Noranda buys back more debt
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 2:11 pmThird-quarter losses at Franklin-based Noranda Aluminum hit the middle of its previously projected range, coming in at $4.3 million. The company also bought back more than $80 million in debt during the quarter, pushing its year-to-date total in that deparment to almost $300 million.
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You don’t absolutely have to get into Dollar General at its IPO price
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 12:57 pmBut it sure will help your portfolio if you do… Jutia contributor Brandon Clay says the Goodlettsville-based retailer likely won’t trade at a discount to Wal-Mart long after it goes public.
It’s a cash cow so long as the debt load can be managed and eliminated.
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Cracker Barrel tweaks debt deals
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 12:34 pm
CFO Sandy Cochran has renegotiated the maturity dates of Cracker Barrel’s revolving line of credit (while also shrinking it by a third) and long-term loans. About two-thirds of the revolver now won’t be due until 2013, about 40 percent of the term loans until 2016. The tweaks will add about $2 million in interest costs this fiscal year for Cracker Barrel, whose shares (Ticker: CBRL) are flat on the day.
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Go, Genesco, go
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 11:56 am
Robert W. Baird analyst Mitch Kummetz has raised his rating on the Nashville retailer to ‘outperform.’ Kummetz, who two months ago was quite sober about the company’s prospects, also has lifted his price target to $34 from $25. On a lackluster day for the market, Genesco shares (Ticker: GCO) are up more than 3 percent.
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A jobs jolt
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 10:49 amI know the basic argument that employment is a lagging indicator, but who’s going to stand up and say this number won’t make for a dismal holiday shopping season? And keep in mind that the official unemployment rate doesn’t account for people who have simply stopped looking for work. Add them in and we’re getting way too close to 20 percent.
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Quorum prepares to hand off Arkansas hospital
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 9:56 am
Sparks Hospital in Fort Smith, Ark., has agreed to sell itself to Health Management Associates for about $138 million, which means the two Quorum Health Resources who have been managing the 492-bed facility will soon be on their way back to the CHS home office in Brentwood.
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In defense of the maligned market
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 9:18 am
NYU professor Viral Acharya says we need to be careful when we talk about the financial crisis being caused by ‘the market’ failing to function properly. Regulators are there to patch up holes and prevent problems, he says, “but regulation also reduces market discipline” by introducing distorted incentives.
For instance, insured depositors are unlikely to “run” but they also freely deposit at the highest-yielding bank, not worrying about its credit risk. Thus, when regulators deem a bank as well-capitalized, the onus is on regulators that this be right. Markets may not have the incentive to gather this information nor possess the details of regulatory supervision that led to such an assessment. Conversely, when regulation allows itself to be arbitraged, the financial sector becomes more opaque exposing markets to unexpected outcomes.
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Preliminary Q3 bank checkup: Better, but symptoms persist
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 8:10 amChris Whalen says it looks like banks were no more stressed in the third quarter than in Q2. But they are by no means relaxed yet.
Since only the 19 Stress Text banks were really under pressure to window dress Q3 results for compliance purposes with the Fed’s SCAP stress tests, the inference we draw is that the rate of change in terms of stress throughout the industry was likewise more moderate in Q3.
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NHC beats estimates
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 7:55 am
Ho-hum. Another solid quarter from National HealthCare Corp., where third-quarter profits per diluted share of 74 cents handily topped analysts’ expectations. Patient days were flat, pricing was up a bit and operating profits grew almost 12 percent and a 5 percent rise in revenue.
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Music biz veterans launch new venture
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 7:31 amLongtime artist manager Howard Fields has teamed with music publisher Everett Zinn, who was part of some of George Strait’s early career, and Montana businesswoman Dorris McMurry to launch McMurry Entertainment Group. The trio says they’re close to announcing an artist and distribution partner.
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Double-digit days for LP, O’Charley’s
Posted on November 5, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Shares of Louisiana-Pacific (Ticker: LPX) are basking in the afterglow of analyst praise and have extended the strong run that was cut short yesterday. Heading into the close, they’re up more than 17 percent.
Why O’Charley’s is up about the same amount is more of a puzzle. Yes, many industry players are having good days, but this Dow Jones chart shows Nashville-based O’Charley’s (Ticker: CHUX) is outpacting them by a factor of two to one.
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If you wanted to nitpick HCA’s numbers…
Posted on November 5, 2009 at 1:33 pmSheryl Skolnick at Pali Research is impressed by the growth in cash flow and admissions at HCA. But she’s not thrilled about bad debt or the expense item that accounts for 42 percent of the hospital giant’s operating costs.
The increase in bad debt is one thing. More troubling than that was the higher than expected labor costs as a percent of revenue: HCA appears to have lost some leverage here.
SEE ALSO: HCA volume growth best since ‘02
How did a financial crisis and an economic downturn result in higher productivity numbers?
Posted on November 5, 2009 at 1:28 pmMichael Mandel walks you through the numbers:
This morning’s productivity numbers showed a huge gain in output per hour in the third quarter—up at an annual rate of 9.5% in the nonfarm business sector.
But here’s something else. If we are to believe these numbers, the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression has actually produced a productivity gain of 5.1% since the downturn started in the fourth quarter of 2007.
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AmSurg’s affordable growth
Posted on November 5, 2009 at 12:47 pmSmartMoney’s Jack Hough has culled through the numbers to unearth some stocks that provide solid growth at a nice price. Among his finds is Nashville-based AmSurg, which from 2005 to 2008 grew its top line by 64 percent and its operating earnings by 57 percent. Today, its shares (Ticker: AMSG) are up about 2 percent, in line with the broader market.
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Why you’re not hearing from hospitals in the reform debate
Posted on November 5, 2009 at 12:07 pm
A former CMS boss tells Blake Farmer they’re quite satisfied, thank you, with the lukewarm, wishy-washy way things appear to be going.
“If you really want to do the right thing and finance this thing and pay for it, hospitals should probably be taking a bigger hit as should probably a lot of the providers, but that’s not likely to happen.”
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