M&A report for $Wavecom (WVCM) - Sierra Wireless (SWIR) , $Indevus Pharmaceuticals (IDEV) - Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP), $Datascope Corp. (DSCP) - Getinge AB, Embarq Corporation (EQ) - CenturyTel, Inc. (CTL), $Mentor Corp (MNT) - Johnson Johnson (JNJ[More...]

US stocks finished with gains on Tuesday as investors greeted Treasury's move to provide $5 billion in rescue package to GMAC, the financing arm of troubled automaker General Motors.[More...]

US stock futures edged higher on Tuesday as investors cheered the Treasury's move to provide $5 billion in rescue package to GMAC.[More...]

I used to, and will one day return, to posting the best performing stocks of the week - but the wicked volatility and "student body left" trading of the past 4 months has made it a moot point. Everything must either be bought or sold, as stocks are either deemed "good" or "bad" that hour, day, or month. The herd piles in, or piles out - regardless of sector, style, fundamentals. It's been a market of asset allocation not individual stocks much of the back half of the year. I like to look for relative strength and ride sector/company trends for the longer term - this market is not for that sort of investor. This has been for many months a run and gun daytrader environment; not a place for theme investors. With that said, I am always curious to see what stocks held up over the long run... folks, no matter what happens (short of 8%+ rally here in the next 3 days) we are projecting the worst year in the markets at least since the[More...]

I’ve been mulling over whether I should write about insurance M&A.  Ugh, yes, I should say something.  What pushed me over the edge was a piecein the WSJ on the purchase of Philadelphia Consolidated.  When I first heard about the deal, I blinked, and said, “Foreign acquirer overpays to enter the US.”  Is Philly a good company?  It’s a great company, but it may not be so under foreign ownership.  And, the price was well in excess of what it would have taken to create/attract the talent for a new venture.  Paying 2.7x book is not a winner.But, the have been other missteps as well recently.  Liberty Mutual buys Safeco and Ohio Casualty for 1.8x and 1.6x book.  High prices for the assets obtained, and Liberty Mutual can’t lever that much as a mutual[More...]