Today it was reported that JP Morgan may be sweetening its offer for Bear Stearns from the original $2 a share to some $10 a share. Apparently the new talks took place on Sunday as JP Morgan was trying to satisfy disgruntled shareholders upset over the original $2 offer. The original price for Bear Stearns was part of a deal struck last week at the urging of the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department. The bank was having liquidity problems and was under extreme price pressure from the market. Bear Stearns (BSC) stock is up substantially today because of the news trading at about $10, or up 67% from last Thursday’s close. [Read more]

Retailer Tiffany’s (TIF) is up over 12% currently in live trading this morning after posting better then expected earnings. The jewelry retailer posted Q4 earnings of $1.27 a share vs an expected $1.21 a share, both exclude one-time charges. This is up 31% from the year prior and puts Tiffany’s in a good spot moving forward. Revenue rose to $1.05 billion from $958.9 million last year, matching analysts’ predictions. The strongest results for the company have been seen with its international sales as US sales have lagged. Sales in stores that have been up atleast 1 year fell 1 percent in the US but internationally rose 6 percent. Tiffany shares have traded above $43 already today which puts the stock up 12.5%. Intraday high... [Read more]

The top stories from the week that was March 16th – March 22nd 2008 via MarketWatch.com: Bear Stearns Bought For $2 Going Where No Fed Has Gone Before The Deepest Fed Cut Bear Stearns Becomes First Casualty Visa’s IPO Small Profits But Profits Nonetheless Starbucks Steps It Up Looking ahead into next week, expect the bulls to try and continue their fight for control over the markets. Look for technology to lead the way. [Read more]

Visa stock went public yesterday at $44 per share under the ticker V. With 406 million shares sold Visa effectively raised $17.86 billion to make it the largest initial public offering in US history. The $44 price tag topped estimates of $37 to $42, and the stock shot up in price yesterday finishing the session at $56.50. Today Visa stock added another 14% to close at $64.35, putting the stock up some 46% since its debut yesterday. The lead underwriters for the IPO were JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. JP Morgan is the largest bank behind Visa owning some 64.5 million shares for a total ownership percentage of 23.3%. The previous US record for a single IPO was back in 2000 when AT&T was priced at $11 billion. [Read more]

Today Dell Computers (DELL) announed that it plans to buy $23 billion of components from China this year and $29 billion from China in 2009. With the US economy facing a recession reducing costs is a critical moving foward. This news is not a surprise though as other companies have already been approaching the matter in the same way. Cisco Systems (CSCO) announced it would be doubling its purchases from China over the next five years. As for competition goes, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) is not in as tough of a position as Dell is. Dell relies on the US for nearly half its total income where as HP is far less dependent. Between the two competitors, HP took the number one market share spot from Dell with its focus on laptops and selling through retailers.... [Read more]