Investment News: Money Morning

Canadian Solar Shines; Battle of the Trash Barons; Run on IndyMac; Bush Lifts Drilling Ban; New iPhone Sells 1 Million Units; Middle Eastern Airlines Dominate Airshow; Russian Oil Producers Miss Targets; Shell Buys Canada’s Duvernay

• China-based Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) boosted its revenue forecast for the second quarter, sending its shares up over 18% yesterday (Monday). Canadian Solar announced that net revenue for the second quarter will be between $210 – $214 million, Reuters reported, well above analyst expectations of $187.5 million. Shares gained $5.99 to close at $38.39.

• Waste Management Inc. (WMI) yesterday (Monday) announced an unsolicited bid for rival Republic Services Inc. (RSG) in an attempt to derail Republic’s own bid for Allied Waste Industries Inc. (AW). The $34 per share cash bid represents a 22% premium over Republic’s July 11 closing price, Bloomberg News reported.

• Concerned IndyMac Bancorp Inc. (IMB) customers queued outside branches yesterday (Monday) to withdraw money from the financial institution that was seized by federal regulators on Friday. IndyMac is the largest regulated thrift to fail in U.S. history, BusinessWeek reported. IndyMac shares have been completely gutted and are down over 97% year-to-date.

• President George W. Bush announced yesterday (Monday) that he had lifted an earlier ban on offshore drilling in the outer continental shelf due to high oil costs. "Today I’ve taken every step within my power to allow offshore exploration of the OCS," Bush said in a statement at the White House, Bloomberg News reported. "This means the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action by the U.S. Congress."

• Apple Inc. (AAPL) said yesterday (Monday) that it sold 1 million units of the new iPhone in its initial weekend. The original iPhone, introduced in late June 2007 in the United States only, sold about 270,000 units in its first two days, Reuters reported. Sales had topped 1 million units by early September. The new device sells in 21 countries.

• Airlines from oil-rich Middle Eastern countries booked orders for around 150 planes worth more than $25 billion the world’s largest air show The Associated Press reported. Many European and U.S. airlines have refrained from signing big deals at the Farnborough International Airshow as they cope with soaring fuel costs and sluggish passenger demand.

• Russia’s energy projects, all of which have foreign participation, failed to achieve their oil production targets in 2007, Russia’s Audit Chamber said in a statement yesterday (Monday). Declining oil production became a hot topic in Russia after the world’s No. 2 oil exporter saw output fall in the first quarter for the first time in years, The Associated Press reported.

• Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A, RDS.B) has agreed to buy Canada’s Duvernay Oil Corp for $5.9 billion, according to Reuters. "Duvernay has an unmatched position in terms of leverage to (natural gas) resources," said Robert Fitzmartyn, an analyst at FirstEnergy Capital.

July 15th, 2008

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