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[rufa]

May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett dismissed the importance of the government stress tests in helping him assess banks, and said Wells Fargo & Co. will prosper no matter what the results show.

“I think I know their future, frankly, better than somebody that comes in to take a look,” Buffett said yesterday of the bank stocks that Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire owns. Regulators “may be using more of a checklist-type approach.”

The stress tests are designed to show whether 19 top financial firms need more capital to withstand a deterioration of economic conditions, and results are expected to be disclosed on May 7, according to a government official familiar with the plan. Buffett said he judges banks by their “dynamism” and their ability to attract deposits, and singled out San Francisco-based Wells Fargo as a “fabulous” company.

“If you look at Coca-Cola today, for example, and just looked at a balance sheet, it wouldn’t tell you anything at all about Coca-Cola,” the billionaire investor said in a Bloomberg Television interview before Berkshire’s annual meeting at Omaha’s Qwest Center. “It’s what the product is.”

Wells Fargo is Berkshire’s second-largest holding by market value after Coca-Cola Co. and the biggest bank on the U.S. West Coast. Berkshire also owns stakes in Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, as well as U.S. Bancorp, M&T Bank Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc. Buffett has praised Wells Fargo for gathering funds at a low cost and taking fewer lending risks than competitors.

Competitive Advantages

“All banks aren’t alike by a long shot, and in our view Wells Fargo, among the large banks, has some advantages the others do not,” Buffett said at Berkshire’s annual meeting.

Wells Fargo has declined 33 percent this year on the New York Stock Exchange on concern the bank will take losses on loans acquired with the purchase of Wachovia Corp. The bank slashed its dividend 85 percent in March, reducing investment income for Berkshire.

Wells Fargo stock closed at $19.61 May 1 after falling below $9 in March. Buffett said he was speaking to a class the day the shares dropped that low and told students that, at such a price, “If I had to put all of my net worth into stock, that would be the stock.”

U.S. banks can’t be viewed indiscriminately, Buffett said, citing “real differences,” such as varying costs of funding, that separate strong lenders from their weaker rivals. Goldman Sachs, U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo have “lots of equity,” he said. All three are among the companies on the stress test list.

Record Attendance

The annual meeting gave Buffett and Vice Chairman Charles Munger a platform to discuss markets, the economy and Berkshire’s businesses. A record 35,000 people filled the Qwest Center arena, its overflow rooms and a ballroom at a hotel across the street as the two fielded questions concerning Buffett’s replacement, Berkshire’s investments and its derivative bets on the world’s stock markets.

Berkshire, with a U.S. stock portfolio of $51.9 billion, has been pressured as equity markets dropped and U.S. unemployment rose to its highest in 25 years. Berkshire shares have plunged 31 percent in the past 12 months, and profit has fallen in five-straight quarters through the end of 2008 on deteriorating results at insurance units and liabilities from the derivatives.

Earnings Slump

Buffett said yesterday that first-quarter operating earnings fell to about $1.7 billion from $1.9 billion in the same period a year earlier. The figure, which doesn’t count some investment results, declined as the recession weighed on Berkshire businesses that make building materials and sell jewelry and furniture.

Utilities and insurance operations fared better, with Berkshire’s Geico Corp., the third-largest auto insurer in the U.S., adding about 505,000 new policyholders in the first four months of the year, Buffett said.

Buffett said that book value, a measure of assets minus liabilities, declined in the first quarter, in part because of losses on derivatives the firm sold on corporate debt. Those losses have since partially reversed, he said. Berkshire is scheduled to release complete results, including a figure for net income, on May 8.

Buffett and Munger have used recent meetings to promote Berkshire as a buyer of non-U.S. businesses and distinguish their operations from what they consider the sometimes reckless behavior they see on Wall Street. Their pronouncements reach shareholders, potential customers and ratings firms.

Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings cut Berkshire’s top AAA credit rating in the last two months, a move that “has no economic impact” on Berkshire, Buffett said in the interview before the meeting began.

“It just doesn’t,” he said. “We don’t use borrowed money in any real significant sense. My pride may be wounded just a bit.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Erik Holm in Omaha at eholm2@bloomberg.net; Betty Liu in Omaha at bliu17@bloomberg.net; Andrew Frye in Omaha at afrye@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 3, 2009 00:01 EDT

Cumps.

[Capitão Nemo]

Stocks: Rally under stress

A two-month old stock advance hits up against more profit reports, the April jobs report and the results of big bank tests.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The two-month old stock market rally looks to extend its legs in the week ahead, provided Wall Street can surmount a few big hurdles.

The results of Treasury's long-awaited stress tests of the leading banks are due Thursday; the April employment report is due Friday; and a smattering of big corporations report results.

"The results of the stress tests will be interesting as there have been some questions about whether the government will be too gentle on the companies," said Matt King, chief investment officer at Bell Investment Advisors.

King said that the April employment report, although expected to show steep job losses, is unlikely to fluster stock market participants beyond the short term. That's because historically unemployment tends to keep rising even as a recession is ending.

Standouts on the corporate front include Sprint Nextel (S, Fortune 500), Walt Disney (DIS, Fortune 500), Cisco Systems (CSCO, Fortune 500), AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) and others.

Better-than-expected earnings and economic reports have supported stocks of late, fueling bets that the worst is over.

Stress tests: The results of the government "stress tests" of the largest U.S. banks will be made available Thursday afternoon. The results were initially due to be released Monday.

Information will be made available on the 19 individual companies as well as the broad group of corporations that have been tested. Results include estimated loan losses should the economy deteriorate more rapidly as well as estimates of how much additional capital banks would potentially need to function.

"We've been waiting on the results for weeks, but because the health of the banks has stabilized, there's not a sense of urgency to get those results," said David Levy, portfolio manager at Kenjol Capital Management.

He said that there are reportedly a half dozen banks that are not as well capitalized as they should be and they've been given until Thursday to work through some of the issues.

"By giving them a little more time, there's not going to be a rash reaction in the markets," he said.

Last week, reports said early results showed both Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and will need to raise more capital.

The second-quarter so far: Stocks rallied in April, with the S&P 500 (SPX) spiking 9.4% as investors continued to jump back in after the broad index fell to a 12-1/2 year low in March. For the month, the Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 7.3%, also rebounding from a 12-year low.

The Nasdaq (COMP) gained 12.3% and is the only one of the major gauges to be in the black year-to-date. The Nasdaq has risen for eight weeks in a row, while the S&P 500 and Dow have risen for seven of the past eight weeks.

Profits: Stocks are on track to post the seventh straight quarter of year-over-year profit declines, according to earnings tracker Thomson Reuters.

With roughly two-thirds of the results already out, S&P 500 profits are expected to have declined by 35.1% from a year ago. Healthcare is the only one of the S&P's 10 sectors expected to see growth. The biggest decliners are consumer discretionary - which includes the automakers - materials and energy.

On the upside, companies as a whole have been beating analysts' expectations by a bigger margin than in previous quarters.

"The numbers have come down to such levels that companies are not only beating forecasts, but beating by a lot," said John Butters, senior research analyst at Thomson Reuters.

Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) are among the big companies that have reported better-than-expected results. However, profits remain in a slowdown period for the time being.

For the second quarter, analysts expect profits to decline 34.6% and for the third quarter, profits are expected to have declined 21.1%.

Quarterly results

Monday: Sprint Nextel reports results before the start of trading. The telecom is expected to have lost 5 cents per share after gaining 4 cents per share a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters estimates.

Tuesday: Walt Disney is expected to have earned 40 cents versus 58 cents per share a year ago. The Dow component reports results shortly after the close of trading.

Wednesday: Cisco Systems reports results after the close of trading. The tech bellwether is expected to have earned 25 cents per share versus 38 cents a year ago.

Thursday: AIG reports results after the close of trading. The financial firm - bailed out by the government last fall - is expected to report a loss of 6 cents per share versus a loss of $1.41 a year ago.

Economy

Monday: Reports are due shortly after the start of trading on pending home sales and construction spending.

The March pending home sales report, from the National Association of Realtors, is due out before the start of trading. Sales are expected to hold steady following a surprise rise of 2.1% in February, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

March construction spending, from the Census Bureau, is expected to have fallen 1.4% after falling 0.9% in February.

Tuesday: The Institute for Supply Management's April services sector index is due out shortly after the start of trading. The ISM index is expected to have risen to 42.0 from 40.8 in March.

Also Tuesday morning, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke heads to Washington to give his economic outlook before the Joint Economic Committee.

Wednesday: Payroll services firm ADP releases its April reading on private sector employment, seen as a harbinger for the government's big report due out Friday. Employers are expected to have cut 643,000 from their payrolls after cutting 742,000 in the prior month.

The government's weekly report on crude inventories is also due in the morning.

The Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing on banks that have been deemed "too big to fail." Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chief Sheila Bair is due to testify. She is expected to reiterate calls for creating a system that would allow regulators to dismantle large financial institutions that are failing.

Thursday: Reports are due before the start of trading on first-quarter productivity and first quarter unit labor costs.

Productivity is expected to have risen 0.9% after falling 0.4% in the last quarter of 2008. Unit labor costs are expected to have risen 2.5% in the first quarter after rising 5.7% in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Thursday also brings the weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department and the March consumer credit report from the Federal Reserve.

Fed Chairman Bernanke also gives the keynote address at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Conference on bank structure and competition Thursday morning. His topic is banking supervision.

Friday: The government's April employment report is due out before the start of trading. Employers are expected to have cut 620,000 jobs from their payrolls after cutting 663,000 the previous month. The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, is expected to have risen to 8.9% from 8.5% in March.

Friday also brings the March reading on wholesale inventories, which is not usually a big market mover.

Fonte CNN Money http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/03/markets ... 2009050309

[MNFV]

1 de Maio não é feriado nos states?

Semana 28/04 a 01/05

[Onorio]

Semana 28/04 a 01/05

[Capitão Nemo]

Stock rally: Meet more roadblocks

Wall Street's advance faces a big test in the week ahead. On tap: Fed meeting, quarterly results, economic news, Chrysler.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A stock rally that hit some potholes last week is likely to face more substantial roadblocks in the week ahead.

Roughly one-third of the S&P 500 reports results this week. Major economic reports are due on gross domestic product growth and consumer spending. The Federal Reserve holds its next policy-setting meeting. Chrysler's fate hangs in the balance. And investors gear up for the release of the "stress tests" of the major U.S. banks, due out in the following week.

Last week, regulators released a few details on how the government is running its tests, but results won't be announced until May 4. Some early results could start to trickle in later in the week.

"I think there's going to be some hesitation ahead of May 4th, particularly after the move we've seen over the last few weeks," said Christopher Colarik, portfolio manager at Glendmede

The major stock gauges rose for six straight weeks, with the Nasdaq composite making it to seven, on bets that the economy is closer to stabilizing and corporate profits are near to bottoming. The S&P 500 index gained almost 29% during that time. But last week's trading was more choppy amid worries of too much, too fast.

"I think investors are breathing a sigh of relief that analysts' estimates may have been too low," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & co. "But I think stocks will face a real test this quarter, because I don't think the economic data will show as much improvement as investors might like."

Results: More than one-third of the S&P 500 companies have reported results and profits are currently expected to have declined 35% versus a year ago, according to the latest from Thomson Reuters.

Standouts this week include Dow components Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500), Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500), Pfizer (PFE, Fortune 500), Verizon Communications (VZ, Fortune 500) and Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500).

Chrysler: The hard-hit company is facing a Thursday deadline to close deals with creditors, its labor union and Italian automaker Fiat, or face bankruptcy protection and possible liquidation. Chrysler has been operating on $4 billion in federal aid and needs more to stay afloat. The company is privately owned.

Last week, rival General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) said it is temporarily shutting down down 13 of 20 North American plants this summer to reduce inventory. The company is also planning to shutter its Pontiac brand, with an announcement expected Monday.

Healthier rival Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) reported a steep quarterly loss Friday that was nonetheless not as steep as analysts had thought. The company said it won't need a federal loan like its rivals unless the slowdown gets significantly worse.

Over the last week, the woes of the industry have had a limited impact on Wall Street, but a Chrysler bankruptcy could be a very big deal.
Results

Nearly 30% of the S&P 500 reports results this week. Here are some of the highlights.

Monday: Telecom Verizon is expected to have earned 59 cents per share versus 61 cents a year ago, according to a consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Tuesday: Drugmaker Pfizer is expected to have earned 49 cents per share versus 61 cents a year earlier.

Thursday: Exxon Mobil is expected to have earned 94 cents per share, down from $2.03 per share a year ago.

Friday: Fellow oil behemoth Chevron is expected to have earned 81 cents per share versus $2.48 a year ago.

Economy

Tuesday: The April consumer confidence index from the Conference Board is expected to have rise to 28.8 from 26 in March. The S&P/CaseShiller Home Price index is expected to have fallen 18.8% from 18.97%.

The Federal Reserve Board holds its two-day policy setting meeting, with a decision on interest rates expected at the conclusion of the meeting Wednesday afternoon. The Fed is widely expected to hold a key bank lending rate steady near 0%.

Wednesday: First-quarter gross domestic product growth (GDP) is expected to have contracted at a 4.9% annualized rate, not as sharply as the 6.3% in the fourth quarter.

Thursday: A heavy day for economic news includes reports on weekly jobless claims, the first-quarter employment cost index and manufacturing in the Midwest.

The standout is the government's personal income and spending report for March. Income is expected to have fallen 0.2% in the month, as it did in February. Spending is expected to have fallen 0.1% after it rose 0.2% in March.

Friday: Reports are due on consumer sentiment, factory orders, and auto and truck sales. The biggest potential market mover will be the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index. The index is expected to have inched up to 38 from 36.3 -- still territory considered recessionary.

Fonte CNN Money http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/25/markets ... 2009042612

[Capitão Nemo]

Wall Street: Plan for a storm

A six-week advance meets the first big week of corporate results, with 140 major companies due to open their books.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- As the profit reporting period moves into its busiest two weeks, investors have reason to be a bit more optimistic.

The S&P 500 rose 28.5% in a six-weeks-and-counting advance, after a selloff that left the broad index at a 12-1/2 year low. Bets that the economy and financial sector are close to stabilizing helped fuel the run, enabling investors to shed some of their worst-case scenarios.

"During the previous three months I was getting panicked calls from investors about the end of the world," said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group. "Now those same people are saying 'we need to get in now before we miss it.'"

Supporting the optimism over the last week has been a rash of not-as-bad-as-expected quarterly results from bellwether companies.

First-quarter so far: With roughly 10% of the S&P 500 having reported results so far, profits are on track to have shrunk 37.4% from a year ago, according to the latest from Thomson Reuters.

The S&P 500 is on track to post its seventh consecutive quarter of shrinking profits, the longest stretch since Thomson began tracking results in 1998.

Although it's too early to discern the broad trend, "so far we're seeing some bright spots in the financials, relative to expectations," said John Butters, senior research analyst at Thomson Reuters.

Last week, JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) all reported results that fell from a year ago but topped estimates. Earlier in the month, Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) forecast a bigger-than-expected quarterly profit.

Nonetheless, financial sector earnings are still expected to post declines this quarter, Butters said, with current forecasts for a drop of 37%.

All ten economic sectors tracked by Thomson are expected to post declines this quarter. That list is led by the consumer discretionary sector, which is expected to see profits drop by 113% from a year ago.

The least-bad sector is healthcare, which is expected to post a 2% drop in profits versus a year ago.

Big companies due to report results this week include Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), American Express (AXP, Fortune 500), Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500), IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500).
Results

Around 140 companies, or 28% of the S&P 500 report results this week. Here are some of the highlights.

Monday: Bank of America reports quarterly results before the start of trading. The Dow component is expected to have earned 5 cents per share versus 23 cents a year ago.

After the close of trade, IBM is expected to report earnings of $1.66 per share, versus $1.65 a year ago.

Other companies due to report Monday include Eli Lilly (LLY, Fortune 500), Halliburton (HAL, Fortune 500) and Texas Instruments (TXN, Fortune 500).

Tuesday: Dow components Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500), Coca-Cola (KO, Fortune 500), Merck (MRK, Fortune 500) and United Technologies (UTX, Fortune 500) are all expected to report results before the start of trading. All are expected to report lower quarterly earnings versus a year ago.

After the close, Yahoo is expected to report earnings of 8 cents per share versus 11 cents a year ago.

Other companies due to report Tuesday include Delta Air Lines (DAL, Fortune 500), Lockheed Martin (LMT, Fortune 500), Schering-Plough (SGP, Fortune 500) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Fortune 500).

Wednesday: Wells Fargo is expected to report results before the start of trading. The company forecast a week ago that it will see a profit of around $3 billion. Analysts expect earnings of 41 cents per share versus 60 cents a year ago.

Financial firm Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) is expected to report results before the start of trading. The company is expected to report a loss of 9 cents per share versus a profit of $1.45 a year ago.

Also in the morning, Dow components AT&T (T, Fortune 500), Boeing (BA, Fortune 500) and McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500) are due to report results.

Apple releases results after the close of trading. Apple is expected to have earned $1.09 versus $1.16 a year ago.

Thursday: Microsoft reports results after the close. The software leader is expected to report a profit of 39 cents per share versus 47 cents a year ago.

Also after the close, Amazon.com (AMZN, Fortune 500) is expected to report earnings of 31 cents per share versus 34 cents a year ago.

UPS (UPS, Fortune 500), PepsiCo (PEP, Fortune 500), Raytheon (RTN, Fortune 500) and Amgen (AMGN, Fortune 500) are among the other companies due to report results Thursday.

Friday: Dow component 3M (MMM, Fortune 500) is due to report results before the start of trade. 3M is expected to have earned 86 cents versus $1.38 a year ago.

Honeywell (HON, Fortune 500), Schlumberger (SLB) and Xerox (XRX, Fortune 500) are among the other companies due to report quarterly results in the morning.

Economy

In a light week for economic news, standouts include the index of leading economic indicators and reports on new and existing home sales. All forecasts represent a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

Monday: The March index of leading economic indicators (LEI) is due shortly after the start of trading. LEI, released by the Conference Board, is expected to have fallen 0.2% in the month after falling 0.4% in the previous month.

Tuesday: A House of Representative subcommittee holds a hearing on Treasury's plan for toxic assets.

Thursday: The number of Americans filing new weekly unemployment claims is expected to have risen to 630,000 from 610,000 the previous week. The Labor Department report is due before the start of trading. Investors will also focus on continuing claims - a measure of people receiving benefits for a week or more. Last week, continuing claims surged to a record 6.02 million.

Shortly after the market open, the National Association of Realtors releases the March existing home sales report. The February report showed a surprise rise and investors will be looking to see if the trend continues. Sales are expected to fall to a 4.65 million unit annual rate from a 4.72 million unit annual rate in the previous month.

Friday: The Commerce Department releases the March durable goods orders report before the start of trading. Orders are expected to have fallen 1.5% after falling 5.1% in the previous month.

The Census Bureau releases the March new home sales report shortly after the market open. Sales are expected to have rise to a 340,000 annual unit rate in the month from a 337,000 unit annual rate in the previous month. The February figure rose unexpectedly from the previous month

Fonte CNN Money http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/17/markets ... 2009041814

[Onorio]

Earnings :

14/04

Goldman Sachs
Intel Corporation

16/04

Google
JPMorgan Chase & Co.

17/04

Citigroup Inc.
General Electric

[Onorio]

Semana 13/04 a 17/04

[Onorio]

Semana 06/04 a 10/04

[Onorio]

Para a semana 30/03 a 03/04