Dow dropped 95, decliners over advancers 3-2 & NAZ fell 10. The Financial Index lost 2, taking it below 211. The MLP index was even in the 394s & the REIT index lost a fraction in the 258s. Junk bond funds were soft but Treasuries gained. Oil rose while gold slipped back a tad.
Photo: Bloomberg
Euro finance ministers will push the IMF & central bankers to endorse new plans to save Greece from the fiscal abyss, seeking to overcome the latest impasse in the debt crisis & restart aid payments. Finance chiefs will brief the IMF & ECB on “further concessions” that would plug Greece’s deficit gap without forcing a writeoff of official loans, according to Austria’s Maria Fekter. A deal is “practically finalized, there are just a few centimeters to go,” according to French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovovici. “Consensus is within reach if we are capable of seizing it. If everyone is reasonable, we can do it quite quickly.” IMF criticism of Europe's failure to put Greece’s debt on a “sustainable” path has held up an accord on an updated financing package, narrowing the options for patching up the debt-stricken country drawing on €240B ($311B) in loans pledged since 2010. “We’re going to try to work for a solution that is credible for Greece,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said. A solution is hung up on politics in Germany, the dominant country in Europe’s crisis management, where Chancellor Merkel is campaigning for a 3rd term next year on the pledge that Greece won’t cost taxpayers an additional cent. Bottom line, nothing new today.
Euro Chiefs Claim Greek Progress, Seek to Persuade ECB
McGraw-Hill, a Dividend Aristocrat, is selling its education business to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $2.5B. As part of the deal, MHP will get $250M in senior debt issued by Apollo at an annual interest rate of 8.5 (a junk bond rate). The sale is expected to close in late 2012 or early 2013. Then the company will be renamed McGraw Hill Financial. It expects 2012 revenue of about $4.4B. Apollo will get its digital & traditional textbook business & other assets. MHP says the sale will allow it to focus on growing brands like Standard & Poor's, S&P Capital IQ & JD Power & Associates. The proceeds will be used to fund its stock buyback program, make acquisitions & pay off debt. The stock rose 1.36.
McGraw-Hill Selling Education Unit to Apollo for $2.5 Billion
UnitedHealth, the largest US private health insurer, said it expects 2013 EPS of $5.25-$5.50, under expectations. The outlook backs up comments the company made last month that estimates for 2013 were too high due to the weak economy & gov efforts to rein in the deficit. At that time, the consensus was for EPS of $5.60. Revenue should be $123-$124B next year, higher than the forecast. Analysts had expected 2013 EPS of $5.58 on revenue of $119B. UNH also reaffirmed its 2012 outlook for EPS of $5.20-$5.25. The stock fell 89¢
UnitedHealth Forecasts Profit Below Analyst Estimates
Stocks are lower while the biggies in DC try to figure out how to deal with the fiscal cliff. This is the same fiscal cliff enacted last year which allowed them to "solve" raising the debt ceiling. Nothing has been done about either since then. Can you spell, "Nothing?" Babble will continue for another 4 weeks minimum. At the last minute, they will come up with a brilliant solution which will only be a half-way measure. Then they can work on raising the debt ceiling limit again which needs to be done in the coming weeks. Nothing new out of Europe. A sense of reality hit the markets today & sellers took over. They could be in command for the next month at a minimum. Oil gained & gold slipped fractionally.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
| CLF13.NYM | ....Crude Oil Jan 13 | ...87.47 | ... 0.81 | (0.9%) |
| GCX12.CMX | ...Gold Nov 12 | ...1,749.60 | ... 1.70 | (0.1%) |
Photo: Bloomberg
Euro finance ministers will push the IMF & central bankers to endorse new plans to save Greece from the fiscal abyss, seeking to overcome the latest impasse in the debt crisis & restart aid payments. Finance chiefs will brief the IMF & ECB on “further concessions” that would plug Greece’s deficit gap without forcing a writeoff of official loans, according to Austria’s Maria Fekter. A deal is “practically finalized, there are just a few centimeters to go,” according to French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovovici. “Consensus is within reach if we are capable of seizing it. If everyone is reasonable, we can do it quite quickly.” IMF criticism of Europe's failure to put Greece’s debt on a “sustainable” path has held up an accord on an updated financing package, narrowing the options for patching up the debt-stricken country drawing on €240B ($311B) in loans pledged since 2010. “We’re going to try to work for a solution that is credible for Greece,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said. A solution is hung up on politics in Germany, the dominant country in Europe’s crisis management, where Chancellor Merkel is campaigning for a 3rd term next year on the pledge that Greece won’t cost taxpayers an additional cent. Bottom line, nothing new today.
Euro Chiefs Claim Greek Progress, Seek to Persuade ECB
McGraw-Hill, a Dividend Aristocrat, is selling its education business to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $2.5B. As part of the deal, MHP will get $250M in senior debt issued by Apollo at an annual interest rate of 8.5 (a junk bond rate). The sale is expected to close in late 2012 or early 2013. Then the company will be renamed McGraw Hill Financial. It expects 2012 revenue of about $4.4B. Apollo will get its digital & traditional textbook business & other assets. MHP says the sale will allow it to focus on growing brands like Standard & Poor's, S&P Capital IQ & JD Power & Associates. The proceeds will be used to fund its stock buyback program, make acquisitions & pay off debt. The stock rose 1.36.
McGraw-Hill Selling Education Unit to Apollo for $2.5 Billion
McGraw-Hill (MHP)
UnitedHealth, the largest US private health insurer, said it expects 2013 EPS of $5.25-$5.50, under expectations. The outlook backs up comments the company made last month that estimates for 2013 were too high due to the weak economy & gov efforts to rein in the deficit. At that time, the consensus was for EPS of $5.60. Revenue should be $123-$124B next year, higher than the forecast. Analysts had expected 2013 EPS of $5.58 on revenue of $119B. UNH also reaffirmed its 2012 outlook for EPS of $5.20-$5.25. The stock fell 89¢
UnitedHealth Forecasts Profit Below Analyst Estimates
UnitedHealth (UNH)
Stocks are lower while the biggies in DC try to figure out how to deal with the fiscal cliff. This is the same fiscal cliff enacted last year which allowed them to "solve" raising the debt ceiling. Nothing has been done about either since then. Can you spell, "Nothing?" Babble will continue for another 4 weeks minimum. At the last minute, they will come up with a brilliant solution which will only be a half-way measure. Then they can work on raising the debt ceiling limit again which needs to be done in the coming weeks. Nothing new out of Europe. A sense of reality hit the markets today & sellers took over. They could be in command for the next month at a minimum. Oil gained & gold slipped fractionally.
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