Brand-Name IPO Today, Plus, If You Are Long GOOG, Read This

Stocks were lower after a good, but bland report
from Cisco. Tech stocks took the brunt of the losses, with the Nasdaq
down 1.63%.

Carly Fiorina is stepping down at Hewlett Packard
(
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effective immediately; 36-year company veteran and CFO Robert P. Wayman was
named interim CEO. Fiorina came to HPQ in July of 1999. HPQ traded up 7%.
Computers and servers represent 49% of the company’s earnings–and these area
are not profitable for the company. On the other hand, printers and services
make up 47% of the earnings, and these areas are profitable. Trader talk: Will
HPQ buy an IT company? Will the printer business be spun off? Will there be an
earnings revision?

Cisco
(
CSCO |
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PowerRating)
reported in-line at 0.22. Net income nearly doubled, revenue rose 12%. Margins
and revenues were at the low end of guidance.

American International Group
(
AIG |
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PowerRating) said Q4 profit rose 11%; the
company beat by 0.02.

Hillenbrand
(
HB |
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“…deaths remain at historically low levels.” The company makes medical
equipment and caskets.

Cigna
(
CI |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.02; Q4 profit nearly doubled.

Remember, the Google
(
GOOG |
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PowerRating) lock-up period ends on
Valentine’s Day;  177 million shares
become available for sale.

Speaking of Valentine’s Day, FTD priced its IPO–13.1 million
shares–at $13; the stock closed at 13.57.

The SOX has gained +11% in the past 3 weeks.

After the close, Vertex Pharmaceutical
(
VRTX |
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Napster
(
NAPS |
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(
WFMI |
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0.05 and beat on revenues. MetLife
(
MET |
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Lincoln National
(
LNC |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.09.

Stocks in the News

Occidental Pete
(OXY)
raised Q4 guidance.

Bob Evans Farms (BOBE)
lowered its guidance after reporting same store sales that were way off.

Merrill Lynch raised eBay
(
EBAY |
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PowerRating) to a ‘buy’ from ‘neutral.’

Krispy Kreme
(
KKD |
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PowerRating) will cut 25% of its non-store workforce.

Starbucks
(
SBUX |
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PowerRating) will roll out breakfast and lunch items.

Advanced Micro Devices
(
AMD |
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PowerRating) was raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan
Stanley.