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Warren Buffett’s Top Stocks of 2012 (BRK-B, SPY, USG, BAC, IR, MCO, INTC, WFC, AXP)

Administrator — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:23:17 +0000

2012 is getting off to a great start for the equity markets. We recently looked at the performance of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B), which is underperforming this year so far with a gain of 3.1% to-date in 2012. The S&P 500, or the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) is up 5.5%. We looked through all of Warren Buffett’s stock holdings of late and some of his non-equity holdings to see which positions were leading so far.

The surprise winner so far in 2012 after the first month is USG Corporation (NYSE: USG). then there are stocks like Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR), Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), and American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP). Yep, the other winners of these seven holdings are mostly tied to finance.

We have evaluated the performance to date (from FinViz.com) and added in some color on each. We have also shown how the price compares to the 52-week highs or to the consensus price target as well, and included in some cases whether the position is substantial or not.

USG Corporation (NYSE: USG) is up 32.8% year-to-date and is actually Berkshire Hathaway’s top performing stock. With so much interest in the bottoming out of housing at some point in 2012, it may not be that ridiculous even if the fundamentals have not changed all that much yet. The concern here is that at $13.50 it now trades above the consensus $13.30 price target. Buffett holds over 17 million USG shares.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is up 32.4% year-to-date and the new large preferred position is back to where Warren Buffett doesn’t look foolish for dreaming up his investment in BofA while in the bath. At $7.36 there is still plenty of upside to the $8.90 price target and this remains (and is expected to remain) well under book value.

Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR) is up 15.5% year-to-date, not bad for what is usually a slower-moving company with a portfolio of industrial and commercial products. At $35.18, it does not have much upside left to the consensus price target of $37.94 but it is still way off the 52-week high of $52.33. Buffett’s position is way down from prior periods and is only 636,600 shares as of the last report. This position just can’t move the entire Berkshire Hathaway Barometer too much.

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) is up 11.6% year-to-date. The credit rating agency has been a controversial position that Buffett has lightened up on through time. At $37.60, it is close to the consensus price target of $39.60 and under the 52-week high of $41.93. Buffett did lighten up a bit on this position but still holds roughly 28.4 million shares.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is up 9.5% year-to-date and is one of the news 2011 investments that Mr. Buffett hid. It was also his first technology pick as far as pure hardware is concerned. At $26.55, Intel is very close to its 52-week high of $27.00 and close to its consensus analyst price target of $27.17.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is up 8.9% year-to-date and is up the least of the big money-center banks. It is also the only one of the money-center banks trading above book value because the restructuring regulatory climate over future earnings will create the least amount of change at Wells Fargo. Buffett keeps adding here and now holds over 361 million shares as one of his biggest positions ever.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is up 7.7% year-to-date, which is lower than many financials. The recent earnings report showed improvement but perhaps a trend towards peaking of the improving credit metrics of AmEx customers. Buffett’s position is roughly 151.6 million shares.

Berkshire Hathaway’s most recent holdings in entirety can be found here.

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: Banking, Buffett, Dividend, Index, Value Investing Tagged: AXP, BAC, BRK-B, INTC, IR, MCO, SPY, USG, WFC

Short Sellers Increase Bets Across the Board

247wallst — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:33:04 +0000

For the first time in a long time, short sellers have increased their bets that the stock prices of most large companies and in most large sectors will fall. The NYSE and Nasdaq released their figures for short positions as of January 13.

Short sellers increased their positions in all four of America’s large banks. The short interest in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) rose 18.5% to 186.1 million. The price of its stock, and most other bank stocks, have risen as it appears that the worst of their balance sheet problems have faded some. Shares sold short in Citigroup (NYSE: C) rose 19.1% to 50.3 million. The short interest in Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) was up by 11.4% to 47.1 million. Shares sold short in JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) were up by 21.5% to 40.6 million.

Shares sold short in the two big car companies also rose. The short interest in Ford (NYSE: F) was up by 14.7% to 147.1 million. Shares sold short in General Motors (NYSE: GM) were up 13.7% to 62.3 million.

The short interest in almost all major tech stocks was up as well. Shares short in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which posted relatively good earnings, were up 49.8% to 101.5 million. Shares sold short in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), which also posted strong numbers for the fourth quarter, rose 12.2% to 131.8 million. The short interest in Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) was up by 6.1% to 69.9 million. Shares sold short in Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) were up by 40.8% to 27.4 million.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Short Interest Tagged: BAC, C, DELL, F, GM, INTC, JPM, MSFT, ORCL, WFC

Potential Upside in Semiconductor Stocks (INTC, AMD, MU, BRCM, QCOM, ARMH, SNDK, ALTR, AMAT, TXN)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:13:41 +0000

Since the beginning of the year the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is up more than 13.5%. The run-up may be over for some chip makers and sustainable for others. Analysts are also a little behind in setting new price targets for the companies that have passed or are near previous target prices. Perhaps they’re just taking their time to see what happens with the earnings reports due this week.

We’ve looked 10 semiconductor companies and evaluated their chances of reaching existing price targets during the coming year. The companies are Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM), Qualcomm Corp. (NASDAQ: QCOM), ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH), SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK), Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR), Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), and Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN). Data comes from Yahoo! Finance and MarketWatch.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) has a consensus price target of $27 and current price around $26.83, for a potential upside of about 1%. Intel reported stellar earnings last week and the stock posted a new 52-week high earlier this morning. Sales of PCs have not been as weak as feared, and margins have remained high. The new Ultrabooks, which the company is supporting with a very strong marketing budget, could really push the company substantially higher. As of this moment though, shares are fully valued.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) has a consensus price target of $6.00 and a current price around $6.55, leaving no upside. The company reports earnings tomorrow and is expected to post EPS of $0.16 on revenue of $1.72 billion. The company’s shares have jumped by about a dollar in the past month, and continued improvement, especially in the server market, should push the target price higher.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) has a consensus price target of $8.75 and a current price around $8.00, for a potential upside of 9%. Last month the company’s price target was $8/share and the shares were trading at around $6.25. How much more steam can be left in Micron after that?

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) has a consensus price target of $41 and a current price around $34.92, for a potential upside of 17%. Broadcom shares have risen by more than $5/share in the last month, but unlike Micron, there’s still a lot of headroom.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) has a median price target of $67 and a current price around $58.60, for a potential upside of 14%. Qualcomm shares have gained more than 7% in the first three weeks of the year and the share price is up more than $4. The company has a firm position in the mobile device market and the company should continue to post growth in 2012.

ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH) has a consensus price target of $33.75 and a current price around $27.75, for a potential upside of more than 22%. ARM’s target price has jumped by nearly $7/share in the past month, but it is trading at nearly the same price as a month ago. Shares gained nearly 35% in the past year, but royalty payments are falling. For the year-to-date, shares are slightly down. To hit its new target, ARM has to get going.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) has a consensus price target of $59.50 and a current price around $51.87, for a potential upside of 14.7%. SanDisk’s shares are up about 5.5% so far this year after a nearly flat 2011. Apple’s recent acquisition of of a NAND maker could sharply curtail SanDisk’s sales of the chips for iPhones and iPads.

Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) has a consensus price target of $43 and a current price around $39.90, for a potential upside of 7.8%. Altera’s price target has been raised in the past month, and the company’s share price is also higher. Shares have risen more than 7% year-to-date, and the company is expected to report EPS of $0.42 and revenue of $447.52 million tomorrow.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) has a median price target of $13 and a current price around $12.29, for a potential upside of 5.8%. AMAT’s shares have jumped more than 15% since the beginning of January, and the price target has not changed. There’s not a lot to like here as far as expected upside goes.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) has a consensus target price of $34 and a current price around $33.42, for a potential upside of less than 2%. TI is expected to report EPS of $0.39 and revenue of $3.25 billion after the market closes today. The company lowered estimates in December, and there’s a decent chance TI will beat those lowered expectations. If so, a new target nearer the company’s 52-week high of $36.71 would be in order. That could raise upside potential to around 12%.

In the last month, Intel has essentially hit its target price, and because the target hasn’t been raised, there could be some question among analysts about the staying power of the recent rise. Broadcom and Qualcomm offer the best bets to post share price gains, and the targets for both are well within reach.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Earnings, Industry, Semiconductor, Semiconductors, Technology Tagged: ALTR, AMAT, AMD, ARMH, BRCM, INTC, MU, QCOM, SNDK, TXN

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

Media Digest (1/20/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:40:52 +0000

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) misses earnings expectations, which pushes shares down as much as 10%. (Reuters)

IKEA posts a profit and grows in most regions of the world. (Reuters)

Greece and private creditors move closer to a debt deal. (Reuters)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) says it will enter the digital textbook business. (Reuters)

IBM (NYSE: IBM) results show solid IT demand. (Reuters)

Angry Birds’ parent pushes back the date of its IPO. (Reuters)

The EC will decide whether to approve a Google buyout of Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) by February 13. (Reuters)

Eastman Kodak’s (NYSE: EK) move into bankruptcy as a means to cut costs may not yield high value for its patents as well. (WSJ)

Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) buys old AIG (NYSE: AIG) mortgage paper from the New York Federal Reserve. (WSJ)

AT&T’s (NYSE: T) new plan to raise data costs for subscribers may prompt some to switch to competitors. (WSJ)

HSBC’s (NYSE: HBC) Chinese PMI estimate shows slow manufacturing, with a 48.8 measurement compared to 48.7 in December. (WSJ)

Floods in Thailand do not dent Intel’s (NASDAQ: INTC) earnings much. (WSJ)

American homeowners finally begin to improve their property, according to IHS Global Insight. (WSJ)

China sets more deals with U.S. allies to strengthen its supply of oil. (WSJ)

The European Aviation Safety Agency says Airbus will do more safety inspections of its A380 superjumbo. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) says it is the largest car company in the world, but experts disagree on how to count affiliate sales. (WSJ)

The Energy Information Administration says exports of natural gas could drive U.S. prices up by 54% in 2018. (WSJ)

Google presses its effort in display ads, which could pressure Aol (NYSE: AOL) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). (WSJ)

General Electric (NYSE: GE) tries to improve its prospects, but its size and diversity may hurt that push. (WSJ)

Hedge fund investors pull more cash from the firms than they add in the last part of 2011. (WSJ)

Commerzbank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, and Spain’s Bankia must push to raise cash to meet regulations. (WSJ)

American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Capital One (NYSE: COF) earnings show consumers returning to the use of credit. (WSJ)

Dealogic says that companies have raised $44.2 billion this year — a record for the period. (WSJ)

Chris Dodd, the head of the Motion Picture Association of America, suggests that tech and content companies meet to explore their differences. (NYT)

Ireland says its economy will be troubled again this year as its tries to meet austerity goals. (NYT)

Italy’s banks borrow 50 billion euros from the European Central Bank. (FT)

International Monetary Fund’s Largarde warns that budget cuts linked to austerity could damage growth. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, AIG, AOL, AXP, CS, EK, GE, GM, GOOG, HBC, IBM, INTC, MMI, YHOO

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.

JON C. OGG

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

Intel Puts Up Big Numbers (INTC)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:33:37 +0000

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) reported fourth quarter and full year earnings after markets closed today. The chip-making giant beat EPS and revenue estimates all around.

For the quarter, Intel reported EPS of $0.64 on revenue of $13.9 billion, compared with a consensus EPS estimate of $0.61 and a revenue estimate of $13.72 billion. For the full year, Intel posted EPS of $2.39 on revenue of $54 billion. The consensus estimate called for EPS of $2.37 and revenue of $53.84 billion.

In 2011, Intel generated about $21 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of $4.1 billion and used $14.1 billion to repurchase 642 million shares of stock.

Gross margins for the year slipped -1.9% on a non-GAAP basis and -2.8% on a GAAP basis. For the quarter, gross margins were 65.5%, up 0.7%, on a non-GAAP basis and 64.5% on a GAAP basis, down -0.1%.

In its outlook for next quarter, Intel expects revenue of $12.8 billion, in line with the current analysts’ estimate. The company expects GAAP gross margin of 63%, and 64% on a non-GAAP basis. The company didn’t provide a capital spending figure for the first quarter of 2012.

For the full fiscal year 2012, Intel forecasts gross margins of 64% on a GAAP basis and 65% on a non-GAAP basis. Capital spending is expected to total $12.5 billion, and the company did not provide a revenue estimate for the year. The current analysts’ estimate for 2012 revenue is $55.08 billion.

Intel’s shares are trading up about 1.25% in after-hours trading, at $25.95 in a 52-week range of $19.16-$25.92. If the share price holds, Intel is on its way to a new 52-week high.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Earnings, Industry, Semiconductors, Technology Tagged: INTC

More Evidence Of Semiconductor Recovery (LLTC, INTC, TXN, XLNX, ALTR, MXIM)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:36:00 +0000

Semiconductor investors have had to endure a lot of pain and a lot of volatility, but things may be on the mend. Analog chip players were higher throughout the trading day after Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: LLTC) gave guidance that offered far more hope than what investors had been expecting just a few weeks ago when Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) warned about a large revenue shortfall. Linear shares rose 11.5% to $33.32 on Wednesday. Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) rose 8.5% to $33.72 on the news and guidance from Linear Tech today.

Now we have further news coming from Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) that is adding to gains. After shares were already up almost 6% at $35.30 on Wednesday, the stock is up almost 7% in the after-hours session at $37.85 and that will mark a new 52-week high if it holds up. The company noted that while revenues fell 10% to $511.1 million on earnings of $0.47, the consensus target was only $498.3 million and $0.37 EPS. Xilinx is offering guidance of 2% to 6% revenue growth.

There are some other secondary plays out there on this. When investors trade up in Xilinx, they often trade up Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR). When investors trade up in Linear Tech, they often trade up in Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: MXIM) as well. All are higher in the after-hours session and Altera was up almost 10% at $40.72 and Maxim rose by 6.1% today to $27.56.

Get ready for Intel to report earnings on Thursday after the close (estimates are $0.61 EPS on $13.72 billion in sales). If it reverses or lightens up on the severity of its revenue guidance offered in December, then going from $25.39 to above $25.92 would not hard to fathom. Anything above that would mark a 52-week high and analysts have a consensus price target objective of $26.58.

It is important to keep in mind that in many cases these “higher guidance” calls are barely higher and it is off of declining sales. Still, in the end investors want improvements and growth and sometimes mediocrity wins the day. If these all hit new 52-week highs, the cheer will be simple enough: “Chips Ahoy!”

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Consumer Electronics, Earnings, PC Companies, Semiconductor, Technology Companies Tagged: ALTR, INTC, LLTC, MXIM, TXN, XLNX

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (FDX, BHP, INTC, TSLA, PNRA, MMR, AMTD, WFC, C, CHKP, KUTV, CNVO, VQ, RRD, CCL)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:09:27 +0000

The markets opened higher this morning and all three major indexes have managed to hold onto most of their gains of the early morning. The S&P 500 index topped 1,300 for the first time since last summer, but hasn’t been able to remain at that level. The US dollar is trading weaker against the euro, but stronger against both the British pound and the Japanese yen. The dollar index is down a bit more than -0.5% at 81.071. Energy companies have done well today, even though natural gas prices have fallen below $2.50/thousand cubic feet. WTI crude oil is up nearly 2% at $100.62/barrel, while Brent crude is up only fractionally at $111.38/barrel. Gold is up more than 1% at $1,650.70.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 60 points to 12,482.22 (0.48%), the NASDAQ rose more than 17 points (0.64%) to 2,728.08, and the S&P 500 rose 0.35% or nearly 5 points to 1,293.66.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) cut to ‘hold’ at Jefferies; BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) started as ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) raised to ‘buy’ at Wunderlich; and Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: McMoRan Exploration Co. (NYSE: MMR) is up 4.55% at $13.32; TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: AMTD) is down -1.72% at $16.02; Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is up 0.67% at $29.81; Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is down nearly -8% at $28.29; and Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) is up nearly 8% at $54.93.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Ku6 Media Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: KUTV) is up nearly 154% at $3.50. The Chinese online video company has signed an agreement with Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) to offer international viewers a Chinese video channel on YouTube.

Convio Inc. (NASDAQ: CNVO) is up nearly 48% at $15.89, after setting a new 52-week high earlier. The provider of software to non-profit organizations has agreed to be acquired by Blackbaud Inc. (NASDAQ: BLKB) for $16/share, or about $312 million.

Venoco Inc. (NYSE: VQ) is up nearly 31% at $10.05. The independent oil and gas company is being taken private by its CEO. We have more coverage here.

R.R. Donnelly & Sons Co. (NYSE: RRD) is down nearly -16% at $12.12 after posting a new 52-week low of $12.08 earlier. The business services company said revenues for 2011 are going to be lower than expected.

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) is down nearly -14% at $29.57. The cruise ship operator is sinking following the disaster off the Italian coast that has left 11 dead and 29 missing. We have more coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Federal Reserve Bank governor Daniel Tarullo is giving a speech. We have the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association mortgage applications
8:30 a.m. – Producer price index
9:15 a.m. – Federal Reserve report on industrial production
10:00 a.m. – Housing market index

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: AMTD, BHP, C, CCL, CHKP, CNVO, FDX, INTC, KUTV, MMR, PNRA, RRD, TSLA, VQ, WFC

Top Brands in 2011 (KO, IBM, MSFT, GOOG, GE, MCD, INTC, AAPL, DIS, HPQ, NOK, CSCO, TM, AMZN, F, HMC, DE)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:24:42 +0000

Brand consultancy Interbrand has issued its latest report on brand value, and while the top five did not change, a gap is opening between the fourth and fifth place finishers. The largest annual gain among the top 100 brands totaled 58%, and was posted by Apple, which passed BMW, Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Mercedes-Benz, Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM), H-P, and Disney to jump to the 8th most valuable brand.

Google’s brand value increased by 27%, the third largest gain among the top 100 brands. The second largest gain was posted by Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), which jumped 32% and moved up from 36th on the list to 26th.

The biggest loser was Nokia, which fell -15% and from 8th to 14th in the league table. Another smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics, moved up from 2 places, from 19th, on the strength of a 20% jump in brand value.

Toyota, ranked 11th, is the top automaker, barely ahead of Mercedes-Benz, with BMW in third. Among US carmakers only Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) made the top 100 with its ‘Ford’ brand, at 50th place behind Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC) and Volkswagen.

Three brands made the list for the first time: Nissan, John Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE), and HTC Corp.

The Interbrand study ranks the top ten brands by dollar value in this order:

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) – $71.86 billion
IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) – $69.91 billion
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) – $59.09 billion
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) – $55.32 billion
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) – $42.81 billion
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) – $35.59 billion
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) – $35.22 billion
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) – $33.5 billion
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) – $29.02 billion
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) – $28.48 billion

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Accounting, Compensation, Consumer Electronics, Consumer Goods, Corporate Governance, Editor's Picks, International Markets, Luxury, Research Tagged: AAPL, AMZN, CSCO, DE, DIS, F, GE, GOOG, HMC, HPQ, IBM, INTC, KO, MCD, MSFT, NOK, TM