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business newsTicker Shock: Not So Fast, Bank of America
Monday's top stories and stocks with potential to move.
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But there were a couple of perks that came with the work: I landed a sweet tan and got to enjoy some time with my buddy Sam Adams - maybe you know him? And the weather was unbelievable.
Asian stocks ended higher but not by much. The Hang Seng and the Nikkei were both up under 1%. Meanwhile, European stocks were in the red earlier this morning. And here in the US, we're currently trading lower.
Here's what I’m focused on this morning:
Bank of America (BAC):
Ken Lewis and his team are probably high-fiving each other this morning. The North Carolina bank -- which needs no introduction, since there are only around 5 banks left -- turned in pretty decent first-quarter numbers. Per Reuters: “Excluding items, profit was $0.17 per share, according to Reuters Estimates, compared with analysts' average forecast of $0.04.”
I was put off by something Lewis said in the release: “We understand that we continue to face extremely difficult challenges primarily from deteriorating credit quality driven by weakness in the economy and growing unemployment.”
This underscores the fact that the company still faces risks, which in turn, makes me reluctant to chase this stock. (Note that it's had a heck of a run over the past couple of months.)
Oracle (ORCL):
Oracle and Sun (JAVA) sitting in a tree... K-I-S-S-I-N-G. With IBM (IBM) having said sayonara, Oracle has stepped up to the plate. The word this morning is that Ellison and crew will pony up $9.50 a share for the company.
According to the Associated Press:
“Oracle expects the purchase to add at least $0.15 per share to its adjusted earnings in the first year after the deal closes. The company estimated Santa Clara, California-based Sun will contribute more than $1.5 billion to Oracle's adjusted profit in the first year and more than $2 billion in the second year.”
It sounds good at first blush. But I’m going to point out that the deal isn’t expected to be sealed until some time in the summer. Between now and then, you never know what could happen. I’m also going to point out that $0.15 isn’t a whole lot, given that Oracle is expected to put up $1.49 a share in fiscal 2010.
If I were long Sun and had a chance to punch out around $9.25-ish today, I probably would.
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