This is the list of Unusual Suspects to watch in the week ahead: Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN); American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK); Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN); E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC); Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF); First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F); Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW); Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX); US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC); Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL); Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD); Five Star Quality Care, Inc. (NYSE: FVE); Kindred Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: KND); Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. (NYSE: SKH); and Sun Healthcare Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNH).

Again, these are intended to be the non-earnings stocks to watch even if some are reporting earnings.  In separate notes, we already published an earnings calendar with more than 20 detailed previews of the top earnings reports for this coming week.  There are also some carry-over issues that investors will want to track in the Top 11 Analyst Calls of the Week that we have for review and preview with matters that have longer-term implications.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was given a feature article in Barron’s this weekend titled “It’s All About the Revenues at Amazon” where the financial publication says that it is worth another 25% more than it already is today.  If the market is flat or just not real weak due to Washington D.C. on Monday morning we would expect another gain of 2% or so despite all-time highs having been seen last week.

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK) is one we have routinely featured as being the best water stock out there.  The water utility giant almost never reaches a 10% pullback from its highs, but on Friday it did breach that 10% threshold barely at $27.63 would mark it and the low was $27.54. Shares closed at $28.00.  The company does have earnings coming up, but that is very rare to get the 10% pullback.  We will not be shocked if the company announces a capital raise on strength.

Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) was down over 3% in regular trading on Friday, but shares popped more than 5% in the after-hours session to $6.05 on news that a Delaware court rejected PSEG’s attempt to block the company’s restructuring.

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) could have another buyer as Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) reportedly had considered making a bid back in 2010.  This report surfaced after the close on Friday.  Our take stands on our “maximum fair market value being $20″ unless a buyer has a way to end the overhang of its ongoing problem loan areas.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) may have earnings come up this next week but word surfaced late Friday that it has Cory Steffek to help the company make acquisitions and/or seek out partnerships.  This fits in with our solar mergers expectations in the coming months.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was listed in Barron’s this weekend as being “ready to roll” in an artgicle.  Despite having had lower earnings and despite some new UAW labor issues, Barron’s said Ford could top $15 if analysts are right.  While that is another 25% higher, that is actually far less aggressive than the consensus price targets from Thomson Reuters.

Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) rose Friday on word that the company is taking steps for a possible splitting-up of the company and to move to reinstate share buybacks.  If this is the case, then the gains may have much more to go as a candidate for moving away from mortgage guaranty operations.  Keep in mind that the 6% gain to $8.32 on Friday compares to a 52-week range of $7.56 to $14.77.

Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX) was noted over the weekend as having large options bets that its gains in cloud computing will keep going.  At $34.85, keep in mind that the Israeli-outfit has a 52-week trading range of $14.60 to $35.60.

Two Tales in Airlines: US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) announced late Friday that it was suing its pilot union for illegal job actions for its 5,200 pilots covered in the union.  In another bit of weekend news, Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) faces some negative press as two of its jets apparently collided on the ground in Chicago.  No injuries were reported, but how organized does that sound?

Woes come to nursing homes… Medicare announced big cuts on Friday afternoon regarding reimbursement and payments to nursing homes as part of what was announced in April to lower overpayments to the nursing home segment.  This created a disaster in many key stocks: Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) was down 6.3% at $20.04; Five Star Quality Care, Inc. (NYSE: FVE) was down 9.5% to $4.48; Kindred Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: KND) was down about 20% to $15.00; Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. (NYSE: SKH) was down 19% to $7.11; Sun Healthcare Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNH) was down 33% at $4.69.

JON C. OGG

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) Raised to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) Maintained Buy and $12 target at Gleacher & Co.
Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) Raised to Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
China Ming Yang Wind Power (NYSE: MY) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) Cut to Sell at S&P Equity Research.
Denison Mines Corp. (AMEX: DNN) Raised to Hold at TD.
Intercontinental Hotels Group (NYSE: IHG) Raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) targets Raised by Raymond James and by TD.
Perfect World Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: PWRD) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC) Cut to Neutral at Bank Of America Merrill Lynch.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Blue Coat Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BCSI), in proxy appliances and related software and services for optimize and secure applications, blamed weakness in its European business and macroeconomic issues for its lower-than-expected outlook for the first quarter with earnings in the last two weeks.  The company said that it will be in a range of $0.35 to $0.40 EPS with revenue of $121 to $126 million.  Thomson Reuters had estimates of $0.40 EPS and $132.1 million in revenue at the time.  Not a huge-huge lowering, but it came in a climate when investors were still at least somewhat bullish.  When that hit in late-May, shares went from $28.84 down to $21.47 and shares are hovering right around $22.00 now.

What is interesting is that McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) today posted strong sales with same-store gains up 3.4% in the U.S. and up 5.7% in Europe.  But then came word that McDonald’s sees a currency frag against earnings from Europe and elsewhere.   McDonald’s noted that it sees currency conversion hurting its full year net income now rather than earlier expectations for a slight benefit as it is now more than half outside of the United States.

McDonald’s came on the heels of a further disclosure yesterday from Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) that it expects an unfavorable currency impact (mostly Euro) to cut 1 or 2 cents off of its quarterly earnings estimates.  If that is so, then Thomson Reuters estimates, which have already recently come down 1 cent to $0.35 EPS, could come down further.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) had its CFO at an investor conference say that the falling Euro could knock off about $0.05 EPS from its full-year earnings guidance previously put at $5.40 to $5.60.  But he also said that the downside could be drug down further if this decline turns out to be structural rather than mechanical.  The bulk of the impact will come in the second half of 2010 as its rolling currency hedges unwind.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) reported last week that is earnings were above plan and it raised shipment forecasts for 2010 by about 4%.  But its stock slid over added fears of a weakening Euro because almost 70% of its Q1-sales were in Europe.  The company valued the Euro’s decline cost it about $24.5 million.

Elsewhere there are concerns which may be “hopefully thinking” more than entrenched in reality.  At Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) after the recent earnings report, CEO Mark Hurd discounted the Euro decline concerns and a later negative impact on sales. Hurd said a strong Euro (weak dollar) is good for them, but he said the Euro impact was overplayed.  Approximately one-quarter of its business is derived in Europe.  It will be interesting to see if H-P keeps that same stance since a further erosion has taken place.

What you are starting to see is a pattern confirmation.  It is not a pattern of death, because currencies do move.  But strong and severe moves in this short of a time do often have an impact for companies.  Hedges are in place at many firms, but companies often are either unable to hedge against such severe moves or they deem it too expensive to hedge above and beyond certain target-ranges.  We sill have over three weeks until the end of the second calendar quarter, so you can expect more news from companies on their Euro exposure.

That list from mid-May with companies having large Euro exposure included the following, and an explanation of the exposure for each can be found here:

• Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL),
• Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS),
• First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR),
• Flowserve Corp. (NYSE: FLS),
• Harman International Industries Inc. (NYSE: HAR),
• International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF),
• Millipore Corp. (NYSE: MIL),
• and Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM).

JON C. OGG

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) Removed from Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List.
EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) Raised to Outperform at RBC Capital.
Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) Raised to Buy at Lazard.
Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) Cut to Market Perform at BMO Capital.
Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ: PTEN) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Peet’s Coffee and Tea (NASDAQ: PEET) Cut to Neutral at Janney.
Progressive Corp (NYSE: PGR) Raised to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
Theravance Inc. (NASDAQ: THRX) Started as Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) Raised to Buy at Canaccord.
VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) is up 2% over the new “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II”… Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) is down 3% after being up on sloppy earnings last night.

Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) is hitting multi-year highs after beating its earnings targets and raising guidance.

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is a winner and up 6% after earnings.

Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE: EPR) is getting hit on a secondary offering.

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) is getting hit on a larger secondary offering as Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE: FIG) is selling all of the shares in the deal.

Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) and its $9.50 per share buyout by Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) may be further in jeopardy on an EU protest, but it is holding up better than you might think.

Standard Parking Corp. (NASDAQ: STAN) is down over 3% on a 6.59 million share secondary offering of common stock.

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

JON C. OGG

• Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
• Senior Housing (NYSE: SNH) Started as Outperform at Baird.
• Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
• Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) Cut to neutral at UBS.
• Century Aluminum (NASDAQ: CENX) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
• eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
• Progress Software (NASDAQ: PRGS) Cut to Hold at Needham.

Jon C. Ogg
December 19, 2008

• Aegon (NYSE: AEG)
• Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD)
• Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD)
• Chartered Semiconductor (NASDAQ: CHRT)
• Chipotle Mexicann Grill (NYSE: CMG)
• CVR Energy (NYSE: CVI)
• Gehl Company (NASDAQ: GEHL)
• 51Job inc.. (NASDAQ: JOBS)
• Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX)
• Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ: LSCC)
• McClatchy (NYSE: MNI)
• Micron Tech (NYSE: MU)
• Mine Safety Appliances (NYSE: MSA)
• New Frontier (NASDAQ: NOOF)
• Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL)
• THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI)
• Virgin Media Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED)
• William Sonoma (NYSE: WSM)

Jon C. Ogg
July 28, 2008

While "old folks homes" might sound derogatory in name, it shouldn’t be thought of that way.  Not at all.  247WallSt.com looks for sectors that we believe can enjoy secular growth.  The oldest of the Baby Boomer generation is just now entering the very first stages of retirement age, and many of their parents are still alive and many are in need of assisted living care.  Combine this with more future demand than current supply can meet, and all of a sudden you have the formula for a secular growth and income story.   

Below is an orderly report calendar for the top stocks in this sector that are reporting earnings this week:

Capital Senior Living Corp. (NYSE: CSU) reports earnings after marketclose today. Estimates from First Call for this quarter are $0.07 EPSon $48.68 million in revenues. Estimates for next quarter are $0.07 EPSon $49.46 million in revenues. Estimates for fiscal Dec-2008 are $0.28EPS on $199.10 million in revenues. Analysts have an average pricetarget of $11.00 and the 52-week range is $6.32 to $11.78. CapitalSenior Living is trading at $8.33 in Tuesday mid-day trading.  As areminder, this one may actually be up for sale and hopefully we’ll hearmore about that today.  Has not yet paid dividend.

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) reports earnings Wednesdayafter market close. Estimates from First Call estimates don’t lookquite as strong for this retirement home operator. For this quarterestimates are -$0.34 EPS on $481.89 million in revenues. Estimates fornext quarter are -$0.31 EPS on $488.59 million in revenues. Estimatesfor fiscal Dec-2008 are -$1.16 EPS on $1.97 billion in revenues.Analysts have an average price target north of $29.00 and the 52-weekrange is $20.46 to $48.41. Brookdale Senior Living is trading at $26.49in Tuesday mid-day trading.  The company is now just under one CEOrather than a dual CEO structure.  Well off of highs, has a 3.7%dividend yield.

Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) reports earnings Wednesdaymorning. Estimates from First Call estimates for this quarter estimatesare $0.43 EPS on $50.67 million in revenues. Estimates for next quarterare $0.43 EPS on $55.03 million in revenues. Estimates for fiscalDec-2008 are $1.74 EPS on $224.25 million in revenues. Analysts have anaverage price target north of $23.00 and the 52-week range is $16.22 to$25.21. Today, they announced plans to buy 48 buildings for $565million from HRPT Properties Trust. Senior Housing Properties istrading at $23.40 in  Tuesday mid-day trading.  Stock has a high 5.8%dividend yield right after a 2.5% drop since the company announced itwas acquiring 48 buildings from HRPT Properties for some $565 million.Senior Housings market cap is only $2.2 Billion (may not reflect recentsales).

Sunrise Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: SRZ) reports earnings Thursday aftermarket close. Estimates from First Call estimates for this quarterestimates are $0.29 EPS on $526.56 million in revenues. Estimates fornext quarter are $0.32 EPS on $535.88 million in revenues. Estimatesfor fiscal Dec-2008 are $1.31 EPS on $2.16 billion in revenues.Analysts have an average price target of $20.00 and the 52-week rangeis $16.27 to $42.97. Sunrise Senior Living is trading at $22.29 inTuesday mid-day trading.

No report on nursing homes and elderly care facilities would seemcomplete without the end game company which we will all ultimately beclients of.  Service Corp. International (NYSE: SCI), the funeral andcemetery giant, also reports earnings Wednesday after market close.Estimates from First Call estimates for this quarter estimates are$0.18 EPS on $592.71 million in revenues. Estimates for next quarterare $0.13 EPS on $554.45 million in revenues. Estimates for fiscalDec-2008 are $0.61 EPS on $2.25 billion in revenues. Analysts have anaverage price target north of $14.00 and the 52-week range is $9.30 to$14.50. Service Corp. International is trading at $11.12 in Tuesdaymid-day trading.

Jon C. Ogg
May 6, 2008

Jon C. Ogg
June 15, 2007