David Hunkar submits: The complete list of Columbian ADRs traded on the U.S. organized exchanges is listed below: ADR Name Ticker Industry Bancolombia CIB Banks Ecopetrol EC Oil & Gas Producers Complete Story »

  Mark Evans submits: It has been nearly a year since Nortel (NRTLQ.PK) filed for bankruptcy protection, and five months since the company announced it was going to sell all of its assets instead of attempting to emerge as the New Nortel. Here’s a scorecard of what’s been sold, and what’s still on the block: In February, Nortel sold its data-switch business (part of of its Layer 4 to Layer 7 portfolio) to Israel’s Radware (RDWR) for $17.7-million. The assets were part of Nortel’s $7.8-billion purchase of Alteon WebSystems in 2000.The CDMA wirleess business and LTE R&D unit was sold to Ericsson for $1.13-billion. Ericsson (ERIC) has hired 800 ex-Nortel employees. Nokia Siemens Networks made an original stalking horse bid of $650-million.The metro Ethernet network business, considered to be Nortel’s “crown jewel” a year ago when it was put on the block, was acquired by Ciena Corp. (CIEN) for $769-million after outbidding Nokia Siemens (NOK, SI). Ciena, which originally bid $511-million, plans to hire 2,000 MEN employees.Avaya bought Nortel’s enterprise business for $900-million, nearly double the $475-million “stalking horse” offer it originally made.Hitachi (HIT) purchased certain software assets and technology related to next generation packet core network components for $10-million. Total Proceeds: $2.82-billionComplete Story »

  Todd Sullivan submits: Courtesy of some CRE Analyst readers…. General themes Unlike most other recessions, we are in a “demand” recession – when the economy recovers, absorption should occur relatively quickly; however at 30% lower rentsFull buildings will have debt in excess of value, but very little motivation for owners to sell – deleveraging is inevitableResult – fewer foreclosures; most owners will seek new infusion of capital with heavy dilution to existing equity (“Hope certificates”)Current owners are unlikely to realize much valuePortfolio lenders such as pension funds/life companies are lending cautiously at low LTVs – 50-60%2010-2012 – an estimated $1.3 to 1.8 trillion of mortgage debt is expected to mature; where will the debt come from? Sam Zell – Keynote SpeakerComplete Story »

  Zacks.com submits: Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) reported fourth quarter EPS of $1.14, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.RevenueComplete Story »

  TraderRob submits:While the phenomenon hasn't received much attention, the Nikkei 225 headline Japanese stock index has diverted course from all other major economic player stock exchanges. The Nikkei turned negative on August 14, 2009 and hasn't been able to resume the congruent pattern that all other major stock market indexes seem to be following. One can notice the sharp downward shift of the red line, representing the Nikkei 225 index, amidst all other global stock markets rising to new highs.In mid August, just as the Nikkei began to falter, the "old guard" LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) turned in the keys, having lost the general election by a landslide, and now the contending DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan) finally has the reigns. The LDP had been in control during every year but one since the beginning of Japan's post-war government, and the DPJ has inherited more than a few liabilities.Complete Story »

  Christopher Holt submits: The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will eventually bang out some sort of recognizable text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.Along the same lines, one might argue that Exchange-Traded Funds, or ETFs, are a version of the monkey-at-typewriter theorem because they are a synthetic composition of securities combined into something that can mimic, if not the best, at least the same strategy and returns as a hedge fund manager — eventually.Complete Story »

  Interesting post from Jim Jubak, detailing how banks are willing to pay for short-term (3 month) bonds with negative yields. His explanation is that as we approach the year-end, banks are window-dressing their balance sheets, to make it appear they are holding less riskier assets that are not subject to additional capital raising as mandated by capital adequacy ratio rules. Quite logical and the fact that they are short-term in nature, they could just easily let them mature (taking a minor loss on the negative yeilds) and shift them to riskier assets when their balance sheets are less under scrutiny. This is bad news for riskier assets like stocks and commodities towards the year-end, but positive once banks start to unload their "risk-free" treasuries and shift back to the former. Read more on this from Jim's original post.The chart above is the short-term (between one to twelve month maturity) US treasury bond index. Clearly it shows the tolerance for low to negative yields.The longer-term bond charts however don't show the same appetite for risk aversion. The TLT (20-years and longer maturity) bond ETF has broken down from its major trendline support since May, and has failed to rally above it twice. This is a classic case of support turning into resistance. It also looks like a classic rising wedge before the beginning of a bear market in long-term bonds. Hint, hint... rates are going up.Complete Story »

  The LFB submits:Forex Trader Note: Japanese markets went through the normal routine of weighing heavily on the short side of sentiment, European markets tried to reverse things, and in the pattern that has been in place for a month, the S&P futures market is charged with rounding up the bulls, and re-directing them, long. The S&P futures market is holding 1101, its neutral swing point, with big gaps higher to 1112 and then 1122 as the upside targets. The 1091 and 1080 are the short-sided support areas to monitor. Near-term S&P momentum is long, and the sentiment read just registered oversold- the perfect set-up to buy the dip for those looking to add to their portfolio. Oil has held the lower ranges of trade at 77.50, and has done it with a very flat momentum read, and an oversold sentiment that supports the buy-the-dip equity read. However, the speculative interest in crude oil looks to be very weak. If this assets reflects global growth reads, via supply and demand valuations, there is not a lot going on globally. The 79.25 and 80.05 areas are upside targets, with 76.30 and 75.50 below.Complete Story »

  Arjun Rudra submits:Q: Mr. Ross, given the widespread pessimism regarding natural gas and the glut in inventory, what are your thoughts going forward for this commodity?Complete Story »

  A slew of overnight woes concerning the health of banks around the world was limited in its support for the U.S. dollar. One year ago that evidence would have been enough to raise the heartbeat of the bears and send the pre-market futures down by 2%. Today, equity index futures continue to point to another positive North American session and the net impact is to provide a prop for the euro rather than the U.S. dollar. The euro also rose after the strongest reading for 15 months in a poll of investor sentiment. The euro is back to unchanged on Monday’s close at $1.4975. Complete Story »

  Zacks.com submits: The Dress Barn Inc. (DBRN) recently reported fiscal 2010 first-quarter results. The company recorded a GAAP net income of $21.7 million, a growth of nearly 10% over GAAP net earnings of $19.7 million posted in the year-ago period. Excluding certain items, adjusted earnings per share came in at 37 cents, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 12%, or 4 cents.The company reported a 7.4% growth in net sales to $404.1 million during the quarter, compared to $376.4 million in the year-ago quarter. The growth was primarily driven by a 4% increase in same-store sales coupled with the addition of 47 stores in the last one-year period. In terms of divisions, same-store sales expanded by 5% in Dressbarn stores, while it grew by 4% in Maurices stores.Complete Story »

  The clouds of darkness that have been hanging over CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ:CYTR), may soon be cast aside. The stock, which has traded as low as $.24 earlier this year, appears to be on the rebound with at least two key developments on the horizon.On Friday morning, after seeing the stock gap up on heavy volume, we issued a trade alert to our subscribers as rumors began to swirl throughout cyberspace and on message boards. "Someone knows something," claimed one investor who has been patiently following the stock since it was trading at close to $5 per share in late 2007. Complete Story »

  Zacks.com submits: Ford Motor (F) has revealed its plan to invest R$4 billion ($2.26 billion) in order to benefit from government tax incentives and lower interest rates in Brazil that are fueling record sales. Presently, Ford is the fourth-largest automaker in the country.Ford has decided to spend R$2.8 billion at the Camacari plant -- a state-of-the-art plant in the northeastern state of Bahiato -- with the aim of increasing output by 20% to 300,000 vehicles a year. The plant produces the sport utility vehicle EcoSport and the Fiesta subcompact. The investment is expected to generate 1,000 jobs in the region. The remaining R$1.2 billion will be invested at Ford's factories in Sao Paulo including its Sao Bernardo plant and a testing facilityin Tatui.Complete Story »

  The LFB submits:Equity Futures: Dow +12.00. S&P +2.30. NASDAQ +1.25. Japanese Nikkei -40.00. German Dax +1.00. European Trade: After approaching a 13-month high in Monday Wall Street trade, the global equity market has once again traded into the red before finding some buyers late in the session, as the banking sector acted as a major drag. The European cash market moved lower near the opening bell, following the Japanese Nikkei index, that dropped down to a 4-month low. In mid-morning European trade the buyers have been found, and have just about turned things green, indicating a positive start to Wall Street trade.Complete Story »