Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO) is named as a top small cap idea with multiple ways to win and with a “valuation too tepid” and firm reiterated a Buy rating and gave a new target of $49.00 by Canaccord Genuity.
DENTSPLY International (NASDAQ: XRAY) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (NASDAQ: DWA) Cut to Average at Caris & Co.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.
IAMGOLD Corp (NYSE: IAG) Started as Outperform with $25.00 price target objective at Credit Suisse.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: LLTC) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) Cut to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Seagate Technology PLC (NYSE: STX) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE: SIG) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) named as aggressive growth stock of the day at Zacks.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) maintained Buy with an $18.00 price target objective at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

In the field of satellite imaging, Canaccord Genuity cut its ambitions due to austerity cuts: DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI) was maintained at Buy but the target was cut to $23.50; GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY) was maintained as Hold and the target wass lowered to $22.00 per share.

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JON C. OGG

The Perseid meteor shower is what is left of Comet Swift-Tuttle that last visited the inner solar system in 1992.  Each year in August Earth passes through a debris field left along the orbit of the comet.  Most debris items are the size pebbles or sand grains, but they enter Earth’s atmosphere at about 37 miles per second or 133,000 MPH.  In short, nothing physical responds too well if it is hit by debris.  That includes satellites, the space station, space craft and so on.  If you don’t trust that this is a risk, all you have to do is look in the annual reports of any major satellite company.  Again, it is a low risk, but a risk nonetheless.

There are many companies that could be affected if debris from a meteor shower were to make contacts with any of the satellites.  The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA), DigitalGlobe, Inc. (NYSE: DGI), GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY), Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (NASDAQ: GILT), Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH), DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV), SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), Hughes Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGH), ICO Global Communications Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: ICOG), Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) and Globalstar Inc. (NASDAQ: GSAT) and ORBCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORBC) are all likely monitoring their birds with a little more caution during this Perseid show.  There is also Orbital Sciences Corp. (NYSE: ORB) and Loral Space & Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LORL).

DISH Network notes, “Meteoroid events pose a potential threat to all in-orbit satellites. The probability that meteoroids will damage those satellites increases significantly when the Earth passes through the particulate stream left behind by comets. Occasionally, increased solar activity also poses a potential threat to all in-orbit satellites…. The loss, damage or destruction of any of our satellites as a result of an electrostatic storm, collision with space debris, malfunction or other event could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.”

On this front, DIRECTV notes in its annual report, “In-orbit risks include malfunctions, commonly referred to as anomalies, and collisions with meteoroids, other spacecraft or other space debris….. In the event of a complete satellite failure, our services provided via that satellite could be unavailable for several days or longer while backup in-orbit satellites are repositioned and services are moved. We are not insured for any resultant lost revenues.”

The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) claims to be the world’s leading manufacturer of geostationary satellites and it manufactures satellites for all walks of the satellite world.  It recently acquired Argon ST in the satellite arena.  Unless many satellites were simultaneously knocked out or damaged, Boeing is too large and too diversified to get any major benefit from the possibilities of satellite woes based on meteor showers.

Two other companies in the satellite manufacturing and servicing businesses that are direct pure-plays in the satellite industry are Orbital Sciences Corp. (NYSE: ORB) and Loral Space & Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LORL).  Both companies are small enough ($1.44 billion market cap at Loral and $777 million at Orbital) that any new business as a result of repositioning, relaunching, or reordering of new satellites would actually be a win for either or both of these two.

DigitalGlobe, Inc. (NYSE: DGI) and GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY) were two recent winners that hit all-time highs after the two received $7.3 billion in combined orders to supply satellite imagery to U.S. intelligence services.  Digital Globe has commercial high-resolution earth imagery products and services that are sourced from its own advanced satellite constellation.  GeoEye sells international information services to government and commercial markets.

Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH) and DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) compete head to head for in-home and in-office satellite ‘cable’ TV subscribers.  Each has hundreds of channels.  Dish had 14.1 million subscribers at the end of 2009 versus DIRECTV’s 18.5 million U.S. and 6.5 million in Latin America.  As of the end of 2009, DIRECTV had a network of 12 geosynchronous satellites and it appears that DISH had more when you include its leased satellites.

Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (NASDAQ: GILT) is an Israel-based company which provides Internet Protocol (IP) based digital satellite communication and networking products and services worldwide.  The company was founded in 1987 and has shipped over 750,000 VSATs (Very Small Aperture Terminals) to more than 85 countries on six continents.

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is satellite radio monopoly and it ended the latest quarter with some 19,527,448 subscribers.  It has multiple satellites between it and the XM network and any single satellite would likely only result in some interruption.  Still, any ‘event’ would not be a welcome wagon for Mel Karmazin and friends.

Hughes Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGH) offers up broadband satellite network services and systems for broadband Internet services via commercial-grade antennas. The company also provides satellite, wire line, and wireless communication networks and services to all business sectors around the globe.  The company had about 326,000 subscribers on SPACEWAY 3 as of June 30, 2010 and it has shipped more than 2.2 million systems to customers in over 100 countries.  In short, satellite ‘interruption,’ damage, or destruction would not be welcome.

ICO Global Communications Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: ICOG) was founded in 2000 to launch and operate a global constellation of communications satellites to support voice and data services to mobile, portable and fixed devices.  This is still a developing company where its DBSD North America unit is being restructured and the company will be a minority shareholder upon that completion.  The company recently completed a $30 million rights offering and the stock has never really taken off and its remaining ten partially completed MEO satellites were placed in storage when construction was suspended in 2004.  It has a case against Boeing which it won a $603 million claim, but that is on appeal and is expected to be concluded next year.

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) and Globalstar Inc. (NASDAQ: GSAT) are two of the satellite phone service providers that provide satellite audio and data communications.  Globalstar has recently taken delivery of the first three second-generation satellites from manufacturer Thales Alenia Space and is expecting three more later this month for what it hopes will be an October launch.  With over 400,000 subscribers, Globalstar claims to be the world’s largest provider of mobile satellite voice and data services.

ORBCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORBC) is a smaller player that operates satellite-based data communications for a two-way wireless data messaging system optimized for narrowband data communications via about 29 low-Earth orbit satellites.  It is into space-based Automatic Identification System services.  It announced this week that its total revenues for the June quarter were $7.8 million.  Despite a 15.8% revenue jump, its satellite network would have to face multiple strikes to really interrupt operations and the odds of that are so low that it is hard to fathom.

Most likely there will be no major fallout from this.  If there is, it will be costly.  To date, meteor showers and debris showers have brought mostly entertainment at night under clear skies.

JON C. OGG

Allied Irish Bank Group (NYSE: AIB) Cut to Hold and Target Cut to 1.02 (Euro) at RBS; Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Energizer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ENR) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) Started as Hold at Needham.
GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE: HBC) Cut to Hold at RBS.
Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE: SNN) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
Telefonica, S.A. (NYSE: TEF) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) Cut to Sell at Brean Murray.
WuXi PharmaTech Inc. (NYSE: WX) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.

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

The pricing is technically above the $16 to $18 per share price range we had previously indicated.  The company has two high-resolution satellites for detailed mapping and plans to launch a third satellite later this year. If you want a direct comparison, the company competes head to head with GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY).

Revenues were $106.8 million in 2006, $151.7 million in 2007, and $275.2 million in 2008.  Be advised that about 70% of the revenues were from the US government.  Two other customers are Google, Microsoft, and Garmin.

Early indications are said to be north of $20.00, although that may rise or fall into the opening of this IPO.

JON C. OGG

Here are some brief explanations on each stock:

• ArthroCare Corporation (NASDAQ: ARTC) was down over 50% and that prior$11.90 low may be a figure for the history books now.  It expandedrestatements of financial statements and withdrew previous adjustments;and it disclosed subpoenas for production of documents.  Just whatevery investor wants to hear.
• Corel Corp. (NASDAQ: CORL) broke under its old $3.01 lows, down about70% from highs.  Too bad that old merger deal never worked.
• GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY) fell another 5%.  Satellite imagerycontracts may still be lucrative, but supporting the business is not acheap endeavor.
• Hiland Holdings GP, LP (NASDAQ: HPGP) and Hiland Partners, LP (NASDAQ:HLND) both blew through prior lows.  Wachovia cut it, seems not allMLP’s are created equally.
• Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HRC) put in a new 52-week low.  So muchfor medical products being recession-proof, so much for that break-upbeing a great one.
• PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: PDLI) is spinning off its biotech unit andshares were down over 10% today as the company is being booted out ofthe S&P Mid-Cap 400 Index.  This one’s nickname is "Pidly" as theticker acronym.  Looks like the nickname may be the surname.
• Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN)… so much for the knee and hipreplacements trends.  Oh well, other medical products have been bitingthe dust on this list of lows as well.
• Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) fell again.  That warning the otherday was just brutal.  Signing the Rockstar team is only worth somestability it seems.  Unfortunately, because of the magnitude of thedrop and because of actual GAAP LOSSES this only looks cheap becauseits stock is off so much.

Jon C. Ogg
December 19, 2008

• Aetna (NYSE: AET) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• Alcoa (NYSE: AA) Raised from Sell to Hold at Soleil.
• Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) Raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
• Jacobs (NYSE: JEC) raised to Buy from Hold at Morgan Joseph.
• GeoEye (NASDAQ: GEOY) started as Buy at Soeil.
• L3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Cowen.
• Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) Raised to Sector Perform from Sector Underperform at CIBC.
• NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) Cut to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
• Peabody (NYSE: BTU) Raised to Buy from Hold at Citi.
• UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) cut to Neutral at UBS.

We also saw RBC raise the Communication Towers Sector.

Jon C. Ogg
July 3, 2008

• Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Charles River Laboratories (NYSE: CRL) downgraded to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
• GeoEye (NASDAQ: GEOY) started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
• Hoku Scientific (NASDAQ: HOKU) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Broadpoint.
• Huntsman (NASDAQ: HUN) raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Invitrogen (NASDAQ: IVGN) Raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
• Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) raised to Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
• Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) Raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
• Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) Downgraded to Underweight from Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.

Elsewhere in analyst coverage, you can see the full medical & biotech calls at BioHealthInvestor.com and earlier we covered some more exclusive analyst calls in Telecom, Media & Tech as well as Credit Suisse initiating coverage on the Homebuilder sector.
Jon C. Ogg
June 24, 2008

Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: CCE) was down less than 1% at $21.48 in the last hour; prior 52-week range was $21.55 to $27.09. Who would have guessed that bottling Coke and other drinks would result in this. 

GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY) suffering from geospatial imaging sector woes.  While this was well above the 52-week lows, it has been more volatile than plastique in a lightning storm, and shares went as low as $16.05 today; Prior range $17.00 to $37.37.

Hansen Natural Corp. (NASDAQ: HANS) shares fell another 5% to $28.50 in the last hour but shares were as low as $28.20.  This one is making the list more than just once now.  The short sellers that bet against this one probably feel like they are monsters in their own right.

iPass Inc. (NASDAQ: IPAS) fell sharply after earnings and subsequent downgrades.  Shares were down 16% at $2.15 in teh last hour; prior 52-week range was $2.43 to $5.69.  Selling wi-fi spots probably is going to be tough once WiMAX does really hit the U.S.  Looks like the only thing people are passing at iPass is gas.

The Knot Inc. (NASDAQ: KNOT) was down almost 15% at $9.93 last in the day after posting a 65% drop in earnings.  Maybe bridezillas are not doing research anymore or maybe they are just using wedding planners.  Either way, you know when times are tough people don’t go as extravagant on weddings.  Presumable that ad spending might be down too.

3D Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: TDSC) won "the daily fugly" award after its earnings report.  In the last hour shares were down almost 40% at $8.67; prior 52-week trading range was $11.51 to $26.50.   3-D is tough to explain to blind people.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) seems counterintuitive with screaming oil prices, but its power costs and energy demands are costing more and more and it can’t pass the costs along.  Shares were at $44.70 at the end of the day and the prior 52-week trading range was $44.94 to $78.68.

Jon C. Ogg
May 9, 2008