ttm

Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM - option chain) shares are headed higher today as the company officially begins booking sales of its Nano today. The car has been called the world's cheapest automobile, and analysts are eagerly waiting to see how well the car sells in rapidly-growing India. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on TTM.

TTM opened this morning at $6.96. So far today the stock has hit a low of $6.95 and a high of $8.30. As of 11:45, TTM is trading at $7.65, up 1.01 (15.2%). The chart for TTM looks neutral and S&P gives TTM a 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

With the Big Three auto companies in dire need of cash, they've all considered the possibility of selling some of their brands. General Motors' (NYSE: GM) Hummer, Saab and Saturn, along with Chrysler's Jeep and Viper and Ford's (NYSE: F) Volvo are all reportedly on the block.

"Trouble is, nobody seems to have the interest - or the equity - to make a deal," Fortune reports.

Bankruptcy Odds Watch
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24/7 Wall St.: The 24/7 Wall St. Bankruptcy Odds Watch

Small Companies, Big Brands
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MAJOR PAPERS:

• The banking unit of National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC) recently entered into a "memorandum of understanding" with federal regulators, the Wall Street Journal reported. The banking unit has bad loans, and the agreement basically means that the bank is on probation, as the government pressures financial institutions.
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that Justice Department criminal prosecutors and its U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, NY are investigating American International Group Inc (NYSE: AIG) to see if they overstated the value of contracts tied to subprime mortgages.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (NYSE: LEH) is thinking of releasing its Q2 results a week earlier than planned, and announcing a capital raising plan at the same time, according to the New York Post, in order to reduce negative speculation about its future.
• The Economic Times reported that Indian auto companies Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM) and Mahindra and Mahindra may be interested in acquiring Hummer from General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM).

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is cutting production at its Volvo unit, according to The Wall Street Journal. The move, which could affect one-third of workers -- some 700 -- is seen as an attempt to cut the costs and losses at the upscale Swedish brand.

The question everyone is asking is whether this move is done in preparation for a sale. According to "people familiar with the matter" who discussed such things with the Journal, CEO Alan Mulally is interested in putting Volvo, whose sales have been declining, on the block. Of course, to analysts, Mulally sang a different tune last month, saying the priority is improve the Swedish auto maker operations "dramatically."

As Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. continues to build its stake int he company, he may also have a thing or two to say on the matter.

For now, Volvo is cutting where it makes larger, less popular vehicles, and it plans to make fewer cars overall. But can this make Volvo more profitable for Ford, or at least more attractive to buyers? There are costs associated with producing a smaller number of vehicles, but with Volvo reporting 22,000 fewer vehicles sold during the first quarter, cutting production makes sense. Another matter Ford has to consider is the massive losses it suffered lately just from the kronor-dollar exchange rate.

It was reported long ago that Ford Motor (NYSE: F) was shopping its Jaguar and Land Rover brands. Today it finally announced it has closed the deal to sell these premier British brands to Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) of India for $2.3 billion. Ford, which has been losing money, found its share price way down, closing yesterday at $5.96 (now up a few cents in premarket trading) and was in need of a cash infusion.

Tata Motors, having just introduced a low-end $2,500 car to the Indian market, is now filling out the upper end of the spectrum by bringing these two well known British brands to a country with a tradition and heritage long ago saturated with British "imperialist" remnants like cricket and tea time. If Jaguar and Land Rover are to be revitalized, then Tata Motors probably has a better chance of success than most.

Ford bought Jaguar for $2.5 billion in 1989 and Land Rover for $2.7 billion in 2000. Nine months ago I posted Chasing Value: Tata Motors LTD - patience, patience, GOT IT! and now Tata has got it! What it hopes to do with these brands is gain some international credibility, based on a solid Indian foundation.

Tata's stock closed yesterday at $17.36, up slightly on the rumors. It is about midway between its 52-week low of $14.71 and its high or $21.30. This deal could send both companies forward humming a new tune. I would even speculate more wildly just for fun that in this world of expanding markets, integrated economies and corporate consolidation, Ford and Tata Motors could one day find reason to unite.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: We own shares in TTM.

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When should you make an insurance claim? For many, the answer is a no-brainer: "Whenever I have an accident or suffer damage to my house or car." Unfortunately, the decision about whether to file a claim is rarely so simple. In some cases, making a claim may cause an insurance company to raise your rates. In other instances, the decision to file a claim could put your name into a database that makes it difficult to get or maintain coverage in the future. Certain insurance claims are more likely to trigger an increase in premiums. Which ones could cost you?
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Your ID-theft Prevention Kit
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Top Suburbs to Live Well
Forbes.com compiled a list of the best standard of living suburbs for the country's 15 largest cities with the help of NeighborhoodScout.com, a Rhode Island-based real estate research firm, which analyzed school quality, crime rates, income and education levels and homeownership rates for every incorporated and unincorporated town, city and village within 25 miles of the major city.
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America's Best Bacon
Americans consumed more than $2 billion worth of bacon last year, but the tastiest stuff is made by a small group of artisanal producers.
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Before the bell: Futures decline on renewed credit concerns

With reports all over the place yesterday that Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was close to a deal with Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM), it is no surprise the deal was announced this morning with Ford selling British automakers Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata for roughly $2 billion.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) are discussing a plan to fund a new wireless Internet venture that would be run by Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) and Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) and create a nationwide network using WiMax technology. This would provide faster wireless Web connection speeds for laptops and cell phones than the current networks, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Fixing 5 Painful Money Screw-Ups
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MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that private loans under the Federal Family Education Loan, or FEEL, program have begun to give way to the federal direct loan program, as private lenders run into subsidy cuts and problems raising capital. To date about 60 colleges and universities have made the switch.
• Carl Icahn, a 6.3% Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) shareholder, has sued the company to get board of director documents, turning away offers of two board seats, the Wall Street Journal reported. Icahn wants information about the company's unprofitable handset business.
• Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is expected Wednesday to announce an agreement to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover units to India's Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM) for about $2B, the Financial Times reported.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to the Business Review, New York State Senator Charles Schumer is planning to 'reveal details' of a conversation he had with the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD) on March 21 about the company's plans to build a $3.2B computer chip plant in Saratoga County.

U.S. stock futures turned positive recently, despite being lower earlier this morning. With the recent advances on Wall Street the past two sessions, some investors feel it may be prudent to be more cautious and wait for some more data to be released before rejoining the activity.


Today, two main economic releases are due. The S&P/Case-Shiller index on home prices in January is due before the market open and March consumer confidence is due out at 10 a.m. EDT. Judging from yesterday's existing home sales report, housing prices haven't recovered yet and will likely show yet another decline. Similarly, consumer confidence is expected to be lower than the previous month as well, as consumers haven't regained confidence in the economy.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK), Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have said no to buying Motorola Inc's (NYSE: MOT) handset business, and potential Chinese interest is not there. The perception now, according to the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street," is that Motorola's problems may be to difficult to fix.
• The Financial Times reported that the Los Angeles city attorney launched a wide-ranging legal action on Thursday against Health Net Inc (NYSE: HNT), one of California's biggest health insurance providers, accusing the company of defrauding customers by setting illegal policy cancellation targets for its sales agents.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to sources, the Economic Times reported that Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM) may be looking to spin off Jaguar into a separate entity once the acquisition of the brand from Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is complete.
• The U.S. government has approved the first virtual fence, built by The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA), along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, the Associated Press reported. Along the 28 mile stretch of border, radar and surveillance cameras will be used to try to catch people entering the country illegally.

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Toyota's (NYSE: TM) net grew 7.5% in the last quarter, but it indicated that it may not be quite so fortunate in the current period.

According to Reuters, the improvement was due to "speedy sales growth in China, Russia and other emerging markets." The big car company said it was still worried about the US economy.

The figures from the Japanese company show the difficulties that all of the global automotive firms face now. They are seeing double-digit sales increases in emerging markets, but in their largest market, the US, sales could be extremely poor this year.

Even that analysis masks the real long-term threat to Toyota's growth. In most emerging markets, there are already large automotive firms. Those include Shanghai Automotive in China and Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) in India. These companies are not going to let big overseas operators simply come into their countries and take large pieces of the market.

The US economy may be the short-term enemy to Toyota, but competition in emerging markets is likely to be its challenge for the next decade.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

GM (NYSE: GM) does not like to be trumped. Last week, India's Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) launched a car that costs about $2,500. It is geared to consumers who only have money to drive motorcycles now. The vehicle may sell well in India, but Tata understands that it could be exported to other emerging markets like Russia and China.

GM does not need any more competition in emerging countries. With its sales flat to down in the U.S. market, the company says its goal is to have 75% of its sales from outside America in just a few years. To do that, GM will need cars to fit the markets, not just versions of GM cars that it can build and sell abroad.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "GM's Asia-Pacific chief is working on developing a car for emerging markets that could play in the sub-$4,000 price range, as the company looks to compete with auto makers that are already building cheaper cars."

The plan may look good, but only if GM can find facilities and a workforce that is cheap enough to build a super-low-cost vehicle at a profit. With wages rising in China and India due to increased demand for products from these countries, the job may be difficult.

GM may want to be in the $4,000 car business, but it is not clear that it is a business which GM can afford.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.