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Media Digest (10/4/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:18:54 +0000

World stock markets hit 15-month lows. (Reuters)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to launch the iPhone 5 as competition grows from Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android. (Reuters)

China warns of a trade war if Congress passes a currency manipulation bill. (Reuters)

Greek debt holders may have to take more write-downs than planned. (Reuters)

Greece faces a nearly impossible task to turn around its economy. (Reuters)

Apple rejects a deal with Samsung to end their battle over tablet PCs in Australia. (Reuters)

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) completes acquisition of Autonomy. (Reuters)

UBS (NYSE: UBS) forecasts a Q3 profit. (Reuters)

Pharmaceutical Product Development (NASDAQ: PPDI) to go private. (Reuters)

U.S. stocks near bear territory. (WSJ)

Citigroup (NYSE: C) has trouble with the sale of the balance of its “bad bank” assets. (WSJ)

Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S) will bet much of its future on a deal to distribute the iPhone. (WSJ)

A new federal program will allow people who lived in foreclosed homes to see if their banks acted properly. (WSJ)

AMR (NYSE: AMR) plunges on reports it may go bankrupt. (WSJ)

A new hormone may treat autism. (WSJ)

Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) to begin more work on cloud computing and a presence on tablets. (WSJ)

The White House approves plans for oil drilling north of Alaska. (WSJ)

The UK Treasury will buy bonds to help the economy. (WSJ)

September auto sales rise as expected. (WSJ)

The chief marketing officer at Target (NYSE: TGT), Michael Francis, to move to JCPenney (NYSE: JCP). (WSJ)

More criticism emerges about life insurance policies held as collateral for high interest loans. (WSJ)

Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) sales in China continue to rise rapidly. (WSJ)

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Morgan Stanley’s (NYSE: MS) largest shareholder, offers support of the company. (WSJ)

An increase in the EFSF bailout fund may not be enough to quell fears about EU debt. (WSJ)

Fannie Mae may have known about mortgage abuses earlier than previously believed. (NYT)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) sets a broad content deal with Disney’s (NYSE: DIS) ABC. (NYT)

Molycorp (NYSE: MCP) makes a rare earth discovery in California. (NYT)

Eurozone ministers meet to discuss budget problems in Greece. (FT)

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) asks people to contribute to a program to create jobs at other companies. (FT)

The EU may ask bondholders to take deep losses from a Greek restructuring. (Bloomberg)

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) cuts global GDP forecasts and says it expects recessions in Germany and France. (Bloomberg)

Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Steve Ballmer receives half of his maximum bonus. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, ADBE, AMR, C, DIS, GOOG, GS, HPQ, JCP, MCP, MS, MSFT, PPDI, S, SBUX, TGT, UBS, YHOO, YUM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CRL, CSCO, GLW, EXPE, PPDI, RL, PCLN, REGN, RIMM, RPM, BID, TSO, TIVO, URI)

Administrator — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:06:01 +0000

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

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL) Started as Hold at Citigroup.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Raised to Sector Perform at RBC.
Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) Maintained Buy but cut target to $25 at BofA/ML.
Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) Started as Outperform at Wedbush.
Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc. (NASDAQ: PPDI) Started as Hold at Citigroup.
Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) Started as Outperform at Wedbush.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
RPM International (NYSE: RPM) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Sotheby’s Inc. (NYSE: BID) called the value stock of the day at Zacks.
Tesoro Corporation (NYSE: TSO) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) Started as Buy at Brean Murray.
United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BID, CRL, CSCO, EXPE, GLW, PCLN, PPDI, REGN, RIMM, RL, RPM, TIVO, TSO, URI

Top Ten Active Trader Alerts (BIDU, CDII, DG, HSFT, NLST, PPDI, RIMM, SODA, URBN, VRSK)

Administrator — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:25:36 +0000

We have many stocks on the move this morning, some on earnings and some on other news. The ten key movers and shakers we are tracking are in shares of the following: Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU); China Direct Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDII); Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG); hiSoft Technology International Ltd. (NASDAQ: HSFT); Netlist, Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST); Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc. (NASDAQ: PPDI); Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM); SodaStream International Ltd. (NASDAQ: SODA); Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN); and Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK). We have outlined news snippets and shown the trading reactions on each.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is down over 3% and just under $140 after Google’s Moto deal may change up the mobile search landscape in Asia per a WSJ story… A stretch, but it is affecting the stock.

China Direct Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDII) had lost more than half its value from the peak but shares were on the rebound after it turned in a 78% revenue gain to $57.0 million for its 3rd quarter. Shares were up 19% on last look last night and the indications show shares close to $1.05 after closing at $0.964 yesterday.

Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) is up about 4% around $33.50 in early trading indications. The news is that the dollar-store king was added as a new position by none other than Warren Buffett (full Buffett list here).

hiSoft Technology International Ltd. (NASDAQ: HSFT) has yet to move but shares were up about 8% after closing at $11.52 yesterday when the company reported $0.18 EPS as sales grew to $50.87 million while estimates were $0.17 EPS and $47 million.

Netlist, Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST) is up after earnings last night when it posted revenues were up 72% yearly and up 33% sequentially to $16.0 million based on its cloud sales. Shares were up 15% last night and the indications are up around $1.80 after a $1.56 close.

Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc. (NASDAQ: PPDI) is trading higher on reports that private equity giant Carlyle Group is in talks to acquire the company. Shares are up 3.6% at $32.65 in pre-market trading, challenging the $32.91 52-week high.

Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) is down after an analyst downgrade to SELL from Societe Generale and shares are down 3.2% at $26.25 this morning in early trading.

SodaStream International Ltd. (NASDAQ: SODA) is down 9% at $45.66 after Jim Cramer bashed the stock last night on CNBC’s MAD MONEY as he called it ‘No Green Mountain’ and said its growth was broken unless the company was totally sandbagging the guidance.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) is facing some large pressure after earnings fell 21% for the quarter. Shares were down about 6% around $28 in earlier indications and now shares are down closer to 10% and down under $27.00 pre-market.

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) is up because it was the other new position held by Berkshire Hathaway with close to a 2.1 million share stake. Shares are up 6% at $34.20 in pre-market trading. Full Buffett stock change list here.

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: Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: BIDU, CDII, DG, HSFT, NLST, PPDI, RIMM, SODA, URBN, VRSK

Early Bird Analyst Downgrades (ADBE, BLKB, GLW, DE, ERIC, PCG, PPDI, PLD)

247wallst — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 07:16:07 +0000

These are some of the analyst downgrades we have seen from Wall Street this Tuesday morning with more than two hours until the open:

Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) Cut to Underperform at FBR.
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) Started as Sell at Maxim Group.
Corning (NYSE: GLW) Cut to Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) Cut to Sell at UBS.
PG&E (NYSE: PCG) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Pharmaceutical Product Development (NASDAQ: PPDI) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
January 13, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ADBE, BLKB, DE, ERIC, GLW, PCG, PLD, PPDI

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ACM, AXYS, CTAS, CVD, GILD, PPDI, VISN, EPG, VTIV)

247wallst — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 07:38:35 +0000

It is getting pretty thin in major analyst coverage as firms are encouraged to go easy on major year-end calls barring anything unexpected. These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and new coverage calls we have seen this Tuesday morning:

AECOM (ACM) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Axsys Technologies (AXYS) Raised to Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
Cintas (CTAS) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Covance (CVD) Started as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
Gilead (GILD) Started as Buy at Stanford Group.
PPD Inc. (PPDI) STarted as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
VisionChina Media (VISN) Strated as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
Environmental Power Corp. (EPG) Cut to Neutral at Merriman Curhan Ford.
inVentiv Health (VTIV) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

Jon C. Ogg
December 23, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ACM, AXYS, CTAS, CVD, EPG, GILD, PPDI, VISN, VTIV

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (ANN, CVC, COF, CELG, GME, PPDI, STJ, STI, THQI, WOOF, WU)

247wallst — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:18:43 +0000

These are some of the many research upgrades we have seen from Wall Street analysts this Monday morning with more than two hours to the open:

Ann Taylor (ANN) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs
Cablevision (CVC) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research
Capital One Financial (COF) Raised to Market Perform at KBW
Celgene (CELG) Raised to Outperform at Baird
GameStop (GME) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray
Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPDI) Raised to Outperform at Baird
St. Jude Medical (STJ) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan
SunTrust Banks (STI) Raised to Market Perform at KBW
THQ (THQI) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray
VCA Antech (WOOF) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray
Western Union (WU) Raised to Buy at S&P Equity Research

Jon C. Ogg
October 13, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ANN, CELG, COF, CVC, GME, PPDI, STI, STJ, THQI, WOOF, WU

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (APD, C, HBAN, MEOH, WFR, PPDI, SANM, SPG, WBS)

247wallst — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:38:15 +0000

These are some of the top pre-market analyst Upgrades and positive calls we are seeing this Thursday Morning:

Air Products (APD) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Citigroup (C’) raised to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) Raised to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Methanex (MEOH) Raised to Buy at UBS.
MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPDI) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Sanmina-SCI (SANM) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Simon Property Group (SPG) Started as Overweight at Lehman.
Webster Financial (WBS) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Jon C. Ogg
July 24, 2008

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AUO, ESRX, FDO, GRMN, PBR, PZE, PPDI, SFLY, TSO, ZUMZ, CAL, DAL, NWA, UAUA, LCC, AMR)

247wallst — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:03:19 +0000

These are not the only key analyst calls coming out of Wall Street analysts today, but these are the key calls that 247WallSt.com is focusing on in pre-market hours:

AU Optronics (AUO) raised to Outperform at Lehman.
Express Scripts (ESRX) downgraded to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Family Dollar (FDO) downgraded to Underperform at Bear Stearns.
Garmin (GRMN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Petrobras Brasiliero (PBR) downgrades to Sell from Hold at Citigroup.
Petrobras Energia (PZE) downgraded to Underperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
PPD Inc. (PPDI) raised to Buy at UBS.
Shutterffly (SFLY) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Tesoro (TSO) downgraded to Underperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
Zumiez (ZUMZ) raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
UBS RAISED AIRLINES: Continental (CAL), Delta (DAL), Northwest Airlines (NWA), UAL (UAUA), and United (LCC) all raised to Buy from neutral; AMR (AMR) raised to Neutral from Sell. Incidentally, Bear Stearns also raised Delta (DAL) to an Outperform rating.

Jon C. Ogg
January 9, 2008

Pre-Market Analyst Calls (July 13, 2007)

247wallst — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 06:43:45 +0000

AOB started as Outperform at CIBC.
AUY started asOutperform at Credit Suisse.
BGFV cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
BJ raised to Equal Weight at Lehman.
BLK started as Outperform at Wachovia.
CCL raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
CHE cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
CIT cut to Sector PErform at CIBC.
CREE started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.
DWA started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
EMC cut to Mkt Perform at Morgan Keegan.
FRO cut to Reduce at UBS.
HAL raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
HDB started as Buy at Jefferies.
IBN started as Buy at Jefferies.
NATI raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
NDN raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
PPDI cut to Hold at Jefferies.
RCL raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
RNOW started as Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald.
RSH cut to Sell at B of A.
SEB raised to Buy at Jefferies.
SWK started as Neutral at B of A.
SWY raised to Equal Weight at Lehman.
VRSN raised to Buy at Jefferies.
VSCN cut to Mkt Perform at FBR.
WON cut to Sell at Citigroup.
ZBRA raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.

Jon C. Ogg
July 13, 2007

Pre-Market Analyst Calls (July 6, 2007)

247wallst — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 06:50:11 +0000

BP raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
BRG raised target at Deutsche Bank.
CACH started as Neutral at JP Morgan.
DCEL cut to Hold at Jefferies.
HLT downgraded at Jefferies, Citigroup, and at Susquehanna.
MSFT cut estimates at D.A. Davidson.
OSG raised to Overweight at JP Morgan.
PPDI reiterated outperform at Baird.
RJF raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
RDS.A raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
UDRL raised to Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.

Jon C. Ogg
July 6, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.