An Audit Integrity study of accounting and corporate governance finds that Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD), Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI), and AMR (NYSE: AMR) are the three companies most likely to file for bankruptcy protection over the next 12 months, among those with market caps greater than $1 billion.
Well, just as being celebrated on the cover of Sports Illustrated or the latest installment in John Madden's football video-game series is the kiss of jinxed death, maybe being singled out on the naughty list can be nice.
American Airlines parent AMR soared nearly 20% on Thursday, after nabbing $2.9 billion in new financing and ramping up its capacity in a few markets. Shares of Rite Aid and Sirius XM have appreciated more than tenfold apiece since bottoming out in February.
The risks are real, naturally, but there's something to be said about contrarians who scoff at rearview mirrors and come to their own conclusions about what the future may bring.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
- Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) CEO Warren Buffett is drawing the line. He believes the economy has "sort of plateaued at the bottom." Yes, Buffett is calling bottom, during the same week in which Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke claimed that the recession "was very likely over."
- In a week of buyouts, there's at least one sellout. Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) is unloading its $150 million stake in Alibaba.com. This isn't a complete kiss-off, since Yahoo! still maintains an even meatier investment in Alibaba.com's parent company.
- The bailout is getting a bailout. Citigroup (NYSE: C) is the latest TARP baby to propose ways to begin cashing out the government. Taxpayers with a 34% stake in the banking giant are unlikely to mind the exit strategy.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
