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Exchange Wars: What Will NYSE Get From Qatar? (NYX, NDAQ, CME)

NYSE Euronext (NYSE Euronext: NYX) has signed a strategic partnership with the State of Qatar in a bid that may transform the Doha Securities Market.  The visibility is aimed to make Doha's market an international player in the global exchange space and to give the NYSE Euronext with a foothold presence in the Middle East.  NYSE Euronext will purchase a 25% stake in the Doha Securities market for $250 million in cash (US Dollars), in what was said to be the most attractive offer as part of a competitive bidding process.

The State of Qatar and NYSE Euronext to build a new, internationally integrated cash and derivatives exchange in Doha. This will be aligned through equity participation, technology integration and market structure similarity.  The NYSE will get 3 of the 11 board seats on the exchange and the State of Qatar will retain 75% ownership and 8 of the 11 board seats.

This will enhance Doha's existing cash equities business and provide a platform for derivatives trading and related clearing services.  The NYSE Euronext will act as a partner managing the operation of the new exchange and will appoint the senior management team and providing technology services.  After this is all said and done, Qatar expects to end up with a total market infrastructure capability and will solidify its position as a regional capital market.

The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close during Q4-2008.

If you want to compare this implied $1 Billion market cap based upon the terms of the deal, that compares to a $15+ Billion market cap for NYSE Euronext and compares to a $5.98 Billion market cap for NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ).  CME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME) has a market cap of $23.9 Billion as of last look.

Jon C. Ogg
June 24, 2008

CO2 Trading Going Mainstream (NDAQ, NMX, CME)

In the 1990's, carbon certificate trading was mostly unheard of.  This has also been largely untapped by American companies and by the American public.  Until Now.

The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., the subsidiary of NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMX), also announced that it will introduce a U.S. Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative carbon allowance futures contract in the third quarter of 2008 that will be traded on the CME Globex, under the CME Group, Inc. (NYSE: CME).  This is expected to be the first exchange-traded contract for compliance with a government cap-and-trade program in the U.S.

It also looks like the NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) intends to launch a new index family for carbon dioxide emissions certificates this summer in its efforts with Nord Pool, according to Dow Jones.  After looking at Nord Pool's website this has only been available to private investors, so this could be a real game changer.

The Chicago Climate Exchange, part of Climate Exchange plc (CLE.L), has allowed people to trade carbon futures now for years. 

If you want to do some research on your own about what is coming down the pipe, here are just a few of the links we have followed from over the years:

• http://carbonfund.org/
• http://greenfutures.com/news/
• http://climateexchangeplc.com/
• http://www.carbonexpo.com/
• http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/

Carbon emission certificates are not without controversy.  While it does address the issues, many refer to it as a "pay to pollute."  That is an argument that will go on for years and we have no interest in getting in the middle of that.

It almost looks in a way like the U.S. may have joined the Kyoto Protocol, even if it isn't official.

Jon C. Ogg
May 8, 2008

Investors Look To Invest In Canadian Stock Exchange (TSX)

XTM eXchange Split Corp. filed it public paperwork this morning. The offering of common shares and Priority Equity Shares is an investment in TXM Group (TSX: X)—a combination of TSX Group, the operator of Canada’s two national stock exchanges, and Montreal Exchange, the Canadian derivatives exchange.

The common shares and the priority equity shares will be $10.00 each. The common shares will offer monthly cash dividends that are targeted at 5.00% per annum. Additionally, any capital appreciation or dividend growth from TXM Group will be provided in the common shares. The Priority Equity Shares will provide fixed, cumulative preferential monthly cash dividends at a yield of 5.25% per annum.   

In December 2007, the TSX Group and the Montreal Exchange combined in a $428 million transaction in which the TSX Group acquired all 15.3 million shares of the Montreal Exchange. The proposed effective date for the combination called the TXM Group was set at May 1, 2008.

Unfortunately, this may be tough for Americans to participate in.

The co-lead underwriters for the prospectus are CIBC World Markets Inc. and RBC Dominion Securities Inc. Additionally, Scotia Capital Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., National Bank Financial Inc., TD Securities Inc., Desjardins Securities Inc., Canaccord Capital Corporation, Dundee Securities Corporation, HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc., Raymond James Ltd., Blackmont Capital Inc., and Wellington West Capital Inc. are involved in the offering.

While some of the exchanges have done extremely well while others faltered, it's probably a safe bet that the interest is going to be present enough for this deal to get a lot of interest globally from Canada alone.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear about other IPO's, mergers, secondary offerings, spin-offs, and other special situations.

Jon C. Ogg
May 5, 2008

Nasdaq Delisting Candidates, To The Pink Sheets

The list of possible delisting candidates is too long to publish here. These companies are called "non-compliant" usually for late SEC filings or stock prices which trade below the exchange minimum share price. Most of these companies can appeal and go through a process to remain listed.

The entire list is published.here. Among some of the notables:

Applied Digital Solutions (DIGA)

Atari (ATAR)

Children's Place (PLCE)

Conexant (CNXT)

EntreMed (ENMD)

Force Protection (FRPT)

infoUSA  (IUSA)

Mindspeed (MSPD)

PixelWorks (PXLW)

QMed (QMED)

Sonic Foundry (SOFO)

Sonic Solutions (SNIC)

TranSwitch (TXCC)

Zila (ZILA)

Douglas A. McIntyre

NYSE Delisting Candidates, Headed To The Pink Sheets?

With the sudden delisting of the Journal Register, it is interesting to look at who else is on the NYSE list of companies who could get delisted. The NYSE is generally very good about this and lets the companies have time to get into compliance. Below are the lists. They are grouped based on why the NYSE has problems with them.

Issuers that are noncompliant with its quantitative and corporate governance listing standards:

Fremont General Corporation (FMT)

Fremont General Financing I (FMTPR)

Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. (IMH)

Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. (IMHPRB)

Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. (IMHPRC)

Journal Register Co. (JRC)

Luminent Mortgage Capital, Inc. (LUM)

Medifast, Inc. (MED)

Milacron Inc. (MZ)

NIS GROUP CO., LTD. (NIS)

Scottish Re Group Limited (SCT)

Scottish Re Group Limited (SCTPRB)

Sun-Times Media Group, Inc. (SVN)

Zarlink Semiconductor, Inc. (ZL)

Companies as delayed in filing both Annual and Interim Reports:

Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (BZH)
Diebold, Incorporated (DBD)
International Rectifier Corporation (IRF)
Penn Treat American Corporation. (PTA)

Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (SRZ)
Symmetry Medical Inc. (SMA)
VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (PAY)
W Holding Company, Inc. (WHI)
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (WCG)

Companies as delayed in filing an Annual Report:

China Yuchai International Limited (CYD)
Fremont General Corporation. (FMT)
Fremont General Financing I (FMTPR)
Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. (IMH)
    Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. (IMHPRB)
    Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. (IMHPRC)
Mesa Royalty Trust (MTR)
Schawk, Inc. (SGK)

Some firms make it on to more than one list, and some, like JRC and FMT, have already left for the "pink sheets"

Douglas A. McIntyre

NYSE Amendment To Allow For SPAC IPO's (NYX, NDAQ)

The NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) has made proposed rule changes this week that would allow the listing of Acquisition Companies (ACs) on the NYSE.  They are describing special purpose acquisition companies, or SPAC's, and blank check companies.  As the NYSE is acquiring the American Stock Exchange, this is probably going to be viewed as an expected formality.

But there was also a SEC filing proposal that would allow the NASDAQ OMX Group Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ) to get into the SPAC listing process as well.  There are some differences in their proposal as far as the time allowed for a SPAC to find an acquisition vehicle.

While the NYSE does have holding companies and tracking stocks listed, it has not openly gone out on a campaign to attract SPAC listings. This will allow for that rule after the AMEX acquisition, if not before.

SPAC IPO Competition To Heat Up: AMEX vs. NASDAQ (NDAQ, NYX)

It looks like the American Stock Exchange, and ultimately the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: NYX) after the two merge, is going to get some competition for all of the IPO's in Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC's) and Blank Check companies. 

Recently, The Nasdaq Stock Market (NASDAQ: NDAQ) submitted a proposal to the SEC to get in on the SPAC IPO market.  Right now, the American Stock Exchange has been the go-to vehicle for SPAC's that has allowed these blank check acquisition vehicles to list in the United States. It's hard to conceive any reasons that the SEC or any other regulatory body would block this move.

In 2007, 66 SPACs grossed over $12 billion in offerings, according to SpacAnalytics.com. And SPACS are showing no signs of stopping with almost $3 billion raised so far in 2008, comprising 53% of IPO filings this year.  This cottage sector is almost like trading much smaller versions of private equity, without as much focus and diversity.

According to their release last week, Nasdaq Senior Vice President Bob McCooey recognizes the potential in the recent IPO trend, stating, "Acquisition vehicles are an increasingly common capital-raising device. We believe that listing them on NASDAQ, subject to these important investor protections, will benefit investors and issuers alike."

In its proposal, Nasdaq will require the acquisition vehicles to meet all of Nasdaq’s minimum listing requirements, as well as “stringent” SPAC specific criteria, as follows:

• Requiring placement of the proceeds in a trust
• Requiring the completion of a business combination within 36 months
• Requiring shareholder approval for each business combination

Currently, most SPACs usually tend to face an 18 month deadline (or 24 months) to complete a deal to become an operational company. The extension could prevent SPACs from rushing to close a not-so-hot business combination.  There are some downsides as well because this could lead to many companies sitting on companies, and you could imagine that ultimately you could seem some very wide spreads to an IPO SPAC price and the market price.

Nasdaq did not specify a time frame.  We would presume that the only serious issues in determining an effective date would be an SEC review of any key differences in their listing requirements and the differences in terms for such a listing. SPAC's and Blank Check companies used to be thought of poorly, but the image is being cleaned up now that many SPAC's have effected mergers and become successful post-merger operations.  The share price track record for SPACs is still at least somewhat questionable and we have yet to see if this is a trend or permanent public component. Goldman Sachs avoids them, and few doubt their track record.

Jon C. Ogg
February 29, 2008

NYMEX/CME Merger Speculators Should Consider Regulatory & Price Issues (NMX, CME, NYX, ICE, NDAQ)

We've seen the consolidation happening on the global exchanges.  They are becoming larger and larger powerhouses, and some are coming under more and more scrutiny.  This morning's New York Post ran a piece titled "NYMEX Merger Deal All But Completed" with the estimated terms.  The estimated terms were even listed as $36 per share in cash and 0.1323 CME shares per NMX share.  This article does note "Challenges to the merger could still arise even after a deal is signed..... That price might not sit well with some Nymex shareholders..."

What we wanted to do was put this in perspective.  Frankly there are more risks here than reward if the current terms are accurate.  Merger speculation has been present on NYMEX at much higher prices before.  NMX closed at $96.29 yesterday, and its 52-week trading range is $86.61 to $148.00.  It has lost roughly one-quarter of its post-IPO value since coming public in late-2006.  CME stock closed at $516.44 (52-week range of $475.17 to $714.48), so the combined price before any dilution would generate a perceived NMX buyout price of $68.32 on the stock side and including the $36 cash offer would net out at $104.32.

The largest fear that merger speculators should have here is a regulatory blockage of a deal, and that is on top of the notion that this premium is essentially an "at the market" buyout at best.  Wall Street and Main Street already saw many wondering how the CME & CBOT merger was even allowed to go through, and the argument that a "clearing monopoly" now exists is not going to go away.  Even though this administration and lax regulatory environment has failed to block a single large merger over "anti-competitive pressure," it is impossible not to think this approval process could be tied up for long enough that a new administration might can the deal.

So who else is left that could actually do a deal?

The NYSE (NYSE: NYX) is already involved in acquiring the Amex, and with its recent share price weakness and a new CEO it would be very hard for the equity exchange giant to be able to jump the hurdle into the futures exchange.  The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is just way to small to make a pursuit of this size.

InterContinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) has been left out in the wind as its attempt to buy the CBOT lost out to the CME.  "The ICE" and NYMEX are almost equally yoked as far as market caps, with the ICE being slightly higher as of Thursday.  A merger between those two would perhaps face much less scrutiny from any regulators.

While there is a chance that any first offer could be raised, it sure looks like there is a real chance that this could get blocked by regulators AND by shareholders.  If these "likely" terms are the real deal, we'd probably speculate elsewhere.

Jon C. Ogg
February 22, 2008

NYSE Buys AMEX, Becomes ETF King (NYX)

The NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) is finally acquiring the American Stock Exchange.  NYSE is paying roughly $260 million entirely in NYSE stock to acquire its tiny rival exchange.  Amex members (full seat owners) will be entitled to receive additional shares of NYSE Euronext common stock based on the net proceeds from the expected sale of Amex’s lower Manhattan headquarters.

There are several things that will happen as a key here: 

• The NYSE will now be the true leader in Exchange Traded Funds (ETF's) trading, which will bring over massive amounts of more trading on the exchange.  Amex has some 381 ETF's (compared to 240 NYSE ARCA ETF's). Now we know who the ETF KING IS.
• This will also bring over numerous closed-end funds and structured product listings to NYSE; Amex had 545 listings. 
• The NYSE will also sell the American Stock Exchange building and will consolidate the operations. 

The NYSE will now be a leader in stock options trading.  The combined entity will see an annualized cost synergies of over $100 million within two years from closing when you include technology, data center and staff integration, consolidation of professional and contract services and vendors.

We had been waiting and waiting for AMEX to come public, but that won't be happening now.  The rumors on this were circling last week and these terms are within the range that had been discussed.

Jon C. Ogg
January 17, 2008

NASDAQ Expands Alliance for Private Placements (NDAQ)

The NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has secured a deal which will expand "The PORTAL" to include a trading standardization for trading private placements under rule 144a.

The founding members of The PORTAL Alliance are Bank of America, Bear Stearns, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, NASDAQ, UBS and Wachovia Securities.

While the collaboration is subject to execution of a definitive agreement and subject to regulatory approval, this would seem to be a done deal.  This will allow qualified institutional buyers to buy and sell these 144a private placement securities in shorter-time periods instead of what is often a 3-month to two-year holding period.

Jon C. Ogg
November 12, 2007

NASDAQ Buying Philadelphia Stock Exchange? (NDAQ, NYX, ISE)

CNBC was just reporting that The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) is close to purchasing the Philadelphia Stock Exchange for a sum of $500 million to $600 million.

This might not make sense to some, but this acquisition would give a substantial exposure to options trading.  The deal is said to be closing at some point in the next week.  Before counting your chickens here as a win, there is likely nothing keeping other exchanges Like NYSE (NYSE:NYX) or International Securities Exchange (NYSE:ISE) from making their own attempts to mark a deal for this exchange or others.

NASDAQ shares are up another almost 4% today at $49.60

Join the 24/7 Wall St. open email distribution list for analysis of special situations such as buyouts, reorganizations, spin-offs, recapitalizations, speculation and other special news not posted on the public web site.

Jon C. Ogg
November 6, 2007

Jon Ogg produces the 24/7 Wall St. Special Situation Investing Newsletter; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

September Short Interest Decreases At NYSE & AMEX (NYX, NDAQ)

The short interest data for the NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) and the American Stock Exchange are both out and they are both showing something we haven't seen for some time:  short interest declined, if you can believe it.  For months this was a growing number as the market was rising. 

The NYSE Group showed short interest on the September 14 settlement date listed as 11,841,051,529 shares, down from 12,466,511,521 as of August 15, 2007.  This is the first drop from when January 2007 short interest of 9.68 Billion shares fell to 9.595 Billion shares in February 2007.

Over at the AMEX, there was also a drop in the total short interest.  August 15, 2007 showed 1,194,902,117 shares in the total short interest, yet today's numbers shows 1,032,872,816 shares as of the September 14, 2007 settlement date.  The last drop seen on AMEX short interest was listed when the 877,477,463 shares short in March 2007 fell to 865,833,907 in April 2007.

It appears that maybe short sellers figured it out this time and decided that being short stocks going into a rate cutting cycle wasn't a good play.  The short interest report for NASDAQ (NASDAQ:NDAQ) will not be out until next week, so stay tuned.  Throughout the night or tomorrow we'll have some individual short interest data.

Jon C. Ogg
September 20, 2007

Will Saber Rattling Kill NASDAQ/OMX/LSE/Dubai Deal? (NDAQ, NYX, C)

The NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has been in a long hunt over how it plans to grow and compete in a new world of mega-exchanges, and frankly its second place status in the U.S. for stocks is one that it would acknowledge is far from that of the NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX).  It was unsuccessful in its buyout of the London Stock Exchange.  Then it focused on the Nordic OMX, only to get a rival bid over OMX from Borse Dubai.  The NASDAQ finally reached a deal that can be secured, but the much needed help that arrived may have been slapped in the face by observers.

The NASDAQ yesterday reached a mutual deal with Borse Dubai that will allow it to gain control of the OMX.  In exchange, NASDAQ is giving up most of its holding (appears to be a 28% stake of 31.5%) in the London Stock Exchange.  But NASDAQ is also kicking in a 20% stake of its own stock.  The NASDAQ purchase price would be equivalent to about $41.00 per per share, and it appears this is for only a 5% voting stake with an 'independent trustee' holding the rest. NASDAQ will also get a stake in Borse Dubai, but we are going to stop there. because this is starting to sound like a monopoly game where the second and third tier players gang up on the likely winner. 

Qatar Tries To Block Dubai/Nasdaq/OMX Hook-Up

MarketWatch is reporting that The Qatar Investment Authority said it's taken a 20% stake in the London Stock Exchange literally hours after Borse Dubai said it was buying 28% of the LSE from the Nasdaq Stock Market . Qatar is trying to block the Nasdaq deal to buy OMX.

Maybe Nasdaq (NDAQ) shareholders will get lucky and it overly complex deal with OMX and Dubai will be killed by an outsider.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Desperate For A Deal: The Nasdaq-London-Dubai-OMX Stock Exchange

The deal, hatched by Nasdaq management with the help of the owners of the Borse Dubai is one that only a schizophrenic could understand.

Dubai will buy slightly less than 20% of The Nasdaq Stock Exchange (NDAQ) Nasdaq will own a piece of Dubai, and the Middle East exchange there will be re-branded with the Nasdaq name.

Instead of competing to buy the Swedish OMX, Dubai and Nasdaq will cooperation so that the US exchange gets the prize. Dubai and Nasdaq had been competing for the OMX. According to The Wall Street Journal "The three-way deal will create an exchange group with business that stretches through three regions: the U.S., Europe and the Middle East."

And, Dubai will buy most of the Nasdaq ownership of the London Stock Exchange. NDAQ picked up 31% of the British exchange as part of an unsuccessful takeover.

The question now is how such an unwieldy organization can operate.

The deal is a desperate deal hatched by a desperate Nasdaq management. After NYSE Euronext (NYX) built a transatlantic trading powerhouse, Nasdaq was left to play catch-up. It tried to buy the London Stock Exchange several times. The Brits would have none of it, and Nasdaq ended up with a 31% interest in London. At least it has been able to unload most of that to Dubai. What they will do with a minority interest in a UK exchange is anyone's guess.

The question now is how the new interlocking set of exchanges will be managed. There is no reason to believe that they will not have competing interests. Whether companies listed on Nasdaq will care about how the deal is structured is unclear. Whether Dubai will want to try to buy the balance of London, which would put it into competition with Nasdaq in Europe, is another.

It is, in short, a disaster waiting to happen.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The Nasdaq: Where Delisting Means Nothing

Dell (DELL) got another delisting warning yesterday. It has to file its financials on time, or risk being thrown off the exchange. Dell has gotten a number of these. but Nasdaq (NDAQ) keeps pushing the decision off.

Even tiny companies like Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (PPHM) can't get delisted. The company got a notice on July 15. The firm's stock trades under $1. But, it has 180 days to get its shares back above that level. And, according to Nasdaq rules "If we (PPHM) are still not in compliance with the minimum closing bid price requirement after the initial 180 calendar day period but we are in compliance with all initial listing requirements other than the bid requirement, we will be afforded an additional "compliance period" of 180 calendar days within which to regain compliance."

If nothing else works, a company can do a reverse merger to get is price above $1.

Of course, Nasdaq does not want to lose any of these companies. They pay listing fees. And, how would it look if the exchange pushed out a big firm like Dell. If it did, it might have to delist all of those other firms that are not obeying the rules.

Nasdaq's listing requirements are a joke

Douglas A. McIntyre

NYSE Gets Slapped Hard On Chinese Listings

Shares of Chinese companies listed on the NYSE (NYX) have sub-standard earnings. That is the conclusion of a study by RateFinancials, an independent research firm, covered in the FT. Since the NYSE views itself as the blue chip global exchange, it is unlikely to be happy with the news.

The study covered "the 10 largest Chinese companies with total market capitalisation of about $750bn and an average price/earnings multiple of 24.7 that implies they will generate strong earnings growth." What it found was firms with insufficient cash flow, negative working capital, and "managed earnings" (a term that would indicate that the companies are less than forthcoming about their actual prospects.

The evaluation gets worse. “These companies are government-controlled enterprises masquerading as independent public companies and it is virtually impossible to assess their financial condition given their poor level of disclosures,” said Victor Germack, founder and president of RateFinancials.

This opens the door to the question of whether the NYSE was willing to list companies including. Petro China (PTR), China Telecom (CHL), and China Life (LFC) while turning a blind eye to the potential that the Chinese government may be willing to cut financial corners at the firms. It is not as if the communists have a spotless history of being transparent.

If more evidence appears that would support the news study,the exchange has a very hard decision. Does it delist the Chinese companies and force them to list elsewhere, or does it keep them on to maintain its global image while knowing that they really do not belong?

Douglas A. McIntyre

Has Nasdaq Unloaded Its Interest In LSE?

Nasdaq (NDAQ) has not had much luck in the M&A markets. Its most embarrassing attempt at increasing its presence overseas was it run at the London Stock Exchange. NDAQ ended up with 31% of the UK operation, but nothing else to show for it. Nasdaq has put that holding on the market and it appears that Qatar's state investment fund will buy it for $1.72 billion.

NDAQ needs the money. The exchange said on Friday that it may consider sweetening its bid for the company the Swedish exchange OMX AB. The US exchange operator is locked in a battle for OMX with Borse Dubai, the owner of the Dubai stock exchange.

Now that NYSE (NYX) has picked up Euronext, Wall St. wants to know whether NDAQ can at least find one foreign exchange that wants to be acquired. After a tough year, its shares have rallied, perhaps on the perception that it is about to break-through as an international operator.

With NDAQ stock trading where it was in late 2005, Wall St. hopes that the exchange will not fail to land another fish.

Douglas A. McIntyre

More Exchange Mergers Coming? (NMX)

NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:NMX) has been making another one of its mystery rallies today, as shares traded up to over $129.00 before today's close.  This one has been thought of in the past as being a buyout candidate, and the prevailing thought is that they "could be" back in play.  The stock volume was actually light until the end of the day, but the stock options trading took a while to catch up in the trading interest today. 

The option premium was not indicative of a super-premium expected, if it was even coming at all.  Recent June highs were in the $140.00+ range, and shares traded as high as $150.01 after opening at $120.00 back on the November 17, 2006 IPO date.  The market cap of NYMEX is almost $11.9 Billion, so not just anyone could be able to acquire this exchange.  Any deal would have to be a friendly merger as well.  There is a conundrum because even if we are skeptical, this one of the potential exchanges that could participate in the global exchange consolidation.  The question is what price an acquirer would pay.  Based on today's options trading and prices, that premium does not look as though it is expected to be huge. 

This is a very abbreviated version of what we sent to free email subscribers during trading hours today.  We are currently reviewing several key corporate developments for subscribers of our Special Situation Investing Newsletter.  Trials are available and can be signed up for. We are currently reviewing some financial picks, we have a security play that has a transport angle under review, and we even have under a company in the death and elderly care under review.  Lastly, the NCR tax free spin-off of Teradata is also being reviewed for the paid newsletter.  Which of these will be the next newsletter? We'll know any day now.

If you want to see samples of our work that we have now made available for public view, here are some resent examples of our subscriber-based Special Situation Investing Newsletter.  We called for a pullback in EMC shares right at the VMware IPO and compared it to other key spin-offs in recent history.   We also outlined for paid subscribers what was an industry sea change that was a essentially nothing short of a reverse merger in the stock photo industry that was creating a black hole scenario for Getty Images (GYI).  We gave the scenario where we called for Getty to fall from around $50.00 to under $40.00, and this panned out much faster than we initially would have expected.  The stock trade would have netted out a greater than 30% return on the recommendation, and the options trade alone would have been well over a 100% profit for readers that followed this advice.

Jon C. Ogg
September 10, 2007

Jon Ogg produces the 24/7 Wall St. SPECIAL SITUATION INVESTING NEWSLETTER; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Does NYSE Want To Own The London Stock Exchange?

Reuters reports that NYSE Euronext (NYX) might want to buy the Nasdaq (NDAQ) 31% ownership in The London Stock Exchange. It would be a humiliation for Nasdaq since its rival was able to land an exchange in Europe by picking up Euronext, but NDAQ was rebuffed in London. But, no matter, because NDAQ wants to take the $1.6 billion that it thinks it can get from its LSE stake and use it to buy the Nordic OMX.

There are, of course, other potential buyers. Interest in Australia, Germany, and Singapore are mentioned as suitors. But, if NYX can get a large stake in LSE it could become the dominant North American/European Exchange with huge portion of the world's largest companies among its listings.

That may be worth the investment.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Nasdaq And Dubai Could Buy OMX Together

Nasdaq (NDAQ) and Borse Dubai are both bidding for the Nordic exchange owner OMX. And, the price is up to about $4 billion. At the same time NDAQ is trying to sell its 31% of The London Stock Exchange. It made a run at buying the UK operation, but it went no where. NDAQ is currently shopping its shares for $1.6 billion.

NDAQ has had very little success diversifying overseas, unlike its US rival NYSE Euronext (NYX).

So, Nasdaq may adopt an "if you can't beat 'em, join em" approach to OMX. According to The Daily Telegraph Dubai and Nasdaq are looking at a joint bid to own the Nordic operation together.

Pretty clever. NDAQ sells its London interest, it may be able to flip that into a new ownership of OMX without having to find much additional capital. And, a three-way alliance including the Middle East, Europe, and the US could be a very good business.

NSAQ can't afford to lose this bid and linking up with the rival bidder would hedge that problem.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Nasdaq Flees London

The Nasdaq Stock Exchange (NDAQ) appears ready to dump its 31% holding in the London Stock Exchange and has hired JP Morgan (JPM) and UBS to find a buyer. According to MarketWatch, the NDAQ stake in London is worth about $1.56 billion. NDAQ would use about $1 billion of the proceeds "to retire senior-term debt and would use the remainder to repurchase shares."

The overseas retreat is beginning to look like a pattern at NDAQ. The US-base exchange though it had a lock on buying the Nordic exchange operator OMX . But Borse Dubai has topped that offer with a $4 billion one of its own. The new NDAQ deal to get into Europe is clearly in trouble.

Nasdaq tried its best to buy the London Stock Exchange, but the UK operator kept turning NDAQ down, and all that the US exchange had to show at the end of the day was a big piece of London that had no strategic value. Contrast that to the merger that created the two continent NYSE Euronext (NYX), and the Nasdaq attempts in Europe appear even more misguided.

The overseas missteps have cost investors something. NDAQ shares are down almost 5% over the last six months. And, all the exchange has to show for its efforts is a planned share buy-back.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The NYSE CEO IQ Test

If you want to make CEOs look like buffoons, ask them questions with obvious answers and see if the get them wrong.

According to Reuters: "Chief executive officers of companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange believe that meeting and exceeding customer expectations will help drive sustainable growth in the future, according to a new report." So, perhaps poor customer service is bad for business, right?

The NYSE (NYX) was able to get 240 CEOs to answer a questionnaire and more than half of them said that they were budgeting more for customer service next year. It is not clear what else they plan to spend more money on.

The survey also found that most CEOs feel that "Treating people right, listening to their ideas and being a compassionate CEO is what is required today, not the executive who sees only the bottom line."

We might have guessed that would be the answer.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Cramer Stomachs Sticking With NYSE (NYX)

Cramer has said he's been a big backer of NYSE Euronext (NYX-NYSE) and was up on it early, but it has been a disaster since he named it his #1 Growth stock of the year.  Cramer said he has it in his charitable trust, but now 6 months into the year he said he doesn't think it is a bad call upon review.  The Euronext merger is helping it and the demutualization history has been rewarding for investors.  He thinks that the stock is becoming a horrible trading stock that drops more than the markets on bad days and doesn't rally as much as the market. 

Cramer interviewed Duncan Niederauer of the NYSE:  NYSE did big analyst day yesterday and they are the only multi-product global exchange that is scalable.  The street has a hard time valuing it and interpreting it.  On derivatives, the US futures market is a hole in their product mix and they admitted that the only way in is via an acquisition.  The listed trading volume in the U.S. is 85% exchange oriented and as the hybrid trading system has sharpened already.   Cramer asked about the specialist gap and the bizarre trading patterns of the stock, and the company said that it has released soem of the lock-up dates to just get the stock into the market because of the thin float.

What is obvious is that the 'lock-up unlocking' is hurting the stock.  That didn't receive too much press and that would explain some of the mess.  NYSE has a history of allowing for a sloppy 'lock-up release' timing.  NYSE shares closed down at $79.95, down more than $32.00 from the $112.00 highs over the last 52-weeks.

CME Bids Higher for CBOT AND Itself

Stock Tickers: CME, BOT, ICE, ISE, NMX, NYX, NDAQ

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME-NYSE) decided it was not going to let the Chicago Board of Trade (BOT-NYSE) get acquired by The IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE-NYSE).   This is further proof that the "Exchange Wars" are heating up, and that the value of exchanges is still there.

The CME is revising its offer by 16% to .35 shares and CBOT holders will own approximately 34.6% of the combined company.  The board of directors will also hav3 10 of the 30 seats filled with CBOT members.

To top it off, and to act as the final "you can't compete with this offer" the CME has announced that it will make a cash self tender offer for approximately 12% of the combined company at a fixed price of $560.00 that will commence shortly after the close of the merger.  What that does is essentially takes some of the market risk out of the CME stock since this is an all stock deal.  That is a $3.5 Billion tender.

Both companies had already spent much time and money on the merger, and this should provide a lock-up for the deal.  IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) will have a hard time being able to compete with this, although its shares are now up 1.4% at $136.71.  CBOT (BOT) shares are up 2$ at $197.95 pre-market; CME (CME) shares are up 6% at $528.50 pre-market.

This is also spilling over into the other excnages, and here are their gains pre-market: NYMEX Holdings (NMX) up 1% at $120.50, International Securities Exchange (ISE) up 0.1% at $65.10, NYSE (NYX) up 0.7% at $82.38, and NASDAQ (NDAQ) unchanged at $31.53.

Jon C. Ogg
May 11, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

International Securities Exchange Merger Hopes

International Securities Exchange (ISE-NYSE), the options and stock trading platform operator, is seeing shares surge on reports of a $68.00 bid being considered by Germany’s Deutsche Boerse.  The WSJ has reported that the companies are in advanced talks and shares are up more than 35% pre-market at nearly $63.00.

ISE’s 52-week trading range is $33.33 to $57.44.  This is the sort of issue that drives more and more talk and speculation in an already-consolidating industry.  Intercontinental Exchange (ICE-NYSE) is trading up 2.7% at $130.00 pre-market.  NYMEX Holdings (NMX-NYSE) is trading up 1.7% at $131.99.  NASDAQ Stock Market (NDAQ) is trading up 1% at $33.25.

The street is treating this one like it’s already done, and based on how the stock is doing there may now not be much choice on the receiving end of any deal.

Jon C. Ogg
April 30, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Goldman Sachs: Buy NASDAQ, Sell NYSE

Stock Tickers: NDAQ, NYX, BOT, GFIG

Goldman Sachs has a research call this morning on exchanges and a financial player this morning.  Goldman Sachs is raising its views on the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. (NDAQ-NASDAQ): raised rating to BUY from NEUTRAL; raised EPS target from $1.20 to $1.25 and raised next fiscal year EPS from $1.75 to $1.88.

There were Downgrades in the Group: Cut NYSE Euronext (NYX-NYSE) to SELL from Neutral; downgrades both GFI Group (GFIG-NASDAQ) and CBOT Holdings Inc. (BOT-NYSE) from Buy ratings down to NEUTRAL.

Goldman is even doing this as a PAIRS TRADE as a BUY NDAQ and SELL NYX based on the implementation of REG NMS in July, which Goldman Sachs expects to pressure market share and pricing at the NYSE and its high margin ARCA business.  Goldman is now less concerned about pricing pressure at NASDAQ; and is more optimistic about positive catalysts ahead, such as market share gains and a potential acquisition in derivatives.

Jon C. Ogg
April 23, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Rumor Friday (APR 13, 2007)

Stock Tickers: SLM, NNI, FMD, MEDI, HAL, WHT, MEH, AAI, COT, IPS, PALM, DELL, NFI, BCE, AA, DOW, WYN, NDAQ, GFI, KR, ABN, BNI, DCX

What preceeds "Merger Monday"?  The answer isn't really Sunday.  It's "Rumor Friday," of course. 

This week we even heard about private equity guys admitting the deals are getting crazy because of the financing available.  By the size of this list, you can tell that there is no way under the sun that these can all occur.  It's truly an M&A world gone wild.  Oh well, here is the list of stocks that have been rumored to be in merger discussions or potential targets this week, and there are probably a dozen or more others:

1st Qtr Volumes Bode Well for Exchange Stocks

This first quarter of 2007 has seen much higher levels of volatility than during the entire second half of last year.  And of course, with higher volatility usually comes higher volume, which is making for some record quarters at the public exchanges.  Here’s a quick recap of recent volume figures:

The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which is still integrating its NYBOT purchase from last year, saw average daily volumes for March up 23% at 4.4 million shares.  Average volumes at the company’s U.K. futures market rose over 76% YoY, driven largely by gains in oil futures trading. 

Meanwhile, average daily commissions in ICE’s OTC trading nearly doubled (up 98%) from March ’06.

The Chicago Boys also performed well last month – The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reported record average volumes of 7.7 million shares per day, up 45% YoY.  CME’s electronic Globex platform reported volume growth of 59% in March.

Meanwhile, over at the dually-targeted CBOT (Both CME and ICE are looking to acquire the exchange), March volumes came in at 4 million/day, up 30% from last year.  Gains here were largely driven by heavy increases in agricultural future like corn, where volume is up over 60% in the past year. 

Nymex (NMX) reported March volumes up 44% to 1.37 million per day, while total volumes for the 1st quarter were up 40% YoY.  Within the strong overall figure, however, we see evidence of the mass exodus in floor trading, as NYMEX floor volumes fell from 540k to 329k per day, while electronic volumes rose nearly 600% to 595k/day. 

Nymex also says that it will be adding crude oil options to its electronic platform starting on April 16; floor-traded options on crude prices will continue to trade at the exchange. 

The increasing volume story seems to be legitimate, and not just reserved to heightened uncertainty around the stock market.  Gains are being had across the board in commodities, oil futures, and OTC credit markets.  Derivatives are becoming democratized, being used by more and more investors in both “old-school” hedging models and as speculative investments.  We will keep you up to date as earnings announcements come together for the group, as 1^st qtr releases should tell us a lot about the breadth of growth, M&A prospects, and the ongoing revenue implications of Reg NMS.

Ryan Barnes

April 6, 2007

Ryan Barnes can be reached at ryanbarnes@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Nasdaq To Launch China Stock Index

Nasdaq (NADQ) will launch a financial instrument that will include 30 stocks from major Chinese companies that trade on US exchanges. Perhaps the drop in Chinese exchanges that caused a sell-off in US stocks last month got their attention.

Nasdaq probably thinks that the new index will be popular because the markets in China seem to go up about 100% each year. Over the last 12 months, the Shanghai Composite is up 140%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong is up a much more modest 25% over the same period.

The problem with the new index is that it will be volatile. The Shanghai Exchange dropped 9% from February 23 to February 27. While the new product may be a good investment for institutions, it may be a bit dangerous for individual investors.

A market that is up 140% in a year will probably correct by a huge sum, if and when a real correction comes. And, it always does.

Douglas A. McIntyre

ISE: Equity & Index Trading Volumes Still Soaring in March

The largest equity options exchange in the U.S based on volumes, International Securities Exchange Holdings (ISE), reported that March trading volumes were up 32% YoY, at 2.8 million daily contracts to 2006’s level of 2.1 million contracts.  Aggregate volume for the month of March was 62.3 million, a gain of 27% YoY.

Intercontinental Exchange Confirms Rival CBOT Offer Over CME Offer

There is now confirmation from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE-NYSE) that it is indeed making a rival Offer for the Chicago Board of Trade (BOT-NYSE).  CNBC's David Faber first reported that the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE-NYSE) is making a rival offer of 1.42 shares for the CBOT (BOT-NYSE), which comes to $187.34 based on yesterday’s close; this is more than 10% premium to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME-NYSE) pending merger with the CBOT.  That is the exchange ratio.  A shareholder vote for CME/CBOT is scheduled in April.  ICE sees no anti-trust risks and ICE would move its HQ from Atlanta to Chicago and CBOT would own 51.5% of the combined company.  Stay tuned, because this one will get complicated.  The CME & CBOT were already in the process of integration so this one can have some profound implications for both Chicago exchanges if the CME doesn’t come back with a higher bid.  The full press release from ICE can be found here at this web site.  Here are the basic guts in summary:

• ICE would issue 1.42 ICE shares for each CBOT Class A common share, valued at $187.34 per CBOT share based on yesterday’s closing price of ICE shares. This represents a 12.8% premium to CBOT’s current share price, and a 39.3% premium to its share price on October 16, 2006, the day before announcement of its merger agreement with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (NYSE:CME). The $187.34 per share value also represents a premium of 10.5% to the current value of the pending CME/CBOT transaction to CBOT shareholders.
• CBOT shareholders would own approximately 51.5% of the combined company and, in addition to receiving a premium, would participate in the significant strategic and financial benefits of the combination.
• ICE is committed to preserving the heritage of CBOT, bringing its brand and expertise forward on a global scale as the derivatives marketplace expands.
• ICE will commit to the same terms as the CME offer regarding CBOT’s open auction markets and will protect and grow the CBOT metals complex.
• ICE proposes to enter into a transaction on terms similar to those in the current CBOT merger agreement with CME. Flexibility in the potential legal structure of the transaction exists to provide CBOT members who hold Chicago Board Options Exchange exercise rights a preferred structure to preserve these rights.
• Unlike a combination of CME and CBOT, ICE believes no significant antitrust or other regulatory risks exist in a combination of ICE and CBOT and a transaction could be completed quickly, thereby delivering both near-term and long-term benefits to all stakeholders of both ICE and CBOT.

Jon C. Ogg
March 15, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

ICE Tries to Break Up the CME/CBOT Merger (ICE, CME, BOT)

CNBC’s David Faber just announced a new twist to mergers among the exchanges.  Faber is reporting that the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE-NYSE) is making a rival offer of 1.42 shares for the CBOT (BOT-NYSE), which comes to $187.34 based on yesterday’s close; this is more than 10% premium to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME-NYSE) pending merger with the CBOT.  A shareholder vote for CME/CBOT is scheduled in April.  ICE sees no anti-trust risks and ICE would move its HQ from Atlanta to Chicago and CBOT would own 51.5% of the combined company. 

Stay tuned, because this one will get complicated.  The CME & CBOT were already in the process of the initial integrations so this one can have some profound implications for both Chicago exchanges if the CME doesn’t come back with a higher bid.

Jon C. Ogg
March 15, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

NYSE Electronic Probe Bites Its Hands (NYX, NASDAQ)

The New York Stock Exchange (NYX-NYSE) is being looked at by the SEC over its trading glitch and whether or not the switch to an all-electronic trading platform was partially responsible for the 200+ point drop in the DJIA turning into the 500+ point drop on Tuesday.  The ‘people familiar with the case’ have reportedly been saying regulators are concerned about the electronic trading capacity at the NYSE.

This is all as John Thain has been trying to switch from a floor trader to electronic platforms.  This move will prove to be a costly one now that there are fewer and fewer specialists that can maintain a somewhat orderly market.  The person versus computer trading is perhaps one of the more controversial current events on Wall Street, and it becomes even more critical as the NYSE has expanded into Europe and Asia.

My take on this is that on slow days you don’t really need that many specialists and it is true that specialists are also frequently too slow and too inefficient on re-open stock prices after stock halts on big news.  BUT, there is a key issue that makes a specialist invaluable and it will give the NYSE its own unique model compared to most equity exchanges.  Specialists are there to maintain an orderly market and when you get a major mudslide you need a person there with proper regulations rather than just a machine.  At some point there just has to be a person involved.  The big institutions also need a central person or tiny group rather than having to try to just post 20 million shares for sale that can spook the market on any single issue.

Machines break and machines operate on glitches.  The NYSE will be making a major mistake if they totally eliminate the specialist role.  If nothing else, they could look at the specialist as a quasi-insurance policy for at least some added liquidity on a volatile market.  The NASDAQ (NDAQ-NASDAQ) has mastered the electronic trading world since they have been doing electronic-only trading for longer than many market participates have been alive.  This probably also puts the American Stock Exchange IPO filing in a better light as well.

Shares of NYX are trading down 4.3% pre-market at $81.18 per share; its 52-week trading range is $48.62 to $112.00.  As a reminder, this is Jim Cramer’s #1 Growth Pick for 2007 and this one is now down more than 10% since his call.  LaBranche (LAB-NYSE) and Van der Moolen (VDM-NYSE/ADR) are two of the major specialist firms.

Jon C. Ogg
March 1, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Will Cramer Stay So Bullish on NYSE After Earnings?

NYSE Group (NYX-NYSE) has shown what might be interpreted as a dud of an earnings report.  The operating results were $0.45 EPS versus $0.46 consensus estimates; the highest estimate is $0.49.  Revenues were $658.5 million.  The comparable numbers on a year-over-year basis are a bit difficult because of the Archipelago Exchange closing in March 2006.  After backing out items for ongoing ARCA costs and for Euronext charges totalling $34.1 million, net EPS came in at $0.29.

The operating results are the ones to use, but all in all this just seems lackluster if you consider the performance and the multiples.  The stock will at least no longer trade with a 100+ P/E ratio, but the forward multiple for 2007 is still roughly 45 times earnings.  We'll have to see how the street research reports come in, although it is worth noting that they have been in the shadows of the stock on its 100%+ performance.  The analyst calls probably won't be out in force until Monday morning.

As a reminder, this was Cramer's #1 Growth Stock pick for 2007 and he has been touting the stock on most occasions over the last 60+ days. So far NYX shares are down 3% at just under $99.00 pre-market; and the 52-week trading range is $48.62 to $112.00.  Its short interest was listed at 4.496 million shares as of January, up almost 3% from December.  The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME-NYSE) also reported some fairly lackluster results this week, but the BOT earnings were a bit better and they are in a merger together so the shares are back up essentially right where CME shares were ahead of the earnings report.

Jon C. Ogg
February 2, 2007

Full World Economic Forum Coverage of Davos (In Summary & Links)

Now that the World Economic Forum is basically over in Davos, Switzerland, it seemed interesting after reviewing all of the internal and external coverage that the good economic times prevailed over the ongoing critical issues.  We won't throw in too much here, but we have a full list of outside coverage links here to peruse if you want to catch up on what was covered.  Since this is much more broad-based and more general than our normal equity focus, we have refrained from using individual stock tickers regarding companies.

For starters, here the Home Page of the World Economic Forum.

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Ends With Concrete Proposals to Tackle Global Issues

Here is the full PRESS RELEASE AREA for the World Economic Forum.

Here is the Strategic Partners list and here is the Industry Partners list.

What does it cost to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland?  Roughly $28,000 attendance this year; Air from the US $1,000.00 (coach); Transportation inside Switzerland $400.00; Hotel approximate cost $4,000 (on up to as much as you want); Miscellaneous $1,000.00 (on up to whatever you want).  Quite literally you can attend the forum for under $50,000.00 and you can spend as much as you can imagine to attend.

Here is what seems amazing this year as far as the Internet is concerned: Web2.0 coverage seems only moderately different after YouTube was picked up by Google for $1.6 Billion, although now you can spend several hours watching more live video feeds than last year (if you want).  Sure there was more focus on it, but the more things change the more they seem the same.

How Web 2.0 Will Mould the Future

My own personal take on WEB VIDEO: For a high content researcher and someone in need of many sources and many materials in as short of a time as possible, WEB VIDEO is a huge distraction that takes far longer to search and requires much more exact dedication to each source.  If you want to review trade conferences, hear the Context of how things are said, witness actual events and speeches instead of getting opinions about them from the likes of myself or others: Then WEB VIDEO rules.  So the beauty of WEB VIDEO is in the eye of the beholder.  Is it fair to say WEB VIDEO is BOTH good and bad?  The verdict is out, but that's the view here for now.  This will be the same debate several years from now.

CLIMATE CHANGE has not been returned to the original GLOBAL WARMING term, but we all know after the last State of the Union speech that it is finally being addressed and it was a topic this year.

Disease & Poverty in Africa again was focus, and I will predict that is still the case in 2012 and probably beyond.

"High-altitude hedonism in Davos (World Economic Forum wraps up)"

Forumblog's 'top bloggers' at the World Economic Forum

Davos Conversation, visit the Davos bloggregator'

Bill Gates is predicting that the Web will change TV in 5-years.  There is the argument readily in place that it already has and then there is the argument that this was also said 5-years ago.  Here is my partner's take on it, and don't take it in without sarcasm.  Here is a Reuters article that is part of what brought this out.

Here is a full coverage linking from the major information sources in English:

CNN's Page on Davos

CNBC Interviews Davos Attendees:
Some of the interviews were with Intel's Craig Barrett, Bob Wright of NBC, Bill Gates of Microsoft, John Thain of NYSE, & Mark Splinter of Applied Materials.

Reuters News links to Davos

Google News links to Davos

YouTube Links to Davos

Yahoo! News links to Davos

MSN News links to Davos from Newsweek: "The Davos Disconnect"
Would a true contrarian say if they are all giddy that good times are ending or have at least peaked?

BBC News links to Davos; Here is a list of comments from the BBC blogs area

TIME News links to Davos

AOL News links to Davos

Financial Times links to Davos

FOX News links to Davos

DIGG.COM Links to Davos

NYTIMES.com DealBook on Davos

This is going to give you an endless amount of material to chew up as much time as you have to see what has happened in Davos this year and before.  There are probably more overlaps inside on a site to site basis, but that's the case of the Internet (and Web 2.0).

Jon C. Ogg
January 29, 2007

TOP ISSUES THIS WEEK (2) (JAN 22-26, 2007)

Stock Tickers: WDC, STX, AMGN, DELL, EOP, F, NOK, QCOM, GPS, FCBP, SUNW, NOVL, COMS, GTW,

We have compiled a list of our TOP ISSUES for the week.  These aren't necessarily the top issues in the markets, but it's the things that we think are important to remember going ahead that are not just one-time issues.  Certain issues have to be kept in permanent memory for investors and traders. These are only the ones we covered as well.  These may be much more voluminous during earnings season, and you can expect them to be light during August and December.  Here are top stories that investors and traders need to commit to memory:

Western Digital (WDC) really gave it up at the end of the week (closed down 8% Friday at $19.11 after earning) after beating earnings but giving some weak guidance.  This is one of our BAIT SHOP takeover candidate stocks, but if you look in the story it s