The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) Started as Outperform at William Blair.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) Reinstated as Neutral with $30 price target at Credit Suisse.
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) Started as Outperform with $32 target at Credit Suisse.
Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) Cut to Hold on Valuation at Argus.
Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Equity One Inc. (NYSE: EQY) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE: HIG) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray; Maintained as Buy but raised price target to $49 at Argus.
Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
Kimco Realty Corporation (NYSE: KIM) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
The Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR) Started as Underperform at William Blair.
Sandridge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Synaptics Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNA) Raised to Buy at Needham; Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Reiterated as Buy with $102 price target at Canaccord Genuity.
Vistaprint NV (NASDAQ: VPRT) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
ZOLL Medical Corporation (NASDAQ: ZOLL) maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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JON C. OGG

The Micromet deal is valued at $11.00 per share.  This was a 33% premium to the prior close and shares closed up 32% at $10.94.  The prior 52-week range was $4.13 to $8.90.  Unfortunately for M&A arbitrage players, this deal offers no real upside in an arb-spread and it seems unlikely that a higher bid is coming based upon its share price never having gone above $11.00 today.  That buyout is on the heels of a deal signed last year where Amgen agreed to an upfront payment for a discovery and development deal.  Amgen is indicated around $69 after turning in 3% sales growth after the close.

Avila Therapeutics is a developer of covalent drugs in cancer and this $925 million buyout from Celgene is a cash and stock deal with $350 million of the total coming in cash.  This company has AVL-292 as a inhibitor now in Phase I studies.  Celgene shares are around $72.65 and are also with striking distance of a 52-week high ($75.11).

It is interesting that with two deals already having been announced in the last 24-hours that the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (NASDAQ: IBB) ETF was down by almost 1% at $114.71 on a day when there were two deals on the heels of another large premium acquisition this week.

JON C. OGG

Amgen’s current dividend is 2.3%, which is rather high for a biotech stock. It also should be noted that the $64.00 price is above the stock’s old former rangebound levels of $50.00 to $60.00. Pfizer currently yields 3.7%, but that is about to rise to closer to 4%, and Merck yields about 4.50% after its dividend hike.

The question for 2012 is simple: Which biotech stocks will be among the second waves to initiate paying a dividend? By our count, these are the biotech outfits that might entertain following Amgen’s dividend path: Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB), Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG), Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN), Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST), PDL BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDLI), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN), and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX).

We would have evaluated the chances of Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) initiating a dividend, but this $11 billion proposed buyout of Pharmasset, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRUS) is likely to keep Gilead tied up for quite some time.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) is close to all-time highs above $70 and is now worth a whopping $13.2 billion. Estimates are $1.30 EPS for 2011 and $1.66 EPS for 2012, making this one have a much higher valuation while it is still rapidly growing. Some investors may expect that it could start paying out a dividend, but it is too soon by our take today, even with a $445 million balance of cash and liquidity with almost no long-term debt.

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) has estimates of $5.89 EPS in 2011 and $6.31 EPS in 2012. The company had only about $3 billion in cash and investments at the end of September versus a current market cap of about $27 billion. 2011 was the year that investors decided to give up on worrying about the very rare PML cases in TYSABRI, and that allowed Biogen shares to rise almost 60% in 2011. If Biogen decides to get off the no-dividend bandwagon soon, we would only look for an initial payout of $1.00 on an annualized basis for a while.

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) may still be too new of an earnings story to start expecting a dividend. The earnings estimates are $3.80 EPS in 2011 and $4.51 EPS in 2012. With almost $2.6 billion in cash and investments, its market cap is larger than Biogen’s at $30 billion.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) managed an incredible breakout year as its drugs treat hospital-borne infections, with nearly a 100% share price gain in 2011. The market cap is now about $2.45 billion, and it had nearly $1 billion in cash and liquidity before a recent $221 million acquisition versus about $450 million in long-term debt. Cubist probably could start to pay a dividend if it wants to, but the company has decided to be an acquirer rather than hoarding cash or going defensive. Chances are that it may need to hold on to its cash while it absorbs Adolor and anything else it is considering.

PDL BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDLI) has been a dividend payer from its patent royalties, but some payments have been one-time payments until its most recent $0.15 payout for each of the past four quarters. The company also recently forecast a 5% revenue drop and investors are already braced for lower royalty payments. The company recently lost its CFO after only about three years on the job and we really do not like to see CFOs leave biohealth companies. Estimates are $1.18 EPS for 2011 and $1.38 EPS in 2012, but it has about $225 million in cash and liquidity versus a market cap of $867 million. The company may just stick with its current payout structure’s high yield as is until (or if) it can secure another large patent license.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) is worth some $5.1 billion or so in market capitalization and is fresh off the news that it settled with Genentech over U.S. opthalmic sales of the eye drug EYLEA with a patent case still brewing, but with Regeneron agreeing to pay out $60 million if sales reach $400 million and it will pay royalties out as well. With cash and liquidity of near $500 million at then end of September we think it is a bit premature to ask this one to start shelling out its cash to shareholders yet, considering it is still expected to have a wide loss in 2012.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) is so far off of highs now that it seems unlikely investors are expecting much on the dividend front. The company is back on the path of growth after some changes and stumbles, and now its market cap is almost $7 billion. With this one it just feels too soon to expect any dividends in reality. We could analyze all we want, but its new revenue growth is challenged by a cash balance of just over $800 million versus $400 million in long-term debt. What is interesting is that Vertex’s $0.30 EPS expected for 2011 is expected to be $4.55 EPS in 2012. It had a loss of $3.77 EPS in 2010. Maybe after another year or so we can evaluate its future dividend strategy.

After reviewing the great biotech sector’s larger components, it sure does not sound like many other than Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) are really new prime-time dividend candidates for 2012, other than the high payout of PDL BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDLI).

JON C. OGG

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Cut estimates and target to $200 at Credit Suisse; maintained Buy at BofA/ML.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $70 at Argus.
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) Raised estimates at BofA/ML.
Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRW) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut to Hold at Kaufman; Cut to Hold at Jefferies; Cut to Sell at S&P Capital IQ (late Tuesday).
The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) Raised to Hold at S&P Capital IQ (late Tuesday).
Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) Cut to Hold at Brean Murray.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Mitcham Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIND) named the Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Saks, Inc. (NYSE: SKS) named Aggressive Growth stock of the day at Zacks.
Talisman Energy (NYSE: TLM) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) Cu to Neutral at Collins Stewart.
Youku.com Inc. (NYSE: YOKU) Cut to Neutral at Susquehanna.

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Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Started as Outperform at BMO.
Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) Started as Outperform at BMO.
Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) Started as Underperform at BMO.
Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) Started as Outperform at BMO.
China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC) Started as Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Raised to Buy at Auriga.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO) Started as Sell at Merriman.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) named value stock of the day at Zacks.
Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) Started as Outperform at FBR.
Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MSI) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) Raised to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Travelzoo Inc. (NASDAQ: TZOO) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.

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We would normally group these alphabetically, but not today.  We grouped these in order of size and then we used an alphabetic order when it came to the same size of a buyback announcement.  The first group is the billions of dollars.

We then grouped the stocks by size again from the under $1 billion down to $500 million, and then we grouped the buybacks of under $500 million down to $200 million.  Usually we would cut the list off at buybacks of the $100 million and higher but the list was already too big so we cut the Buyback Kings off at $200 million for August.  Lastly, we have a chart at the very end tallying it all up…. Some $28.7 billion for just the $200 million and higher in new or expanded buyback announcements.  There were literally dozens of other buybacks that were closer to the $100 million mark and many more that were less than that.

The $1 billion and higher alone which were announced in August were as follows: Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW); CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS); Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG); Covidien plc (NYSE: COV); Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU); Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA); Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS); and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT).

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) Raised to Buy at Collins Stewart.
Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES) Removed from Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) Removed from Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Raised to Buy at S&P Equity Research (late-Wednesday call).
Strayer Education Inc. (NASDAQ: STRA) maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.

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JON C. OGG

In each call we have given some basic data on the rating and followed up with individual color where applicable.

Banks and Ireland, a two-in-one analyst call…. S&P cut the ratings of six Irish banks this last week.  The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) was cut to BB+ from BBB+, while Allied Irish Banks PLC (NYSE: AIB) was cut to BB from BBB.  These cuts were about as timely as a Bush-Gore vote recount.  Can you believe that these Irish banks were still investment grade before the cut?  Amazing.

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) had a rough day after Zacks.com detailed Celgene as a “Stocks to Sell Now.”  While shares did recover approximately half of the losses, the drop n the day of the research was 6.9% to $49.50.  That was the lowest close going all the back to July and shares were approaching 52-week lows.  The good news is that at least its valuations are getting back to more attractive levels.

China MediaExpress Holdings (NASDAQ: CCME), an advertising operator on inter-city and airport express buses in China, was hit very hard this week. A short selling research piece from Citron Research (think lemons) threw China MediaExpress under the bus, no pun intended.  The report said that the company has misrepresented its financial performance, and that it has overstated its prospects and financial condition to investors.  After the research report hit this week, shares fell a whopping 33% down to $11.09; and then after the company defended itself the shares popped higher by 25% to $13.89 by Friday’s close.  We asked Herb Greenberg of CNBC about the ongoing issues of many of these previously unheard of Chinese companies and his comment was more of a sector call rather than just toward this company.  He said the added risks and reasons to be leery n the sector are “too many stock promoters, too many dubious models, too difficult to research and ownership structures from hell.”

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) might not seem like much here on the surface as the rating was merely a reiteration.  Oppenheimer maintained an “Outperform” rating but it raised the target to $25.00 from $23.00.  Why this matters is that Cisco’s earnings are less than a week away and the implication came from channel checks that business was improving after its hiccup last quarter.  If you saw John Chambers speak on CNBC a week ago in Davos, there is an obvious: Cisco made its quarter rather easily.  If not, “Lucy, you got some splaining to do!”

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) might sound like a puny upgrade on the surface.  Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares from ‘Sell’ to ‘Hold’ on Friday.  Garmin is a heavily shorted stock due to the rise of smartphones that it now has some 24,578,815 shares listed in the short interest, about 23 days equivalent of trading volume.  The issue outside of Navi, Apple, and Google competition is that Garmin became a cult stock long ago and now the moves on any news can be very exaggerated.  The upgrade allowed shares to close up 4.1% at $31.94 on Friday, and shares had reached up as high as $32.59 at the peak on Friday.  The 2.46 million shares traded was actually the highest volume back to December 17 and was actually the highest closing price since November 2, 2010.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is supposed to be the golden-child in the airline industry with earnings expected rain or shine.  Higher fuel prices are not as hedged as they once were by Southwest, and that removes some of its competitive advantages.  Argus downgraded the stock this week and that only took a negative trading pattern and made it worse.  The rating went from Buy to “hold” and the rating cut took out 2.5% of the value of the stock.  Still, shares were down over 12% from the peak right after the start of 2011.  Higher fuel costs allowed Argus to cut estimates in 2011 and 2012, and the reliance upon a single-model and expected weather-related losses all were noted as well.  With a 52-week trading range of $$10.42 to $14.32, Southwest shares are now technically weak.

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JON C. OGG

The big winners of 2010 have so far included shares of Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN), InterMune Inc. (NASDAQ: ITMN), Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY), Theravance Inc. (NASDAQ: THRX), and ViroPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: VPHM). We have taken a look at what has driven the gains as well as what the prospects are for 2011 and beyond.  FULL REPORT

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) appears to have the most implied upside of the $1 billion and higher catgory, but others included are Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD), Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG), Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI), Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY), and Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOR).  The full list is available showing the implied upside and we have added color and commentary on each.  FULL REPORT

Stay tuned for many more sector updates in many sectors with winners of 2010 and the outlook for 2011 and beyond!

JON C. OGG

Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) Started as Neutral at Nomura; Raised to Positive at Susquehanna.
Calpine Corporation (NASDAQ: CPN) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
DryShips, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Started as Buy at Nomura.
Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) Started as Neutral at Nomura.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) Started as Neutral at Nomura.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) Started as Neutral at Nomura.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Reiterated Outperform and target raised to $75 at Raymond James.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) Started as Reduce at Nomura.

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JON C. OGG