Bank of America, Citigroup Ignite Hope for U.S. Banking Industry

Money Morning submits:

By Jennifer Yousfi

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) shares soared Monday as it followed Citigroup Inc.’s (C) lead to become the fourth large domestic bank to beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations and provide hope that the battered banking industry might finally be leaving the worst of the subprime mess behind.

Schnitzer Steel Beats Estimates, Bullish About Q4

Zacks.com submits:

Schnitzer Steel is riding the price surge on ferrous metals to record earnings. The company has surprised on estimates 2 out of the last 4 quarters. Schnitzer has a forward P/E of only 10.80 even as the stock has soared in 2008.

Company Description

Hasbro Reports Strong Q2 Results

Zacks.com submits:

Hasbro, Inc. (HAS) reported strong second-quarter results on July 21 that once again outpaced analyst expectations. The company's share price advanced back to its 52-week high on the news. Estimates have continued to rise over the last 90 days.

Hasbro, Inc. designs, manufactures and sells games and toys. The company was founded in 1923, carries a market cap of $5.37 billion and is headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

ETF Update: Healthcare, Africa's Impact on Water ETFs, Energy ETFs

Tom Lydon (ETF Trends) submits:

Health Care ETFs Could Use A Check-Up

As the presidential elections are only months away, a big issue on the minds of U.S. citizens is the state of the health care industry, the quality of the care we receive, and how any decisions made will affect ETFs.

The United States spends heavily on health care, especially in contrast to other industrialized countries, but is it actually worth the expense?

Earnings Preview: Stamps.com

eChristian Investing submits:

Stamps.com (STMP) is scheduled to report Q208 results after the market closes on July 23. Based on our analysis, we at eChristianInvesting are expecting STMP’s to report disappointing results that miss the Street’s consensus expectations.

We are forecasting revenues of $20M versus analyst consensus of $21M. This would represent a 7% drop in revenues from last year’s $21.4M in the same period.

Fishing for Profits in Fannie/Freddie Flotsam

Martin Hutchinson submits:

The bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) is extremely confusing to holders of their debt and equity securities, because it’s very difficult to figure out what the final outcome of the “rescue" might be, and if so, who benefits.

However, as a service to Money Morning readers who are unfortunate enough to have been holding Fannie or Freddie paper, or to the venturesome few who wonder whether there is any among the debris, I thought I’d peer through the fog of uncertainty and try to figure out what the different classes of Fannie and Freddie securities may be worth.

Roche's Genentech Offer Sends Ripples Through Biotech

Mike Huckman submits:

The buyout offer from Swiss drug giant Roche (RHHBY.PK) has shares of Genentech (DNA) trading at their highest level in about two-and-a-half years and according to CNBC stock-stat maven, Robert Hum, it closed at its biggest one-day percentage gain since April 15, 2005.

The stock went up 18 percent that day after the biotech company announced positive test results on its cancer drug Avastin. Investors are bidding up the shares way beyond the $89 Roche is offering. Roche officials say the amount is "fair and generous", but many analysts say it ain't even close.

The Prudent Bear Fund: Too One-Sided, Even in This Market

Thomas Kee submits:

I just finished listening to David Tice, the manager of the Prudent Bear Fund, on CNBC. Immediately following that commentary I had a comment from a member which compared The Prudent Bear fund to The Investment Rate. Please do NOT confuse the logic here.

AGCO: Combines May Be The Story in 2008

Michael Filloon submits:

Sometimes Wall Street gets ahead of itself, and sometimes it doesn't. The current market looks as if the financials are making a huge turnaround and many commodity stocks are pulling back, even in the face of estimates being raised for
the year. I believe that we made a huge step with respect to write offs in financials, but most likely there will continue to be pain. Anyone that ventures into the unknown now had better have long term targets and /or be an expert in
trading, as the markets tip to the extreme on any comments either positive or negative.

I am unsure as to the gold market and other precious metals, and look somewhat positively on the current coal and steel markets, but most of all I believe that the
agricultural markets will continue to roll. Looking at their current run, many have taken the negative side based only on the belief that nothing goes up forever, but I have not seen anything that points to a slowing of agricultural commodities in
the near term.

Short Interest in Fannie and Freddie Rises With Stock Declines

Jessica Johnson submits:

Dark Knight Gives Time Warner a "Shattering" Weekend

Julia Boorstin submits:

What a weekend. Warner Bros' The Dark Knight shattered all sorts of U.S. box office records. The biggest three day opening weekend ever, clocking in at $155 million, beating Spiderman 3's previous record of $151 million. It's first 24 hours marked the biggest one-day gross in the U.S. of all time--$67 million.

And it broke ground for an Imax (IMAX) release, the 94 giant-screen theaters bringing an unprecedented $6.2 million this weekend. This record-breaker proving the power of quality content plus rave reviews and a solid franchise. Despite the economic downturn, tighter consumer spending, and competition from more entertainment options than ever, good movies still pack theaters.

4 Lingering Questions on the Yahoo/Icahn Deal

Seth Gilbert submits:

Lawyers rarely take tort law cases to trial. By some measures, more than 90% of these cases are settled outside of judge or jury. According to the DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, of 98k such cases in 2002 and 2003, only 2% were decided at trial. The rationale is that it is usually safer and less expensive to settle with a sure thing than risk the uncertainty and cost of trial. Apparently, proxy fights with activist shareholders share that in common. Despite increasing momentum, and the recent pledged support of a major shareholder, Yahoo (YHOO) Monday agreed to settle their proxy fight for board control with Carl Icahn.

Under the terms of the agreement, which will terminate the proxy fight, eight of Yahoo’s current nine board members will stand for reelection at the Company’s upcoming annual meeting. The 9th board member, Bobby Kotick, the CEO of newly minted Activision Blizzard (ATVID), will step down. Carl Icahn will take that seat. In addition, two new seats will be created to increase the size of the board to eleven members. The nominees for the new seat will include Jonathan Miller, both a partner at Velocity Interactive and the former Chairman and CEO of AOL, along with the eight remaining members of Carl Icahn’s proposed slate.

An Interview with Commtouch's CEO, Gideon Mantel

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