The new gathering system will serve the Keathley Canyon area and serve producers Anadarko Petroleum Co. (NYSE: APC), Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Eni SpA (NYSE: E), Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR), and Plains Exploration & Production Co. (NYSE: PXP). Keathley Canyon was the site of the first major oil discovery in the US Gulf once drilling was reopened following the Macondo well explosion in April 2010 that killed 11 workers on a rig operated by BP plc (NYSE: BP). Exxon, which made the discovery, has estimated the resource at 700 million barrels.

The joint venture, called the Southeast Keathley Canyon Pipeline Co. LLC (SEKCO), plans to build an 18-inch pipeline to transport 115,000 barrels/day of crude to a floating production platform and connect to Enterprise’s Poseidon pipeline system to move the oil onshore. The southeast portion of Keathley Canyon is estimated to hold about 300 million barrels of reserves.

In related transactions, Genesis is acquiring a 28% stake in the Poseidon pipeline system from Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), as well as a 29% stake in the Odyssey pipeline system which is majority owned and operated by Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS-A) and a 23% stake in the Eugene Island pipeline system owned by a group including Exxon, Shell, Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP). Genesis is paying about $206 million for these three acquisitions, which includes about $26 million for the value of the crude already in the pipelines. The company used its revolving credit facility to finance the purchases.

The SEKCO pipeline system is expected to be in service by mid-2014.

Paul Ausick

Eni SpA (NYSE: E) is down over 4% around $42.30 and shares are down 3% in Milan.  Luxottica Group SpA (NYSE: LUX) has not traded and we do not yet have Ney Work indications, but shares were down 3.1% in Milan.  Telecom Italia SpA (NYSE: TI) is indicated down around 7% in New York at $11.30 but shares are down 4.5% in local trading in Milan.

Elsewhere in Europe….

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is down around $1.98 (ouch, 52-week low) after a $2.16 close in New York, and shares are down almost 4% in local trading in Paris.

Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) is down over 8% at $19.03 and BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) is down 4.5% at $76.47 in New York trading in the early pre-markets.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is down 7% at $7.50 in active early New York trading but the stock is down more than 3% in local trading in Madrid.

The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) is down 1.4% at $5.17 in New York and shares are down 2.2% in local trading in Dublin.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) is down 7.1% at $24.77 and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) is down 6.1% at $11.97 in early New York pre-market trading.

Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is down over 9% at $36.80 in New York and shares are down about 5% in Frankfurt.

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) has not traded in New York yet but its shares are down 2% in local trading in Paris.

Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) is indicated down around $19.65 after a $20.86 close in New York for a loss of close to 6%.

LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) is indicated down 5% around $10.15; Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) is down 4.7% at $6.50.

National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is indicated flat to down a couple cents after a $0.59 close in New York but shares are down 4.1% in local trading in Athens.

Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) is down 4.5% at $98.56 in New York trading and shares are down 1.6% in local trading in Frankfurt.

iShares MSCI Italy Index (NYSE: EWI) is trading down 5.2% at $12.87.

Another rough day is being brought on by the woes of the nanny and endless welfare nations in Europe.  S&P futures are down over 2% with well over two hours until the market opens.

JON C. OGG

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
AMERIGROUP Corporation (NYSE: AGP) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Eni SpA (NYSE: E) Raised to Buy at S&P.
JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) Started as Neutral at UBS.
RPC, Inc. (NYSE: RES) Raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Cut to Equal-weight at Global Equities Research.
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee; named value stock of the day at Zacks.
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE: SKT) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
TMS International Corp. (NYSE: TMS) Started as Outperform with $11 target at Credit Suisse.
Vodafone Group Plc (NYSE: VOD) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) Raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.

We also have some more data on analysts and the calendar.  Here are the top analyst upgrades and downgrades of the last week.  We also have the top twelve earnings reports and an economic calendar for what is coming down the pipe this week.

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JON C. OGG

We wanted to give our readers an updated list of those with Libya exposure.  These companies should now be the beneficiary of the outcome rather than be the losers due to the conflict and interruptions.  At the time of the outbreak of fighting, Libya produced around 1.5 million barrels per day and that was mostly exported to Europe.

AECOM Technology Corporation (NYSE: ACM) originally had what was roughly a $500 million contract over five years building Libyan infrastructure projects.  Much of the work had been done, but now that infrastructure has been damaged it would seem that they would be a shoe-in for more infrastructure building unless the old regime ties are just deemed too strong by the new leadership.  Shares were around $28 after the first drop from the Libyan exposure, and along with the rest of the global austerity the stock closed Friday at $18.64.

Eni SpA (NYSE: E), the big Italian energy company, withdrew its foreign personnel with 10% of its natural gas supplies in Libya and much more throughout North Africa.  It was close to $47.55 at the time of the withdrawal and shares closed at $35.48 on Friday.

As Italy has larger exposure than many nations to Libya, the iShares MSCI Italy Index ETF (NYSE: EWI) is down at $12.56 per Friday’s close, about 30% lower than the $18.13 price.  This ETF had a whopping 18% exposure to ENI earlier this year before Libya blew up.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY) has (or had) operations there and shares were around $106 after the Libya situation first blew up.  Occidental closed Friday at $80.91.

Global oil players have exposure in Libya, although they are very diversified.  Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) operated under permits in Libya as well and shares were around $70.85 per ADR after the situation erupted; shares closed Friday at $61.72.  BP plc (NYSE: BP) had deeper ties in Libya and its shares were around $48 after the blow-up began; shares closed Friday at $38.46.

Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR) originally said that there were no indications at the start of the onslaught that its operations in Libya were affected over its exploratory offshore block in the North African country.  The ADR was at $38.89 back then, and shares closed at $27.17 on Friday.

Market Vectors Africa Index ETF (NYSE: AFK) had 20% at the time of its allocations in Egypt but nothing seen about Libya.  Shares closed at $28.37 on Friday and the 52-week range is $26.77 to $36.45.

JON C. OGG

These are all of the non-earnings events to watch this week.  We have already compiled a separate key company earnings calendar with detailed previews and we also already featured the top analyst calls of last week as well.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) had many rumors from Friday through the weekend about the unveiling of the new iPad3, as if the iPad and iPad2 weren’t yet good enough.  The rumored features are retinal scans and more.  The iPhone5 is still due in September if the reports are still accurate.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) may have caused serious harm last week despite “the good news’ that it was staying independent and has secured an investment from John Malone and Liberty.  Shares were down 17% or so on Friday and the bookseller will have to now fend for itself against Amazon, Apple, and others.

Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) will be key to watch this week after a big pop Friday on the reports that Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) may take on an investment that could allow Sprint to just acquire its 4G partner.

Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF (NYSE: EGPT) will be worth watching if tensions with Israel remain heightened after last week’s attacks that led to Egyptian police being killed at the border.

Eni SpA (NYSE: E) could be in for a huge week if Libya’s Gadhafi is losing control as fast as the reports are indicating.  This Italian energy company was hit hard after it had to basically all but leave its infrastructure in Libya.

iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) has proven to be a death trap each time it went very much over $40.00 along with the price of silver.  This time may be different, but all it takes is new margin requirements or any new regulation for the devil’s metal to get a severe haircut.  THese shares are indicated north of $42.25 early Monday after closing at $41.68.  Friday was only the second $40+ close in the last 90 days (August 3 was last).

Market Vectors Mortgage REIT Income ETF (NYSE: MORT) has fallen in price as have the value of most stocks, but this one is a new MBS REIT that offers what appear to be 10%+ yields.  If the low rate environment holds with close to zero on short-term borrowing costs, then these will continue to attract investor interest.

Puda Coal Inc. (PUDA) has seen its shares suspended in trading by the SEC due to a lack of current and accurate information.  More woes out of China.

Sanderson Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAFM) could face a haircut after the producer of chickens was hammered in Barron’s saying it “faces brutal conditions. Feeding costs are rising, demand is slack and industry inventories are bulging.”  Barron’s said the stock could crack.

Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) is still one to watch as it was reported at the end of last week that it was a step closer to buying Carlyle’s Insight Communications for close to $3 billion including the assumption of debt.

Tudou Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: TUDO) was just another bad Chinese IPO that makes this China-IPO-hype more and more like Groundhog Day on Wall Street.  Shares closed at the week’s low of $19.24 on Friday.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) has some 45,000 striking workers returning to work on Tuesday.  A final pact has not been reached as of yet but negotiations are said to be closer.

Washington Mutual (WAMUQ) is set to find out if there is any value left in these residual shares.  A Delaware federal bankruptcy court is set to hear final arguments this week over the revised Chapter 11 plan.

WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF) was featured positively in Barron’s over the weekend as the asset manager is a pure-play on ETF growth that has outperformed the market while rival shares have weakend.

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

AECOM Technology Corporation (NYSE: ACM) had what was roughly a $500 million contract over five years building Libyan infrastructure projects, much of which has apparently already been received.  Shares are down 5.6% at $28.19, so this is more heavily impacting than some might have considered.

Eni SpA (NYSE: E), the Italian energy company, is removing its foreign personnel with 10% of its natural gas supplies in Libya and much more throughout North Africa.  ADRs are down 5.4% at $47.55.  As Italy has larger exposure than many to Libya, the iShares MSCI Italy Index ETF (NYSE: EWI) is down 4.2% at $18.13 due to its 18% exposure to ENI.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY) is lower as a result of its operations there and shares are down 1% at $106.35.  Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) operates under permits and shares have recovered to being down only 0.2% at $70.85.  BP plc (NYSE: BP) has deeper ties in Libya, although it is much more diversified, and its shares are back up to flat at $47.93 after opening down almost 1%.

Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, has reportedly said that there were no indications yet that its operations in Libya have been affected.  It operates an exploratory offshore block in the North African country and its operations are generally considered to be elsewhere.  Petrobras shares (ADRs) are up 2.3% at $38.89.

There are also several ETFs and funds on the move, whether deserved or not.  Market Vectors Africa Index ETF (NYSE: AFK) is getting hit this morning as it has 20% or so of its allocations in Egypt but nothing seen about Libya in the most recent fact sheet.  Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF (NYSE: EGPT) appears to still be trading like a closed-end fund rather than an ETF and shares are actually up 1.4% at $18.99. Go figure.  Elsewhere, iShares MSCI Turkey Invest Mkt Index (NYSE: TUR) is down 2.9% at $62.10.  iShares MSCI Israel Cap Invest Market Index (NYSE: EIS) is down 2% at $57.75.

JON C. OGG

Twelve of the thirteen companies or their subsidiaries are publicly traded: Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), ATP Oil & Gas Corp. (NASDAQ: ATPG), BHP Billiton plc (NYSE: BHP), Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), Cobalt International Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CIE), ENI SpA (NYSE: E), Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES), Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR), Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL), Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS-A), and Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO).

There are 16 drilling projects covered by the agency’s ruling and drilling could resume within a few weeks. Any resumption would require the driller to comply with requirements issued in December that aim to ensure that drillers have a approved plan for containing the oil in the event of a blowout. It’s not clear that all 16 projects meet that requirement or how long it will take for the requirement to be met.

US crude production will lose about 220,000 barrels/day in 2011 as a result of the Gulf disaster, about 13% of offshore production. For the US economy, that means more imports at higher prices. For the economy of the Gulf coast states, the temporary loss of 8,000-12,000 jobs just goes on and on.

Drillers have been holding idle rigs in the Gulf, waiting for permits to go ahead with their projects. But that can’t continue indefinitely at costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars a day. Smaller companies, like ATP Oil & Gas, can afford to wait even less than the majors like Chevron and Shell. Permits that once took just days to get approved, can now take up to five months.

For its part, the BOEMRE says it has approved some permits for modifications to existing wells, but that the agency’s priority remains safe and environmentally responsible development.

While Gulf production is stalled, the missing 220,000 barrels/day add to the volatility of the crude market. If crude rises above $100/barrel this year, the federal government will take some serious heat for the increase. The heat will turn to flames if gasoline prices rise to $4/gallon.

Paul Ausick

Of that amount, 42% is produced by private oil companies. The largest companies working in the country are Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, (NYSE: PBR), Spain’s Repsol YPF S.A. (NYSE: REP), and Italy’s Eni SpA (NYSE: E). Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), as a result of its purchase of Texaco, is currently involved in litigation claiming as much as $27 billion in damages for environmental violations.

In a move reminiscent of the takeover of Occidental Petroleum’s (NYSE: OXY) Ecuadorian operations in 2006, the government is threatening to expropriate all foreign-owned oil field operations unless the companies agree to re-negotiate existing contracts to increase Ecuador’s share of production revenues.

The government wants to move eliminate contracts what are now essentially production sharing agreements to contracts where the producer would be paid a production fee and re-imbursed for investment costs. Needless to say, the producers like the current system better because they make a lot more money off production that they would off a production fee. Recent contracts awarded in Iraq have set a production fee of $1.90/b. The Ecuadorian government has not specified a fee yet, but it is unlikely to be significantly higher.

The Ecuadorians are following the example of both Venezuela and Bolivia in trying to force production contract changes to maximize revenue from the country’s hydrocarbon deposits. The government expects to sign new contracts within 60 days.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the oil companies have drastically reduced investment in Ecuador, spending just enough to maintain existing output. President Rafael Correa promises to submit a bill to the Ecuadorian Congress to allow him to expropriate the oil assets if the companies do not sign the new agreements.

Repsol YPF, Petrobras, and Eni are likely to cave in rather than lose the revenue, even though the number of barrels is fairly small. The new agreements essentially turn the companies into oil field services companies. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and if these companies don’t want to bother with it, companies like Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), and other services companies would not turn down the opportunity to operate the Ecuadorian fields for a straight fee. That’s their business model after all.

As in all these cases, the government has the upper hand. The choice for the oil companies is one between two evils.

Paul Ausick

In ratings news, Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS-A) and Italy’s Eni SpA (NYSE:E) were raised from ‘Neutral’ to ‘Buy’ by UBS.  The UBS analyst believes that upside for European integrated oil companies now outweighs downside risk. The analyst noted that Eni is currently cheap with a forward P/E ratio of 7.93 and Shell offers “attractive value”, whatever that means.

ConocoPhillips Corp. (NYSE:COP) also got a ratings boost from ‘Perform’ to ‘Outperform’ from Oppenheimer. The stock also received a new price target of $70/share. Conoco’s announced intention to sell $10 billion in assets appears to be on track, especially given the sale of $4.65 billion worth of assets in the Canadian oil sands play to China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (NYSE:SNP), usually called Sinopec. More about that sale later.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL) agreed to acquire oil field services company Boots & Coots (AMEX:WEL) for $3/share, comprised of $1.73 in cash and $1.27 in Halliburton shares, or about $232 million. The acquisition gives Halliburton a presence in intervention and pressure control services that match up well the larger company’s well completion and production enhancement capabilities.

Shares in Boots & Coots jumped 25% on the news, as one might expect. The deal is expected to close this summer pending regulatory and shareholder approvals. Boots & Coots’ management will oversee a new service line within Halliburton’s Completion and Production segment, and the company expects the acquisition to be accretive to earnings in the first full year of operation.

Petrohawk Energy Corp. (NYSE: HK) made a two significant moves this morning. First, it sold a 50% interest in its gas gathering and treatment operations in the Haynesville shale play to Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP) for $875 million. The two companies plan to create an operating company named KinderHawk Field Services LLC to run the business. The transaction is scheduled to close by June 1, 2010.

In a related move, Petrohawk also announced that it plans to reduce its rig count in the Haynesville shale to 14, to reduce its 2010 capex budget by $100 million and to reallocate $175 million of the revised $1.35 billion cap-ex budget to its Eagle Ford shale play in south Texas. The switch is directly attributable to the softness in natural gas prices, currently stuck at about $4/thousand cubic feet. Petrohawk’s Eagle Ford acreage is believed to hold some 340 million barrels of potential reserves, most of which is crude oil, not natural gas condensates. The 20X differential between natural gas and crude oil pricing virtually forces a primarily gas-oriented company like Petrohawk to seek profits in its oil holdings.

The sale of 50% of its gathering and treating system to Kinder Morgan frees up all the capital that Petrohawk plans to spend in the Haynesville shale in 2010, and combined with earlier sales of its shale gas holdings, has exceeded the targeted $1 billion in divestures the company announced late in 2009.

Petrohawk shares are up more than 2.5% so far today, and Kinder Morgan shares are down about 1.5%. That latter figure is just another example of selling the news. Kinder Morgan does not expect to realize any distributable cash from the joint venture until a year after the deal is approved. Right now the system transports 800 million cubic feet/day of natural gas over a 173-mile network. By the end of 2010, the joint venture expects to more than double the mileage and boost capacity to 2 billion cubic feet/day.

And once the cash starts rolling in from the expanded gathering system, all of which is more than likely to be contracted as firm transportation over a term of at least 10 years, that cash will start flowing into Kinder Morgan’s and its limited partners’ pockets. From Kinder Morgan’s point of view, this was an extremely cheap entry into one of the major shale gas fields in the country.

Another major pipeline master limited partnership, Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD), has dropped 2.5% today on news of a secondary offering of 11.5 million new common units. Barclays Capital, Citi, Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank, Wells Fargo Securities, and JP Morgan are joint book running managers, and have been granted a 30-day overallotment option of up to 1.725 million shares.

Enterprise plans to use a portion of the proceeds from the sale to pay for its pending acquisition of gas gathering assets in the Haynesville shale from independent midstream energy company M2 Midstream LLC for $1.2 billion. Enterprise got a total of 387 miles of pipeline with current capacity of 685 million cubic feet/day. A planned 50-mile expansion and other enhancements are expected to expand capacity to 985 million cubic feet/day, with further possible expansion to 1.2 billion cubic feet/day.

Conoco’s deal to sell $4.65 billion of its assets to Sinopec is the big story of the week so far. The sale represents all of Conoco’s 9.03% stake in Syncrude Oil Ltd., the Canadian venture that includes Exxon Mobil Corp.’s (NYSE:XOM) wholly-owned subsidiary Imperial Oil (with 25%) and Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. with the largest stake at nearly 37%.

Sinopec has been on something of a buying spree lately, having completed a deal in March with Angola for deepwater rights offshore that African nation to about 102 million barrels of oil. The African oil cost Sinopec about $3.5 billion.

And it’s not the only Chinese buyer either. Also last month, Cnooc Ltd. (NYSE:CEO) paid $3.1 billion for a 50% stake in a unit of Argentina’s Bridas Energy Holdings that holds 40% of Pan American Energy LLC, the other 60% of which is owned by BP plc (NYSE:BP).

The Chinese are investing everywhere, and the received wisdom is that the Chinese government is pushing their oil companies to buy foreign assets to fuel the country’s booming economy. There have been a few fears expressed that China’s investments will cause shortages elsewhere around the world.

Another way of looking at China’s oil investments is as a hedge both against rising oil prices and against the falling dollar. By buying up crude production, China is, in fact, hedging a portion of its expected energy consumption by ensuring that it has some crude to sell at the same time that it is buying crude from somewhere else. The Chinese are not going to put Angolan crude on a VLCC and ship it to the homeland. They’re going to sell it a market price to someone else and use the proceeds to fund their own oil purchases. It’s really the only thing that makes sense.

Similarly, buying crude oil production guards against the deterioration of China’s huge US dollar holdings due either to continued dollar weakening or US inflation. The country doesn’t have a lot of options for spending its estimated $2.5 trillion in foreign exchange reserves. Or at least spending the dollars fast enough to give the global economy a significant boost.

The Chinese government also announced today that it is raising retail refined products prices by 4% for gasoline and 4.5% for distillates. The move indicates that the government believes it has inflation under control, but it is not likely to help Chinese refiners much because it is both too late and too small. The unspoken part of the news, though, is that by raising retail prices, China may cool off demand for oil, which is rising quickly again.

The price of oil, on which most of the companies discussed in this article make their profits, is falling from recent highs of around $87/barrel. This drop is happening despite forecasted increases in demand for the rest of the year. While that may seem like a drag on prices for companies like Shell, Conoco, or Cnooc, it could actually be helping because crude prices above $90-$95/barrel will almost certainly chill global demand and could blunt the global economic recovery. If investors can scale back their expectations of reasonable returns on crude oil, there is hidden strength here.

Paul Ausick

The 24/7 Wall Street Corporate Power Rankings of the thirty-two most important companies in America are determined be earnings, analyst rankings, important corporate news, trends in each firm’s industry, product introductions, management strength and changes, and credible rumors.

The Corporate Power Rankings will be released at midnight on each Sunday based on performance during the previous week. Goldman ended up at the very bottom of the 24/7 PR

Banks were hit hardest last week on earings and the Obama bank proposals.

Apple, marching toward beating earnings and the launch of its tablet, was in first place regaining the position after a week away.

Check out the complete rankings after the jump

	Company	Rank (last week)	Symbol	Comment
	Apple	1 (3)	APPL	Company set to blow through numbers, according to a number of brainy analysts. Early polls show tablet computer demand likely to be higher than already high expectations. It’s Apple’s week.
	McDonald’s	2 (6)	MCD	Profits up 23% as fat people flock to low-cost, high-cal foods. Same-store sales show that Burger Kind and Taco Bell are in for rough year.
	Ford	3 (5)	F	US car sales set to start slow, but Toyota recall should help rivals. Good chance that Ford will pick up a lot of share in US this year.
	Wal-Mart	4 (7)	WMT	Fires 11,000 Sam’s Club workers—10% of division head count. Bad news for people, good news for margins and investors. Excitement about new tech gadgets should help retail electronic sales.
	Berkshire Hathaway	5 (9)	BRK	Deal with Swiss Re should be good for Buffett insurance earnings. Warren’s inability to stop Kraft from upping bid for Cadbury will cost him.
	Microsoft	6 (11)	MSFT	Possible Google exit from China would be big plus. Firm seems to have patch hole in IE that hackers target. IBM upbeat forecast should be benefit.
	Abbott Labs	7 (1)	ABT	Drug agencies put warning on obesity drug Meridia. Increased risk of heart attack. EU still has some concerns about Solvay deal.
	Dow Chemical	8 (14)	DOW	Morgan Stanley starts shares at overweight. But, expected slowdown in first quarter manufacturing in China weighs.
	Cisco	9 (12)	CSCO	Company is still selling Wall St. on its consumer business. As video home use grows, the story gets legs. CSCO may be a great turnaround where none was needed.
	FedEx	10 (4)	FDX	Makes Fortune’s best companies to work for. Happy employees are bad for shareholders. Early reaction to rates hikes is positive, at least on Wall St.
	Google	11 (8)	GOOG	China problems still spell trouble. Sale of shares by co-founders causes a shudder. Earnings are unusually strong.
	Intel	12 (18)	INTC	Barron’s gives shares thumbs-up. AMD outlook should encourage holders of larger rival. IBM figures show server and server chip comeback. 23.
	Caterpillar	13 (22)	CAT	Market believes that CAT’s hard year is behind it. Brutal cost cut should improve margins as sales improve. Some concern about China bank loan drop-off could hurt construction projects.
	Disney	14 (17)	DIS	Barron’s loves shares. ABC helped by NBC woes with O’Brien. ESPN content could end up on Microsoft Xbox, great way for Mouse Co. to extend franchise.
	IBM	15 (27)	IBM	Blow-out quarterly numbers and future bookings show strategy of balancing risk across several IT sectors works. Services segment revenue and earnings especially strong. Go Big Blue.
	American Express	16 (10)	AXP	Shares shattered as FBR Capital Markets pushes concerns about credit card regulations. But, Amex does beat Wall St. forecasts for last quarter.
	Proctor & Gamble	17 (13)	PG	Market reaction to direct online sales of products is good. Stock gets “safe haven” label as techs and financial shares are hammered.
	Oracle	18 (16)	ORCL	Juniper launches new video product competition. Stock sells off much more sharply as DJIA during week. Any real correction in tech will hurt most visible stocks as much as small caps.
	Coca-Cola	19 (28)	KO	May buy Russian juice maker get into hot Siberian market. Could be “safe haven” play for Wall St. if correction gets vicious.
	Philip Morris	20 (25)	PM	Gets upgrade from Credit Suisse due to improved outlook in Russian and Eastern Europe. May help offset new butt ban in China.
	GE	21 (15)	GE	Posts numbers a bit better than Wall St. expected but not good enough to signal turnaround. NBC screw ups still make company look like KeyStone Cops.
	Boeing	22 (26)	BA	Switch in Defense Department budgets should favor company. Trouble at rival Airbus could accrue to American company’s favor.
	AT&T	23 (31)	T	Microsoft backs Ma Bell’s suit with Tivo. Analysts believe new wireless prices could improve revenue. Word is T killed Tiger Woods endorsement contract without penalty. Rough.
	Verizon	24 (23)	VZ	Picks up another Palm handset. New FCC ruling should get more sports onto handsets. Rumor that iPhone deal is just weeks away.
	Pfizer	25 (30)	PFE	Kidney drug also found to treat pancreatic cancer. New push into emerging markets seems promising. Death of healthcare bill would be a tonic.
	Exxon-Mobil	26 (20)	XOM	Worries about refining profits rise. Merger with XTO still under some pressure. Big oil likely Obama target after big banks.
	Hewlett-Packard	27 (19)	HPQ	Approval of Oracle bid for Sun Micro will create me competition. Strong IBM numbers put pressure on HPQ to match when it reports.
	Johnson & Johnson	28 (32)	JNJ	Closes valuable deal for sinus device company. JNJ hurt by as federal court voids four of it stent patents. Heartless.
	Home Depot	29 (21)	HD	Consumer credit concerns in bank earnings weigh on home market recovery. Home building permits a spark.
	Bank of America	30 (24)	BAC	Slammed by Obama bank plans. Earnings worse than expects, but Morgan Stanley keeps “overweight” rating on shares.
	JP Morgan	31 (2)	JPM	Bad week for big banks. Consumer credit write-offs still plague. Obama proposals to limit major profit centers send investors out in droves.
	Goldman Sachs	32 (29)	GS	No firm stands to lose more if Obama banking plan is adopted. Public relations backlash over bonuses grows.