Yum Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) posted a drop in second-quarter earnings, but beat analysts’ estimates. The fast food operator also said it expects full-year earnings to fall short of Wall Street’s estimate, sending its stock price down 3.2% on Tuesday. Yum Brands, parent of Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell chains, expects commodity and labor [...]

Coming into last week, the S&P500 had shed 15% from its April 2010 high. Fears of a double-dip recession loomed large over the markets, prompting traders to play more cautious ahead of a full basket of economic data. As the S&P rebounded sharply by 5.4% last week, it appears the jury is still out on [...]

By Michael Bogan Alcoa (NYSE: AA) kicks off the second-quarter earnings season Monday, but expectations are for the largest U.S. aluminum producer to fall short of analysts’ estimates. Investors will focus on management’s outlook, instead, for clues to the direction of the Alcoa’s near-term share price. Alcoa is expected to post second-quarter fiscal results following [...]

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) released a statement on Friday to explain the signal reception problems reported by users of the newly-released iPhone 4, citing a problem with the device’s indicator of wireless reception strength as the source of the defect. After the successful launch of Apple’s iPhone 4, with more than 1.7 units sold during [...]

Libya’s leading oil executive said Monday he believes BP plc.(NYSE: BP) is now a bargain, and will recommend to the North African’s sovereign wealth fund the purchase of a major stake in the embattled oil company. Shares of BP rallied 3.5% on Monday after Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya’s National Oil Co., said to Dow [...]

By Michael Bogan Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN), Genzyme Corp. (Nasdaq: GENZ) and Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB) all moved sharply higher in share prices in active trading on Friday, as traders speculated that France-based pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis might be contemplating a bid for one of the smaller-capitalized pharmaceuticals. Sanofi’s chief executive Chris Viehbacher briefed the company’s [...]

Standard Microsystems Corp. (Nasdaq: SMSC) reported a better-than-expected profit for the fiscal first quarter, citing strong sales in its automotive and analog product lines. The Hauppauge, N.Y.-based chip maker posted a profit of $627,000, or 3 cents per share, compared with a loss of $9.2 million, or a loss of 42 cents per share, for [...]

Traders love a good-storied company; it’s the basis for potential of that “big score.” Due diligence is performed on each stock, with the goal of holding a bountiful basket of promising companies, of which, one or two turn into 100-baggers some day. With this loft goal in mind, my due diligence turned to a “resources” [...]

KB Homes (NYSE: KBH) recently said it lost more than Wall Street analysts expected for the fiscal second quarter, citing the end of home-buying incentives and an overall weak economy for the shortfall. The U.S. homebuilder posted a net loss of $30.7 million, or a loss of 40 cents per share, compared with a loss [...]

British Petroleum (NYSE: BP) shares plunged 6% on Friday, closing to a 14-year low amid growing concerns that the total liability associated with the oil spill in the Gulf will be larger than expected. As BP shares continue to retreat for the ninth straight week, the company’s market value has dropped by approximately $100 billion [...]