24/7 Wall St. » RSH

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADI, ARMH, AGO, BHI, DF, DELL, DUK, EV, EXPR, HPQ, HGSI, IRDM, MET, NOV, OCZ, RSH, RA)

Administrator — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:18:24 +0000

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

Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI) Reiterated Buy with $43 target at Argus.

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) Raised to Buy at S&P.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE: AGO) Raised to Buy at UBS.

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) Cut to Hold at Societe Generale.

Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) named as Bull of the Day in its turnaround at Zacks.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Maintained Buy but target cut to $18 from $22 at Argus.

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK) Raised to Buy at UBS.

Eaton Vance (NYSE: EV) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Citigroup.

Express Inc. (NYSE: EXPR) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) Maintained Neutral but raised 2012/2013 estimates by 2% at Credit Suisse.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) Cut to Market Perform with a price target of $13.00 at BMO Capital.

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) Started as Buy at CRT Capital.

MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) Reiterated Buy with $46 target at Argus.

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) Raised to Buy at Societe Generale.

OCZ Technology Group Inc (NYSE: OCZ) Started as Outperform with $8 target at Credit Suisse.

RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

RailAmerica Inc. (NYSE: RA) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Three calls seen on NetApp (see here).

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ADI, AGO, ARMH, BHI, DELL, DF, DUK, EV, EXPR, HGSI, HPQ, IRDM, MET, NOV, OCZ, RA, RSH

Best Buy Bounces, But Not Enough (BBY, RSH, GME, AMZN, WMT, AAPL)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:35:58 +0000

Electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) reported first quarter results this morning that were better than expected and the company’s shares are getting a much-needed bounce. The company reported adjusted EPS of $0.72 above an estimate of $0.59. Revenue totaled $11.61 billion, also above the consensus estimate of $11.5 billion.

Besides competing with smaller national rivals like RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) and GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), Best Buy has to slug it out with retailers Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), and direct sellers like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

And while Best Buy touts its increases in sales of mobile phones and other portable devices, it also notes:

Areas of comparable store sales growth in the Domestic segment included tablets and mobile phones within the Computing & Mobile Phones revenue category, eReaders within the Consumer Electronics revenue category and Appliances. These increases were more than offset by comparable store sales declines primarily in notebooks within the Computing and Mobile Phones revenue category, gaming within the Entertainment revenue category, and digital imaging and televisions within the Consumer Electronics revenue category. The Domestic segment online channel revenue grew 20 percent compared to the prior-year period.

Selling more cheaper devices does not make up for lost sales in pricier items, unless a retailer can sell an enormous number. Best Buy can’t do that because there’s simply too much competition from wireless carriers, other retailers, and direct sales.

The company reiterated its full-year adjusted EPS guidance of $3.50-$3.80, in-line with the consensus estimate of $3.59. But weak international sales and declining same-store sales mean that Best Buy will be forced to close more stores, which will hurt revenues and ultimately profits unless the company can really figure out a way to boost its online sales. The outlook is probably not as rosy as the company would like us to think.

Shares are up about 1.6% in the pre-market, but were up as much as 6% at one point. Current price is $18.43 in a 52-week range of $17.53-$32.85. The 52-week low was set yesterday.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Consumer Electronics, Earnings, Hardware, Pre-Market Activity, Retail, Software, Video Games Tagged: AAPL, AMZN, BBY, GME, RSH, WMT

Can Best Buy’s Earnings Report Even Matter? (BBY, RSH, AMZN)

Administrator — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:39:25 +0000

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is set to report its earnings on Tuesday morning. The company has the earmarks of a value stock now that shares have sold off so much. The problem is that it has really just been acting like a value trap. Its problems are not as bad as RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH), but Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is perhaps the biggest problem.

Take a look at any chart and you will see that Best Buy shares hit a low not seen since back in 2009 when every stock tied to retail and technology had hit the ‘free fall’ button. This stock hit a low of $17.53 this morning and its prior 52-week range was $17.84 to $32.85.

Somehow Amazon remains the winner here. Many buyers go to Best Buy to interact with consumer electronics and then turn around and buy the item online from a competitor to avoid sales tax and/or to pay a lower price.

Analysts still have a consensus price target around $25.00 for Best Buy, but for now that should not be trusted. And what about that $3.59 EPS target for this year at Best Buy from Thomson Reuters? Or the $3.72 EPS target for next year from Thomson Reuters? If those were to remain true then Best Buy trades at only 5-times this year’s earnings and under 4.9-times next year’s earnings estimates.

The reality is that Best Buy has no CEO, it lost its founder, it is suffering from margin compression, and it is often cited as losing more and more of the potential customer base. BB&T Capital Markets also downgraded Best Buy shares to Hold from Buy just this morning, although admittedly that is just a very late downgrade.

The one thing which may actually act as a slingshot on any news that “lass bad” is that Best Buy has close to 54 million shares in its short interest per the most recent data. It is hard to get excited that short sellers may drive up the price if the news is not just dismal.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Consumer Electronics, Earnings, Management Change, Retail, Shareholder Issues, Short Interest Tagged: AMZN, BBY, featured, RSH

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADTN, AAPL, ARNA, T, BEAM, BBBY, BBY, BWLD, CVX, HEK, JPM, MYGN, PRA, RSH, RXN, RIMM, SLF, TXRH, VZ)

Administrator — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:46:18 +0000

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

Adtran Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) Reiterated Buy and $39 target at Argus.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Maintained Outperform but cut estimates at Credit Suisse (full details).

Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA) Raised to Buy at Jefferies; Raised to Outperform at Leerink Swann.

AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Beam Spirits Inc. (NYSE: BEAM) Maintained Hold at Argus.

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) Cut to Neutral with $20 target at Credit Suisse.

Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) Reiterated Buy with $130 target at Argus.

Heckmann Corporation (NYSE: HEK) Started as Outperform with $5 target at Credit Suisse.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) Maintained Outperform but cut estimates at Credit Suisse; Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus; Cut to Market Perform at FBR.

Myriad Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) Started as Neutral at BofA/ML.

ProAssurance Corp. (NYSE: PRA) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Rexnord Corporation (NYSE: RXN) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) Maintained Neutral and cut estimates at Credit Suisse.

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ: TXRH) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, ADTN, ARNA, BBBY, BBY, BEAM, BWLD, CVX, HEK, JPM, MYGN, PRA, RIMM, RSH, RXN, SLF, T, TXRH, VZ

Key Short Interest Changes in Cult Stocks & Controversial Stocks (ALU, STD, BAC, BKS, DNDN, DMND, FSLR, GMCR, GRPN, HGSI, LNKD, NFLX, RSH, RIMM, SIRI)

Administrator — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:17:25 +0000

The short interest data is out using the April 30 settlement date. We have seen some drastic changes from the April 13 settlement date in many issues, followed by some surprises where the short sellers seemed to be absent in other cult stocks and controversial stocks. Earnings season may have greatly influenced the short selling ambitions and the most recent choppiness and selling in the markets may show more changes ahead.

24/7 Wall St. screened out selective short interest data with the latest changes from the settlement date of April 30, 2012 versus the prior April 13, 2012 in shares of the following: Alcatel Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU); Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS); Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN); Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND); First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR); Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN); Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI); LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD); Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX); RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH); Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM); and Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI). Does this make for a “Short-Sell in May and go away!” theme? The short interest changes are for the April 13 versus March 30 settlement dates, with selective color added if applicable: Alcatel Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) saw another rise in the short interest but this gain was massive by over 25% to 28.67 million shares in the short interest. Based on its earnings botch, the short sellers made some real money here.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is not one of our usual short interest names but investors are back to betting against Spain and the PIIGS all over again now that austerity measures are being fought publicly. The prior gain was a whopping 214% gain in the short interest to 55.7 million shares and the newest gain was only 2.5% to 57.1 million shares.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is back to seeing a rise in the short interest after a prior drop. Short sellers lifted the short interest by 9.9% to 142.3 million shares.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) saw a small increase ion its short interest, which you know helped to exacerbate that pop from the Microsoft deal while activist investors press on here. The short interest rose another 3.7% to 19.768 million shares.

Filed under: Cult Stock, Short Interest Tagged: ALU, BAC, BKS, DMND, DNDN, FSLR, GMCR, GRPN, HGSI, LNKD, NFLX, RIMM, RSH, SIRI, STD

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

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AIZ, CERN, CHK, LFC, COP, FLEX, GNW, HLF, RSH, STM, TEX)

Administrator — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:10:29 +0000

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

Assurant Inc. (NYSE: AIZ) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Cut to Neutral at R.W. Baird.

China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML; Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.

Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) Raised to Buy at Auriga.

RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

STMicroelectronics NV (NYSE: STM) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs; Raised to Neutral at Citigroup.

Terex Corporation (NYSE: TEX) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AIZ, CERN, CHK, COP, FLEX, GNW, HLF, LFC, RSH, STM, TEX

Full Earnings Preview for Amazon.com… Watch Those Margins (AMZN, BBY, RSH, BKS)

Administrator — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:58:54 +0000

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is set to report earnings after the close of trading today and investors who like retail and internet stocks will be paying close attention. The company has expanded into many areas of business so that it can pave its growth path in the future. The sacrifice is that this kills its margins, and there is always a chance that the company will not be able to focus so many operations.

The real issues is what the future means for the likes of a Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) and ultimately an even-higher failing model from RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH). It also may hold part of the future of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) in its hands. The Outer Limits used to say “We will control all you see and hear.” Jeff Bezos may have outer space ambitions of his own, but he wants to control at least a piece of all things that you buy online.

Amazon is expected to report earnings of $0.07 EPS and $12.9 billion according to Thomson Reuters. As far as guidance, the current quarter that has just started is expected to be $0.20 EPS and $12.8 billion in sales. The Thomson Reuters consensus is $1.24 EPS and $62.7 billion in sales. Keep in mind that the estimates for 2013 are $2.54 EPS and about $80.25 billion comes to an expected 76-times expected 2013 earnings.

The market value here is over $88 billion and the stock has been public since the late-1990s. The big long game is what investors are betting on here. The move for specializing in shoes, industrial equipment, buying warehouse robotics, having a sports collectibles dedication, and on and on is just part of the story beyond Kindle and digital media here. That is why investors are paying up so much for the company’s future earnings.

Wall Street has decided that it just will not punish Amazon for having such low margins. So here is what the specific expectations and/or statistics are:

Analysts have a consensus 12-month price target of over $218 on the stock, an expected 12% premium to today’s price;
The stock chart has of late been using its 50-day moving average as support and that figure is $188.50;
The stock chart recently failed to break-out above the 200-day moving average and that figure is $200.03 as of today;
Using the May monthly speculative call and put options, our read is that options traders are pricing in a move of up to $9.50 or $10.00 in either direction;
Shares are up 12% or so year to date and the $194 share price compares to a 52-week trading range of $166.97 to $246.71.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Consumer Electronics, Earnings, Internet, Media, Retail Tagged: AMZN, BBY, BKS, RSH

Short Interest Changes in Cult Stocks and Controversial Stocks (ALU, STD, BAC, BKS, DNDN, DMND, FSLR, GMCR, GRPN, HGSI, LNKD, NFLX, NOK, RSH, RIMM, SIRI)

Administrator — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:01:23 +0000

There are more changes in the short interest of some of the key cult stocks and most actively traded and controversial stocks. The start of earnings season may have influenced the short-selling stamina, as may have some whipping moves in the market now that stocks are no longer rising each and every day.

24/7 Wall St. has pulled some selective short interest data with the latest changes from the settlement date of April 13, 2012, versus the prior March 30, 2012, in shares of the following: Alcatel Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU); Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS); Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN); Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND); First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR); Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN); Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI); LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD); Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX); Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK); RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH); Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM); and Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI).

The short interest changes are for the April 13 versus March 30 settlement dates, with selective color added if applicable:

Alcatel Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) saw another rise in the short interest by 7.3% to 22,899,245 shares after a 4% rise the following period.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is not one of our usual short interest names but investors have really been betting against the PIIGS again and the banks in those nations. A 214% gain in the short interest to 55.7 million shares should catch almost anyone’s attention!

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) saw a larger drop this period of 8.3% in the short interest to 129,449,602 shares after seeing a 1.4% drop he period before.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) remains extremely elevated in its short interest as the activists increase their stake, and this rally may have been in part due to short covering. The April 13 settlement date grew by 8.2% to 19.06 million shares in the short interest.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) just erased the previous drop in the short interest as the short interest rose at the April 13 settlement date to 35,936,945 shares. This is still a high short interest if you are looking backwards.

Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) is still a battleground stock but its short interest may be peaking as the rise as of the April 13 settlement date was only up by 1.4% to 11,464,107 shares.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) recently hit an all-time low and that was even after the April 13 settlement date. The short interest rose again by 13.5% to just over 23.06 million shares.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) saw a 9.9% gain in the short interest as of the April 13 settlement date to 28,015,423 shares, and that was after a 1.8% to 25.49 million shares in the prior period. This is higher than earlier in the year but well down from last year’s more active short selling.

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) saw a large drop in the short selling as of the April 13 settlement date with a drop of 17.7% to 19.21 million shares.

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) merely reversed its prior drop of almost 5% as the April 13 settlement date showed a gain of 4.8% in the short interest to 46.31 million shares.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) hardly budged as the short interest grew only 2% to 4,380,996 as of the April 13 settlement date. This short interest is still down about one-third from earlier in the year.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is back in the interest of short sellers, likely a move ahead of earnings (or losses). The April 13 settlement date saw a gain of 10.4% to 10.16 million shares in the short interest.

Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) short sellers apparently missed out on yet more money to be made betting against this stock’s future. The short interest fell by 1.8% as of the April 13 settlement date but this remains elevated at 227.27 million shares listed in the short interest.

RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) is one where the short sellers have been winning and one where the short interest has been growing. The April 13 settlement date showed a 9% gain to 35,850,537 shares in the short interest and that is after an 11% rise in the short interest the period before. The bets continue against the company here.

Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) may be down and out, but the April 13 settlement date saw another small drop. The drop this time was only 0.9% in the short interest to 56.75 million shares, and that is on the heels of a 5% drop seen in the prior period. This short interest was more than 60 million shares short as of mid-March.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) was down only slightly with a 0.9% drop to 285 million shares on the heels of a 6% drop in its prior short interest. What is interesting is that the Liberty/Malone news was starting to come out after this last April 13 settlement date. Keep in mind that this is down from a peak of more than 300 million shares short in mid-March.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Cult Stock, Short Interest, Trading Alert Tagged: ALU, BAC, BKS, DMND, DNDN, FSLR, GMCR, GRPN, HGSI, LNKD, NFLX, NOK, RIMM, RSH, SIRI, STD

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AAPL, T, XRX, GE, LNKD, BIG, AZO, APD, BHI, COH, ITW, MHP, RSH, RF, HSY, NFLX, IBM, NAT, EGLE)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:11:08 +0000

Markets opened mixed this morning, with the DJIA showing much more strength than the S&P 500, which opened higher, or the Nasdaq, which opened lower. The S&P Case-Shiller house price index showed another decline in home prices (our coverage here), although new home sales rose slightly. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index was lower this month as well (our coverage here). Tech stocks have been weak all day as sentiment about the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) earnings report faltered following comments from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) related to iPhone connections (our coverage here). The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.25% at 79.220. The GSCI commodity index is down -0.28% at 675.82, with commodities mostly rising on the weaker dollar. WTI crude oil closed up 0.4% at $103.55/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -0.48% at $118.14/barrel. Gold settled up 0.7% today, at $1,643.80/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 74 points to 13,001.56 (0.58%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 9 points (-0.30%) to 2,961.60, and the S&P 500 rose 0.37% or about 5 points to 1,371.97.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) reiterated ‘buy’ with a target price of $13 at Argus; General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) reiterated ‘buy’ with a target price of $22 at Argus; LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) started as ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray; Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; and AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: AT&T is up 3.9% at $31.81; Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) is down -4.3% at $84.91; Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) is up 5.3% at $43.23 (more coverage here); Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) is down -4% at $72.10 (more coverage here); Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) is up 2.7% at $56.71; McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (NYSE: MHP) is down -3% at $47.65; RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) is down -10.3% at $5.36 after posting a new 52-week intraday low of $5.27; Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) is up 5.4% at $6.42; The Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) is up 5.7% at $65.86 after posting a new 52-week intraday high of $66.94; and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is down -14.6% at $87.01.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is up .0.8% at $200.24. The tech giant raised its dividend today. More coverage here.

North American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) is up 1.5% at $14.01. Shipping rates for dry bulk shippers are rising and tanker rates, especially for the smaller (1 million barrels) crude carriers of the Suezmax class. Many other shippers are also getting a boost today, including Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ: EGLE), which is up 6.8% at $1.88.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee wraps up its two-day meeting and Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a press conference this afternoon. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Durable goods orders
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
11:30 a.m. – 5-yr note auction
2:00 p.m. – FOMC forecasts

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAPL, APD, AZO, BHI, BIG, COH, EGLE, GE, HSY, IBM, ITW, LNKD, MHP, NAT, NFLX, RF, RSH, T, XRX