Zings Of The Day (GS, V, PVH, BA, BP)

BP BP came out with a report this morning, in which it partially took blame for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April. The report said that BP was to blame, but the majority of the blame went to its partners, including Transocean and Halliburton. It also blamed the knife for running away with the spoon. Boeing BA said it is not ruling out a merger with another large defense contractor, as the defense and security environment becomes more challenging. One potential acquirer: Skynet. It needs aircraft for it's new line of Terminators to kill us with, right? Foster's rejected a $2.5 billion offer for its wine unit, saying the offer severely undervalues this part of its business operations. The private equity firm, whose name was not disclosed obviously wasn't drunk enough to bid anymore. Goldman Sachs GS is in talks to sell its principal strategies unit to KKR, among other bidders. This way, these prop traders can only screw up the private equity world, not the entire economy. Visa V noted that debit-cards continue to remain supreme, as consumers shun debt, and only can buy what they can afford. This is a welcome change of the previous 30 or so years, in which the American consumer acted like a pig at the trough and hadn't eaten for days. Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation PVH reported earnings yesterday after the bell that were much better than expected. The company houses such brands as Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Donald Trump. Now when you hear your boss say, "You're Fired!", you can look good while you go crying out of the office.