In a bear market, or stock market downturn like the one we are now in, investors spend a lot of time wondering about “the bottom”. Sometimes, the market seems to turn around overnight, and the indexes quickly shoot upward. Other times, the indexes bump along near the bottom for months or even years. Here are two consistent things about bottoms:...

THE CHURCHILL CORP. $8 (Toronto symbol CUQ: SI Rating: Speculative) (780-454-3667; www.churchillcorporation.com; Shares outstanding: 17.8 million; Market cap: $142.6 million) offers a range of construction, general contracting, maintenance, insulation, fireproofing, electrical and power-line construction services to clients in the resource extraction, industrial, utility and power-generation industries throughout western Canada. In the three months ended September 30, 2008, Churchill’s revenues rose 12.4%, to $228.9 million from $203.8 million a year earlier. Earnings almost doubled, to $11.2 million or $0.62 a share from $5.6 million or $0.31 a share. Cash flow per share almost tripled, to $0.60 from $0.21. In the latest quarter, Churchill gained from strong construction activity and growth in all of its industrial divisions. Earnings and cash flow rose more than revenues due to higher profit margins at many projects. The higher margins came from strong project execution, less contracted-out work, and greater use of the company’s own equipment, rather than rented equipment....

SYMANTEC CORP., $15.33, symbol SYMC on Nasdaq, rose over 13% this week after it reported earnings that exceeded analysts’ consensus estimates. In the three months ended January 2, 2009, Symantec’s earnings, excluding one-time items, rose 20%, to $350.2 million from $291.7 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 27.3%, to $0.42 from $0.33 on 3.8% fewer shares outstanding. The latest earnings beat consensus forecasts of $0.34 a share. Sales fell slightly, to $1.51 billion from $1.52 billion. In the latest quarter, the computer security software maker saw sales of its consumer products and its data-storage and server-management services each rise 1.2%, partly offsetting a 3.8% decline in security and compliance software. International sales fell 5.8%, partly due to the strong U.S. dollar. However, despite a weak economy, U.S. sales rose 6.5%. Earnings rose despite the fall in overall sales, largely due to cost-cutting measures. Symantec is still a buy....

NEWMONT MINING CORP., $39.78, New York symbol NEM, has agreed to buy the 33.3% of the new Boddington gold mine, in western Australia, that it does not already own from AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. Newmont will pay $1.1 billion, consisting of cash, stock and future royalties. The purchase price is roughly 30% more than Newmont’s likely 2008 earnings of $840 million, or $1.85 a share. Newmont plans to issue up to 34.5 million new common shares, at $37 each, to pay for this...

NISSAN MOTOR CO., $6.44, symbol NSANY on Nasdaq, plans to shift production of its Nissan March compact car to India, Thailand and other lower-cost countries in 2010. Nissan currently builds 47,000 of these cars a year at its Oppama plant, near Tokyo. Moving this production to Thailand would cut costs by 30%. Nissan also plans to move production of other compact cars currently being built in the U.K. to India. The weak U.S. dollar has hurt Nissan and other Japanese automakers by reducing the value of overseas sales when they are converted into yen. Conversely, the yen’s strength makes investments in plants in emerging markets even more cost-effective. The U.S. dollar is at a 13-year low against the yen, and is trading at around 90 yen to one dollar. In response to slumping global demand, Nissan will reduce its domestic production by 64,000 vehicles in February and March of 2009. These cuts raise the total number of vehicles eliminated in the current fiscal year, ending March 31, 2009, to 225,000, or 16.3% of the 1.38 million vehicles Nissan originally expected to produce....

STATE STREET CORP., $19.40, New York symbol STT, fell 50% this week after it disclosed higher-than-expected potential losses on its $79-billion investment portfolio. As of December 31, 2008, it had unrealized losses of $5.5 billion (after tax), up 66.7% from $3.3 billion at the end of the third quarter. State Street faces more losses from off-balance-sheet “conduits,” which trade securities backed by mortgages, credit card receivables and other loans. The company does not own conduit assets, but has agreements to provide them with backup loans. State Street believes the credit quality of these securities remains high, and that investors will receive full value when they mature, but a sharp drop in demand for all asset-backed securities has hurt their current market value. As a consequence, these conduits now have unrealized losses of $3.6 billion. Accounting rules may force State Street to bring these conduit assets onto its balance sheet at their currently depressed value. This could, in turn, force the company to issue new common or preferred shares in order to cover these losses and strengthen its balance sheet. Current market...

AASTRA TECHNOLOGIES, $10.84, symbol AAH on Toronto, plans to buy back roughly 2.5 million or 16.9% of its 14.8 million outstanding common shares through a Dutch auction. Stockholders who want to sell their Aastra shares under the plan must offer them at a price between $10 and $12.50 a share before January 27, 2009. The purchase price will be the lowest price in that range at which Aastra can buy 2.5 million shares. Aastra will pay that same price for all shares tendered at or below that price. If you tendered at a higher price, the company will return your stock. The transactions will be commission-free. If you are thinking about selling Aastra, you might tender at the top price of $12.50. You may get to sell some or all of any stock you tender at that price, without paying brokerage fees. If you simply want to get rid of a small lot of thin trading Aastra without paying commission, then tender at the market price just prior to the closing of the offer....

BANK OF AMERICA CORP. $7.18, New York symbol BAC, moved down this week as losses from recently acquired brokerage firm Merrill Lynch & Co. were higher than originally anticipated. In the fourth quarter of 2008, Merrill lost $15.3 billion due to writedowns of securities backed by mortgages and other loans. Bank of America completed its $19 billion all-stock purchase of Merrill on January 1, 2009. Fears over rising loan losses also weighed on Bank of America. In 2008, Bank of America’s earnings fell 73.3%, to $4.0 billion or $0.55 a share from $15.0 billion or $3.30 a share in 2007. The drop was mostly because of an $18.4 billion rise in loan loss provisions. These earnings figures do not include Merrill Lynch. The U.S. Treasury has now agreed to buy $20 billion of new preferred shares from Bank of America. These new shares carry an annual dividend of 8%. In 2008, Bank of America sold $25 billion of preferred shares (5% dividend) to the U.S. Treasury, as part of the federal government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program....

OILEXCO INC., $0.19, symbol OIL on Toronto, announced last week that its UK subsidiary Oilexco North Sea Ltd. intends to file for bankruptcy protection. The UK subsidiary holds almost all of Oilexco’s assets. In December, 2008, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Oilexco’s main lender, provided $47.5 million U.S. in bridge-financing due January 31, 2009. That provided Oilexco with just over a month to restructure. However, Oilexco said that it needed incremental short-term financing in addition to the bridge loan. In late December, 2008, the Royal Bank of Scotland informed Oilexco that lenders were not prepared to provide any further financing, prompting the bankruptcy petition. Petro-Canada, BG Group plc and Talisman Energy have reportedly expressed interest in some of Oilexco’s assets. However, after seeking bankruptcy protection, Oilexco’s assets are likely to be sold at discount prices, leaving little for shareholders....

ALCOA INC. $10.81, New York symbol AA, is down 75% from its recent peak of $45 in May, 2008. That was mainly due to a 53% drop in aluminum prices, from $1.50 a pound in July, 2008 to its current level of around $0.70 a pound. Demand for aluminum from the construction and automotive industries has slowed. The company has now unveiled a new restructuring plan that should help it cope with lower aluminum prices. This plan includes a 13% cut to Alcoa’s workforce, and sharp reductions in capital spending. The company will also lower its production of primary aluminum by 18%, and sell businesses that make aluminum products such as wheels for cars and electrical components. Restructuring costs will reduce Alcoa’s earnings for the fourth quarter of 2008 by $900 million to $950 million. However, the plan should increase Alcoa’s annual pre-tax earnings by $450 million. To put these figures in context, Alcoa earned $299 million or $0.37 a share in the third quarter of 2008 before one-time items....