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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (MO, AVP, CE, LFC, EL, FITB, GE, MIND, VRTX, YHOO, YUM, GRPN)

Administrator — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:05:27 +0000

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

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) Raised to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC) maintained as Underperform but named the Bear of the Day by Zacks Investment Research.
Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE: EL) Added to Strong Buy List at Zacks Investment Research.
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Reiterated Outperform and raised estimates at Credit Suisse.
Mitcham Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIND) named as value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) Raised to Outperform but cut the price target to $37 from $39 by Credit Suisse.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) resumed with a “Sell” rating at Goldman Sachs.
YUM! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Reiterated Buy and raised price target to $66.00 by Argus.

The big move in the land of stock research and analyst calls is the expiration of the Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) quiet period. The online social couponing site was initiated in coverage as follows by some of the syndicate firms:

Overweight and $27.00 price target at Barclays;
Buy with $28.00 price target by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch;
Neutral and $24.00 price target at Citigroup;
Neutral with a $25.00 price target at Credit Suisse;
Buy with a $29.00 price target by Goldman Sachs;
Neutral and $24.00 price target at JPMorgan;
Sector Perform with $25.00 price target at RBC Capital Markets.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AVP, CE, EL, FITB, GE, GRPN, LFC, MIND, MO, VRTX, YHOO, YUM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AA, AMGN, ADSK, CVC, CBI, LFC, INCY, LNKD, THC, TWC, TIVO)

Administrator — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:29:18 +0000

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

Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) Cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Amgen Corporation (NASDAQ: AMGN) named as value stock of the day by Zacks.
Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) Cut to Sell from Neutral with new $32 target at Goldman Sachs.
Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) downgraded to Market Perform from outperform at Wells Fargo.
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (NYSE: CBI) maintained as Buy but removed from the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC) maintained Underperform with $35.00 price target and named as Bear of the Day by Zacks.
Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY) Cut to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Raised to Equal-Weight at Evercore; Reiterated “Hold” on growth versus valuation and overhang concerns by Argus.
Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) Raised to Outperform with $5.50 target by Zacks and named as the key Bull of the Day.
Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) Raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) Started as Buy with $13 price target at UBS.

Here is a summary of the top analyst upgrades and downgrades from this weekend in a summary format for last week’s top (and a few lousy) Wall Street research calls.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AA, ADSK, AMGN, CBI, CVC, INCY, LFC, LNKD, THC, TIVO, TWC

China Drives Away Investors on Hard Landing Concern

247wallst — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:35:52 +0000

If there is any single signal that China may be in for a hard economic landing, it is the performance of the local stock markets on the mainland and in Hong Kong. China announced GDP rose 9.1% in the third quarter. That would be a tremendous feat by the standards of any other large country. The news drove the Hang Seng down 4.2%. It is now off over 20% for the year compared to the S&P 500, which is flat.

The mainland’s major index, the Shanghai Composite, has fallen 17% in the past year. Between the two markets are the listings of giants China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), China Petroleum (NYSE: SNP) and China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC). It is extraordinary that telecom, energy and financial services industry shares should drop so sharply when none has any direct relationship to the others.

The four concerns about China’s financial health persist. The first is that inflation still lurks even though China’s economy has slowed. The sharp increase in food prices has many economists worried that real wages cannot keep up with the cost of living. And China counts on its middle class to consume a large portion of the output of the nation’s impressive manufacturing sector. Inflation will cause discretionary income to fall.

Property values, particularly in the largest cities, are high by historic measures and compared to similar real estate around the world. Any sharp slowdown in China’s GDP will undercut the ability developers to expand and rent these properties. Individual home owners could be left with large numbers of underwater mortgages. Analysts fear a rapid drop in property values similar to those in Japan three decades ago. Japan’s real estate fiasco helped ruin its GDP expansion, and the recovery from that took several years. By some standards, Japan’s economy has never recovered completely from the blow.

The chance of a trade war with the U.S. has increased sharply in the past several weeks. What was unimaginable has become possible. The U.S. Senate has agreed to a bill that would result in sanctions against China because of its currency problems. The Treasury Department recently delayed its biannual analysis of nations that have used their currencies to put the U.S. at a disadvantage with regard to trade balances. The Obama administration hopes quiet negotiations will resolve the yuan valuation issue. The belief that will work continues to dwindle.

And, the most significant concern about a sharp stall of China’s growth is Europe. Austerity and high unemployment have turned the EU economy back toward recession. If the sovereign debt crisis worsens, the recession could be deep and long. The EU economy is still the largest by GDP, about $2 trillion more than the U.S. A drop in demand for China’s exports could put manufacturing in the People’s Republic into a tailspin.

Stocks markets, some experts say, trade based on investor perceptions of what economies and earnings will be six months to a year into the future. China is in great trouble if there is truth to that.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: China Tagged: CHL, LFC, SNP

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ARX, AMSF, AMAT, MT, BP, BTI, CRZO, LFC, DOLE, ITMN, LNKD, MCD, MHP, NCR, ONXX, PTEN, PAA)

Administrator — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:21:01 +0000

These are some of this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.

Aeroflex Holding Corp. (NYSE: ARX) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Amerisafe, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMSF) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) Started as Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
British American Tobacco plc (NYSE: BTI) Raised to Overweight at CRedit Suisse.
Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LFC) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Dole Food Company Inc. (NYSE: DOLE) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Intermune, Inc (NASDAQ: ITMN) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Started as Hold at Argus.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Reiterated Buy with $102 target at Argus.
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MHP) Raised to Buy at Argus.
NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) Started as Buy at Oppenheimer.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA) is the Value stock of the day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AMAT, AMSF, ARX, BP, BTI, CRZO, DOLE, ITMN, LFC, LNKD, MCD, MHP, MT, NCR, ONXX, PAA, PTEN

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMGN, ARIA, BIIB, CELG, LFC, CSCO, DRI, FIO, GPN, HUM, LEN, MSI, TLB, TZOO)

Administrator — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:23:27 +0000

These are some of this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Started as Outperform at BMO.
Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) Started as Outperform at BMO.
Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) Started as Underperform at BMO.
Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) Started as Outperform at BMO.
China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC) Started as Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Raised to Buy at Auriga.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO) Started as Sell at Merriman.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) named value stock of the day at Zacks.
Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) Started as Outperform at FBR.
Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MSI) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) Raised to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Travelzoo Inc. (NASDAQ: TZOO) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AMGN, ARIA, BIIB, CELG, CSCO, DRI, FIO, GPN, HUM, LEN, LFC, MSI, TLB, TZOO

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADBE, ALU, ARMH, BBBY, BP, BRCM, BRCD, LFC, DISCA, EIX, FFIV, LPS, ERIC, M, NKA, ORCL, SLM, HOT)

Administrator — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:23:18 +0000

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

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) Cut to Underperform at RBC.
Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) Started as Market Perform at William Blair.
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) Reiterated Hold and Cut estimates at Argus.
China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LFC) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Edison International (NYSE: EIX) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.
Lender Processing Services (NYSE: LPS) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
Niska Gas Storage Partners LLC (NYSE: NKA) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.
SLM Corporation (NYSE: SLM) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations were in AAP, ADM, COF, CVX, CSCO, CREE, IDTI, ISRG, KGC, NOV, NYX, TEVA, TDW, WYN.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ADBE, ALU, ARMH, BBBY, BP, BRCD, BRCM, DISCA, EIX, ERIC, FFIV, HOT, LFC, LPS, M, NKA, ORCL, SLM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AONE, ACM, ALXN, AEP, LFC, CLNE, COP, CVA, CREE, ENOC, FXCM, IRM, MET, NYX, PCLN, SD, LEDS, VLO, WFSL)

Administrator — Tue, 17 May 2011 12:23:08 +0000

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

A123 Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
AECOM Technology Corporation (NYSE: ACM) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) Kept at Buy but Removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
American Electric Power Co., Inc. (NYSE: AEP) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LFC) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) Reiterated Buy and $95 target at Argus.
Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE: CVA) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
EnerNOC, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENOC) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
FXCM Inc. (NYSE: FXCM) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Iron Mountain Inc. (NYSE: IRM) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) Reiterated Buy with $54 target at Argus.
NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYSE: NYX) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE: SD) Started as Neutral at Baird; Started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
SemiLEDS Corporation (NASDAQ: LEDS) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) Maintained Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.

Washington Federal Inc. (NASDAQ: WFSL) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ACM, AEP, ALXN, AONE, CLNE, COP, CREE, CVA, ENOC, FXCM, IRM, LEDS, LFC, MET, NYX, PCLN, SD, VLO, WFSL

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BHP, BA, SCHW, CHA, CMED, LFC, CIT, CREE, KONG, PAYX, HTM)

Administrator — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:59:22 +0000

These are some of this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls:

BHP Billiton plc (NYSE: BHP) Target raised overseas by UBS.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) Maintain Conviction Buy and Raised estimates by Goldman Sachs.
Charles Schwab Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHW) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) Upgraded To Overweight From Neutral By HSBC
China Medical Tech (NASDAQ: CMED) Started At Buy; Target US$16 By Deutsche Bank
China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LFC) Cut To Neutral Vs Outperform By Credit Suisse.
CIT Group (NYSE: CIT) Started as Neutral at Buckingham.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
KongZhong Corp. (NASDAQ: KONG) Cut to Hold at Roth Capital.
Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) Raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
U.S. Geothermal Inc. (AMEX: HTM) Started as Outperform with $1.25 target at Raymond James.

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

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BA, BHP, CHA, CIT, CMED, CREE, DPZ, HTM, KONG, LFC, PAYX, SCHW

Media Digest (8/26/2010) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:02:37 +0000

Reuters: BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) will take its case to Potash (NYSE: POT) shareholders.

Reuters: Google In.c (NASDAQ: GOOG) will allow phone calls from Gmail accounts.

Reuters: The Bank of Japan may begin to ease to help bring down the yen.

Reuters: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) will show new iPods on September 1.

Reuters: India held a meeting with Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) about BlackBerry security.

Reuters: New research shows Apple’s iPad will dominate the tablet industry for at least two more years.

Reuters: Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) said orders for its new Kindle are strong.

Reuters: China Life (NYSE: LFC) said it has had no talks with American International Group (NYSE: AIG) about AIA.

Reuters: Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) will make a new offer for 3Par (NYSE: PAR) to top Hewlett-Packard’s (NYSE: HPQ)

WSJ: The SEC will increase the power that shareholders have over company boards.

WSJ: Fairfax Financial has bought $200 million of derivatives based on a drop in the CPI.

WSJ: GE (NYSE: GE) and Hitachi will press to get more nuclear plant contracts.

WSJ: More products that help draw sales from consumers as they shop are emerging.

WSJ: Ford Motor (NYSE: F) is using Wi-Fi to load features into the tech centers of new cars.

WSJ: GM will build Chevrolet models that cost more than most of the division’s old models.

WSJ: The losses at TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) rose.

WSJ: Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) increased its fight with raider Ron Burkle.

WSJ: The FDA expects the rise in food prices to be small in coming months.

WSJ: The Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT) takeover of Piramal Healthcare will increase its presence in India.

WSJ: Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) has asked courts to review the status of a class action suit against it involving alleged discrimination against women.

WSJ: China car makers have turned in strong earnings based on government programs to increase sales.

WSJ: Gamin recalled 1.3 million GPS products.

WSJ: Alibaba is moving into the online travel business.

WSJ: Japan is faced with a strong currency and weak economy.

WSJ: AIA is closer to an IPO.

WSJ: Infinium Capital Management is under investigation by the CME for rising oil futures prices.

NYT: Banks say that they can still make risky bets using their money on behalf of clients.

NYT: The Federal Reserve will announce upcoming actions to help the economy.

FT: Google’s new phone service will compete with Skype.

Bloomberg: Official Chinese data covers up rises in home prices and food products.

Bloomberg: Credit Agricole’s profits rose 86%.

Bloomberg: Private equity funds are losing the support of pensions.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, ABT, AIG, AMZN, BHP, BKS, DELL, F, GE, GOOG, HPQ, LFC, PAR, POT, RIMM, TIVO, WMT

Asia Markets And Europe Open (2/10/2010)

247wallst — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:25:37 +0000

Markets in Asia were higher.

The Nikkei rose .3% to 9,964. Recall news pushed Honda (NYSE:HMC) down but Toyota (NYSE:TM) rose.

The Hang Seng rose .7% to 19,922. China Life (NYSE:LFC) rose.

The Shanghai Composite was up 1.1% to 2,982.

At the open, the FTSE was up .4% to 5,130. The Dax rose .7% to 5,539. The CAC 40 was up .6% to 3,634.

Data from Reuters and MarketWatch.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: International Markets Tagged: HMC, LFC, TM