CoreBrand reviewed the top 100 hardest working brands for the final quarter of 2009.  Their researchers point out that “the food industry moves to the top of the list, reflecting the economy and the general improvement of consumer staples businesses. Hershey’s (HSY), Campbell Soup (CPB), and Kellogg (K) make it into the top 5.” On the other hand “troubled industries like financial services and auto manufacturers have seen dramatic decline.”

Harley-Davidson (HOG) is in the top 10 among the hardest working brands. Before rumors of a buy-out, the motorcycle firm’s stock languished at $25, down from $42 less than two years ago. Harley’s stock trades for a low 1.2 times sales. Also near the top of the list is crippled book retailer Barnes & Noble (BKS), which trades for .3 times sales. Blockbuster (BBI) is in the top 25, with a ratio of .1x sales. The firm said in its 10-K that it is at risk for filing Chapter 11.

Douglas A. McIntyre  douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com

The Black & Decker Corporation (NYSE: BDK) rallied close to 30% to a yearly high of $61.79  following news that the tool makers has agreed to be purchased by Stanley Works (NYSE: SWK) in an all stock deal valued at $4.5 billion.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (NASDAQ: CTSH) rose over 8% to a yearly high of $42.40.  The computer services and technology consulting company announced that its 3Q 09 profit rose roughly 21%, beating analyst estimates.  The company also raised its 2009 profit estimate to $1.88 per share from $1.78 per share.

Landry’s Restaurants (NYSE: LNY) rose over 25% to a yearly high of $13.99.  The restaurant, hospitality and entertainment company following rose on news that the company’s chief executive, Timothy J. Fertitta has agreed to purchase the company for $14.75 per share, or $1.2 billion.

Garrett W. McIntyre

Reuters:   Executive pensions rose despite drops in stock prices.

Reuters:   Lloyds will make a large stock offering.

Reuters:   Stanley Works (NYSE:SWK) bought Black & Decker (NYSE:BDK) for $3.46 billion.

Reuters:   CIT’s (NYSE:CIT) exit from bankruptcy is not clear.

Reuters:   UBS (NYSE:UBS) posted a loss and wealth management clients continued to leave.

Reuters:   Ford (NYSE:F) posted a surprise profit.

Reuters:   Manufacturing and pending home sales both rose.

Reuters:   Volker said the economy could not rely on consumer spending.

Reuters:   The commercial real estate business is still in deep trouble.

WSJ:   Toyota (NYSE:TM) expects a monthly sales decline.

WSJ:   IllyCaffè SpA will work with local coffee shops to compete with Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX).

WSJ:   The head of the IMF says financial firms are going back to old practices.

WSJ:   Blu-ray makers are becoming more involved with web video.

WSJ:   Research-in-Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) is the focus of a number of bearish comments.

WSJ:   Schwab (NASDAQ:SCHW) is making a push into ETFs.

WSJ:   GM’s board will revisit the Opel sale.

WSJ:   Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Office faces inexpensive versions of similar software.

WSJ:   Sears (NASDAQ:SHLD) may need to get cash from its Canadian operation which presents challenges.

WSJ:   Problems are beginning to appear in the financials of Chinese banks.

WSJ:   Business bankruptcies rose 7% in October.

NYT:   The US will allow GM to use federal money to put into Delphi.

NYT:   The Supreme Court is looking at fees advisors charge mutual funds.

NYT:   The Senate is pushing insurance companies on the amount of premiums they actually spend on care.

NYT:   Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) may buy tax credits from Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM)

FT:   The Fed has asked banks to adopt it new pay rules early to cover 2009 compensation.

FT:   Ebay’s (NASDAQ:EBAY) PayPal has opened doors to outside developers.

Bloomberg:   The next head of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) may be based in NYC.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The transaction has already been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, and the deal would be expected to be completed in the first half of 2010.  The terms call for an implied premium of 22.1% to Black & Decker’s share price as of Friday, October 30, 2009. After the closing, Stanley shareholders would own about 50.5% of the equity of the combined company.

Also noted in management is that the nine members of the current Stanley board of directors will be joined by six new members from Black & Decker’s board of directors.  John F. Lundgren, Chairman and CEO of Stanley, will be President and CEO of the combined company.  Nolan Archibald, Chairman, President, and CEO of Black & Decker will become executive Chairman of the combined company for a period of three years.

Stanley was founded in 1843 is a diversified industrial company with hand tools and strong construction and do-it-yourself, security and industrial businesses with well-known brand names such as Stanley, FatMax, Bostitch, Facom, Proto, Mac Tools, Sonitrol, Stanley Security Solutions, Best, and Vidmar.

Black & Decker has roots dating to 1910 and brings in power tools and a diverse product offering under the brands of Black & Decker, DeWalt, Porter-Cable, Emhart Teknologies, Kwikset, Baldwin and Price Pfister.

This is effectively an acquisition by Stanley for Black & Decker.  Both companies are trading up on the news, with Black & Decker up 20% at $56.82 and Stanley Works up 2.3% at $46.20.  Before the buyout was announced, the market cap of Stanley was $3.2 billion and the market cap of Black & Decker was $2.8 billion.  With these companies being under $5 billion each, it is hard to imagine that antitrust regulation would come down too hard on the companies.

The merger only includes these two companies, but it has shares of Snap-On Inc. (NYSE: SNA) trading up 1.4% at $36.60 in after-hours trading.  Its market cap is $2.08 billion as of the close.

Jon C. Ogg

24/7 Wall St. asked Corebrand, the brand research and consulting firm, to look at the top 100 brands based their contribution to market capitalizaton. Using this method, the hardest working brand was Hershey (NYSE:HSY), followed  by Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG)

Corebrand described the process briefly to 24/7 Wall. St.

24/7 Wall St.: Corebard often refers to the brands on this list as the”hardest working brands”. How did you come to that description?

Corebrand: There are a lot of people measuring and examining the “strongest brands” or the “most valuable brands”.  Our opinion is that examining one without the other is somewhat meaningless.  How “strong” a brand is nice to know but not very relevant unless you understand how that strength benefits business.  Similarly, “value” is little more than a measure of corporate size unless you understand the drivers of that value and how to influence it. By examining the strength of the brand and it’s contribution to total market value, we can help companies and their leadership manage that strength and value over time.

24/7 Wall St.: Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having a brand value be a very large percentage of market cap in the present and as an indication of a company’s future performance?

Corebrand: The brand will need to be in balance with the rest of the company’s assets.  A company should strive to have it’s brand strong enough to fend off competitors or changing market conditions but not so strong that it becomes overly dependent on the brand as a single driver of value.  If a company can achieve and maintain its appropriate maximum strength without becoming over-dependent, it will see greater returns in bull markets and retain greater value in bear markets.

The list:

Each year, on a rolling basis, CoreBrand conducts 8,000 telephone interviews among business leaders to measure their perceptions of some of the world’s best corporate brands. Respondents are business decision-makers from the top 20% of U.S. businesses.

This senior business audience (VP level and above) represents the investment community, potential business partners, and business customers across 49 key industries. 400 respondents rate each company per year; 800 companies are measured each year. Our reports are updated on a quarterly basis to reflect any subtle changes.

CoreBrand collects financial performance data and communications investment information to understand the support behind and impact of these brands. These corporate brand strength ratings, as well as a company’s financial data are used in CoreBrand’s statistical model to determine the percentage of market capitalization that is directly derived from the corporate brand. Once that percentage is calculated, a dollar value is assigned to the corporate brand.

The percentage of market capitalization, attributable to the corporate brand. The percentage is then translated into a dollar value, based on the current market capitalization. The analysis is examined over time, to determine if the corporate brand is a growing or declining asset.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK) is running on significantly higher guidance.

Digital River, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV) is one of the biggest losers after Symantec is terminating a contract.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) is surging over 5% on new solid board member additions to help it transition.

DepoMed, Inc. (NASDAQ: DEPO) is down over 30% after missing some hot flash trial endpoints.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) is being hit by 5% on an SEC inquiry disclose.

ONYX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) is trading up despite it acquiring a private company.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is set to challenge 52-week highs on an upgrade.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates each morning on analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s and secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK) Started as Overweight at Barclays.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) Added to Goldman Sachs Top M&A List.
Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
Kroger (NYSE: KR) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Mastercard (NYSE: MA) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
PG&E (NYSE: PCG) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Polaris (NYSE: PII) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Visa (NYSE: V) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
VMware (NYSE: VMW) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates each morning on analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s and secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

ABB (ABB) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
ArcelorMittal (MT) Cut to Hold at Societe Generale,
Black & Decker (BDK) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Borg Warner (BWA) Cut to Neutral at KeyBanc.
Goodrich (GR) Cut to Buy from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Kroger (KR) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Medco Health (MHS) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Shanda (SNDA) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.

JON C. OGG

Advance Auto Parts (AAP) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Amazon.com (AMZN) Cut to Equal Weight at Barclays.
AutoZone (AZO) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Black & Decker (BDK) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Lazard (LAZ) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Morgan Stanley (MS) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Texas Instruments (TXN) Started as Sell at Auriga.

JON C. OGG

Eastman Kodak (EK) Poor earnings and layoffs. Down to $5.01 from 52-week high of $20.91.

Black & Decker (BDK) Cuts jobs. Cuts outlooks. Sells off to $31.02 from 52-week high of $74.24.

Dow Chemical Company (DOW) More concerns about finances and Rohm & Haas (ROH) buyout.

Websense (WBSN) Poor fourth quarter results. Dips to $11.38 from 52-week high of $24.60.

Douglas A. McIntyre