
“The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an informal inquiry into Chesapeake Energy’s well participation program with Chief Executive Officer Aubrey McClendon, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
 |
The SEC inquiry is being led by its Fort Worth, Texas, regional office, the source said. The inquiry comes after Reuters exclusively reported about loans McClendon had obtained to participate in a co-investment deal with Chesapeake [CHK 18.17 
0.04 (+0.22%) 
].
The company, which is poised to end the controversial program that gave McClendon an ownership stake in its wells, said on Thursday its directors never reviewed or approved the executive’s mortgages on those wells.
The statement contradicts Chesapeake’s assertion last week that its board of directors was “fully aware” of McClendon’s financing transactions around the well ownership stakes.
“The Board of Directors did not review, approve or have knowledge of the specific transactions engaged in by Mr. McClendon or the terms of those transactions,” the company said in a statement on Thursday….”
Comments »
State of the Union: Most Americans Will Have $0 by Their 75th Birthday
Facebook Downgraded: Company Is Not Worth $100 Billion
“Weeks ahead of its IPO, Facebook’s valuation on private markets is above $100 billion.
Capstone Investments analyst Rory Maher thinks that’s too high.
Here’s why:
- Decelerating Revenue Growth. According to the recently filed S1 amendment, Facebook revenue grew 45% in 1Q12 versus 55% in 4Q11, 104% in 3Q11, and 108% in 2Q11. We believe it is unlikely that meaningful re-acceleration of revenue will occur this year as there are not many indications the Company will release a meaningful number of new premium ad products.
- Growth Investments Hurting Near-Term Profits. The Company reported a free cash flow loss of -$12M in 1Q12 versus a gain of $192M in 1Q11, driven by a significant increase in capital expenditures [“capex”] related to building data centers and storage capability. Capex at 43% of revenue is higher than we expected and we believe there could be more investment in the future due to growth in emerging markets. As a result, we are assuming a more gradual step down in capex through 2016.
- Lowering Revenue Forecast Due To Less Than Expected Traction From Premium Ads. We lower our annual revenue growth rate from 2012E-2016E to 32% from 43% as we believe sellout of premium inventory is growing at a lower-than-expected rate since many otherwise premium advertisers are finding comparable ROI on the cheaper self-serve marketplace ads. We believe this could be a long-term issue.
- Lower EBITDA Margin Forecast. The Company reported higher-than-expected expense margins across most lines, with the largest increased coming from sales and marketing and product development. We continue to believe the Company will scale its expenses as it grows in overseas markets, but this could be more gradual than expected. As a result, we currently forecast 59% EBITDA margins in 2016E versus our previous forecast of 64%.
- $90 Billion Valuation. We value Facebook at $90 Billion following changes in our long-term outlook vs. a previous range of $75B-$110B. We use a combination of DCF and EV/EBITDA multiples to determine our target (see Figure 3).
Our take: It’s unclear that Mark Zuckerberg – and therefore Facebook, which he unilaterally controls – cares enough about making money to be a $100 billion company. We’re not sure Zuckerberg would disagree or care.”
Comments »GARY SHILLING: This Is What Will Tip The Economy Into Recession
“The Federal Reserve raised its growth forecast for the U.S. economy yesterday, and investors continue to be relatively bullish on the stock market. However, Gary Shilling says it’s consumers that set the tone for the economy, not investors.
The U.S. economy has been driven by strong consumer spending in recent months, Shilling writes in The Christian Science Monitor, but this spending is not sustainable. He points out 4 key signs
- Consumer spending increased 0.8 percent in February and retail sales rose 1.1 percent. But this pace isn’t sustainable since personal income growth is still weak and “consumer spending is being fueled largely by increased debt and further dipping into savings.”
- Housing activity is still weak and homeowners are still losing their homes to foreclosures. Moreover, they’re losing their “desire to buy an asset that continues to fall in price.”
- Employment has increased because American businesses have run out of productivity enhancement that previously let employers increase productivity with a smaller workforce. But there were only 120,000 non-farm jobs created in March, against expectations of 205,000.
- GDP growth has picked up in recent quarters but in the last quarter for instance this was driven by inventory growth which isn’t necessarily desirable
So Shilling reverts to his main point:
“…Consumer spending is the only major source of strength in the American economy this year. On the other side of the scale several weaknesses are piled up: State and local government spending remains depressed by deficit woes and underfunded pension plans; excess capacity restrains capital spending; and recent inventory-building appears involuntary.
So it should not come as a surprise if a consumer retrenchment tips the balance toward a moderate – and overdue – recession.”
Comments »
