Blog Posts by Dan Berman

Who is more likely to emerge as the perceived winner of the government shutdown? President Obama and Senate Democrats or House Republicans? Vote below in the daily Hot Stock Minute poll. But first watch show host Lauren Lyster discuss the start of the shutdown with Yahoo Finance Columnist Rick Newman.

Walgreen (WAG) is out this morning with its quarterly earnings. The drug store giant reported adjusted earnings of 73-cents a share, beating estimates by a penny. Revenues, however, missed ever so slightly at $17.94-billion versus $17.95-billion. Profits were actually close to double from a year ago. Walgreens says that's because of strength in selling higher-profit generic drugs. Walgreen stock is up more than 41% year-to-date and hit a new 52-week high last Monday.

Diamond Foods (DMND) has been down nearly 8% in early trading. This is after reporting earnings yesterday afternoon. The company beat on the bottom line with adjusted earnings of 9-cents a share when estimates were for a loss of 3-cents. However revenues were down significantly, falling below the $200-million mark. Diamond had an accounting scandal several years back and has been trying to rebound since. Shares initially rose after the report but then moved lower on a weak outlook. Even with the losses the stock is up

Futures are up on the government shutdown. As odd as it may seem, premarket action is pointing green. Here at the Nasdaq, the composite index has been up about a-quarter percent. Of course yesterday was not so pleasant with the Dow suffering a triple digit drop ahead of the shutdown. As for that shutdown here's the latest: about 800,000 government workers will be furloughed today. More will be asked to work without pay. Many government activities like IRS audits and surveillance for flu outbreaks will be suspended. But essential functions like law enforcement and air-traffic control will continue. For more on the shutdown and thoughts on how the market might react watch the video above featuring show host Lauren Lyster and Yahoo Finance Columnist Rick Newman.

Warren Buffett is set to make a major Goldman Sachs (GS) grab today. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) is expected to exchange warrants that will make him the company's sixth largest shareholder. He acquired the warrants five

Stocks suffered steep losses ahead of a possible government shutdown. Traders appeared pessimistic that Senate Democrats and House Republicans would be willing to agree on a piece of legislation ending a stalemate. This afternoon the Senate rejected the House bill that sought to keep the government funded through December, which included eliminating a medical device tax while leaving the majority of President Obama's health care law provisions intact. If Congress fails to reach an agreement by midnight, a partial government shutdown will take effect on Tuesday.

POLL: Where do you pin the blame for the impending government shutdown?

J.C. Penney (JCP) ended the day lower by over 2% and at one point the stock dropped to $8.59; its lowest price since November 1984. Traders appear to have been scared off by a plan announced last week to sell 84 million shares as a way of raising capital. The company said it would offer the shares at $9.65 which is now significantly above the current price.

Where do you pin the blame for the impending government shutdown? More on President Obama and Senate Democrats or House Republicans? Vote below in the daily Hot Stock Minute poll. But first watch show host Lauren Lyster ask Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Aaron Task about the matter. The pair also talk about political troubles roiling markets in Italy and look back at the quarter which ends today.

J.C. Penney (JCP) is down more than another 2% in early trading this morning. The stock dropped more than 13% on Friday capping a catastrophic week. Shares tumbled an astounding 29% since their open on Monday. All of this came as the company announced it would be selling 84-million shares at a planned price of $9.65. Right now shares are below $9, having fallen 57% since the start of the year.

Siemens (SI) is saying "see ya" to 15,000 of its employees. The German industrial giant is in the middle of massive layoffs as part of a global restructuring program. Half the job cuts have already occurred. The rest will take place over the next year. Seimens certainly doesn't seem to be hurting with the stock up 13% in just the last month. Shares are up a total of 21% over the last year.

Paychex (PAYX) is currently down .5%. The payroll processor is set to release quarterly earnings after the closing bell. Analysts are predicting profits of 43-cents a share, up a penny from a year ago on

Nobody's budging on the federal budget. That meaning at midnight the Federal government could turn into a proverbial pumpkin. And you thought Halloween was supposed to be the scariest day of October. Markets are pointing sharply lower ahead of an impending shutdown. Here's the latest on the battle: The Senate is poised to reject a bill that has already passed the house. That's because the legislation includes a one-year delay of the new federal health care law known as Obamacare. Without an agreement by midnight, large portions of the government would close, and nearly a million workers would be furloughed, while many more could be asked to work without pay. So, how miht markets react to a shutdown? Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Aaron Task looks at the situation in the video above.

Something other than a little birdie tells me Twitter's releasing more details on its IPO plan. The website Quartz reports the social network will make its filing public this week. Twitter submitted its

Stocks fell again today ahead of a possible government shutdown. The major indexes dropped four out of five sessions this week. The budget battle could lead to a federal shutdown on Tuesday. Prevailing wisdom is that Congress will be able to reach a deal, although it is likely to come at the last minute. In the meantime, traders had the day to digest numbers on Personal Income and Consumer Spending for August. The Commerce Department says both numbers came in on target with rises of 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively. Also out today was the Thomson Reuters/Unversity of Michigan's final reading on consumer sentiment for September. It came in at 77.5. Economists ahd predicted a number of 78.0, though a mid-month reading was 76.8.

POLL: How much would a government shutdown hurt Wall Street?

J.C. Penney (JCP) fell more than 13% today below a critical level of $9.65 a share. That's the price at which the company says it will sell 84 million shares. Penney made the price announcement this morning