24/7 Wall St. » EQ

Media Digest 10/28/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:46:29 +0000

According to Reuters, GM (GM) and Chrysler have asked the government for $10 billion to close their merger.

Reuters reports that Boeing (BA) and its machinists have entered into a tentative labor agreement.

Reuters reports that Honda (HMC) cuts its sales forecasts due to the financial crisis.

Reuters writes that Avis cut 700 jobs and had a $1 billion loss.

Reuters reports that Mastercard (MA) and Visa (V) will settle a suit with Discover (DFS) for $2.75 billion.

Reuters reports that Wal-Mart (WMT) will cut capital spending and slow building new stores.

Reuters reports that Google (GOOG) plans to invest in the energy sector.

Reuters reports that Microsoft (MSFT) will rent its "cloud computing space.

The Wall Street Journal reports that BP’s (BP) profits rose 83% on higher oil prices.

The Wall Street Journal reports that GM may get $5 billion from the Energy Department for its Chrysler deal.

The Wall Street Journal reports that "Google, Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft agreed to a set of principles for how to do business in nations that restrict free speech and expression."

The Wall Street Journal reports that bargain hunters are beginning to shrink the glut of homes.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the government rescue plan is slowing due to slow hiring of asset managers.

The Wall Street Journal reports that oil earnings are likely to drop on the falling price of oil.

The Wall Street Journal reports that much of the US capital being put into regional banks will not go to customer loans.

The Wall Street Journal writes that a slowdown in China’s recovery may keep metal prices low.

The Wall Street Journal reports that more car dealers are closing.

The Wall Street Journal reports that hedge funds are trying to push out the head of Dillard’s.

The Wall Street Journal reports that CenturyTel (CTL) plans to buy Embarq (EQ) to save costs.

The FT writes that GE (GE) will test the government’s new commercial paper facility.

Bloomberg reports that Nomura posted a large loss due to problems in the Japanese market.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in Press Digest Tagged: BA, BP, CTL, DFS, EQ, GM, GOOG, HMC, MA, MSFT, V, WMT, YHOO

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AGN, SCOR, BOOM, EQ, GPS, HRC, JWN, MORN, PCLN, RSH)

247wallst — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:55:41 +0000

These are ten of the analyst calls we see impacting shares this Friday morning:

Allergan (NYSE: AGN) cut to Hold at Jefferies.
ComScore (NASDAQ: SCOR) raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Dynamic Materials (NASDAQ: BOOM) cut to Neutral at JP Morgan.
Embarq (NYSE: EQ) raised to buy at Deutsche Bank.
Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) cut to Neutral at Banc of America.
Hill-rom (NYSE: HRC) started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Morningstar (NASDAQ: MORN) raised to Outperform at Keefe Bruyette
Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) cut to Hold at Citigroup.
RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) raised to Buy at Banc of America.

Jon C. Ogg
May 2, 2008

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (CAT, CRUS, EQ, HCCI, MAR, MTG, PPC, R, SLB, WFC)

247wallst — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:20:25 +0000

These are not the only calls that will be impacting stocks, but these are the initial calls that 247WallSt.com is focusing on this Monday morning:

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ: CRUS) Cut to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.
Embarq (NYSE: EQ) Raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
Heritage-Crystal Clean (NASDAQ: HCCI) started as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
Marriott (NYSE: MAR) Cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.
MGIC Investment Corp (NYSE: MTG) Raised to Outperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
Pilgrims Pride (NYSE: PPC) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Ryder System (NYSE: R) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Baird.
Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) Raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) cut to Underperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.

Jon C. Ogg
April 21, 2008

Why Sprint’s (S) New CEO Makes No Difference

247wallst — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 09:48:43 +0000

Sprint (S) appointed a new CEO today. He seems to be perfect for the job. The new man, Dan Hesse, comes from the top spot at Embarq (EQ) and used to work at Sprint. He won’t need any time to learn the ropes.

But, the stock is barely up on the news.

Sprint’s problems can’t be fixed in a quarter. It may take a year or two years. It may be that they can’t be fixed at all. That is a depressing comment to make about a company, but some issues become so malignant that they are beyond curing.

Many of Sprint’s customers don’t like the company. It has to maintain two networks. One is for the Nextel customers which the company picked up in the merger. The other is the old Sprint network. The company is thinking about building a third system of fourth generation WiMax high speed wireless. Putting that together is probably a $5 billion investment which will take two years or more.

In the meantime, Sprint is up against AT&T (T) Wireless and Verizon Wireless which is owned by Verizon (VZ) and Vodafone (VOD). Each of the larger companies is adding new customers. Sprint is not. To many people leave Sprint each quarter. There is no reason for the competition to help them with that problem.

Sprint hired the right guy, but he has a very tall mountain to climb in a very short period of time.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Pre-Market Analyst Calls (September 27, 2007)

247wallst — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 06:42:17 +0000

AET started as Outperform at Wachovia.
CI started as mkt perform at Wachovia.
CEO cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
EQ cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
GME cut to Neutral at UBS.
HNT started as mkt perform at Wachovia.
KND raised to Mkt Perform at Wachovia.
LEVP started as outperform at CIBC.
MGA raised to outperform at CIBC.
MOGN started as Outperform at FBR.
PUK raised to outperform at Bear Stearns.
RMD cut to Neutral at UBS.
SBUX cut to Sell at B of A.
TIBX started as Neutral at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.
WSTL raised to Outperform at RW Baird.

Jon C. Ogg
September 27, 2007

Earlybird Analyst Calls (June 14, 2007)

247wallst — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:29:07 +0000

ACL started as Buy at Jefferies.
AMGN started as Mkt Perform at Rodman & Renshaw.
B started as Outperform at CIBC.
CBB started as Buy at UBS.
CHE started as Buy at Jefferies.
CTL raised to Neutral at UBS.
CYTX started as Mkt Perform at Piper Jaffray.
DJ cut to Reduce at UBS.
EQ raised to Buy at UBS.
ESI cut to Equal Weight at Lehman.
EYE started as Underperform at Jefferies.
GNLB started as Buy at Oppenheimer.
ILMN raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
ISIL raised to Buy at B of A.
MFA started as Outperform at JMP Securities.
MNKD started as Buy at B of A.
OPTT started as Outperform at Bear Stearns.
PT raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
RACK started as Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
RBC started as Sector Perform at CIBC.
SLM cut to Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
SNY cut to Neutral at HSBC; cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
THI raised to Outperform at CIBC.
VDSI cut to Hold at Jefferies.
VTIV raised to Strong Buy at First Albany.
WIN started as Neutral at UBS.
ZGEN started as Neutral at Oppenheimer.

Jon C. Ogg
June 14, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.