Month: June 2012

US oilfield services company FTS International has again put off its IPO, the “foreseeable future,” citing market conditions. Just several months ago, the company was drawing investments from major Chinese oil companies.

Centene Corporation (CNC) today had its numbers reduced by Jefferies (JEF) due to higher medical costs. A buy rating was issued with a $42 price target.

Cisco Systems Incorporated (CSCO) maintained its quarterly dividend of 8 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on July 25, 2012, to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on July 5, 2012.

In trading on Friday, department stores shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.9%. Leading the group were shares of China Metro Rural Holdings Limited (CNR), up about 38% and shares of Bon Ton Stores (BONT) up about 3% on the day.

Bargain hunters are wise to pay careful attention to insider buying, because although there are many various reasons for an insider to sell a stock, presumably the only reason they would use their hard-earned dollars to make a purchase, is that they expect to make money. Today we look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

Looks like Americans are finally digging themselves out of mortgagedebt. Home equity rose to $6.7 trillion this quarter- thats thehighest level since 2008 – as homeowners are taking advantage ofrecord-low interest rates to refinance.This is a strong indication that Americans’ home-loan debt-burden isbeginning to ease. This is welcome news after the record borrowingthat created, and ultimately popped the housing bubble- leavingalmost a quarter of American homeowners with mortgages owing more thantheir properties were worth.

Best Buy (BBY) was upgraded today by Citigroup (C) from sell to neutral with a $21 price target, as the stock has pulled back by about 35%. Shares are higher by about 2.4 percent.

Venza Gold Corp. filed on June 12 that it is offering a total of 1,500,000 common shares at a price of $0.10 per share.

Britain’s government and the Bank of England will act together to tackle tightening credit and financial market conditions triggered by the euro zone crisis, finance minister George Osborne said late Thursday.

Britain’s government and the Bank of England will act together to tackle tightening credit and financial market conditions triggered by the euro zone crisis, finance minister George Osborne said late Thursday.