24/7 Wall St. » CBSH

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (T, AMZN, NOK, GOOG, CMG, FAST, RAD, MSW, CBSH, JBHT, CHKE, JPM, WFC, OAK, MIPS, EGO, AVID)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:05:52 +0000

Markets opened slightly higher this morning and about an hour before the markets close all three major indexes are more than 1% higher. The report on new unemployment claims was weaker than expected (our coverage here), but better news from Europe, especially lower Italian bond yields, gave the market a lift. There is also some expectation that China’s GDP report tonight will be strong, indicating that the world’s second-largest economy is still growing. The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.64% at 79.288. The GSCI commodity index is up about 0.7% at 679.53, with virtually all commodities higher on the lower greenback. WTI crude oil closed up 0.9% at $103.64/barrel, and Brent crude trades up 1.22% at $121.65/barrel. Gold settled up 1.2% today, at $1,680.60/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 181 points to 12,986.43 (1.41%), the NASDAQ rose more than 39 points (1.3%) to 3,055.55, and the S&P 500 rose 1.38% or nearly 19 points to 1,387.57.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) started as ‘neutral’ at SunTrust Robinson Humphreys; Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) cut to ‘hold’ at SocGen; Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) started as ‘buy’ at SunTrust Robinson Humphreys; and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $480 at Argus.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Fastenal Corp. (NASDAQ: FAST) is down -1.8% at $48.73; Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) is up 0.03% at $1.71; Mission West Properties Inc. (NASDAQ: MSW) is down -0.06% at $9.55; and Commerce Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: CBSH) is up 2.2% at $40.00. After the markets close today we will hear from Google (earnings preview here), J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT), and Cherokee Inc. (NASDAQ: CHKE) among others. Before the markets open tomorrow morning we get earnings from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) (more coverage here).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Oaktree Capital Group LLC (NYSE: OAK) is down about -1.3% at $42.43. The investment management firm held its IPO today. More coverage here.

MIPS Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: MIPS) is up about 27.5% at $6.64. The chip maker is reportedly seeking a buyer. More coverage here.

Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) is up about 12.5% at $14.45. The junior gold miner announced plans to double production in five years.

Avid Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) is down more than -17% at $8.51. The media tools company announced that it would have an operating loss in the first quarter.

Stay tuned for Friday. New York Fed President William Dudley and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke are giving speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index
8:55 a.m. – University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment index

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AMZN, AVID, CBSH, CHKE, CMG, EGO, FAST, GOOG, JBHT, JPM, MIPS, MSW, NOK, OAK, RAD, T, WFC

Should Banks Have Overdraft Fees? (JPM, ZION, BAC, CBSH, WFC)

Administrator — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:48:12 +0000

While not breaking news at this point, there is something that is front and center in banking when it comes to overdraft fees. To many consumers, overdraft fees are simply nothing more than a tax on people who cannot fill their bank accounts with very much money. No one cares what bankers think anymore, but the flip-side of the overdraft fee is that if they are not in place the banks will be on the hook when customers choose to not put money back into a bank with a negative balance and that many customers will go in the red frequently. If a bank denies a check’s ability to be used because a customer’s account would go into the red, the customer feels bad at the register and gets mad at the bank.

We want to know what you think below. Look at how much some banks have paid to settle overdraft charges and then decide in our poll below…. Should banks have overdraft fees???

So here are some recent settlements and other overdraft fee news…

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was asked by the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida in Miami to pay $110 million over a class suit for charging of inappropriate overdraft fees to its customers. Zions Bancorp. (ZION) was accused in late 2011 of improper overdraft fees over its policies in place from 2005 to 2010.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) and Commerce Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: CBSH) were ordered to make payments over unfair trade practices in overdraft situations: Commerce Banc paid $18.3 million; Bank of America was asked to pay $410 million to settle unfair overdraft fees charges.

Now go back to 2010. Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was ordered to pay $203 million by a California court to compensate customers suing over unfair overdraft fees.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Accounting, Banking, Corporate Governance, Economy, Personal Finance, Polls, Regulation Tagged: BAC, CBSH, JPM, WFC, ZION

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALU, AWK, WTR, CHU, CYN, CBSH, FII, HFC, MTB, MCHP, PEGA, BOX, SEE, SU, TSO)

Administrator — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:34:40 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
American Water Works Co. (NYSE: AWK) Reiterated Buy at Gabelli.
Aqua America Inc (NYSE: WTR) Reiterated Buy at Gabelli.
China Unicom (NYSE: CHU) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
City National Corporation (NYSE: CYN) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Commerce Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: CBSH) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Federated Investors, Inc. (NYSE: FII) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE: HFC) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML; Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP) Maintained Buy but cut target to $40 at Gleacher & Co.
Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
SeaCube Container Leasing Limited (NYSE: BOX) reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
Sealed Air Corporation (NYSE: SEE) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE: SU) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Tesoro Corporation (NYSE: TSO) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

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

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ALU, AWK, BOX, CBSH, CHU, CYN, FII, HFC, MCHP, MTB, PEGA, SEE, SU, TSO, WTR

52-Week High Bear Market Surprises (JPM, CPB, CBSH, FFH, THS)

247wallst — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:26:05 +0000

The 52-week lows are full and full of stocks each day lately. In a bear market it gets harder and harder to find stocks which are on their 52-week highs. The non-perishable food companies are easy to understand. But when some of the 52-week highs are FINANCIAL stocks, that made us do a double-take.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) $49.63
Day’s Range: 46.30 – 50.00; 52wk Range: 29.24 – 49.95
Comment: The last stable man standing in the banking companies didn’tclose on its high but broke above it briefly. Jamie Dimon gets to ownwhichever troubled financial institution the FDIC says he can have theassets for a song, while the acquired companies die.

Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) $40.15
Day’s Range: 38.11 – 40.85; 52wk Range: 30.19 – 40.05
Comment: After having just gone through Hurricane Ike and with Gustavhaving hit right before, Campbell Soup was the staple for millions ofpeople. I know from first hand experience.

Commerce Bancshares Inc. (CBSH) $53.97
Day’s Range: 45.16 – 55.50; 52wk Range: 36.50 – 52.99
Comment: Middle America must not be as buried as the rest of us.

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. (FFH) $336.30
Day’s Range: 318.46 – 355.62; 52wk Range: 208.15 – 343.00
Comment: Fairfax didn’t close on its high but hit it intraday. This is amazing for this P&C insurer in this climate.

Treehouse Foods Inc. (THS) $30.30
Day’s Range: 29.38 – 30.45; 52wk Range: 19.24 – 30.29
Comment: As a non-perishable food player, it must love hurricanes hitting major population centers too.

Jon C. Ogg
October 1, 2008

Posted in HI/LOW Tagged: CBSH, CPB, FFH, JPM, THS