TARP makes profit of at least $16 bln so far

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tarp-profit-at-least-16-bln-so-far-treasury-2009-12-23?reflink=MW_news_stmp

By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Troubled Asset Relief Program has generated at least $16 billion in profit so far, the Treasury Department said late Wednesday.

Earlier Wednesday, Citigroup (C 3.28, -0.01, -0.30%) and Wells Fargo (WFC 26.82, -0.03, -0.11%) said they repaid $45 billion that they got from TARP. That brings the total amount repaid into the program to $164 billion, the Treasury explained. Read about Citi and Wells repayments.

Total repayments by TARP banks should top $175 billion by the end of 2010, cutting taxpayer exposure to the sector by three-quarters, the Treasury estimated.

TARP programs aimed at stabilizing the banking system will earn a profit from dividends, interest, early repayments, and the sale of warrants, it added. Bank investments of $245 billion in Treasury's 2009 fiscal year were initially projected to cost $76 billion, but are now forecast to generate a profit.

"Taxpayers have already received over $16 billion in profits from all TARP programs and that profit could be considerably higher as the Treasury sells additional warrants in the weeks ahead," the Treasury said in a statement.

However, some large TARP investments have yet to play out. American International Group (AIG 29.42, +0.01, +0.03%) got $40 billion from TARP in November 2008, at the height of the financial crisis. AIG was bailed out again later and it's not clear if the insurer will ever be able to repay taxpayers fully for their support.

According to a recent Treasury report, 55 institutions that received TARP money are delinquent on dividends they owe the government, as of a Nov. 16 payment deadline.

Most of these are smaller banks, such as Integra Bank Corp (IBNK 0.81, +0.06, +8.00%) , Independent Bank Corp. (IBCP 0.73, -0.03, -3.62%) and Hampton Roads Bancshares (HMPR 1.73, +0.06, +3.59%) , according to SNL Financial.

Advertising Up, But Visibility Poor

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091209-708702.html

(Updates with additional comments from the Disney CEO.) By Nat Worden
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Robert Iger, chief executive with The Walt Disney Co. (DIS), said Wednesday that the advertising market is improving but "visibility isn't all that great."

At an investor conference in New York City, Iger echoed comments made by CBS Corp.'s (CBS) Les Moonves a day earlier, saying that fourth-quarter advertising at the ABC Broadcasting network in the so-called scatter market is up about 25% from the spring selling season, known as the upfront.

But Iger said deals are being done for the near term, and advertisers remain unwilling to commit to longer-term buys, which suggests that some uneasiness remains about the direction of the economy.

Iger said continued ratings declines at the company's broadcast network are "not an inevitability." He believes better programming can halt the decline, and that a drop-off in audience for "Dancing With The Stars" has been a particular disappointment this season that has contributed to an overall ratings downtick.

Meanwhile, Iger said ABC Broadcasting faces some major negotiations with pay-TV operators in 2010, and he expects the company to focus more on getting paid specifically for its broadcast programming. The broadcast TV industry is in the process of trying to get paid more in affiliate fees on par with their cable network counterparts as uncertainty grows about the future of the ad-supported business.

At Disney's theme parks business, Iger said many consumers are unwilling to make vacation plans far in advance. That leaves Disney with less ability to predict the performance of its parks division, but Iger said bookings and attendance are "reasonably OK," thanks largely to pricing promotions that the company launched to spur demand amid the slowdown in consumer spending.

"It would be premature for us to say that we're seeing a strong rebound," said Iger.

He said last year's fourth-quarter at the theme parks division was relatively healthy despite the onset of the global financial crisis because many consumers had already booked their vacations well in advance of the market turmoil. This year, he said, that is not the case.

"From a comparison perspective, you're going to have some difficult comparisons," said Iger.

At the company's film division, Iger said the decline in DVD sales remains a problem that he expects to continue even as the economy recovers.

"The downturn in the economy has some impact on DVDs, but it goes way beyond that," said Iger, citing "huge competition in the marketplace for people's time and money when it comes to entertainment" from new forms of digital media.

"We see that trend continuing regardless of the economy," said Iger. "We don't see that trend slowing down."

Iger said the company's response to the down-trend in the film studio business starts with getting things right creatively.

"On the live-action front, we had an awful year," said Iger.

Secondly, he said the company has to continue reducing costs in the business, both in producing and marketing films. Iger said Disney will be more conservative in investing in films than it has been, and the company will focus more on Disney-branded films, which generate better returns for the company than non-Disney films.

"It's definitely a business that is more challenging today than it has been in a long, long time, and it calls for swift and significant action," said Iger.

-By Nat Worden, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2472; nat.worden@dowjones.com

Reitmans Canada 3q09 result

(Source: Canada Newswire)MONTREAL, Dec. 8 /CNW Telbec/ - Sales for the nine months ended October 31, 2009 were virtually unchanged at $788,407,000 as compared with $789,060,000 for the nine months ended November 1, 2008. In a challenging retail environment, same store sales decreased 1.8%. Operating earnings before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA(1)) for the period decreased 19.9% to $121,171,000 as compared with $151,192,000 last year. Net earnings and diluted earnings per share decreased to $53,148,000 or $0.77 per share as compared to $76,825,000 or $1.08 per share for the same period last year. The Company had 981 stores in operation at the end of this period compared to 978 stores at the same time last year.

=> I think mainly due to fall in US dollars

Sales for the third quarter ended October 31, 2009 decreased 0.2% to $270,684,000, as compared with $271,240,000 for the third quarter ended November 1, 2008. Same store sales for the comparable 13 weeks decreased 2.2%. EBITDA for the period decreased 12.1% to $42,098,000 as compared with $47,873,000 last year. Net earnings and diluted earnings per share decreased to $18,921,000 or $0.28 per share as compared to $23,004,000 or $0.32 per share for the same period last year.

=> I think mainly due to fall in US dollars, result looks reasonable but not impressive. As stock price rise to $16-17.0 level, my recommenation is HOLD instead of BUY.

Sales for the month of November (four weeks ended November 28, 2009), as a result of the continuing difficult retail environment, decreased 2.6% with same store sales decreasing 4.0%.
During the third quarter, the Company opened 12 new stores comprised of 3 Reitmans, 3 Smart Set, 3 RW & CO., 1 Cassis, 1 Penningtons and 1 Addition Elle; 2 stores were closed. Accordingly, at October 31, 2009, there were 981 stores in operation, consisting of 370 Reitmans, 167 Smart Set, 65 RW & CO., 76 Thyme Maternity, 17 Cassis, 163 Penningtons and 123 Addition Elle. An additional 3 stores are scheduled to open this year and 9 stores will be closed.

At the Board of Directors meeting held on December 8, 2009, a quarterly cash dividend (constituting eligible dividends) of $0.18 per share on all outstanding Class A non-voting and Common shares of the Company was declared, payable January 28, 2010 to shareholders of record on January 8, 2010.

As reported in the November 25, 2009 press release, the Company received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange to proceed with a normal course issuer bid, under which the Corporation may purchase up to 2,728,972 Class A non-voting shares, representing 5% of the issued and outstanding Class A non-voting shares as at November 23, 2009. The bid commenced on November 28, 2009 and may continue to November 27, 2010.

Procter & Gamble vs Colgate-Palmolive

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/12/09/better-buy-pg-or-cl.aspx
By Motley Fool Staff December 9, 2009

=> good articles with comparison on important factors. One thing Motley Fool didn't mention is the weight on each of those factors are in fact different.
=> As a consumer staple company, P/E ratio is always important, net margin is the 2nd and follow by sales growth (not earnings), debt equity ratio proper & return on equity are less important.

In a new Motley Fool series, we pit two stocks against each other on five criteria to determine the better buy.
Today's matchup is Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) vs. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL). Using five short-of-scientific-but-carefully chosen criteria, let's determine which is the better buy according to the numbers:

Procter & Gamble vs Colgate-Palmolive

1. P/E ratio: 14.6 vs 20.2
2. 5 year growth rate: 8.4% vs 10.7%
3. net margin: 14.3% vs 14.46%
4. debt equity ratio: 0.54 vs 1.17
5. # of stars: ***** vs ****

Round 1: Cheapness
Advantage: Procter & Gamble. Cheapness is determined by P/E ratio. The lower the better. Be careful of earnings near zero that skew the ratio, one-time gains and losses, and pasts that aren’t indicative of futures (the more dynamic the industry, the more this is true).

Round 2: Growth
Advantage: Colgate-Palmolive. Growth here is the trailing 5-year EPS growth rate. This trailing earnings growth helps put notoriously-optimistic Wall Street projections in perspective.

Round 3: Operations
Advantage: Colgate-Palmolive. Net margin percentage shows how efficiently a company turns revenue into profit. The more similar the business models, the more relevant the comparison.

Round 4: Balance sheet
Advantage: Procter & Gamble. As with net margins, the debt to capital ratio is most relevant in comparing companies in similar industries. In this battle we give the nod to the lower-debt company, but attention should also be paid to the cost of debt, interest coverage ratios, and the stability of the business (the more stable a company’s operations, the more debt it can safely carry).

Round 5: CAPS rating
Advantage: Procter & Gamble. A company’s CAPS rating is our community’s opinion of the stock. You can get more information on your stocks -- and our community’s opinions of those stocks -- by clicking over to CAPS area.

Each of these five rankings need more context -- like, how these companies stack up against key competitors such as Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and Clorox (NYSE: CLX). But these basic numbers suggest that Procter & Gamble is a better buy. What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.

Looking at Manulife Financial Corporation performance

http://www.learningmarkets.com/index.php/200912079391/News-Feed/News-Feed/looking-at-manulife-financial-corporation-performance-since-earnings-mfc-ing-axa-lfc.html

=> I guess you can't analyze an insurance company like the following article. It add no value to determine whether an insurance company is worth to invest or not.

Monday, 07 December 2009 05:24
Earnings announcements can make investing tricky. Many investors try to time trades based on earnings releases, but usually find such trading is inconsistent and risky. It is often better to take a look at how the market has reacted to a company’s results a few weeks after the initial announcement.

Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC) delivered its earnings announcement on 11/05. The company reported a change in quarter-over-quarter sales of 136.00% and posted an EPS (trailing twelve months) of - .81.

By now the market has had time to settle in and look closely at the numbers. A stock’s performance in the few weeks following an announcement, compared to other stocks in its industry, the industry as a whole, and market as a whole, really tells you how investors and analysts felt about the announcement.

Compared to the rest of the “Life Insurance” industry

Since the MFC announcement (about 30 days ago), the stock has posted a -10.78% gain (loss). Over that same period, the stock’s industry, Life Insurance, saw a 3.40% gain. That means MFC that has under-performed its industry as a whole 417.06% since the earnings announcement. Small differences aren’t significant, but when the spread is large it indicates the stock is either much more or much less favored than its group as a whole.

Compared to peers

Another way to gauge performance is look at a stock compared to other stocks in its industry with similar market caps. MFC peer ING GROUP NV ADS (ING) has seen a -28.91% stock price gain (loss) over about the last month, while another peer, AXA (AXA) saw a 1.06% gain. So with a return of -10.78%, Manulife Financial Corporation outgained ING and under-performed AXA’s price performance over the last month.

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (LFC) is one of the largest stocks in the industry in terms of market cap, and over the same period has returned 10.99% in price.

Compared to the S&P 500 Index

Finally, let’s see how Manulife Financial Corporation stock performance compares to the rest of the market by looking at it compared to the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (.INX). Since 11/05, the S&P 500 index has returned around 3.4%, and again, MFC saw about a -10.78% gain (loss) during that time. Could be better.

So by putting the returns in context by these comparisons, we can see how a stock’s performance since earnings really measures up and make our investing decisions on MFC accordingly.

手機“掃黃”中國移動砸出1億

http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/zgjx/2009-12/02/content_12573593.htm

手機網站傳播淫穢色情信息的事實報道再次刺痛了中國移動的神經。11月27日，中國移動總裁王建宙宣布，中國移動 將追加1億元專項資金進行技術攻關，進一步建立和完善WAP不良信息監測係統，堅定不移地打擊手機WAP色情網站。而截至11月26日18時，中國移動共 封堵手機色情網站564個，其中428個網站服務器在境外，136個網站服務器在國內(其中有6個網站托管在中國移動的數據中心，已徹底切斷並報告公安部 門)。

　　三舉措查封手機“黃”網站564個

王建宙表示，新聞媒體報道後，中國移動立刻全員動員鐵腕查封“黃毒”。目前已採取三項措施。

一是通過人工撥測、群眾舉報和媒體曝光等各種方式發現淫穢色情網站，一經查實，依法封堵。截至11月26日18時，中國移動共封堵手機色情網站564個， 其中428個網站服務器在境外，136個網站服務器在國內(其中有6個網站托管在中國移動的數據中心，已徹底切斷並報告公安部門)。

二是強化合作業務管理，對所有與中國移動WAP業務有收費協議的服務提供商和內容提供商暫停計費，清查並要求保證禁止利用廣告聯盟等第三方進行業務推廣， 並確保其自身信息安全性。

三是為防止違規鏈接，在建立有效監控係統之前，中國移動停止通過網際網路網站推銷 自有業務。封堵過程中，部分色情網站經常採用一些變換地址的方法，使得封堵難度加大。對此，王建宙表示，中國移動將追加1億元專項資金進行技術攻關，進一 步建立和完善WAP不良信息監測係統，堅定不移地打擊手機WAP色情網站。

　　不會因利益分成縱容色情網站

據悉，手機用戶質疑色情網站同時帶動中國移動數據流量收入。因此，中國移動可能對 色情網站“網開一面”或者“睜一只眼閉一只眼”。對此，王建宙表示，中國移動作為國有骨幹企業，絕不會為追求經濟收益而放棄自己的社會責任，絕不會為經營 發展而姑息縱容手機色情網站。打擊淫穢色情手機網站，清理整治各種不良信息，從事網絡運營的電信運營商具有義不容辭的責任。

中國移動數據部總經理高念書則介紹，獨立WAP網站1年能帶來收入120億， 大部分獨立網站是好的，涉黃的500個網站，1年帶來流量收入2000萬，佔中國移動總收入0.052%。他指出，“從利益角度來說，我們是沒有任何理由 和必要來縱容涉黃的”。 記者 李光焱

Bilibala Finance Portfolio - Nov 09

Top 10 Holdings @ Nov 30, 09

1. China Life 15.1% M/M
2. China Mobile (4.6%) M/M
3. Google 17.6% M/M
4. China Cons Bank 11.3% M/M
5. Wells Fargo (0.5%) M/M
6. Manulife (18.0%) M/M
7. HSBC 2.9% M/M
8. Berkshire Hathaway 0.9% M/M
9. Shui On Land 2.7% M/M
10. Imperial Oil (0.5%) M/M

Top 5 Sectors in Holdings @ Nov 30, 09

1. Insurance 36.6%
2. Telecom 26.5%
3. Banking 13.4%
4. Info Tech 7.5%
5. Conglomerate 4.2%

Performance & Market Stat @ Nov 30, 09

• Bilibala Finance up 5.3% in Nov & up 118.3% from bottom, 05-09 average return 26.3%
• Toronto up 4.9% in Nov & up 53.0% from bottom, 05-09 average return 4.4%
• S&P500 up 5.7% in Nov & up 64.3% from bottom, 05-09 average return (2.0%)
• Hong Kong up 0.3% in Nov & up 104.4% from bottom, 05-09 average return 8.9%
• Shanghai up 6.7% in Nov & up 91.9% from bottom, 05-09 average return 20.3%