24/7 Wall St. » OWW

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (CHK, LVLT, QCOM, CRM, DSX, COCO, APA, WNR, YRCW, SHOO, SRE, SLE, RGLD, OWW, GM, MGM, AES, LNG, DUK, EL, PGR, WPO, GMCR, KNSY, HLF)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:08:03 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened mostly flat this morning following a softer-than-expected report from the Institute for Supply Management on non-manufacturing growth (our coverage here). The report on new unemployment benefits claims came in better than expected, but not enough to overcome the ISM numbers (more coverage here). Retail sales reports were also weak, with growth of just 0.8% compared with an estimate of 1.5% (more coverage here). The energy sector has been particularly hard hit today on reports that supply is keeping up with demand, some weak earnings reports, and a comment from OPEC that it would like to see Brent crude at $100/barrel, not $120 or more (our coverage here).

The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.11% at 79.221. The GSCI commodity index is down about -1.3% at 678.65, with commodities mixed on the small gains in the dollar. WTI crude oil closed down -2.6% at $102.54/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -1.84% at $116.02/barrel. Gold settled down -1.2% today, at $1,634.80/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 62 points to 13,206.59 (-0.47%), the NASDAQ fell more than 35 points (-01.16%) to 3,024.30, and the S&P 500 fell -0.77% or nearly 11 points to 1,391.57.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) maintained as ‘buy’ but target price cut to $31 at BofA/ML and raised to ‘outperform’ at Bernstein; Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) reiterated ‘buy’ at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and cut to ‘neutral’ at Piper Jaffary; Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) reiterated as ‘buy’ at BofA/ML; and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) raised to ‘outperform’ with a $185 target price at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX) is down -4.4% at $7.63; Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO) is down -21.6% at $3.05; Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) is down -3.7% at $91.99; Western Refining Inc. (NYSE: WNR) is down -2.6% at $18.42; YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) is down -8% at $6.79; Steve Madden Ltd. (NASDAQ: SHOO) is down -1.7% at $43.54; Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) is up 0.6% at $64.29 after posting a new 52-week high of $65.37 earlier today; Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE) is down -1% at $22.10; Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) is down -2.6% at $59.43 (more coverage here); Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW) is up 4.9% at $4.09; General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is down -2.3% at $22.42 (more coverage here); and MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is down -4.4% at $12.95.

Tomorrow we get earnings from AES Corp. (NYSE: AES), Cheniere Energy Inc. (AMEX: LNG), Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK), Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL), Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR), and The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is down -47.3% at $26.11. The company reported earnings last night, and lowered guidance. More coverage here and here.

Kensey Nash Corp. (NASDAQ: KNSY) is up 32.2% at $38.35. The company is being acquired by a Dutch firm for $360 million. More coverage here.

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) is down -12.7% at $46.02. The nutrition products company flubbed some questions at last night’s conference call. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Friday. San Francisco Fed President John Williams is giving a speech. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payrolls
3:00 p.m. – Treasury STRIPS

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AES, APA, CHK, COCO, CRM, DSX, DUK, EL, GM, GMCR, HLF, KNSY, LNG, LVLT, MGM, OWW, PGR, QCOM, RGLD, SHOO, SLE, SRE, WNR, WPO, YRCW

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (CHK, COP, RSH, STM, AIZ, ABX, MRO, MA, AGN, AUY, TWX, CLX, RDC, RRD, MSO, IACI, FSLR, DSX, COCO, APA, OWW, WNR, CMCSA, SVNT)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:45 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened lower this morning following dismal reports from Europe on manufacturing (our coverage here) and unemployment (more coverage here). The ADP report on US unemployment provided more gloomy news ahead of Friday’s official unemployment numbers (more coverage here). The US EIA petroleum inventory report helped push oil prices down (more coverage here), but the weak economic news ruled the day. Only the Nasdaq index has managed to pull into positive territory at all today, and that by less than 0.2% about an hour before closing. The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.39% at 79.130. The GSCI commodity index is up fractionally at 687.61, with commodities mostly lower on the rising dollar. Chicago wheat fell more than -4.5% to post the biggest loss of the day. WTI crude oil closed down -0.9% at $105.22/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -1.23% at $1118.19/barrel. Gold settled down -0.5% today, at $1,654.00/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 11 points to 13,268.65 (-0.08%), the NASDAQ rose more than 9 points (0.31%) to 3,059.85, and the S&P 500 fell -0.25% or more than 3 points to 1,402.31.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) cut to ‘neutral’ at R.W. Baird; ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/ML and started as ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) raised to ‘buy’ at Auriga; STMicroelectronics NV (NYSE: STM) raised to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs and raised to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup; and Assurant Inc. (NYSE: AIZ) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/ML.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) is down -2.8% at $39.30 (more coverage here); Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) is down -4.4% at $28.85; Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) is down -0.8% at $452.14; Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) is down -4.3% at $92.29; Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY) is down -2.6% at $14.36; Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) is down -1.6% at $37.30; The Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) is down -3.3% at $67.74; Rowan Companies Inc. (NYSE: RDC) is up 1.3% at $34.97; R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (NASDAQ: RRD) is down -7% at $11.79; Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (NYSE: MSO) is down -1.2% at $3.41; and IAC/InterActiveCorp. (NASDAQ: IACI) is up 3.3% at $50.34 after posting a new 52-week high of $52.77 earlier today.

Tomorrow we get earnings from First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX), Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO), Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW), and Western Refining Inc. (NYSE: WNR) among many others.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Chesapeake Energy is down -13.5% at $16.95 after posting a new 52-week low of $15.86 earlier today. The natural gas producer reported weak results and more troubles for CEO Aubrey McClendon. More coverage here.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is down -1% at $30.29. The cable company reported good earnings this morning. More coverage here.

Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT) is down -18.8% at $1.51. An analyst has said that the company insolvent. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, and San Francisco Fed President John Williams are speaking at a conference. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – Challenger job cut report
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
8:30 a.m. – Productivity and costs report
10:00 a.m. – ISM non-manufacturing index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ABX, AGN, AIZ, APA, AUY, CHK, CLX, CMCSA, COCO, COP, DSX, FSLR, IACI, MA, MRO, MSO, OWW, RDC, RRD, RSH, STM, SVNT, TWX, WNR

Expedia Sails, Lifts All Boats (EXPE, HOT, HST, WYN, MAR, OWW, PCLN, TRIP)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:00:35 +0000

Internet travel company Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) absolutely pasted revenue and EPS expectations last night, sending the stock on a 25%+ express ride. The company posted revenue of $816.5 million, significantly higher than the consensus estimate of $790.1 million. Adjusted EPS came in at $0.26 versus an estimate of $0.14.

The profit driver was the company’s hotels.com site, which should raise expectations for hotel and resort players like Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT), Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: HST), Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: WYN), and Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR). All these companies have already reported March quarter results, so we have to wait until June.

Other online travel sites aren’t waiting to move though. Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW), priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN), and TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) have all posted nice gains today.

Orbitz reports results next Thursday and is expected to post an EPS loss of -$0.08 on revenue of $190.3 million. priceline.com reports the following week and is expected to deliver EPS of $3.94 on revenue of $1.04 billion. TripAdvisor is expected to post EPS of $0.34 when it reports next week.

The boost in travel and hotel stocks shouldn’t be too big a surprise, given the higher traffic numbers put up by many US airlines. All those people have to book those flights someplace and stay somewhere once they get to their destinations. These symbiotic relationships could be worth watching as we roll toward the next quarter.

Expedia’s shares are up 26.5% at $41.28 in a 52-week range of $27.28-$65.78. Orbitz is up 7.7% at $3.65 in a 52-week range of $1.57-$4.49, priceline.com is up 4.5% at $766.00 in a 52-week range of $411.26-$774.96, and TripAdvisor is up 8.8% at $37.39 after posting a new 52-week high earlier today of $37.85.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Earnings, Internet Tagged: EXPE, HOT, HST, MAR, OWW, PCLN, TRIP, WYN

A Possible Sale of Travelzoo… At The Lows (TZOO, EXPE, PCLN, OWW)

Administrator — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:57:14 +0000

Travelzoo Inc. (NASDAQ: TZOO) is up for sale. At least that is what Reuters is reporting with a ‘citing sources’ of those familiar with the situation. The Internet travel information and booking site offers deals on flights, hotels, cruises, and vacation packages. What is so interesting here is that the stock was within about 2% of a 52-week low as of yesterday.

Reuters noted that the company is in the process of hiring a financial advisory firm after having received some indications of interest from other travel outfits and from private equity shops. Which firms this would be is anyone’s guess but the company is now easily affordable as its market cap was $336 million as of Tuesday’s close. Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) is worth about $4.2 billion in market cap priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) is worth almost $37 billion in market cap, which would imply that either company could easily make this acquisition. Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: OWW) is worth only $318 million, so that might be a stretch.

Travelzoo’s consensus earnings estimates are $1.55 EPS and $166.3 million in sales for 2012 according to Thomson Reuters. less than 20-times expected earnings and 2-times expected sales is cheap for the growth of the online travel sector when you start comparing this to peers today but the $21.06 close on Tuesday compares to a 52-week range of $20.68 to just over $100.00 at the peak of the last year.

This merger news is something we would consider to be a rumor for now and it might even seem suspect on the surface, but shares are indicated up 30% at $27.50 on the news.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Internet, Mergers and Buy Outs, Private Equity, Rumors Tagged: EXPE, OWW, PCLN, TZOO

Twelve Retailers Flunking Customer Service

247wallst — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:36:24 +0000

As recently as 2009, Netflix was the most beloved retailer on the Internet. By the end of 2011, following the failed separation of its streaming and DVD by mail service and sharp price increases, the company had the sixth-worst customer satisfaction rating among all e-commerce companies, and one of the worst among all retailers including brick-and-mortar outfits, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

Read The Twelve Retailers Flunking Customer Service

24/7 Wall St. examined ACSI’s annual retail and e-commerce satisfaction report and identified the 12 companies whose customer satisfaction decreased in 2011.

Many of the companies whose customer satisfaction scores dropped the past year have simply cemented their already terrible service reputations.

Walmart, which debuted strong on the Index in 1994, dropped to among the lowest ranked companies by 1996, where it has remained since. Winn-Dixie, a supermarket chain which does business in the southeast, is an example of a company that has never managed to break free of the lowest rungs of customer service. CVS Caremark and Staples, both on this list, have seen occasional improvements in customer service, but are among the worst.

For other companies, however, losing customer satisfaction is in conflict with their reputations. Amazon.com had a 1.1% decrease in its customer service score this past year, even though it still maintained the highest customer satisfaction score among retailers. Charles Schwab’s customer satisfaction also dipped slightly, despite the fact that customers are more satisfied with the company than with any other online brokerage firm.

These are the American retailers with customer satisfaction scores fell in 2011.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, General, Special Report Tagged: AMZN, BKS, CVS, DG, ESRX, ETFC, EXPE, NFLX, ODP, OMX, OWW, PCLN, RAD, SCHW, SPLS, WAG, WINN, WMT

Blackstone Group Still Holds Many Large Stock Positions After IPOs (BX, BKU, FSL, GGP, NLSN, OWW, TMH, TRW)

Administrator — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:11:19 +0000

The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) may look like it has a huge portfolio of public stocks to many investors. While that is actually true, the bulk of this is due to its portfolio companies coming public and it being forced (or wanting to) hold on to a large number of shares. Its total value of public equities (and options) was listed as $5.98 billion as of September 30, 2011.

The larger positions worth $100 million or more are as follows:

BANKUNITED, INC. (NYSE: BKU) at $284.851 million for 13,721,131 shares.

FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR HOLDINGS, LTD. (NYSE: FSL) at $2.16 billion for 196,136,895 shares.

GENERAL GROWTH PROPERTIES INC. (NYSE: GGP) at $604.3 million for 49,942,980 shares.

NIELSEN HOLDINGS N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) at $1.436 billion for 55,095,361 shares.

ORBITZ WORLDWIDE INC. (NYSE: OWW) at $119.45 million for 55,046,598 shares.

TEAM HEALTH HOLDINGS, INC. (NYSE: TMH) at $583.01 million for 35,506,563 shares.

TRW AUTOMOTIVE HOLDINGS CORP. (NYSE: TRW) at $637.85 million for 19,488,416 shares.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Mutual Funds, Private Equity Tagged: BKU, BX, FSL, GGP, NLSN, OWW, TMH, TRW

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (FCX, CECO, CLX, COL, BSX, MDT, FICO, LAMR, OWW, KSWS, RIG, MDVN, SNSTA, SONO, DNDN, ANF, CLWR)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:05:46 +0000

Stock markets. Equity markets opened sharply higher this morning before falling into negative territory before the ISM and factory order reports were released. The ISM index came in lower than expected, but factory orders grew by 0.3%, slightly better than expected. New pressure on Greece to forgo its referendum on the EU bailout package helped push share prices up, as did strength in tech stocks. Crude oil is up nearly 1.5% and gold is up nearly 2%, while the dollar is down against both the euro and the British pound.

Closing bell. The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 207 points to 12,043.19 (1.75%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 58 points (2.2%) to 2,697.97, and the S&P 500 rose 1.87% or more than 23 points to 1,261.10.

Analyst upgrades and downgrades. There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) started at ‘overweight’ at Barclays. Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO), Clorox Corp. (NYSE: CLX), and Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) were cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) and Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) were started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse.

Market reacts to earnings. Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Fair Isaac Corp. (NYSE: FICO) is up about 25%, at $33.95; Lamar Advertising Co. (NASDAQ: LAMR) is up nearly 25%, at $26.18; Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: OWW) is up 40%, at $2.66; K-Swiss Inc. (NASDAQ: KSWS) is down more than -33%, at $3.09; and Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) is down about -13%, at $48.73.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) is up 140%, at $39.74 after posting a new 52-week high of $40.15 earlier today. The company reported that an experimental prostate cancer drug reduced death risk by 37%.

Sonesta International Hotels Corp. (NASDAQ: SNSTA) is up nearly 41%, at $30.65 after posting a new 52-week high of $31.06. The company has agreed to be acquired for $31/share by an affiliate of Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE: HPT).

SonoSite, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO) is up about 29%, at 39.62 after posting a new 52-week high of $40 earlier today. Sonosite is reported to have hired Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for the company and talks are already in progress with potential buyers, including Samsung Electronics.

Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is down more than -37%, at $6.53 after setting a new 52-week low of $6.52 earlier today. The company today reiterated its forecast for only modest sales of its Provenge anti-cancer drug.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) is down nearly -20%, at $59.51. The company reported slowing sales in Europe, a region where the company had pinned its hopes for growth.

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is down about -14%, at $1.75. The company is seeking additional financing and has been unable to get its largest customer and majority shareholder Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) to commit to the financing.

Stay tuned for Friday. The G-20 summit opened today and will continue meeting tomorrow and over the weekend. Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) releases its October report on US online job demand. We have noted the following event (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll data for October

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Market Close Tagged: ANF, BSX, CECO, CLWR, CLX, COL, DNDN, FCX, FICO, KSWS, LAMR, MDT, MDVN, OWW, RIG, SNSTA, SONO

Top Debt & Credit Rating Agency Actions (UTX, GR, GM, LSTZA, LSTZB, LCAPA, LCAPB, BRK-A, BRK-B, CAG, OWW, WWWW, CMI)

247wallst — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 17:43:21 +0000

Today’s ratings actions are led-off by Moody’s affirmation of its ‘A2′ senior unsecured and ‘Prime-1′ short-term ratings on United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX). The affirmation follows United’s announced acquisition of Goodrich Corp. (NYSE: GR) for $18.4 billion in cash. Moody’s noted the complementary nature of the deal and United’s historically strong “fiscal conservatism” as support for the ratings affirmation. Moody’s also noted that it was placing Goodrich’s ‘Baa2′ senior unsecured rating under review for a possible upgrade. Standard & Poor’s also put Goodrich on CreditWatch with positive implications.

Other rating actions were announced for General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), Liberty Media LLC, Lubrizol Corp., now wholly-owned by Berkshire-Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A; BRK-B), ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG), Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW), Web.com Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW), and Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI)

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is having its ‘Ba2′ corporate family rating and its ‘Baa3′ secured credit facility ratings reviewed for possible upgrade at Moody’s. The company’s new union contract and its improved operating and financial performance are the drivers of the review. Global economic uncertainty and the cyclic nature of the automaking business are the agency’s biggest concern. Also today, S&P assigned ‘AAA’ ratings to $500 million in asset-backed notes for Ally Bank. The funds are primarily intended to finance purchases of new cars from GM and Chrysler.

Liberty Media LLC and its Liberty Starz Group (NASDAQ: LSTZA; LSTZB) and Liberty Capital Group (NASDAQ: LCAPA; LCAPB) have received a ratings downgrade from Moody’s on senior unsecured bonds from ‘B1′ to ‘B3′ and the probability of default rating was downgraded from ‘Ba3′ to ‘B1′. The downgrades follow a court ruling that allows Liberty Media to split-off certain assets. The agency noted that 18% of Liberty Media’s revenues and 37% its enterprise value are being removed, which “disproportionately and negatively affect Liberty Media’s bondholders.”

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A; BRK-B) subsidiary Lubrizol Corp. received a ratings upgrade from Moody’s following its acquistion by Warren Buffett’s company. The agency raised Lubrizol’s debt ratings from ‘Baa1′ to ‘Aa2′ with a stable outlook. There’s no substitute for having access to really deep pockets, or as Moody’s says, Berkshire-Hathaway “now guarantees Lubrizol’s public debt.”

ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) has had its ‘BBB’ corporate credit and its ‘A-2′ short-term and commercial paper rating, among others, re-affirmed by S&P following ConAgra’s decision to give up its attempts to acquire Ralcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RAH). All the company’s ratings have been removed from CreditWatch and the ratings outlook has been declared stable.

Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW) has had its ‘B’ corporate credit rating put on CreditWatch with negative implications by S&P. The agency downgraded debt for Travelport Holdings Ltd. yesterday, which together with The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) owns 55% of Orbitz.

Web.com Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW) received a preliminary rating of ‘B’ with a stable outlook from S&P on its corporate credit.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) received a corporate credit upgrade from ‘BBB+’ to ‘A’ from S&P. Cummins is an engine and parts maker and has been performing above expectations for the past three quarters. Analysts have raised EPS estimates for the current quarter by 10%.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: General Tagged: BRK-A, BRK-B, CAG, CMI, GM, GR, LCAPA, LCAPB, LSTZA, LSTZB, OWW, UTX, WWWW

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMD, BAM, GENZ, KGC, NTAP, NVDA, OWW, PAAS, SLE, SFLY, SWK, HOT)

Administrator — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:39:53 +0000

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

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) Reiterated Buy and $12 price target at Gleacher & Co.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (NYSE: BAM) Started as Outperform with $38 target at Credit Suisse.
Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC) Cut to Hold at TD.
NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity; Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray; Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: OWW) Cut to Underweight at Piper Jaffray.
Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) Cut to Hold at TD.
Sara Lee Corporation (NYSE: SLE) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Shutterfly, Inc. (NASDAQ: SFLY) Cut to Neutral at Zacks.
Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE: SWK) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $74 at Argus.

You can 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: AMD, BAM, GENZ, HOT, KGC, NTAP, NVDA, OWW, PAAS, SFLY, SLE, SWK

Terror Alerts and Travel Stocks (PCLN, EXPE, OWW, TZOO, MMYT, UTA, OEH, CCL, UAL, FAA)

Administrator — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:04:52 +0000

Online travel sites have been on fire and a trend of airline consolidation mergers has been very good to the travel and leisure sector in transportation. But what happens when United States citizens hear about a travel advisory with heightened terror alerts for U.S. citizens traveling to Europe, or traveling to anywhere else that is a common destination? We are taking a look at sector leaders and the reactions seen in priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW), Travelzoo Inc. (NASDAQ: TZOO), MakeMyTrip Limited (NASDAQ: MMYT), Universal Travel Group (NYSE: UTA), Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. (NYSE: OEH), Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL), and United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL).

priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) is down almost 2.5% to $329.45, Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) is down about 2.3% at $27.10, and Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW) is down 3% to $6.18. The smaller destination is Travelzoo Inc. (NASDAQ: TZOO) and its shares were down almost as much as 5% at $25.20 today.

MakeMyTrip Limited (NASDAQ: MMYT), a hot IPO of late, is also seeing a 2.7% slide and shares are down at $37.57. This is an Indian travel agency that started out as a destination site for travel options in India. India is far from the E.U., but the Mumbai terror attacks have left the minds of very few.

Universal Travel Group (NYSE: UTA) has already had a very tough year as shares of the travel service provider offering air ticketing and hotel booking services have fallen from over $16.00 to under $5.00 and its shares are down 1% to $4.74.

Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. (NYSE: OEH) is well-known for its luxury hotels, train and cruises, and shares are down 4.8% at $10.56 versus a 52-week range of $6.80 to $15.54.

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) was noted in our E.U. ties piece with its latest annual report noting, “Our European brands represent 33% of our total capacity at November 30, 2009, and we expect them to increase to 37% of our total capacity by 2012, assuming no new acquisitions, transfers or withdrawals are announced other than as previously discussed.” Carnival shares are down only 1.2% at $37.93 today versus a 52-week trading range of $28.71 to $44.21.

United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) is the new combined Continental-United merger stock and it has many daily flights to and from Europe from major US cities. Its shares are down only 1.3% at $24.38. The Guggenheim Airline ETF (NYSE: FAA), formerly the Claymore/NYSE Arca Airline ETF, is down 2.06% at $37.05 versus a 52-week range of $21.98 to $38.14; and it does have international carriers in its weighting.

Of course, terror alerts do far less damage than actual terror attacks. However, they give travelers the right to change their travel plans often without paying any of the normal penalty or fees travelers pay for making any last-minute changes to their itineraries.

JON C.OGG

Filed under: ADR, Airlines, Entertainment, Luxury, Politics Tagged: CCL, EXPE, FAA, MMYT, OEH, OWW, PCLN, TZOO, UAL, UTA