24/7 Wall St. » HUM

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (TRP, DMD, ARII, CHK, KFT, DG, KALU, LDK, HUM, SNH, SOHU, ACI, ADM, RATE, BRCM, DPZ, ODP, PFE, SIRI, VLO, BKS, SUN, PAY)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:13:01 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened slightly lower this morning and continued drifting lower all day. The Chicago PMI report got the day started on the wrong foot, showing a decline in spending even though personal income rose in March (our coverage here). Spain’s slip into recession did not help (our coverage here) and a report on global unemployment doesn’t offer much hope for economic expansion (our coverage here). The US dollar index rose slightly today, now up 0.05% at 78.780. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.35% at 684.45, with commodities mixed. Cocoa and orange juice posted sharp declines today. WTI crude oil closed down -0.1% at $104.87/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -0.24% at $119.54/barrel. Gold settled down less than -0.1% today, at $1,664.20/ounce, and an overall loss for the month of April of -0.5%.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 15 points to 13,213.63 (-0.11%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 23 points (-0.74%) to 3,046.36, and the S&P 500 fell -0.39% or more than 5 points to 1,397.91.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) cut to ‘equal weight’ at Evercore; TransCanada Corp. (NYSE: TRP) cut to ‘hold’ at Desjardins; American Railcar Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: ARII) raised to ‘neutral’ at UBS; Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) raised to ‘outperform’ at BMO Capital; Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) raised to ‘strong buy’ at Raymond James; and Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (NASDAQ: KALU) raised to ‘buy’ at Dahlman Rose.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) is up 10.8% at $3.28 (our coverage here); Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is down -8.4% at $80.49; Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) is up 0.32% at $22.09; and Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) is down -7.4% at $51.62.

Tomorrow we get earnings from Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI), Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), Bankrate Inc. (NASDAQ: RATE), Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM), Chesapeake Energy Corp., Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ); Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP); Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE); Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI); and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is up about 54% at $21.07 after posting a new 52-week high of $26.00 earlier today. The company has created a joint venture with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). More coverage here.

Sunoco Inc. (NYSE: SUN) is up 19.5% at $48.89 after posting a new 52-week high of $49.50 earlier today. The company is merging with Energy Transfer Partners L.P. in a deal worth about $5.3 billion. More coverage here.

VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) is down -12.7% at $47.52. The company’s stock was downgraded at Deutsche Bank, along with comments that the company was inflating its organic growth estimates.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, Minneapolis Fed President Naryana Kocherlakota, San Francisco Fed President John Williams, and Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser are all giving speeches. Motor vehicle sales are expected to be reported throughout the day. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. – Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – Construction spending
11:30 a.m. – 4- and 52-week bill auctions

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ACI, ADM, ARII, BKS, BRCM, CHK, DG, DMD, DPZ, HUM, KALU, KFT, LDK, ODP, PAY, PFE, RATE, SIRI, SNH, SOHU, SUN, TRP, VLO

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (FDX, WY, CMA, GLW, RDS-A, IDTI, MCK, PCL, CYOU, HUM, LAZ, L, SYY, SURW, CHUX, SOHU, GBG, DNDN)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:07:48 +0000

US equity markets opened lower this morning and never moved into positive territory all day. Greek debt swap negotiations made no discernible progress today and there was no scheduled data on tap to move the market one way or the other. The dollar picked up strength against the euro today, but faltered against the British pound and the Japanese yen. The dollar index rose 0.1385 to 79.051. Crude oil was mixed with WTI crude down -0.76% at $97.10/barrel and Brent crude up 1.39% at $116.17/barrel. Gold closed down -0.9% at $1,724.90/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 17 points to 12,845.20 (-0.13%), the NASDAQ fell almost 4 points (-0.13%) to 2,901.99, and the S&P 500 fell -0.04% or less than 1 point to 1,344.33.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/ML; Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) cut to ‘sell’ at UBS; Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) raised to ‘outperform’ at RBS; Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) raised to ‘outperform’ at Piper Jaffray; and Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS-A) cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports since markets closed last week have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Integrated Device Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: IDTI) is down -0.98% at $6.60; McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) is up 1.71% at $82.18; Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. (NYSE: PCL) is up 0.32% at $39.81; Changyou.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYOU) is down -12.43% at $25.50; Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is down -5.8% at $84.90; Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is down -4.3% at $27.65; Loews Corp. (NYSE: L) is down -0.85% at $38.28; and Sysco Corp. (NYSE: SYY) is down -4% at $29.66.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

SureWest Communications (NASDAQ: SURW) is up more than 44% at $22.50 after posting a new 52-week high of $22.69 earlier. The telecom provider has agreed to be acquired by Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSL) for about $341 million, or $23/share.

O’Charley’s Inc. (NASDAQ: CHUX) is up nearly 42% at $9.81 after posting a new 52-week high of $9.88. The company has agreed to be acquired by Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE: FNF) for $221 million, about $9.85/share.

Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) is down nearly -15% at $53.61. The Chinese internet company posted solid earnings, but its Q1 forecast was below expectations.

Great Basin Gold Ltd. (AMEX: GBG) is down -11% at $1.05. The junior gold miner reported preliminary results today that were worse than expected and lowered first quarter production estimates.

Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is up about 17.6% at $16.66. The drug maker is getting a boost from a negative report on a prostate cancer drug treatment that would compete with Dendreon’s Provenge.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before Senate Budget Committee. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

11:30 a.m. – 4- and 52-week Treasury bill auction
3:00 p.m. – Consumer credit report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: CHUX, CMA, CYOU, DNDN, FDX, GBG, GLW, HUM, IDTI, L, LAZ, MCK, PCL, RDS-A, SOHU, SURW, SYY, WY

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GOOG, JCI, VLO, TSCO, HUM, INTC, IBM, BAC, AXP, GE, SLB, STI, INSM, TLB, SHLD, NCIT, CCOI)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:08:42 +0000

Equity markets opened mixed this morning, with the DJIA up slightly and the NASDAQ Composite and S&P 500 down slightly. That pattern held throughout the day as last night’s report from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) held tech stocks down today. Financials were mixed and no other sector took the lead to push trading higher. A positive report on existing home sales did not appease traders either. Crude oil is down today on continuing concern that Chinese demand will soften and that European growth will be low. WTI crude is down -1.92% at $98.46/barrel and Brent crude is down -1.39% at $110.00/barrel. Gold is up 0.60% at $1,664.40.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 97 points to 12,720.48 (0.76%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 2 points (-0.06%) to 2,786.70, and the S&P 500 rose a bare 0.07% or less than 1 point to 1,315.37.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Google maintained as ‘buy’ but target price cut to $700 at Canaccord Genuity; Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) reiterated as ‘buy’ with $35 target price at Argus; Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $92 at Argus; and Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo.

Earnings reports since markets closed yesterday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Google is down -8.78% at $583.39; Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) is up 2.75% at $26.33; IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is up 4.48% at $188.61; Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is up 1.42% at $7.06; American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is down -1.94% at $49.96; General Electric is down -0.21% at $19.11; Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB is up 0.74% at $73.40; and Suntrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) is up 4.79% at $21.21.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Insmed Inc. (NASDAQ: INSM) is up nearly 30% at $4.94. The biotech company announced that the FDA has lifted a clinical hold on a lung disease drug.

The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) is up nearly 18% at $3.17. The clothing retailer is rumored to be under consideration for a takeover by two private equity firms.

Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) is up nearly 14% at $49.25. The general merchandise retailer is thought to be under consideration for a takeover offer from its largest shareholder.

NCI Inc. (NASDAQ: NCIT) is down nearly -32%, after posting a new 52-week low of $7.71 earlier today. The federal contractor will restructure to compensate for loss of contracts.

Cogent Communications Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI) is down nearly -18% at $15.45. The network communications provider is suffering from the shutdown last night of the Megaupload.com website, one of Cogent’s largest customers, by federal authorities.

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

11:30 a.m. – 3-month and 6-month Treasury bill auctions

Have a great weekend.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: AXP, BAC, CCOI, GE, GOOG, HUM, IBM, INSM, INTC, JCI, NCIT, SHLD, SLB, STI, TLB, TSCO, VLO

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BLK, EMC, GOOG, HUM, IBN, INTC, JDSU, JCI, NCIT, TNP, TXN, TSCO, VLO, WU, CCL, RCL)

Administrator — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:22:36 +0000

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

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Maintained Buy but cut target to $700 at Canaccord Genuity.
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
ICICI Bank Ltd. (NYSE: IBN) Cut to Underperform and named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Cut to Hold at Kaufman; Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $35 at Credit Suisse; Maintained Hold with $24 target at Canaccord Genuity.
JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
NCI. Inc. (NASDAQ: NCIT) Cut to Underperform at Wells Fargo.
Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd. Co. (NYSE: TNP) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) Cut to Hold at Needham.
Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $92 at Argus.
Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) Reiterated Buy with $35 price target at Argus.
Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) Reiterated Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) lowered targets and estimates by Credit Suisse.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BLK, CCL, EMC, GOOG, HUM, IBN, INTC, JCI, JDSU, NCIT, RCL, TNP, TSCO, TXN, VLO, WU

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AIG, BKU, SCHW, CHK, CTXS, DPS, GES, HUM, RNWK, RF, TWI, VMW, YNDX)

Administrator — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:29:08 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Friday (the 13th) morning.

American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) Started as Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE: BKU) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Reiterated Sell and lowered estimates at Argus.
Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.
Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (NYSE: DPS) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES) Cut to Neutral as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Humana, Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) maintained Speculative Buy with $15 price target at Canaccord Genuity.
Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Titan International, Inc. (NYSE: TWI) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Cut to Sell with an $80 price target at Citigroup.
Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) Started as Underweight at HSBC.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AIG, BKU, CHK, CTXS, DPS, GES, HUM, RF, RNWK, SCHW, TWI, VMW, YNDX

Walmart Denies Plans for Health Care Network, Even as Clinics Thrive

Douglas A. McIntyre — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:28:12 +0000

Walmart (NYSE: WMT) said that the press was mistaken when several media reported the world’s largest retailer would create a national medical clinic system within its stores. The denial hardly matters. Walmart is already on its way to becoming a major health care provider.

NPR, among other media, said Walmart was at the beginning of a program to offer health care services across the country. Walmart responded, “The RFI statement of intent is overwritten and incorrect. We are not building a national, integrated, low-cost primary care health care platform.” RFI means a request for information from the company.

Walmart probably touches more “patients” than any health care provider in America. Its Medicare Part D prescription-drug plan, a venture built with Humana (NYSE: HUM), offers generic drugs for as little as $1 after a deductible is satisfied. Humana maintains informational kiosks in about 3,000 Walmart stores nationwide. Walmart operates a network of hundreds of pharmacies. These offer $4 prescriptions for many drugs. The affordability of these programs has already made Walmart a de facto provider of critical health care services in most regions in the United States.

Walmart’s PR machines do not want it to appear that the retailer’s health care plans are too ambitious, although they already are. Statements about plans for aggressive moves more deeply into the industry would only bring objections from mainstream health care companies, and perhaps politicians in Washington. Walmart already has watched its ambitions to become national bank destroyed by a backlash from that industry. The company learned a lesson. The best way to enter a large and powerful industry is to do it as quietly as possible.

Walmart is well along the way to becoming a one-stop shop for patients other than those who have to be hospitalized. One day the health care industry will wake up and see Walmart looming over it with a long list of services available to the millions of people who go to its stores.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Healthcare Tagged: HUM, WMT

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AIXG, AZN, HON, HUM, PAA, ALU, FTEK, IRDM, XIDE, WMS, JRCC, PKT, RJET, OPXA, DYN, TRGT, MSSR, SZYM)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:07:29 +0000

Equities started the day with a solid move up, but lost momentum after about half an hour. The downward move lasted into the late morning, at which time stocks started a fitful climb back up. There was no big news to speak of, although the Italian prime minister lost a budget vote which may lead to vote of confidence in his leadership. Crude oil is up about $0.75/barrel and gold is up about $6.40/ounce, to near $1,800/ounce. Commodities are mostly higher as the dollar weakened. Stocks finished the day near session highs.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 101 points to 12,170.18 (0.84%), the NASDAQ rose more than 32 points (1.2%) to 2,727.49, and the S&P 500 rose 1.17% or more than 14 points to 1,275.93.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Aixtron SE (NASDAQ: AIXG), which we noted in our story on LED lighting this morning and was raised to ‘equal weight’ at Morgan Stanley. Other changes included AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) cut to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $95 at Argus; Plains All-America Pipeline L.P. (NYSE: PAA) raised to ‘buy’ at Wells Fargo; and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/ML.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Fuel Tech, Inc. (NASDAQ: FTEK) is up about 22%, at $6.63; Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) is up nearly 16%, at $7.34; Exide Technologies (NASDAQ: XIDE) is down more than -32%, at $3.04, after posting a new 52-week low of $2.98 earlier today; WMS Industries Inc. (NYSE: WMS) is down nearly -17%, at $18.25; James River Coal Corp. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is down nearly -9%, at $9.45; and Procera Networks, Inc. (AMEX: PKT) is up nearly 21%, at $14.31, after posting a new 52-week high earlier today of $14.38.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET) is up more than 57%, at $4.24. The company said that it is looking at selling or spinning off its Frontier Airlines unit.

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPXA) is up nearly 33%, to $1.37. The company announced that its drug treatment for multiple sclerosis has received the Fast Track designation from the FDA.

Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) is up more than 28%, at $3.79. The utility company has said that several of its units have filed for bankruptcy. We covered the unusual bankruptcy boost in more detail earlier today.

Targacept, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRGT) is down nearly -59%, at $7.75, a new 52-week low. The company announced this morning that its anti-depressant drug failed a recent first phase trial.

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants Inc. (NASDAQ: MSSR) is up more than 27%, at $8.65. The company has accepted a buyout offer of $8.75/share in cash from Landry’s Inc.

Solazyme, Inc. (NASDAQ: SZYM) is up more than 17%, at $10.98. The company has signed tentative contracts for 90% of its feedstock through 2015. We covered potential upside in the biofuel sector earlier this week.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is giving a speech in the morning and Federal Reserve governor Daniel Tarullo gives a speech in the afternoon. We have noted the following events (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
9:30 a.m. – Wholesale trade report
10:30 p.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
1:00 p.m. – US Treasury 10-year note auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AIXG, ALU, AZN, DYN, FTEK, HON, HUM, IRDM, JRCC, MSSR, OPXA, PAA, PKT, RJET, SZYM, TRGT, WMS, XIDE

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AIXG, ALU, AZN, CXW, EMR, GSK, HON, HUM, KEX, MCHP, OVTI, PAA, RAX, STJ, TEVA, TRMB, VRTX, WFM)

Administrator — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:10:26 +0000

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

Aixtron SE (NASDAQ: AIXG) Raised to Equalweight at Morgan Stanley.
Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Corrections Corporation of America (NYSE:CXW) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE: GSK) Raised to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $95 at Argus.
Kirby Corporation (NYSE: KEX) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Microchip Technology (NASDAQ: MCHP) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
OmniVision Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE: RAX) Raised to Buy at Kaufman Bros.
St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NASDAQ: TEVA) Reinstated as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Trimble Navigation Limited (NASDAQ: TRMB) Started as Buy at Janney.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: VRTX) Cut to Neutral at R. W. Baird.
Whole Foods Market Inc. (NYSE: WFM) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AIXG, ALU, AZN, CXW, EMR, GSK, HON, HUM, KEX, MCHP, OVTI, PAA, RAX, STJ, TEVA, TRMB, VRTX, WFM

The Best Performing S&P Stocks of 2011 (SPY, OKE, AN, ROST, LTD, GR, TSO, EQT, ERTS, WFM, RL, TDC, RRC, MA, HUM, CMG, VFC, ISRG, BIIB, EP, COG)

Administrator — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:08:23 +0000

October may have been one of the best months of many of our lives in equities. The SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) rose by 10.9%. in October, but the year-to-date gain has been a mere 1.2% from the December 31, 2010 close to the close on October 31, 2011. 24/7 Wall St. wanted to see which stocks are up the most in percentage gains so far in 2011 in data provided by Capital IQ. This is a year-to-date move through the close of October 31, 2011. We have shown the S&P 500 Index gainers in order from lowest to highest. Another representation is how much implied upside there is to the Thomson Reuters consensus analyst price target as well. Those which are trading above their consensus price target have been given a “caution” ahead of the pricing data.

ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) 37.1% year-to-date; at $76.05 the consensus price target is $76.60.

AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) 38.1% year-to-date; caution: at $38.94 the consensus price target is $31.28.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) 38.7% year-to-date; caution: at $87.73 the consensus price target is $85.00.

Limited Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LTD) 39.0% year-to-date; at $42.71 the consensus price target is $44.71.

Goodrich Corporation (NYSE: GR) 39.2% year-to-date; This is being acquired, so no color.

Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO) 39.9% year-to-date; at $25.94 the consensus price target is $20.31.

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) 41.6% year-to-date; at $63.50 the consensus price target is $72.28.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) 42.6% year-to-date; at $23.35 the consensus price target is $25.63. This was previously listed as our top pick for the best video game stock for 2011.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) 42.6% year-to-date; at $72.12 the consensus price target is $74.47.

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) 43.2% year-to-date; caution: at $158.79 the consensus price target is $150.00.

Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) 44.9% year-to-date; at $59.66 the consensus price target is $60.56.

Range Resources Corporation (NYSE: RRC) 53.0% year-to-date; at $68.84 the consensus price target is $76.50.

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) 54.9% year-to-date; at $347.24 the consensus price target is $374.82. It seems odd to see one financial stock here.

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) 55.1% year-to-date; at $84.89 the consensus price target is $88.71. Health insurance has not been as bad of a business as the administration was looking for.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) 58.1% year-to-date; caution: at $336.12 the consensus price target is $328.45. The growth continues, but it is at or close to being fully valued.

V.F. Corporation (NYSE: VFC) 60.4% year-to-date; at $138.22 the consensus price target is $144.33.

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) 68.3% year-to-date; caution: at $433.86 the consensus price target is $419.27. DaVinci sales remain robust as more surgeons are looking for robotic surgery capabilities.

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) 73.5% year-to-date; caution: at $116.36 the consensus priced target is $115.22. Here is how this compared to the rest of its peers before earnings season.

El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP) 81.8% year-to-date; being acquired so no color.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG) 105.3% year-to-date; ; at $77.72 the consensus price target is $91.32.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: HI/LOW, Index, Trading Alert Tagged: AN, BIIB, CMG, COG, EP, EQT, ERTS, GR, HUM, ISRG, LTD, MA, OKE, RL, ROST, RRC, SPY, TDC, TSO, VFC, WFM

24/7 Closing Bell (AET, AGP, JBHT, SNDK, WY, CRM, SWY, SHAW, L, INVE, HUM, MNTA, PATH, NPSP, YGE, TSL, GEVO)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:17:38 +0000

Markets opened lower this morning, and continued to fall before holding at around -150 points for most of the day on the DJIA. Japan’s yen sale pushed the dollar sharply higher and pushed down commodity prices, virtually all of which are priced in dollars. There might also have been some profit-taking, but Japan’s intervention in the currency market set the tone. The Chicago PMI index came in a bit lower than expected and had no visible impact on equity prices. Crude oil has recovered to be nearly flat, but gold is down about -1.3%, at $1,724/ounce in the last hour of trading. Silver, copper, platinum, and palladium are all down as well. The DJIA fell almost -50 points in the final half hour of trading.The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than -276 points to 11,955.70 (-2.25%), the NASDAQ fell more than -52 points (-1.93%) to 2,684.41, and the S&P 500 fell -2.48% or nearly -32 points to 1,253.29.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including the addition of Aetna, Inc. (NYSE: AET) to Goldman Sachs’ Conviction Buy list. Goldman also raised Amerigroup Corp. (NYSE: AGP) to ‘buy’. JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) cut to ‘hold’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) cut to ‘neutral’ at Sterne Agee; Weyerhaeuser Corp. (NYSE: WY) raised to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) cut to ‘equal-weight’ at Global Equities Research; and Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) started at ‘neutral’ by JP Morgan.Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Shaw Group (NYSE: SHAW) up nearly 5.5%, at $23.39; Loews Corp. (NYSE: L) is down about -3%, at $40.07; Identive Group Inc. (NASDAQ: INVE) is down more than -6.5%, at $2.37; and Humana, Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is up more than 6.5%, at $85.68.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) is up more than 22%, at $14.96. The shares jumped following a court ruling that will hamper the introduction of competing drugs.

NuPath Inc. (NASDAQ: PATH) is up more than 15%, at $2.68. The company reported positive results on tests of its patch treatment for migraine headaches.

NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NPSP) is down more than 33%, at $5.18. The company said that two patients for its new bowel drug died and another developed cancer.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) is down more than -15%, at $4.06. This could well be caused by bit of profit-taking on solar stocks that posted sharp gains on Friday.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL), another solar maker, is also down about -14%, at $8.04. Just another day in the solar whirlwind.

Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO) is down about -16%, at $7.31. The biofuel maker was refused a re-examination of a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. A two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve board of governors begins tomorrow. The first data on auto sales in October is expected tomorrow as well. We have noted the following events (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. — ISM Manufacturing index released
10:00 a.m. — US construction spending for September 2011

Filed under: Market Close Tagged: AET, AGP, CRM, GEVO, HUM, INVE, JBHT, L, MNTA, NPSP, PATH, SHAW, SNDK, SWY, TSL, WY, YGE