Daily Archives: March 12, 2009

MarkWest Energy Files To Raise Cash (MWE)

money-stack-image26MarkWest Energy Partners LP (NYSE: MWE) has just filed with the SEC to raise capital via the sale of securities.  The company’s filing is for sales of any combination for it (and its many units) to sell common units, debt securities, and guarantees of debt securities for an amount of up to $1 billion.
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The 52-Week Low Club (MTG)(PLL)(ROCK)

bear7MGIC (MTG) Fitch puts company on negative watch list. Plunges to $.70 from 52-week high of $14.99.

Pall Corporation (PLL) Profit falls 19%. Drops to $18.20 from 52-week high of $43.19.

Gibraltar (ROCK)  Goldman Sachs says company could breach loan covenants. Sells off to $3.59 from 52-week high of $24.63.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Stocks That Should Double: Financials (C)(JPM)(BAC)(WFC)(GE)

This week 24/7 Wall St. is picking several stocks that are likely to double off of their lows.  The  time frame is by the end of 2010, which is meant to coincide with some form of economic recovery next year.  This is not based on a sharp turn up in the economy. A number of the credit and financial issues facing the markets will be in place for the near-term or longer.  The other assumption used for choosing the stock prices is a market bottom of 600 on the S&P 500 Index.

These are the financial stocks. Read More »

Apple (AAPL) Announces iPhone OS 3.0 Event

From 24/7 Wall St. partner AppleInvestorNews

Just Announced: An Apple (AAPL) event in Cupertino next Tuesday will talk about the next generation of iPhone software.
The Apple invitation to reporters formally dubs it “iPhone OS.” CNET speculates “Apple has something up its sleeve.”
-Frank Cioffi, Apple Investor News

Hidden Positive Aspects of Intel in Research (INTC, TSM)

intel-logoIntel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) shares rose today after  Broadpoint AmTech raised its rating to “Buy” from “Neutral.”  We normally would not make much of an issue on a single event like this, but the analyst made some interesting points which we have also noted recently that might not be modeled into Wall Street forecasts.
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SunPower Puckers On Analyst Licking (SPWRA)

solar-panel-pic12SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) has already taken a licking and its lowered guidance is not helping.  Ditto for an analyst downgrade.  JP Morgan dropped the stock from “Overweight” to its least desirable “Underweight” rating.  Jefferies has managed to maintain a “Buy” rating but did cut estimates and the price target.
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Refiners Feeling the Pinch (VLO, TSO, MRO)

refinery-imageUS refiners might be facing a squeeze on earnings if crude inventories continue to build and prices continue to drop for diesel fuel.  Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO), Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO), and Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) are particularly vulnerable because they have been increasing production of diesel fuel in the last year as prices and margins on the fuel have increased.
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Natural Gas Prices Driven By LNG Imports? (DVN, CHK)

There are some issues surrounding natural gas that is keeping a cap on the sector.

Spot prices are bouncing around between $3.50 and $4.00 per thousand cubic feet. At those prices, unconventional shale gas plays are largely uneconomical.  The big US shale plays are the Barnett Shale in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Arkansas’ Haynesville Shale, where companies like Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE:DVN) and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE:CHK) own vast drilling rights.
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iSIRIUS… It’s Coming (SIRI, AAPL)

sirius-logo4It looks like the long-awaited tie up from Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is happening.  This opens up a much larger market for SIRIUS XM.  The company just outlined some of the details in the conference call this morning.
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China’s Power Consumption Rises

Electricity consumption in China has apparently risen 15% year-over-year in February, and 13.2% higher than January. The rise follows four consecutive months of falling consumption, which amounted to declines of as much as 20% in some provinces.  There might be many explanations for why this could be an anomaly, but economists might try to look further into this.
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S&P Cuts GE, A Mere Formality (GE)

ge-logo2General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was finally downgraded by a debt ratings agency.  Standard & Poor’s  cut the ratings for GE. This has been telegraphed for nearly three months.  What is interesting is that the company is trading up on the news which is not as bad as many might have been expecting.
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Gilead Wins CV Therapeutics Bid; Higher Bid Coming? (GILD, CVTX)

money-stack-image25Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) has agreed to buy CV Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CVTX) for $20.00 per share in cash.
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Bank Insiders Look Smart For a Change (C, WFC, BAC)

Some recent bank insiders that bought stock in their respective banks are finally looking smart after looking like fools for some time.

Over the years, insider buying has been seen as a sign of strength of a company, but lately, especially in the banks, the buying has been seen as a sign of weakness. Investors view the buys as feeble attempts at confidence building. The intended confidence never materializes and the stocks continue to be brutalized by running shareholders and the short sellers that continuously pounce on the once-mighty blue chips, turned penny stocks.

Read more….

Pfizer’s Sutent Scores Another Pancreatic Tumor Win (PFE)

pfizer-logo1Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is stopping its Phase III clinical trial of Sutent early.  This is generally a scare over adverse events, but not in this case.  Sutent apparently has shown such a significant benefit in patients with advanced pancreatic islet cell tumors that an independent data monitoring committee has recommended halting the trial after concluding that Sutent demonstrated greater progression-free survival compared to placebo.
Read More »

Continuing Jobless Claims Reach Record Losses

jobless-line-picWe just got the latest round of weekly jobless claims, and it is still a worker bloodbath out there.  This last week’s figure was put at 654,000.  Economists had project a reading of 645,000 and there was one estimate as high as 660,000.  This was from a prior preliminary report of 639,000, which was revised slightly higher to 645,000.

The four-week average came in at 650,000, which is a gain of 6,750.  The problem is that the continuing jobless claims rose by 193,000 to 5,317,000. If the data comparisons are accurate, then this will actually be the highest reading on record since the Labor Department started tracking continued claims.

The beating will continue whether morale improves or not.

JON C. OGG

Down Markets and Dumb Economic Myths

By John Tamny  RealClearMarkets

Be it up markets or down markets, when stocks are moving powerfully in either direction lots of misinformation seeps into the public discussion. And with shares testing lows not seen since the ’90s, it’s understandable that a number of wrongheaded assumptions would become conventional wisdom. The problem here is that a great deal of the ’settled logic’ with regard to housing, recessions, the dollar, free trade, and debt has no basis in reality.

Read more…

Top Analyst Upgrades (ABMD, ALTR, SNP, JCI, MDAS, SQNM, ZNT)

money-stack-image24These are some of the top analyst upgrades and positive research calls we are seeing this Thursday morning with about two hours until the market opens:

  • Abiomed (ABMD) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
  • Altera (ALTR) Started as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  • China Petroleum (SNP) Raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Johnson Controls (JCI) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • MedAssets (MDAS) STarted as Buy at ThinkEquity.
  • Sequenom (SQNM) Started as Outperform at JMP Securities.
  • Zenith National Insurance (ZNT) Started as Buy at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.

JON C. OGG

Top Analyst Downgrades (CRZO, LDK, LUKOY, MBLX, PLLL)

burning-money-pic19These are some of the top analyst downgrades and negative research calls we are seeing this Thursday morning with about two hours until the market opens:

  • Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
  • LDK Solar (LDK) Cut to Sell at Piper Jaffray.
  • Lukoil (LUKOY) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
  • Metabolix (MBLX) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • Parallel Petroleum (PLLL) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

JON C. OGG

Citi Starts Online Broker Coverage (SCHW, ETFC, AMTD)

Citigroup has initiated coverage of the discount and online brokerage universe this morning.  There is a mix of coverage in the call rather than a positive or negative for the whole group.:

  • Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) Started as Buy.
  • E*TRADE (NASDAQ: ETFC) Started as Sell.
  • TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) Started as Hold.

JON C. OGG

Nintendo: At Least People Can Still Afford Games

bank11The economy is so bad that most people live in a world where they shop at Wal-Mart (WMT) and eat at McDonald’s. Finding entertaining things to do has simply gotten too expensive.

Nintendo has been able to buck that trend with its least expensive and smallest product, the DS, or dual screen portable game player. Read More »