Other rating actions were announced for General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), Liberty Media LLC, Lubrizol Corp., now wholly-owned by Berkshire-Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A; BRK-B), ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG), Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW), Web.com Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW), and Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI)

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is having its ‘Ba2′ corporate family rating and its ‘Baa3′ secured credit facility ratings reviewed for possible upgrade at Moody’s. The company’s new union contract and its improved operating and financial performance are the drivers of the review. Global economic uncertainty and the cyclic nature of the automaking business are the agency’s biggest concern. Also today, S&P assigned ‘AAA’ ratings to $500 million in asset-backed notes for Ally Bank. The funds are primarily intended to finance purchases of new cars from GM and Chrysler.

Liberty Media LLC and its Liberty Starz Group (NASDAQ: LSTZA; LSTZB) and Liberty Capital Group (NASDAQ: LCAPA; LCAPB) have received a ratings downgrade from Moody’s on senior unsecured bonds from ‘B1′ to ‘B3′ and the probability of default rating was downgraded from ‘Ba3′ to ‘B1′. The downgrades follow a court ruling that allows Liberty Media to split-off certain assets. The agency noted that 18% of Liberty Media’s revenues and 37% its enterprise value are being removed, which “disproportionately and negatively affect Liberty Media’s bondholders.”

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A; BRK-B) subsidiary Lubrizol Corp. received a ratings upgrade from Moody’s following its acquistion by Warren Buffett’s company. The agency raised Lubrizol’s debt ratings from ‘Baa1′ to ‘Aa2′ with a stable outlook. There’s no substitute for having access to really deep pockets, or as Moody’s says, Berkshire-Hathaway “now guarantees Lubrizol’s public debt.”

ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) has had its ‘BBB’ corporate credit and its ‘A-2′ short-term and commercial paper rating, among others, re-affirmed by S&P following ConAgra’s decision to give up its attempts to acquire Ralcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RAH). All the company’s ratings have been removed from CreditWatch and the ratings outlook has been declared stable.

Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW) has had its ‘B’ corporate credit rating put on CreditWatch with negative implications by S&P. The agency downgraded debt for Travelport Holdings Ltd. yesterday, which together with The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) owns 55% of Orbitz.

Web.com Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW) received a preliminary rating of ‘B’ with a stable outlook from S&P on its corporate credit.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) received a corporate credit upgrade from ‘BBB+’ to ‘A’ from S&P. Cummins is an engine and parts maker and has been performing above expectations for the past three quarters. Analysts have raised EPS estimates for the current quarter by 10%.

Paul Ausick

Today’s key dividend hikes and share buybacks are in shares of The A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE: AOS), Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF), Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI), KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC), and News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS).  We have added in price data and compared yields and the relative size to share prices if applicable.

The A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE: AOS) approved a 14% dividend hike in its quarterly cash dividend to $0.16 per quarter per share and payable on August 15 to shareholders of record July 29.  The new yield is roughly 1.5% with shares currently down 1 cent at $41.87.  Here is what is amazing, housing may stink but it appears that the replacement cycle is coming soon… A.O. Smith manufactures and sells water heating equipment to the residential and commercial markets.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) just announced last night that it will increase the quarterly cash dividend by 100% to $0.28 per share per quarter, payable on September 1 to shareholders of record as of the close on August 15.  Doubling a dividend is usually a solid message.  Still, this is a lower dividend yield of just under 1.2% now that shares are up marginally at $95.00 this morning.  The iron ore and metallurgical coal player’s 52-week trading range is $45.18 to $102.48.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) is trying to signal that the engine business is fine for years ahead because this is one large dividend hike.  Cummins hiked its quarterly dividend by about 50% to $0.40 per quarter per share from a rate of $0.2625 per quarter per share.  The new rate is not a major yield but it is larger than most tied to auto or trucks as its new yield is above 1.5%.  Shares are up 2% at $106.00 this morning and the 52-week range is $58.91 to $121.49.

KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) has authorized an increase in the quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.35 per share, taking effect in with the quarterly dividend to be declared in August 2011. This is nearly a 40% hike and represents its third dividend increase since initiating its dividend in April 2005.  With shares down 2% around $41.30, KLA-Tencor’s new dividend will clock in at close to 3.4%.  That is impressive for a technology stock.

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS) has decided that the recent share weakness around its ‘News of the World’ and around its BSkyB buyout reached the “enough is enough” point.  Today Rupert Murdoch and friends announced that a stock repurchase program totaling $5 billion.  The new plan increases what was approximately $1.8 billion remaining under the prior buyback plan.  What is different about this buyback from the prior buyback is that the company said it intends to buy back “$5 billion of Class A common stock and Class B common stock from time to time over the next 12 months.”  We are talking about a $43 billion market cap and a company that has billions in cash on hand.  Shares are up 2% at $16.44 and the 52-week range is $13.46 to $19.08. This was at $18.50 just on July 5.

Higher dividends and higher buybacks might not make shares rise if the market remains soft and nervous, but the dividend hiking trend remains the top reward for returning capital to shareholders.

JON C. OGG

Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN) Started as Buy at UBS.
Cummins, Inc. (NYSE: CMI) Reiterated Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENZN) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) Maintained Buy with $3 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $63 at Argus.
Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
Myriad Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) Raised to Buy at Auriga.
NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE: OIS) Reiterated Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
Parametric Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: PMTC) Reiterated Buy with $28 target at Canaccord Genuity.
PetroChina Co. Ltd. (NYSE: PTR) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Petroleum Development Corporation (NASDAQ: PETD) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Swift Transportation Co., LLC (NYSE: SWFT) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

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

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Reiterated Buy with $415 target at Argus; Reiterated Buy and raised target to $485 at Canaccord Genuity.
Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) Reiterated Buy with $17 target at Gleacher & Co.
Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan after being raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day on Monday by Zacks.
Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ENZN) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) Started as Overweight at Barclays.
HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro (NASDAQ: PFCB) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) Started as Underweight at Barclays.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Company (NYSE: RS) Maintained Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO) Cut to Hold at Citi.
Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) Cut to Sell at Stifel Nicolaus.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) Reiterated Buy with $43 target at Gleacher & Co.
Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

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

The feverish buyback pace we are showing does not even include the many buyback plans of under $200 million.  The companies leading the buyback charge with new announcements so far in February are as follows: Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS); Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX); Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS); The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX); Wellpoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP); Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT); Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA); Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS); Airgas, Inc. (NYSE: ARG); Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC); KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC); Varian Medical System Inc. (NYSE: VAR); ConocoPhilips (NYSE: COP); 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM); Check Point Software Tecnologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP); Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG); Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL); Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI); Gamestop Corporation (NYSE: GME); General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD); Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST); Medco Health Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MHS); Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS); Pfizer, inc. (NYSE: PFE); and Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP).

The tally here in just these plans comes to about $41 billion in new buyback announcements so far just in February, and that is after a whopping $34 billion identified in January.  We did not break these out by date and these are most recent to farthest back in February.

Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS) increased its share repurchase authorization under its existing share repurchase program by $2.6 billion to $3.5 billion.  That added 2.6 billion compares to a market cap of $15.7 billion today.

Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX) declared $1 billion over 2 years against a market cap of $5.5 billion.

Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) added some $250 million to its prior buyback plan and its market cap is $2.6 billion .

The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) allocated some $1.2 billion this year and that compares to a market cap of $19.5 billion.

Wellpoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP) expanded its prior plan by $1.6 billion and that is against a market cap of close to $25 billion.

ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) Cut to Sell at Societe Generale.
Actuate Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTU) Raised to Buy at Roth Capital.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) Maintained Buy at Citigroup.
Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) Added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Dr. Reddy’s Lab (NYSE: RDY) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
LM Ericsson Telephone (NASDAQ: ERIC) Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) Removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Melco Crown Entertainment (NASDAQ: MPEL) Started as Hold at Daiwa Securities.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Started as Buy at Standpoint.
Neostem Inc. (AMEX: NBS) Cut to Hold at Roth Capital.
Nokia Corporation (NASDAQ: NOK) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Negative at Susquehanna.
Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) Cut to Neutral at Robert W. Baird.

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

• Adobe Systems (ADBE) Cut to Sell at UBS.
• Agrium (AGU) Cut to Hold at Canaccord.
• Cummins Inc. (CMI) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
• Intuit (INTU) Cut to Sell at UBS.
• Mosaic (MOS) Cut to Hold at Canaccord.
• Nstar (NST) Cut to Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
• Penn National Gaming (PENN) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Salesforce.com (CRM) Cut to Sell at UBS.
• Scana (SCG) Cut to Underperform at Merrill Lynch.
• Schering-Plough (SGP) Cut to Underperform at Merrill Lynch.
• Symantec (SYMC) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
• Terex Corp. (TEX) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
• Trimble Navigation (TRMB) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
• Xyratex (XRTX) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.

Jon C. Ogg
October 3, 2008

Here were Cramer’s TOP 9 STOCKS FOR 2007, with a call broken down for each one.  Borat would say HI FIVE on some and NOT SO NICE on others, as would be expected.  Cramer’s 14,582 year-end DJIA target…..Friday’s close was 13,365.87……although we did hit 14,279.96 on OCT11, 2007.  Cramer also gave a batch of price targets on most of theDJIA components:

• Batch 1 (AA, MO, AIG, AXP, BA, T)
• Batch 2 (CAT, C, KO, DD, XOM, GE)
• Batch 3 (MMM, GM, HPQ, HON, HD, INTC, AMD, SHLD)

Cramer’s Stock Picks FOR 5-YEARS OUT:

• Cramer’s First Pick For Five Years Out: First Solar (FSLR, SPWR)
• Cramer’s Second Pick For Five Years Out: MedcoHealth (MHS)
• Cramer’s Third Pick For Five Years Out: Transocean (RIG)

SOME LISTS: His list of recession proof stocks compared to ours.  We are updating our
Defensive Stocks For The First Half Of 2008" currently.  Cramer gave a huge list of companies he expects to benefit from the alternative energy traders (SGR, FWLT, BWA, OMG, FSLR, FTEK, WFR, TTEK, ZOLT, BP, SPWR, CY, CPST, ITRI)… Jim Cramer pondered which US companies China would want to acquire, about 3 months before sovereign funds started buying into US companies.  Cramer’s mortgage winners and losers…… Here were his MAJOR BULL MARKET STOCK PICKS(MHS, CVS, AGN, CELG, GENZ, CEPH, RIG, HAL, EMR, CAT, CMI, UTX, KO,PEP, CL, GS, SKS, VFC, UNP, CSX, BA), some of which are DJIAcomponents.  Cramer produced a "MUST OWN" list of stocks, many of whichare up significantly and some are down (WHR, BDK, ATI, BGC, HON, ASD, JCI, MDR, FWLT, CAT, TEX, DE, QCOM)

Cramer spent lots of time on International stocks that most US investors might not cover on their own.  He made a big call on Mercadolibre (MELI) (also BIDU, GOOG) with some emphasis on buying immediately, right before it made a huge run up.  Cramer’s Hidden Video Game Investment Perfect World (PWRD, ATVI, ERTS, VIA) was one he said could run more than 50% for 2008.  Cramer made 5 TOP CHINESE PICKS (CEO, CHL, SSW, FMCN, BIDU, GMR).  We’ll see in 2008 if any of his Canadian OIL TRUSTS get acquired in 2008 (BTE, CNE, PGH, PVX, PWE, AAV, GDI).  Cramer also went over his top picks from Europe for American investors (TOT, SI, ABB, PHG, BF)

ON TECHNOLOGY:  Cramer’s NEW HORSEMEN OF TECH…. will the list change in 2008???  Did Cramer Say $1,000.00 on Google, Or Is It $600.00? That was in May 2007.  Cramer Gave Monster Price targets to Baidu.com (BIDU, GOOG).. will these targets change in 2008? Cramer was very positive on all the GPS stocks,although we’d expect that Cramer will change his tune in 2008 now thatthe holiday madness is behind us (GRMN, UA, CROX, NVT, TRMB, SIRF).

Would it be fair not to include the Barron’s attack on Cramer from summer for those of you that criticize his every word?

ON WARREN BUFFETT…. Cramer noted that BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT in Canada may be the next Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK/A) NYSE: BAM). Cramer reviewed 10 Warren Buffett stocks for analysis and then reviewed 10 More Warren Buffett stocks:

• Stock Tickers: BRK/A, BNI, KO, PG, WMT, USG, AXP, WFC, MCO, JNJ, COP
• Stock Tickers: BRK/A, UNP, USB, MTB, ASD, NSC, WLP, UNH, IR, HRB

Will his buyout of ALCOA (AA) prediction come true in 2008??? Cramer gave a list of stocks that had bought back so much stock that they might be taking themselves private.

Join our free email distribution list for other Cramer calls or for updates we send out regarding IPO’s, spin-offs, restructuring, reorganization, activist investors and more.

Happy New Years from the 247WallSt.com team!

Jon C. Ogg
December 31, 2007

• Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) started as Underweight at J.P.Morgan.
• Cummins (CMI) & Terex (TEX) both started as Buy at Banc of America.
• Hertz (HTZ) started as Buy at UBS.
• LDK Solar (LDK) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• MasterCard (MA) raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
• Monolithic Power (MPWR) started as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
• Moster Worldwide (MNST) started as Outperform at Bear Stearns.
• Synchronoss Technologies (SNCR) raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
• Ultimate Software (ULTI) started as Buy at Banc of America.
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS; Susquehanna started as ‘Positive’.

Jon C. Ogg
December 20, 2007