Stocks to watch for Thursday, September 4, 2008:
 

  • Ambac Financial (ABK) announced it will permit a $400 million credit agreement to be terminated instead of amending it after it breached covenants. In a filing the company said the terms to amending the deal are uneconomical. Bloomberg reported the agreement was due to expire in 2012.

  • Blackstone (BX) will receive a $250 million investment for its newest private-equity vehicle from the California State Teachers' Retirement System, which manages $160 billion in assets. The organization had previously committed $1.7 billion in BX's prior fund. This is a sign of the slowing amount of capital flowing into these funds.

  • Boeing (BA) and the Machinists union failed to come to terms on contract negotiations, causing the company's assembly workers to vote overwhelmingly to strike. However both sides had agreed to extend discussions 48 hours to avoid such a result at the request of Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and federal mediators. Analysts say a strike could cost Boeing about $100 million per day in deferred revenue, reported the Associated Press.

  • Toll Brothers (TOL) reported a 3Q net loss of $29.3 million, or 18 cents a share, down from a net profit of $26.5 million, or 16 cents a share a year ago, citing write-downs and weakened demand. Excluding write-downs for operating communities, land and land options, and joint ventures, the company earned 35 cents a share. Revenue declined 34% to $797.7 million. The results beat analyst expectations of a loss of 36 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of 765.3 million. The company also lowered its revenue forecast for the 4Q due to higher costs.


Market Recap
 

  • Asian trading closed with the Hang Seng -0.95%, Nikkei -1.04%, Sensex -1.00%, Taiwan -2.62% and Shanghai +0.03%.

  • Glancing towards Europe, we see the CAC -0.73%, DAX -0.93%, FTSE +0.65%, ATX -0.62%, Swiss Market -0.54% and Stockholm -0.55%.

  • In commodities, crude oil is higher +0.92 to 110.27 and gold is also up +4.8 to 809.1 this morning.