Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Becton Dickinson & Co. (NYSE: BDX) Reiterated Buy with $87 target at Argus.
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE: DD) Started as Neutral at UBS.
Genesco Inc. (NYSE: GCO) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
Hibbett Sporting Goods (NASDAQ: HIBB) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Ingram Micro, Inc. (NYSE: IM) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. (NYSE: KOG) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $11 at Credit Suisse.
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) maintained Sell but cut target to $57 at Canaccord Genuity.
Newpark Resources (NYSE: NR) Started as Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) Started as Outperform at Scotia.
Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) Raised to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Spectrum Brands Inc (NYSE: SPB) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

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Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) Raised to Outperform at Bernstein and target raised from $125 to $160.
ANSYS (NASDAQ: ANSS) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
bebe Stores (NASDAQ: BEBE) Cut to Hold at Brean Murray.
Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE: CNQ) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) Reiterated Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Genesco (NYSE: GCO) Raised to Outperform at R.W. Baird.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea (NASDAQ: PEET) Started as Buy at Janney.
Realty Income (NYSE: O) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) Reiterated Overweight at Piper Jaffray and raised 2010 targets.

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JON C. OGG

In addition, there is another change in the hierarchy.  Lyon iscurrently President of Finish Line.  He was replaced by Steven J. Schneider, the company’s chief operating officer.  If youlook at our reasons cited for calling for this CEO to go last December, you willunderstand why Cohen needed to go.

The only reason we haven’t pounded the table was thatthis stock actually made its way back up from the depths of hell.  Itwas actually one of the best NASDAQ performers this year until the lastsell-off.  But the failed Genesco (NYSE: GCO) merger was one whichcould have killed Finish Line.  Cohen took an unreasonable gamble thatluckily didn’t leave shareholders holding a goose egg.  His dual classof stocks also gives him ultimate control over the common stock withouthaving to own so much stock.  Shareholders will do much better with himout of the daily grind.

This actually marks the 7th of our 10 CEO’s To Go For 2008.  Technically, that marks the 7th of 9, as Symantec’s John Thompson was more of a possibility rather than a prediction (and he is well liked).

Jon C. Ogg
October 3, 2008

• Columbia Sportswear Co. (NASDAQ: COLM),
• Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE),
• Under Armour (NYSE: UA),
• lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU),

There were also many names in footwear and shoe retailing that were dropped:

• Foot Locker (NYSE: FL)
• Genesco (NYSE: GCO)
• Finish Line (NASDAQ: FINL)
• K-Swiss Inc. (NASDAQ: KSWS).

As a reminder, these are not true downgrades.  This coverage was dropped as the analyst has left the firm and it appears to be in a rapid enough manner that Goldman Sachs was not able to transition coverage away to another analyst.

Jon C. Ogg
May 20, 2008

Jon Ogg produces and edits the "10 Stocks Under $10" weekly newsletter and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

What is interesting about this report is that this is the first earnings since it let Finish Line (NASDAQ: FINL) off the hook.  It did receive a large sum and even a chunk of Finish Line stock as part of the settlement, although that won’t likely be reflected for another quarter or so.  Shares were hit hard over this, but frankly it’s better off being on its own rather than under Finish Line.

Frankly, it’s hard to imagine that any trader will be expecting much at all since the company was so distracted.  That also means that anything that looks decent or actually good would run up shares.  This had 3.47 million shares in the short interest, which is about 9-days to cover and would allow this to act as a catapult for shares if the report is well received.

Analysts have an average price target of about $29.00. Genesco’s 52-week trading range is $19.36 to $54.15, and it saw a low of $19.38 today before closing at $19.79.  This will be one to watch because its stock has been battered and beaten so much over the failed merger.

Jon C. Ogg
March 12, 2008

We recently covered Finish Line in our weekly "10 Stocks Under $10" newsletter with the note that if the company could not wiggle out of that merger that it was going to implode from the leverage and financing.  We had noted this one being in trouble even last year.  The worst part for common shareholders in this company is that the dual-class of shares keeps the bulk of the votes and control in hands of management.

We have even named its CEO Alan Cohen as one of our ten CEO’s that need to go.  This merger should never have been ventured into in the first place.  Even with Finish Line shares up more than 30% at $3.73, its 52-week high is $13.86.  Finish Line stock was north of $10.00 before its mouth became hungrier than its pockets could afford.

Genesco is the real winner here, although you wouldn’t know it if you look at the stock today with shares down nearly 20% at $24.50.  UBS (NYSE: UBS) and Finish Line will pay to Genesco an aggregate of $175 million in cash along with a number of Class A shares of Finish Line common stock equal to 12% of the total post-issuance Finish Line outstanding shares of common stock.  If the financial markets were not in disarray for deal financing, we’d probably be noting how the valuations of Genesco are compelling.

Jon C. Ogg
March 3, 2008

Mr. Cohen is unlikely to leave entirely since co-founder and as a holder, so if he cares about outside shareholders and cares about his own wealth he will decided to retain the Chairman role and turn the keys over to someone else.

This poorly crafted leveraged buyout of Genesco (NYSE: GCO) was the last big disappointment and the company was going to over-leverage itself if that came about.  Finish Line is using the "material adverse effect" argument because Genesco’s results failed to achieve target, although a slowing consumer spending environment may not be considered "material" enough in a current court case.  The fact that Finish Line said the company is now not generating enough cash flow is something it should have considered before it wanted to leverage its books up in what ended up becoming a bidding war.

We even evaluated Finish Line as a potential buyout candidate of its own back in 2006 (prior to Special Situation Newsletter) but decided to close that off the list for a small gain.  It was a good thing we had a change of heart there.  We questioned whether or not management would actually ever sell in the first place, but we didn’t expect a leveraged buyout for a more diversified play.

This stock recently traded at 12.75-times FEB-2008 earnings and only at about 8-times the FEB-2009 estimate, although it is quite likely that these estimates do not reflect a slower consumer spending environment.  Earnings estimates have been trimmed lower over the last 60 days.  It also doesn’t really consider a potential ongoing case with an even larger potential verdict against the company, although that outcome won’t be known for a while.  Our thesis for Alan Cohen is not subject to the verdict whether it wins or loses against Genesco.

The company has been a habitual spotty earnings performer.  At the end of a day when you are merely a retailer that caters to sport shoes and apparel that has to be continually replaced, how many excuses are there for a loss of more than two-thirds of your stock value.  The major growth days as far as numbers of new stor opportunities are somewhat behind the company, although some of that may be because there are more than enough sporting shoes and apparel stores around in major cities.  This maturity is another reason the company needs some fresh blood to help navigate through choppier waters than when this was a major growth story.

Shares are up from recent lows even after it warned of a loss, but with a history of spotty earnings performance compared to estimates it is just more of the same.  Shareholders are also confused by the dual class structure of the stock with there being more than 8-times the A-shares as B-shares and the B-shares have a ten-to-one ratio for voting.

With the structure of those B-Shares affecting the vote, Mr. Cohen doesn’t have to listen to shareholders and doesn’t have to do the right thing.  In fact, he could hang on for another decade if he wants to regardless of share performance.  An activist investor would be a big help to Finish Line, but any activist would know that their entire efforts would likely be falling on deaf ears.

GUIDELINES FOR OUR CEO’s TO GO SELECTION

Jon C. Ogg
December 12, 2007

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

Unisys (UIS) No new news. Old line computer maker working on transformation to services. Down to $5.13 from 52-week high of $9.70.

Journal Register (JRC) Newspaper chain with falling revenue and too much debt. Down to $2.00 from 52-week high of $8.60.

Novastar  (NFI) Bad news in mortgage markets takes it down again. Falls to $1.45 from 52-week high of $125.64.

Freddie Mac (FRE) Mortgage disease. Drops to $36.66 from 52-week high of $69.85.

CountryWide Financial (CFC) Falls to $10.25 from 52-week high of $45.26.

Washington Mutual (WM) Down to $18.25 from 52-week high of $46.38.

Wachovia (WB) Big banks not good business anymore. Drifts off to $37.53 from 52-week high of $58.80.

Sprint (S) Housing problems must be hurting cellular business. Down to $14.67 from 52-week high of $23.42.

Time Warner (TWX) Fear of recession hurting ad spending. Down to $16.71 from 52-week high of $23.15.

GM (GM) Housing and fuel concerns hit car stocks. Falls to $26.57 from 52-week high of $43.20.

Acacia Resh (ACTG) Loses patent dispute with Microsoft (MSFT). Down to $9.89 from 52-week high of $17.92.

Douglas A. McIntyre

But there are many other mergers out there that have misleading merger-arb spreads that are indicative of potential trouble as far as a closing at all or at least a risk of the stated merger price being sent to a reduced buyout price. Almost all of these mergers are different than the ones from September that we deemed at risk.

Tribune (NYSE:TRB) $34 buyout from Sam Zell and employees….
Shares reached almost $30.50 yesterday and today’s $29.90 is representative of a 13.7% merger-arb spread for a merger that shareholders have already approved.  24/7 Wall St. has given our own prediction for a buyout price that Sam Zell would likely offer if financing gets tight in this LBO-OPM (leverage buyout, other peoples money) offer.  We are looking at updating this in our New Media/Old Media subscriber letter next week.

PHH Corp. (NYSE:PHH) $31.50 buyout……
With a near-50% merger-arb spread consider this one toast or revised far lower or maybe only even by one of the buyout partners.  The Blackstone (NYSE:BX) buyout is supposedly to be revisited momentarily, although JPMorgan and Lehman that were financing a portion of the deal have (as of last look) maintained a $750 million shortfall on the debt portion here.  General Electric (NYSE:GE) was Blackstone’s buyout partner and the deal as originally intended was going to send the fleet services group (corporate car and truck fleets) to GE and the mortgage business to Blackstone. 

Genesco (NYSE:GCO) $54.50 buyout……
The $1.5 billion footwear acquisition that had been agreed to in June was scheduled to close last month, but would-be acquirer Finish Line (NASDAQ:FINL) and investment bank UBS stalled on the deal because of concerns over Genesco’s financial performance after the $54.50 buyout deal was announced.  At $45.40 there is a 20% merger-arb spread.  24/7 Wall St.’s belief is that Finish Line is in no position to do the deal whether it "states uncomfort and concerns" or not.

3Com (NASDAQ:COMS) $5.30 buyout…..
3Com’s buyout is not at risk over shareholder revolts nor over financing.  This one is at risk over China’s Huawei holding a stake after the Bain Capital buyout over "national security concerns" because many US and partner government agencies still relying on 3Com’s communication equipment. Senators are reviewing the deal and saber rattling here.  Boy, those must be some old systems.  24/7 Wall St. is reviewing this one now for the Special Situation Investing Newsletter since at $4.86 this has only a 9% merger arb-spread for an at-risk deal on a company that management can’t fix on its own.

Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) $11.75 management-led buyout…..
The $1.3 Billion MBO agreement announced on July 23, 2007 has been a quiet one.  When announced this was almost a 40% premium.  At $10.12 today, there is still a 16% merger-arb spread.  The Board of Directors approved the deal and recommended that shareholders vote for it, but the financing from Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity and Merrill Lynch Capital Corporation "could" be up for interpretation.  Jim Cramer actually called this a takeover candidate before the MBO was announced.  Cumulus is also a name 24/7 Wall St. has under review for its New Media Old Media subscriber newsletter.

Jon C. Ogg
November 1, 2007

Jon Ogg produces the subscriber-based Special Situation Investing Newsletter where we cover buyout candidates, restructurings, spin-offs, and more.  We recently issued our "Small Cap Internet Watch List" PART 1 of 2 that showed a list of smaller web related properties we think could be acquired under the right circumstances, and we even listed which predator companies could or would acquire them under the right circumstances.

Standard Pacific (SPF) Homebuilder taken down by more bad sector news. Falls to $6.12 from 52-week high of $30.52.

Vonage (VG) Loses patent suit by Sprint (S). Drops to $1.20 from 52-week high of $7.89.

Borders (BGP) Selling books in stores no longer much of a business. Down to $12.40 from 52-week high of $24.19.

Panacos Pharmaceuticals (PANC) Company downgraded and CFO leaves. Falls to $1.86 from 52-week high of $7.23.

The Finish Line (FINL) Involved in dispute about buying Genesco (GCO). Drops to $4.54 from 52-week high of $14.97.

Acxiom (ACXM) Concern over financing for private equity buy-out. Down to $18.81 from 52-week high of $28.25.

Douglas A. McIntyre