Old Man Buffet Goes on a Hunt

“Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says he continues looking for a major acquisition for his Berkshire Hathaway, but he’s not willing to pay more to compete with other bidders.

Buffett says Berkshire has lost out on a couple of major acquisitions in recent years because private equity firms are bidding aggressively with borrowed money. Berkshire doesn’t borrow for acquisitions.

The Berkshire chairman and CEO said Wednesday during an interview on CNBC that Berkshire has about $40 billion cash on hand currently.”

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“Another loss for Apple in the courts: a Dutch court in the Hague has ruled Samsung does not infringe an Apple multitouch patent, Reuters is reporting. Apple had argued last month in the court that Samsung infringed its patent on multi-touch function, according to the news agency. “With these products Samsung does not infringe the claims that Apple has made,” the latest court ruling said.

In a statement commenting on the court ruling, Samsung said: “We welcome today’s ruling, which affirms our position that our products do not infringe Apple’s intellectual property. For decades, we have heavily invested in pioneering the development of technological and design innovations in the mobile industry, which have been constantly reflected in our products. We will continue to further develop and introduce products that enhance the lives of Dutch consumers.”

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The Andalusia region of Spain is asking for more bailout funds. Some expect that the entire bailout for Spain is highly underestimated.

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Stay tuned as Draghi will ‘do what ever it takes.’

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“Spain’s lower parliamentary house rejected on Wednesday all 11 amendments that lawmakers proposed to the draft 2013 budget, as they debated an austerity package aimed at deflating one of the euro zone’s highest deficit.

Opposition deputies will now propose a new set of partial changes which will be discussed and voted on over the next couple of weeks.

The lower house, dominated by the ruling People’s Party (PP), will vote on a final budget plan in mid-November, when it will pass to the upper house.

Lawmakers must finalize the plan before the end of the year.”

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“Greece has been granted its long-standing plea for additional time to push through austerity cuts that have been finalised after months of negotiations, the finance minister said on Wednesday.

“Today, we obtained the extension,” Yannis Stournaras told parliament, referring to the additional two years to hit bailout targets that Athens has been lobbying for.”

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Gapping up

FB +14.4%, RFMD +11.2%, PNRA +5.4%, AMRN +4.3%, PLCM +3.7%, MM +3.5%,

RENN +3.2%, GILD +3.2%, VMW +2.7%, AMGN +2.4%, HCA +2.2%, STM +2.2%,

SAP +2.2%, NVAX +1.9%, AFL +1.6%, LNKD +1.5%, MNST +1.5%, ILMN +1.2%

Gapping down

AONE -25.9%, TPX -18.4%, INVN -17.5%, NFLX -17.2%, IRBT -14.6%, BWLD -11.3%,

UTHR -8%, XOMA -6.8%, DCI -5.1%, QCOR -4.7%, SCSS -2.3%, NSC -2.3%, ALTR -2.1%

ACC, AAPL, BUD, CLS, CHKP, DLTR, DD, FB, MYGN, NOK, NSC, PVA, SEP, UTHR, WHR, KSU, HIG, ATVI, INTC, TWX,

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In Play ,

On the Wires 

Some companies making moves this am: BWLD, FB, IRBT, INVN, NFLX, PNRA, RFMD, SIRI, SCMR, TPX, UTHR, ZNGA

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Warren says he is buying over time….

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“NEW YORK (AP) — The flow of customers into AT&T’s wireless stores slowed further in the latest quarter, putting the company far behind rival Verizon Wireless.

AT&T Inc. says it added a net 151,000 new customers on contract-based plans from July through September, the lowest number for that period since at least 2003.

The Dallas-based company is blaming short supplies of the iPhone 5, but that didn’t hold back Verizon Wireless, which last week reported adding 10 times as many contract-signing customers.

AT&T’s quarterly net income was $3.64 billion, or 63 cents per share. That’s flat with $3.62 billion, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier.

For the latest quarter, analysts expected earnings of 60 cents per share.

Revenue was also flat with last year at $31.5 billion — analysts expected $31.57 billion.”

Source

“NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Boeing Co.BA +2.54% rose 3% in premarket trades on Wednesday after the aerospace company’s third-quarter profit of $1.35 a share beat the analyst target of $1.12 a share, according to data compiled by FactSet. RBC Capital Markets analyst Robert Stallard said Boeing’s Commercial Aircraft unit turned in another good quarter. “What is notable is that margins held in at 9.5%,”

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Prior: 51.5

Consensus: 51.5, Range was 50.6-52

Actual: 51.3

Full video interview with CEO

Being up $4 pre-market is better than being down.

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“EBay Inc. (EBAY), owner of the world’s largest online marketplace, is joining with FedEx Corp. (FDX) to offer shipping discounts and label printing as the company competes withAmazon.com Inc. (AMZN)’s vast delivery network.

EBay merchants will be able to print FedEx labels at home and ship at a discount of as much as 37 percent, said Carl Gish, EBay’s vice president of shipping. The San Jose, California- based company is also adding tracking and duty estimates to international orders through a partnership with Pitney Bowes Inc. (PBI), he said.

The FedEx accord comes in time for the holiday season and builds on other upgrades from the e-commerce company such as EBay Now, a same-day delivery service that helps local stores get goods to consumers. Online retailers are chasing Amazon’s Prime program, which costs $79 a year and offers free two-day delivery, making fast shipping the industry standard.”

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“Mortgage bankers and Realtors are warning that it could become even harder for borrowers to qualify for a home loan early next year as the industry faces a barrage of new rules.

Regulators are preparing to release the language of two rules taking effect in January to set standards for non-abusive lending and require banks to hold a slice of risky mortgages on their books. In addition, U.S. banking overseers must also complete new capital standards mandated in the international Basel III accords next year.”

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Oil rallied strong overnight after China PMI data was released. During the overnight session Europe’s poor PMI data and declining business confidence in Germany helped Brent to pare gains.

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“The euro weakened for a second day against the dollar and yen after reports showed services and manufacturing in the region shrank in October more than economists predicted as the debt crisis stifled growth.

The 17-nation currency fell versus all except two of its 16 major counterparts as the Ifo institute in Munich said German business confidence dropped to the lowest level in more than two years. The Dollar Index (DXY) climbed to the highest in almost two weeks before Federal Reserve officials end a two-day policy meeting. Sweden’s krona slid for a fourth day against the dollar after a report showed consumer confidence worsened.

“We’ve had some bad news and the euro has gone down,” said Jane Foley, a senior currency strategist at Rabobank International in London. “Given the extent of the poor news that’s been around, I think it’s still amazing that the euro has been so resilient.”

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