24/7 Wall St. » HOG

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GD, ABB, HOG, COP, S, ALU, MO, PEP, TLAB, XOM, AET, BMY, BG, JBLU, LIZ, MJN, REGN, SWY, SWC, TASR, UPS, YNDX, NRGY, SPH, LEAP, AKAM)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:06:31 +0000

Markets opened a few ticks lower this morning after a poor report on new claims for unemployment benefits in the US (our coverage here). The report that pending home sales jumped 4.1% lit a fire under investors and pushed equities higher (our coverage here). The EIA report on natural gas supplies held gas prices higher although they’ve dropped back by late afternoon (our coverage here). Yields on 7-year US Treasury notes were at a record low following Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s clarification of what “exceptionally low” interest rates mean (our coverage here). The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.17% at 78.932. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.04% at 677.57, with commodities mixed on the slightly weaker dollar. WTI crude oil closed up 0.4% at $104.55/barrel, and Brent crude trades up 0.65% at $119.89/barrel. Gold settled up 1.1% today, at $1,660.50/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 114 points to 13,204.70 (0.87%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 21 points (0.69%) to 3,050.61, and the S&P 500 rose 0.67% or more than 9 points to 1,399.99.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) cut to ‘equal-weight’ at Morgan Stanley; ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) raised to ‘overweight’ at Barclays; ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) raised to ‘neutral’ at Macquarie; and Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) maintained as ‘hold’ at Argus.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) is down -16.9% at $19.71 (our coverage here); Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) is up 0.9% at $31.96 (our story here); Pepsico (NYSE: PEP) is down -0.3% at $66.44 (our story here); Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) is down -5.1% at $3.83 (our coverage here); Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is down -0.8% at $86.13 (our coverage here); Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) is down -8.4% at $45.22; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) is down -1.7% at $33.72; Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) is down -2.6% at $65.69; JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) is down -0.1% at $4.64; Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) is up 9.4% at $13.87; Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (NYSE: MJN) is up XX% at $XX; Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) is up 4% at $86.38 after posting a new 52-week high of $87.26n earlier today; Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) is down -2.8% at $21.00; Stillwater Mining Co. (NYSE: SWC) is down -4.6% at $10.69; TASER International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) is up 5.7% at $4.39; United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) is down -1.8% at $78.25; and Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) is down -5% at $23.31.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Inergy L.P. (NYSE: NRGY) is up 17% at $19.71. The company is being acquired by Suburban Propane Partners LP (NYSE: SPH). More coverage here.

Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) is down -20.2% at $6.16. The wireless carrier fell sharply on disappointing quarterly results. More coverage here.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is down -14.8% at $33.03. The technology provider beat estimates but issued weak guidance.

Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – GDP report
8:30 a.m. – Employment cost index
9:55 a.m. – Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ABB, AET, AKAM, ALU, BG, BMY, COP, GD, HOG, JBLU, LEAP, LIZ, MJN, MO, NRGY, PEP, REGN, S, SPH, SWC, SWY, TASR, TLAB, UPS, XOM, YNDX

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ABB, APD, AKAM, COP, GD, HOG, HES, INFY, MAN, MAR, SAP, S, TRV, WPI)

Administrator — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:20:54 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls this Thursday.

ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) Raised to Buy on weakness at UBS.

ConcoPhillips (NYSE: COP) Raised to Neutral at Macquarie.

General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays; Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Infosys Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) Raised to Buy at Argus.

SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) maintained Hold at Argus.

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) Raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ABB, AKAM, APD, COP, GD, HES, HOG, INFY, MAN, MAR, S, SAP, TRV, WPI

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AAPL, JCP, MCD, WMT, BWLD, AXE, EW, JNPR, NSC, NFX, AN, CWEI, GLW, HOG, LAD, LCC, CAT, CNH, BA)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:06:51 +0000

Markets opened higher this morning, led by the Nasdaq which got a big boost from the strong report last night from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). The report from the US Census Bureau on durable goods orders showed a decline in new orders (our coverage here), but Apple’s strength overcame that news. The EIA report on crude oil inventories showed a larger than expected gain this week, holding crude prices in check (our coverage here). The FOMC announcement held no surprises, with the committee indicating that it expects interest rates to remain very low through late 2014 (our coverage here). The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.18% at 79.083. The GSCI commodity index is up fractionally at 674.83, with commodities mixed on the slightly weaker dollar. WTI crude oil closed up 0.6% at $104.12/barrel, and Brent crude trades up 0.74% at $1119.03/barrel. Gold settled down -0.1% today, at $1,642.30/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 89 points to 13,090.95 (0.69%), the NASDAQ rose more than 68 points (2.3%) to 3,029.63, and the S&P 500 rose 1.37% or nearly 19 points to 1,390.70.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Apple raised to ‘outperform’ at Scotia and maintained ‘buy’ with a target price of $775 at Canaccord Genuity; J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) raised to ‘market perform’ at BMO; McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) started as ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; and Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Apple is up 8.9% at $610.02 (our coverage here); Anixter International Inc. (NYSE: AXE) is down -4% at $66.76; Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) is up 11.5% at $81.74; Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) is down -4% at $20.78; Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) is up 3.6% at $72.77; Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE: NFX) is up 5.2% at $35.47; AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) is down -0.9% at $33.27; Clayton Williams Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: CWEI) is up 1.6% at $76.45; Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) is up 6.7% at $14.25; Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) is up 6.1% at $53.45 after posting a new 52-week high of $53.98 earlier today; Lithia Motors Inc. (NYSE: LAD) is up 7.4% at $26.84; and US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) is up 2.5% at $9.55 (more coverage here).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is down -4.5% at $103.55. The heavy equipment maker reported declining sales in China as growth in the country has slowed, which led to the sell-off today.

CNH Global NV (NYSE: CNH) is up 3.6% at $45.66. The farm equipment maker beat EPS estimates by almost 50% and sales were also higher.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is up 5.3% at $77.06. The aircraft maker reported solid earnings and revenues this morning. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – New unemployment benefits claims
8:30 a.m. – Chicago Fed national activity index
10:00 a.m. – Pending home sales index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
11:00 a.m. – Kansas City Fed manufacturing index
1:00 p.m. – 7-year note auction
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAPL, AN, AXE, BA, BWLD, CAT, CNH, CWEI, EW, GLW, HOG, JCP, JNPR, LAD, LCC, MCD, NFX, NSC, WMT

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AIG, DELL, FWLT, HOG, KBR, MDR, NE, PLG, GOLD, RJF, SKS, TIVO, VLO, VE, WPRT)

Administrator — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:17:23 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday.

American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

Foster Wheeler AG (NASDAQ: FWLT) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

McDermott International Inc. (NYSE: MDR) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE) Reiterated Buy with $50 target at Argus.

Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (NYSE: PLG) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Randgold Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ: GOLD) target raised at Goldman Sachs.

Raymond James Financial Inc. (NYSE: RJF) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) Reiterated Buy with $14 target at Argus.

TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) Raised to Top Pick at Citigroup.

Veolia Environnement S.A. (NYSE: VE) Raised to Buy at Nomura.

Westport Innovations Inc. (NASDAQ: WPRT) Started as Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AIG, DELL, FWLT, gold, HOG, KBR, MDR, NE, PLG, RJF, SKS, TIVO, VE, VLO, WPRT

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (ARMH, HOG, UPS, KMI, AAPL, FCFC, JASO, JEF, PATH, TIF, ORCL, KKD, RCON, NEWL, TRGT)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:06:57 +0000

Markets opened lower this morning and nothing came along all day to move any of the three major indexes above the neutral line. The morning’s report on housing starts was no better than flat with the January number, although the number of new permits jumped suggesting that March might see some more building action (our coverage here). The US dollar index was stronger today, now up 0.16% at 79.596. With few exceptions, commodities fell on the dollar strength. Oil took a considerably hard knock today, primarily because Saudi Arabia promised to take care of any supply shortages (our story here). WTI crude oil closed down -2.3% at $105.61/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -1.09% at $124.34/barrel. Gold settled down -1.2% today, at $1,647.00/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 69 points to 13,170.19 (-0.52%), the NASDAQ fell more than 4 points (-0.14%) to 3,074.15, and the S&P 500 fell -0.30% or more than 4 points to 1,405.52.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH) raised to ‘overweight’ at Barclays; Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) raised to ‘outperform’ at BMO; United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) cut to ‘hold’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/ML; and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reiterated ‘buy’ and target prices raised to $740 and $700 at Sterne Agee and Credit Suisse, respectively (more coverage here).

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: First City Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: FCFC) is down -10.4% at $8.92; JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is up 4.4% at $1.90; Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF) is up 1.9% at $19.43; NuPathe Inc. (NASDAQ: PATH) is down -13.3% at $3.90; and Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) is up 6.8% at $73.37 (our coverage here). After the markets close today, Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) are scheduled to report earnings.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Recon Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RCON) is up nearly 82% at $4.09 after setting a new 52-week high of $4.58 earlier today. The Chinese oil field services company has cleared up its problems with Nasdaq and signed some new contracts for the first half of the year. More coverage here.

NewLead Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: NEWL) is up nearly 34% at $1.67. The shipping company cancelled a reverse stock split. More coverage here.

Targacept Inc. (NASDAQ: TRGT) is down about -30% at $5.17. The drug maker will not seek FDA approval for a new anti-depressant. More coverage here.

The US Commerce Department found the Chinese guilty of dumping solar panels in the US and has hit back with tariffs of 2.9% to 4.73% on solar panel imports. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Banker’s Association purchase applications
10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: AAPL, ARMH, FCFC, HOG, JASO, JEF, KKD, KMI, NEWL, ORCL, PATH, RCON, TIF, TRGT, UPS

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADBE, ARG, APD, AAPL, ARMH, CA, DRIV, DPZ, GES, HOG, KMI, LGF, OVTI, UPS, UTX)

Administrator — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:01:24 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning.

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) Raised to Sector Perform at RBC.

Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc (NYSE: APD) Started as Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Reiterated at Buy and raised target to $740 at Stern Agee; Reiterated Buy and raised target to $700 at Credit Suisse.

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

CA Inc. (NASDAQ: CA) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.

Digital River Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) Raised to Outperform at BMO.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: LGF) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan; Hunger Games looks larger than Twilight.

OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) Raised to Buy at Needham.

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) Reiterated near-term Hold and long-term Buy.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, ADBE, APD, ARG, ARMH, CA, DPZ, DRIV, GES, HOG, KMI, LGF, OVTI, UPS, UTX

Do Long-Term Berkshire References Matter? Stocks Versus Bonds (BRK.B, BRK.B, BAC, GS, GE, HOG, TIF)

Administrator — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:51:49 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B) (NYSE: BRK.B) is very widely followed due to the great performance through time and due to the following of the great Warren Buffett. It has been an amazing story that won big on the growth of America. It is interesting that long-term values are used retroactively over and over, when all that really matters now is “what lies ahead”…

An interesting read from one of our friends talks up the consolidated annual growth rate of Berkshire Hathaway going all the way back to 1989. It shows what the great Warren Buffett hopes you will believe for the future: 14.9% CAGR for Berkshire Hathaway versus 6.8% for the S&P 500 Index. Our question is more about how this will compare in the years ahead.

Buffett himself has said he already expects that Berkshire Hathaway shares will lag the S&P 500 Index in years when the S&P rises sharply. This puts Berkshire Hathaway in a slightly defensive bet against the S&P 500. The company maintains a large cash balance and it is actively invested in bonds.

Another argument we have is that perhaps Berkshire Hathaway should be benchmarked more against a blend of the Barclays Aggregate index and the S&P 500 Index so that it tracks a blended performance of stocks and bonds. Should it be an equal-weighting between the two indexes? Probably not. Maybe it should only be 30% weighted in the bond side. We’d love to see a blended analysis of this through time.

Consider how many corporate bets Warren Buffett has made on the preferred share investments rather than just the common stock. Some bets have included warrants so that there is large upside, but arguably these were debt investments which have a priority over the common shareholders if there is ever an implosion. Some of the bets in this manner were in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) most recently, but there have also been big bets of this sort in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE).

Buffett even took a $600 million stake in senior unsecured notes in Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) in 2009 with a 2014 maturity at 15%. He also took a 10% note offering in Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) in early 2009 of $250 million with those notes maturing in 2017 and 2019.

Warren Buffett of course is no different from other great managers in the sense that he talks his book. He has to use all of those corny old analogies to try to keep investors focused on the long-term horizon rather than just a few months out. Buffett has also recently said he prefers more stable foreign sovereign debt than what the low rates of the United States pays in Treasuries.

Much of this long-term pondering about Buffett’s performance only matters to those who bought back then and held. All that matters for new investors is what the prospects are for the next ten years. Our take is that Berkshire Hathaway comparisons to “the market” need to at least have some form of a blended bond portfolio with a smaller weighting than the S&P 500 Index.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Activist Investor, Banking, Bonds, Buffett, Conglomerates, Corporate Governance, Defensive Stocks, Economy, Editor's Picks, Index Tagged: BAC, BRK-B, GE, GS, HOG, TIF

Media Digest (10/31/2011) Reuters, WSJ, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:08:43 +0000

Japan acts to lower the yen before the upcoming G20 meeting. (Reuters)

Beacon Power (NASDAQ: BCON), backed by U.S. funds, goes bankrupt. (Reuters)

Young and well-educated Greeks begin to leave the country. (Reuters)

Panasonic (NYSE: PC) cuts its annual earnings forecast. (Reuters)

MF Global’s (NYSE: MF) holding company may go bankrupt, with some assets sold to Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ: IBKR). (Reuters)

Many EU-based businesses have cut earnings forecasts as trouble in the region hurts the economy. (WSJ)

The U.S. may not sell more AIG (NYSE: AIG) stock until the share price rises. (WSJ)

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) will not charge debit card fees similar to Bank of America’s (NYSE: BAC). (WSJ)

Gamestop (NYSE: GME) to sell PCs. (WSJ)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has a new product to compete with Groupon. (WSJ)

Natural gas shale drilling in Pennsylvania prompts fight over who owns rights and land. (WSJ)

Sentier Research reports that American’s do not feel the recession is over. (WSJ)

Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) increases marketing messages to women. (WSJ)

Porsche posts strong earnings. (WSJ)

Aol (NYSE: AOL) wants to catch the balance of mobile portal products creators. (WSJ)

Honeywell (NYSE: HON) throws off substantial cash but is unlikely to add new employees. (WSJ)

Federal Reserve members are at odds about whether the central bank should do more to help the economy. (WSJ)

Cable companies continue to block use of web TV. (WSJ)

Nebraska may try to block the construction of a huge pipeline that would run from Canada to the southern U.S. (WSJ)

Large corporations to lobby the G20 for more unity on economic issues. (FT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will begin to use Xbox Kinect to deliver more than game services. New software may create medical devices. (FT)

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he can set budget cuts to balance Italy’s books and that new elections are not necessary. (Bloomberg)

Honda’s (NYSE: HMC) numbers miss forecasts and it eliminates earnings estimates. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AIG, AOL, BAC, BCON, GME, GOOG, HMC, HOG, HON, IBKR, MF, MSFT, PC, WFC

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (BAC, CHTR, HAL, EP, KO, IBM, JNJ, STT, APEI, BMI, CROX, HALO, HOG, HGSI, USU)

Administrator — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:08:25 +0000

Today was a day of red that went to a day of green. Earnings were at first a disappointment, and producer price index came out far hotter at +0.8% on the headline number before the +0.2% reading if you back out food and energy prices from the producer prices. The market rallied with financial stocks from the start of the day and the market losses suddenly became gains. Homebuilders also looked a bit less-pessimistic in their latest survey. The big news came from a report out of England that France and Germany have supposedly agreed to increase the European Financial Stability Fund to up to $2 billion ahead of the Sunday meeting, although this seems to be a stretch based upon Europe’s slowness to act so far.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up triple digits with a gain of 178 points to 11,575.46, the NASDAQ rose more than 42 (1.6%) to 2,657.43, and the S&P 500 rose 2% or 24 points to 1,225.28. Today’s top analyst upgrade and downgrade calls were numerous and included Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR), Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL), and more than a dozen other companies.

There has been a turnaround from the indicated loss in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) after its earnings showed that book value managed to actually grow and the stock was up almost 10% at $6.63 late in the session.

Some food for thought… Now the MLP and pipeline sector may look cheap on the heels of the El Paso Corporation (NYSE: EP) buyout.

As far as the other big earnings report reactions today (prices within 20 minutes of the closing bell): The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) was down 0.3% at $66.79; International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) was a huge drag on teh DJIA with shares still down 4.5% at $178.30; Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was up 1.2% at $64.54; State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) was up 9% at $36.97.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

American Public Education Inc. (NASDAQ: APEI) lost more than 20% of its value to $30.05 after the American Military University will see far lower tuition assistance from the U.S. Marine Corps.

Badger Meter Inc. (NYSE: BMI) was a loser even if it is supposed to be a water winner after missing earnings estimates. Shares were down 13% at $29.08 in the final minutes of the day.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) was a disaster after an earnings warning that would not have been so bad had the stock not been up 100% from its 52-week lows before the report. The stock was down a massive 39% at $16.20 right before the close on more than 8-times normal volume of 25 million shares.

Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) was such a winner that it should be called “Master Chief” for its stock ticker. Its subcutaneous Herceptin trial met the study goals and the stock was up over 18% at $7.34 right before the close. This was not even a 52-week high.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) was about 4% shy of sales targets in its earnings report and that had the stock down 7% to $34.56 right before the close. With a 52-week high of $46.88, it seemed a bit harsh of a reaction even with slightly lower margin guidance.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) was up over 15% at $12.95 on reports that a $25.00 per share buyout could be headed its way. We gave a handicap on the odds of a deal happening.

USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) broke a major run higher today and still no news exists. The belief is that the loan approval from the DOE may get a better review now that solar loan fraud seems to be prevailing after Solyndra. Shares were down 4% at $2.10 right before the close. Still, this was a $1.30 stock just last Thursday.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. We have speeches to watch from Rosengren and Lockhart on the docket as well as a hearing about ETFs. Here are some economic releases due in the morning and throughout the day:

8:30 September CPI
8:30 Housing Starts
10:30 Weekly Oil Inventories
2:00 PM Beige Book

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Economy, The Day Tagged: APEI, BAC, BMI, CHTR, CROX, EP, HAL, HALO, HGSI, HOG, IBM, JNJ, KO, STT, USU

The 24/7 Wall St./Flame Index: The Companies With The Most Bad Press (7/19)

247wallst — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:58:41 +0000

Earnings dominated the press coverage of today’s shares. Novartis and Harley-Davidson released numbers

Icahn Enterprise was thumped after it made a bid for Clorox, which was rejected. Boeing was hit because large customer American may buy jets from rival Airbus.

Microsoft sold off, probably because of news that smartphone partner is in more trouble

The Flame Index started as a research tool in 2008 at the NY Innovation Design Lab (nyidlab). It was used as a general metric to evaluate companies and their risk in the media. Publicly traded Fortune 500 companies are used as a measure to calculate an overall market of negative news and the companies are ranked within that market

Rank	Company	Ticker	Score	Change in Rank	Comments
11	Alcatel Lucent	ALU	30.207	+209	Former employee charged with graft in Malaysia
23	Microsoft	MSFT	23.309	+176	Wireless partner Nokia in more trouble
24	Icahn Enterprises	IEP	23.063	+543	Market hates bid for Clorox
25	Novartis	NVS	22.934	+530	Earnings up, but generics loom
26	Boeing	BA	22.209	+542	May lose huge American Air deal.
32	PNC Financial Services Group	PNC	20.294	+482	In the middle of ugly robo-signing deal
33	Stanley Black & Decker	SWK	20.061	+466	Buys Sweden’s Niscayah Group
36	Entergy	ETR	19.944	+538	Fight over its Vermont Yankee nuclear plant may cause shutdown
39	Harley-Davidson	HOG	19.879	+632	Earnings remarkably strong
45	Tiffany & Co	TIF	19.219	+610	Oppenheimer raises price target to $100 from $80

Data and ranking provided by the Flame Index.

Filed under: General, Research Tagged: ALU, BA, ETR, HOG, IEP, MSFT, NVS, PNC, SWK, TIF