Last Friday I had to meet with a benefits adviser from my company; we are switching benefits providers, and there was “some important information that had to be documented, such as beneficiary elections, etc”.

It turned out it was just an opportunity for the provider to try and sell their benefits one on one.

To be honest, I was really turned off by the benefits, or more specifically the number of benefits I was offered. Not that we don’t have enough benefits, that’s not the case at all. There were just too many benefit options above and beyond the standard health, vision, …

Next week will reveal a lot about the state of our economy:

Institute for Supply Management data - April 1st.
The institutes’s data for March suggests a drop to 48.0 which would signal that the economy is close to falling into a recession.

Joint Economic Committee Meeting - April 2nd.
Ben Bernanke is set to testify before the congressional Joint Economic Committee on the out look of our economy. The committee will discuss whether our economy is already in a recession or heading into one.

Earnings: Best Buy and RIM - April 2nd.
Earnings reports for Best Buy (BBY: chart, web, Y!) and Research in Motion (RIMM: …

There have been many terms tossed around lately stemming from the latest economic and financial news. One of the most popular has been the phrase “a run on the bank”.

What does that really mean?

A run on the bank is really a type of financial crisis that occurs when bank customers rush to withdraw their funds over fears that the bank may go under. Such as with Bear Stearns (BSC: chart, web, Y!), when word got out that they weren’t doing so hot, and you saw the mad rush to sell the stock, dropping the price per share from nearly $100 to under …

Oracle (ORCL: chart, web, Y!) posted disappointing quarterly software sales today and hinted that its customers had become more cautious, dispelling the notion that the software sector would be immune to the economic turmoil that has roiled the rest of the tech sector.

As I mentioned last weekend, I suspect Oracles report could serve as a template for future earnings reports to come in the next month for the tech sector. In short, profits may continue to climb, but worries about our economic condition and consumer spending will place a target on revenues and sales. If those numbers …

Walgreen’s (WAG: chart, web, Y!) earnings came out today and they ended up beating Street estimates by 2 cents, and second quarter sales increased by 10.5% on comparable-store sales growth of 4.7%.

While the EPS was up, it didn’t match the sales growth, increasing just 6.5%.

So what’s the beef?

Walgreen’s earnings are commendable, but the fact that earnings aren’t out-growing sales leads me to believe margins are tightening. In fact, gross margins were down 14 basis points for a variety of reasons including mix shift and softer seasonal sales.

Expenses were up 11 basis points as a percentage of sales, however most of the expenses …

Walgreens reports earnings - March 24th
What a difference a day makes. Leap year is going to be particularly good to Walgreens (WAG: chart, web, Y!).

On Monday the drugstore chain reports second-quarter earnings, and those numbers garner help from one extra day’s worth of business in February. Same-store sales rose 8.3% in February, and analysts expect that February 29th sales will push the EPS up to 67 cents.

Oracle Insight - March 26th
Oracle (ORCL: chart, web, Y!) is scheduled to report fiscal third quarter earnings after the market closes on the 26th. Normally I don’t follow Oracle, but …

Last Wednesday, Provident Energy (PVX: chart, web, Y!) came out with their 2007 year-end and Q407 report, and also provided an update on reserves.

All around a positive report, and I’m curious as to why the stock dropped almost a dollar in two days on a fairly bullish report. The only thing I can think of is that crude oil ($wtic: chart) dropped $6 and natural gas ($natgas: chart) prices waned almost a dollar in those same two days will a lot of money fleeing commodities.

A few highlights from the report:

The payout ratio in the fourth quarter of …

I’ve been hearing the term “capitulation” being thrown around a lot lately on many of the talking heads programs. In context, it’s used like this: “…we won’t see the bottom of the market until we see capitulation”.

So what exactly does that mean?

In street sense, capitulation means to surrender or give up. You hear it in military history discussions frequently in terms of a surrender. However, in Wall Street sense, it means to “give up” any previous gains as investors sell equities in an effort to get out of the market and into less risky investments.

You’ll see capitulation set …

CoBank is one of the largest American cooperative banks serving rural America. Recently, the company said its shareholders approved a plan to issue up to $250 million in preferred stock in 2008 or 2009.

The stock may be issued in one or more issuances, the firm said, and in addition, CoBank shareholders also agreed to amend bank bylaws to increase the amount of preferred stock it can issue to $1 billion from $500 million.

The bank has already issued $500 million in preferred stock since 2001 along with $500 million in subordinated debt.

Why would a lending institution that lends money to the likes of …

The Fed cut its discount rate by 75 basis points, even when the street predicted a 100% chance of a full 100 point cut.

Whats more important though is that Goldman Sachs (GS: chart, web, Y!) and Lehman Brothers (LEH: chart, web, Y!) both reported smaller than expected profit declines, easing fears that the liquidity crisis that sank Bear Stearns (BSC: chart, web, Y!) could spread to other investment banks. While normally I don’t view a “smaller than expected decline” report as overly bullish, I do believe it helps isolate the …