When we saw that the chairman and CEO of Applied Biosystems, Tony Smith, had unloaded nearly $29 million worth of stock in three days, we knew something was up. It turns out that Mr. Smith and five other board members will no longer have a place at the company when Applied merges with competitor Invitrogen. Mr. Smith’s response was to liquidate close to one million shares.

Regardless of whether or not he’s bitter (and it looks like he is) what does it say about the merits of a merger when the CEO and Chairman of one of the companies sells most of his stock before the two companies are combined? It isn’t a strong vote of confidence…

[Finviz] Tony White’s insider trading

[Yahoo Finance] Form 8-K Departure of Directors

It was a bad day for shareholders of XTL Biopharmaceuticals. After its one-and-only drug that’s close to market failed clinical trials against a placebo, the company’s stock fell 95% in value to $0.13 per share.

How fucked does Wall Street think they are? Their market cap is a pathetic $366,000 even though they have $8 million in the bank and 0 debt.

XTL’s CEO, Ron Bentsur, had this to say:

“We are all very disappointed with the results of the study. We will devote the next few days to further analyze the data and decide on the appropriate course of action for the Bicifadine program, and for the company.”

Best of luck selling, Ron.

[Yahoo Finance] XTL Biopharma plunges on Bicifadine trial failure

Sun Microsystems is planning on axing up to 18% of its staff in a desperation move to survive. Sun’s stock has fallen so quickly that the company’s market value is less than its cash on hand, which has prompted speculation that Sun might be taken over by one of its rivals.

The layoff rumors have been orbiting Sun for awhile along with rumors that CEO Jonathan Schwartz would be ousted. One step down, one to go.

Sunny Micro:

[Yahoo Finance] Sun to cut up to 6,000 workers, 18 pct of staff

The maker of those ass-ugly rubber shoes, Crocs, has posted an unsurprisingly massive loss of $147 million for last quarter. A year ago, when people were still buying the godawful things, the company turned a profit of $56 million. Those days are long gone, and I’m not buying any of their excuses about the “extremely challenging retail environment.”

[Yahoo Finance] Crocs Inc. reports $148M loss in third quarter

Department store chain Macy’s saw its sales drop 7% over the last quarter, which took the company into the red $44 million. A year ago, the company made a profit of $33 million during the same quarter. Analysts are hard-pressed to say whether the deteriorating economy was the cause or just Macy’s shitty clothes.

[CNN Money] Macy’s loses $44M in third quarter

Here’s a double-whammy: a 90-day loss of $3.41 billion and 1,300 employee layoffs. This is the hot-water that telecom Nortel Networks finds itself in and the reason why investors and analysts are calling for the company to be broken up. Shares of Nortel took a 26% nose-dive today as investors fled from the fledgling company.

The company’s CEO, part-time brain surgeon Mike Zafirovski, had this to say about the blood-letting restructuring:

“Our new structure will be simpler, streamlined and more appropriate for business today.”

Hey Mikey, companies are supposed to think about tomorrow… get your bullshit soundbyte straight next time.

[Toronto Star] Nortel slashes another 1,300 jobs

Starbucks’ revenue rose 3% but its earnings dropped an astounding 97% for the company’s fiscal 4th quarter. As a sign of the times, last years profits were $158.5 million — this year’s comes in at a paltry $5.4 million. The company plans to rectify this by slowing international growth and lowering the price of holiday merchandise. Way to keep the price of the coffee high, guys.

[WSJ] Starbucks to Slow Growth as Profit Falls

A $4.8 billion charge due to a drop in the company’s share price caused the one and only satellite radio company to lose $4.8 billion last quarter. Even without the charge, the company would have lost $217 million — a burn rate of about $70 million per month. CEO Mel Karmazin was upbeat:

“Sirius XM third-quarter results demonstrate strong revenue growth, solid cost control and most importantly a clear path to positive cash flow.”

So Mel says the path is clear, but somehow I doubt Sirius XM will be cashflow-positive anytime soon.

[Yahoo Finance] Sirius XM Radio posts $4.88B loss after charge

Shares of casino operator Las Vegas Sands dropped quicker than a hundred-dollar-bill on the pass-line after the company confessed that its debt is above the maximum leverage ratio. The company’s stock fell 33% on fears that it will probably default on its loans, and a bailout from the billionaire who controls the company — Sheldon Adelson — looks more and more unlikely.

The Sands’ stock chart looks like the bankroll of a slots player:

[MarketWatch] Las Vegas Sands signals it may not survive downturn

Things just keep getting worse for General Growth Properties. The company’s stock plummeted another 50% today after it posted a $15 million dollar loss for Q3. Shares of GGP have lost 90% of their value in the last 3 months. With results like this, it’s no wonder the company got rid of its CEO and CFO.

Take a look at this abortion of a stock chart:

The financial wing of General Motors, GMAC Financial Services, has posted a whopping $2.52 billion dollar red number for the third quarter. It’s a bad time for lending, a bad time for auto sales — how could it be anything but a godawful time for an auto lender?

[Yahoo Finance] GMAC 3Q loss widens on ResCap losses

Mohawk Industries has just announced a rug-licking $1.3 billion dollar loss for the 3rd quarter. The carpet-maker’s sales dropped 9% due to weakness in “American and European economies.” How were sales in Africa?

[Atlanta Journal-Constitution] Carpet maker Mohawk reports $1.3 billion loss

Viacom’s third-quarter income fell 37% due to “the impact of the financial meltdown on advertising sales.” This scapegoat is a bit disingenuous — the revenues from Viacom’s media networks increased by 6% even as domestic ad sales were down 3%. The real problem is likely a slump in the ratings of MTV, or a string of box-office duds by Paramount. Alas, the failing of The Love Guru surprised everyone.

[MarketWatch] Viacom profit declines on film comparison, ad sales

If only CBS Corp’s media assets weren’t the cause of a $14 billion dollar fire, the company would have made a profit! Oh well, they were and the company posted a laughably embarrassing third quarter. The stock is up on the news though — maybe Sumner Redstone won’t have to sell any more due to margin calls…

[CNBC] CBS’ Massive Third Quarter Write Down

Shares of VeraSun fell over 50% today on rumors that the ethanol company is close to filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company has been frantically trying to sell itself for the last month, but has apparently come up empty-handed. I guess the market for corn-to-fuel companies that lose $100 million per quarter has dried up.

[Yahoo Finance] VeraSun falls on report bankruptcy filing imminent