Wave Systems LAUNCHES Cloud-Based Service and 4 Hot Stocks Trading Mid-Week

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) reports that its Q2 Walmart International net sales totaled $32 billion. On a constant currency basis, net sales would seen a 7.2 percent increase to $32.3 billion. Additionally, net sales for Sam’s Club, excluding fuel, totaled $12.5 billion, which is a 4.6 percent increase from last year’s Q2 results. Sam’s membership along with other income for Q2 rose 4.6 percent higher than last year. Shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. are trading 3.17% lower today.

Don’t Miss: Wal-Mart Earnings: Second Straight Quarter of Rising Net Income.

Wave Systems Corp. (NASDAQ:WAVX), launched Wave Cloud on Wednesday. Wave cloud is a cloud-based service used for enterprise-wide management of self-encrypting drives (SEDs). The new subscription-based service of the company introduces a game-changing platform for enterprises wishing for rapid deploment of centrally-managed hardware-based data encryption on laptops, without the complexity and cost that is often associated with maintaining on-premise servers.  Shares of Wave Systems Corp. are trading 6.15% higher today.

Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS): At minimum of five Swiss banks are turning over thousands of employee names to the U.S. Justice Department as they attempt to gain leniency for their alleged role in assisting American clients in evading taxes, according to lawyers who are representing banking staff, reports Bloomberg. However, this data handover is illegal, according to Alec Reymond, who is a former president of the Geneva Bar Association. The banks are now burning their own people as an attempt to cut deals with the DOJ, he adds. This personal privacy violation is unprecedented in the Swiss banking industry. Shares of Credit Suisse Group AG are trading 2.93% higher today.

Waste Management, Inc.’s (NYSE:WM) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) has been affirmed at ‘BBB’, according to Fitch Ratings, and the Rating Outlook remains Stable. The ratings apply to WM’s $2 billion unsecured credit facility as well as approximately $6.2 billion of senior unsecured notes. The ratings are supported by the strong free cash flow of the company, the predictable nature of the industry, and WM’s position as the leading integrated waste services company in the U.S. WM keeps maintaining good financial flexibility, with adequate cash and revolver availability along with a manageable debt maturity schedule. As of June 30, 2012, leverage was 2.9x, which is a slight rise from 2.7x a the previous year, but it is still considered appropriate for the rating due to WM’s steady cash flow generation. Shares of Waste Management, Inc. are trading 0.76% higher today.

General Electric (NYSE:GE): On Tuesday, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. held its monthly board meeting privately in Washington, and the following day, no news has been heard indicating whether or not the board discussed the sale of MetLife’s bank deposits to General Electric Co. FDIC approval of GE’s proposed purchase of MetLife’s U.S. retail-deposit business is imperative in MetLife’s bid to increase its stock dividend and buy back shares, which is something MetLife shareholders have anticipated for months. Originally, the two companies believed that GE could win the necessary approvals by June, but MetLife executives refuse to speculate on a timeline in more-recent comments regarding the transaction. Shares of Piedmont Natural Gas Company Inc. are trading 0.62% higher today.

Don’t Miss: Facebook Fails to Gain Confidence.

Want news like this in real-time so you can get an edge? Click here for Wall St. Cheat Sheet Pro.