24/7 Wall St. » SAI

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (HD, LNKD, MU, RGLD, BX, ORCL, GIS, KKD, SAI, DQ, FRED, BHI, LOOK, SEED, GMCR, YGE)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:07:01 +0000

Markets opened slightly higher this morning, expecting good news from today’s report on existing home sales. Alas, the number came in lower than expectations and sent the DJIA to a daily low that it still hasn’t recovered from. The report itself wasn’t bad (our coverage here). The US dollar index rose fractionally today, now up 0.08% at 79.656. With some major exceptions, commodities fell on the dollar strength. The US EIA weekly petroleum report showed a drawdown of 1.2 million barrels in US inventories, sending crude prices higher (our coverage here). WTI crude oil closed up 0.9% at $106.96/barrel, and Brent crude trades up 0.06% at $124.19/barrel. Gold settled up 0.2% today, at $1,650.30/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 46 points to 13,124.62 (-0.35%), the NASDAQ rose more than 1 point (XXX%) to 3,075.32, and the S&P 500 fell -0.19% or nearly 3 points to 1,402.90.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) reiterated ‘outperform’ and target price raised to $55 at Credit Suisse; LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) raised to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) started as ‘outperform’ at RBC; Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) raised to ‘outperform’ at National Bank; and Blackrock Inc. (NYSE: BX) cut to ‘equal weight’ 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: Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) is down -2.2% at $29.45 (more coverage here and here); General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) is down -0.4% at $38.59; Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is down -7.2% at $7.88 (more coverage here); SAIC Inc. (NYSE: SAI) is up 3.8% at $13.65; Daquo New Energy Corp. (NYSE: DQ) is down -7.5% at $2.58; and Fred’s Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) is up 2.4% at $14.38.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) is down 5.9% at $45.02. The oil field services firm cut its profit estimates for the current quarter. More coverage here.

LookSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: LOOK) is down -15% at $1.19 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.10 earlier today. The search network posted awful results today. More coverage here.

Origin Agritech Inc. (NASDAQ: SEED) is up more than 26% at $3.18. The modified seed maker jumped on a report that its GMO corn seed would be approved for use in China. More coverage here.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is up nearly 11% at $56.05. The coffee roaster signed a new deal with Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX). More coverage here.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) is down -10.3% at $3.83. The solar panel maker did not fare well in the anti-dumping suit brought against Chinese solar makers. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo, and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans are giving speeches. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – New unemployment benefits claims
10:00 a.m. – Federal Housing Finance Agency house price index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
1:00 p.m. – Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPs) auction
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: BHI, BX, DQ, FRED, GIS, GMCR, HD, KKD, LNKD, LOOK, MU, ORCL, RGLD, SAI, SEED, YGE

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GOOG, JDSU, DRI, CB, LNKD, SAI, VRA, MTN, VLGEA, MW, TLB, MNI, MSO, FSLR, JAG, GBG)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:06:59 +0000

Equities fell sharply after this morning’s opening. Futures were soft prior to the opening bell due largely to continue to worry about Europe and a forecast cut to the European Central Bank’s lending rate from 1.25% to 1%. The mid-morning report on US crude oil stocks put a halt to any thought of a crude price rise, with US inventories growing by 1.3 million barrels following a 3.9 million barrel increase the week before. WTI is trading down almost $1, at $100.30/barrel late in the day, and Brent is trading at $109.45/barrel, down more than $1.35. Gold is up nearly 0.75%, at $1,744.60.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 45 points to 12,195.61 (0.37%), the NASDAQ fell less than 1 point (-0.01%) to 2,649.21, and the S&P 500 rose 0.20% or more than 2 points to 1,261.02.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) started as ‘buy’ with a $725 target price at Canaccord Genuity. Other ratings actions today include JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU) started as ‘buy’ with a $14.75 target price at Jefferies; Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) cut to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ at Argus; Chubb Corp. (NYSE: CB) started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; and LinkedIn Corp. (NASDAQ: LNKD) started as ‘buy’ with an $85 target price at Canaccord Genuity.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: SAIC Inc. (NYSE: SAI) is up 6.5% at $12.95; Vera Bradley Inc. (NASDAQ: VRA) is down about -1.5% at $36.62; Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) is up slightly less than -1% at $45.48; Village Super Market Inc. (NASDAQ: VLGEA) is down more than -3.8% at $30.49; and The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. (NYSE: MW) is up more than 20% at $32.68.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) is up about 65% at $2.58. The women’s clothing store has received a takeover offer from private equity firm Sycamore Partners for $3.00/share, a 92% premium to the stock’s closing price yesterday.

The McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI) is up more than 52%, at $1.80. The newspaper company said that advertising rates have not fallen as badly in the first two months of the current quarter. For the first nine months of this year ad revenue declined -10%, compared with a decline of -5.6% in October and November.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (NYSE: MSO) is up more than 32%, to $4.12. Retailer J.C. Penney Co. (NYSE: JCP) acquired a 16.6% stake in the lifestyle and media company today for $3.50/share, or $38.5 million. More coverage here.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is up more than 4.6%, at 48.26. The company sold its 550-megawatt Topaz solar PV plant to a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) for an undisclosed sum. The plant had previously been valued at more than $2 billion. More coverage here.

Jaguar Mining Inc. (NYSE: JAG) is down -9.6%, at $6.55. The junior gold miner said yesterday that its founding CEO had resigned.

Great Basin Gold Ltd. (AMEX: GBG) is up about 17.8%, at $1.19. Another junior gold miner, Great Basin has finalized a $150 million term credit facility for 5 years at a rate 4% above LIBOR.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Here are some noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – New US unemployment claims report
10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade report
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas status report
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet
4:30 p.m. – Money supply report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: CB, DRI, FSLR, GBG, GOOG, JAG, JDSU, LNKD, MNI, MSO, MTN, MW, SAI, TLB, VLGEA, VRA

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (MO, VZ, TSO, LNKD, GE, CHKR, BTH, PBY, UEC, AZO, DRI, TOL, LQDT, DMND, SAI, VRA, FRO, CTIC, CRK, VG, HL)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:11:36 +0000

Equities opened a little weaker this morning, but by 10:00 a.m. markets had turned slightly positive and have remained in positive territory for the rest of the day. The gain has not been huge, but it is a gain. The lack of enthusiasm from either buyers or sellers reflected the mood from European bourses as well. WTI crude oil rose 0.11%, to near $101.10 just before today’s close. Gold was off -0.02%, at $1,730.30/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 52 points to 12,150.13 (0.43%), the NASDAQ fell more than 6 points (-0.23%) to 2,649.56, and the S&P 500 rose 0.11% or nearly 5 points to 1,258.47.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) started as ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank. Other ratings action include Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $44 price target at Argus; Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) cut from ‘outperform’ to ‘neutral’ with a $34 price target at Credit Suisse; LinkedIn Corp. (NASDAQ: LNKD) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) raised to ‘outperform’ by Berstein.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (NYSE: CHKR) is up 0.7% at $19.94; Blyth, Inc. (NYSE: BTH) is down -0.05% at $66.33; Pep Boys-Manny, Joe, and Jack (NYSE: PBY) is down -5.5% at $11.21; Uranium Energy Corp. (AMEX: UEC) is up 0.66% at $3.06; AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) is down -0.12% at $338.56; Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) is down -12% at $41.95; Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) is up nearly 3% at $21.37; and Liquidity Services Inc. (NASDAQ: LQDT) is up nearly 5.5% at $36.74, after posting a new 52-week high of $37.05 earlier in the day. Earnings releases coming after markets close today include Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND); SAIC Inc. (NYSE: SAI); and Vera Bradley Inc. (NYSE: VRA).

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Frontline Ltd. (NYSE: FRO) is up more than 19%, to $4.23. The oil tanker company has been suffering from low day rates and lack of cargoes, but today’s injection of $500 million from a Norwegian bank controlled by the company’s major shareholder, John Fredriksen, has pumped up interest in the stock.

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) is up 14%, at $1.31. The drug-maker received notice from the FDA that its new drug application for a treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma is complete.

Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK) is up nearly 15%, at $19.39. The oil & gas E&P company has acquired new acreage in the Delaware Basin of west Texas and reported that it had drilled five new producing wells in its Eagle Ford shale acreage.

Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG) is down nearly -5%, at $2.52. The VoIP provider did not report any significant news, but the stock has been quite volatile over the past month.

Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) is up more than 9%, at $6.57. The miner benefited from today’s investors’ interest in gold mining stocks.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. We have noted Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin moderating a panel on grass-roots participation at Baltimore branch of Richmond Fed. Here are other noteworthy events scheduled for Tuesday (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
3:00 p.m. – Report on outstanding consumer credit

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AZO, BTH, CHKR, CRK, CTIC, DMND, DRI, FRO, GE, HL, LNKD, LQDT, MO, PBY, SAI, TOL, TSO, UEC, VG, VRA, VZ

Where US Federal Budget Cuts Will Hurt the Most (LMT, NOC, BA, RTN, SAI, GD, HPQ, LLL, BAH, KBR)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:50:54 +0000

The US House-Senate budget reduction committee, or the ‘super committee’, that is charged with recommending $1.5 trillion in budget cuts over the next 10 years has just another 10 days to deliver its recommendations before automatic cuts of $1.2 trillion kick in. If the committee fails to agree on cuts, the automatic cuts fall equally among defense spending and a variety of programs that are together lumped under the heading discretionary spending.The discretionary spending cuts would likely come from federal programs that aid the poor, education, and the elderly.

No specific cuts have been identified in the legislation that created the super committee, but to achieve $600 billion in cuts over ten years is sure to cause some pain to a variety of constituencies. That amount is increased by the $350 billion in cuts already approved by Congress over the next ten years. Trying to discern where a publicly traded company might get hurt by impending cuts is, at this point, pretty much guesswork.

On the defense end, cuts are far more likely to have an effect on publicly traded companies that have significant federal defense contracts for everything from fighter planes to software. The following chart shows the top ten defense contractors in 2011, together with the total amount of their contracts, as derived from 2010 contract levels:

Company	Contract Total
Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT)	$10.9 billion
Northrup Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC)	$8.2 billion
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA)	$5.1 billion
General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD)	$4.6 billion
Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN)	$4.1 billion
KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR)	$3.5 billion
L-3 Communications Corp. (NYSE: LLL)	$3.3 billion
Science Applications Intl. Corp. (NYSE: SAI)	$3.3 billion
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ)	$2.3 billion
Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH)	$2.3 billion

Privately held DynCorp International Inc. falls just above H-P, at $2.4 billion. Excluding DynCorp, the top ten contractors are slated to post sales of $47.6 billion in federal contracts in 2011. The top ten in 2010 posted sales of $68.2 billion. So far in 2011, a total of more than $196 billion in defense contracts have been awarded. The total in 2010 reached $247 billion, and that number is almost surely out of reach for this year.

Cuts to defense spending have already begun, as the US winds down its presence in Iraq and prepares to do the same in Afghanistan. Not including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon budget for 2011 reached nearly $550 billion.

Filed under: Aerospace, Defense, Politics Tagged: BA, BAH, GD, HPQ, KBR, LLL, LMT, NOC, RTN, SAI

Media Digest (9/15/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:58:50 +0000

UBS (NYSE: UBS) trader loses $2 billion in unapproved trades. (Reuters)

The head of the World Bank says the global economy has entered a danger zone. (Reuters)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Chrysler extend talks with the UAW. (Reuters)

Government officials say the EU may reach a credit crunch. (Reuters)

Reuters poll: economists think there is a one-in-three chance the economy will hit a recession. (Reuters)

Groupon’s IPO is back on schedule. (Reuters)

Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) new products get no support from Wall St. (Reuters)

Facebook delays its IPO until late 2012. (Reuters)

Avis (NASDAQ: CAR) drops its bid for Dollar Thrfty (NYSE: DTG); Hertz (NYSE: HTZ) will not buy the company. (Reuters)

Head of Nasdaq (NASDAQ: NDAQ) again objects to merger of NYSE (NYSE: NYX) and Deutsche Boerse. (Reuters)

More clients leave EU banks for U.S. ones. (WSJ)

SEC expands its examination of mortgage-backed securities. (WSJ)

U.S. banks begin to loan money to companies with lower credit ratings. (WSJ)

U.S. manufacturing losing steam again. (WSJ)

Sharp says it would lower targets for tablet PC sales. (WSJ)

Aol (NYSE: AOL), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and MSN (NASDAQ: MSFT) to sell advertising as a group to combat Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). (WSJ)

SAIC (NYSE: SAI) cleared of insider trading violations. (WSJ)

Gulf drilling increases again. (WSJ)

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) says Irene cost it $250 million. (WSJ)

The College Board says SAT scores dropped in all but three states. (WSJ)

Italy approves austerity plans. (WSJ)

Toyota (NYSE: TM) joins U.S. universities in safety studies. (WSJ)

Honda (NYSE: HMC) to push its hybrid cars in China. (WSJ)

New companies cut start-up staffs in half. (WSJ)

Most U.S. IPO listings from this year are underwater. (WSJ)

Germany and France say they expect Greece to stay in the eurozone. (NYT)

China wants to improve trade relationships with the EU if it buys government debt from nations in the region. (NYT)

U.S. mortgage applications rise as rates fall. (FT)

Ebay (NASDAQ: EBAY) to expand it payment options. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AOL, CAR, DTG, EBAY, GM, GOOG, HMC, HTZ, MSFT, NDAQ, NYX, SAI, TM, UBS, VZ, YHOO

The 24/7 Wall St./Flame Index: Companies With The Worst News (6/30)

247wallst — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 14:04:03 +0000

Battles with the US government hurt several stocks. Raymond James will pay $300 million for disputes over auction rate securities. Monsanto is under investigation for potential illegal payments to customers. HealthSouth was charged for false Medicare claims. New York City wants $600 million back from SAIC for faulty payroll systems

The Flame Index started as a research tool in 2008 at the NY Innovation Design Lab (nyidlab). It was used as a general metric to evaluate companies and their risk in the media. Publicly traded Fortune 500 companies are used as a measure to calculate an overall market of negative news and the companies are ranked within that market.

Rank	Company	Ticker	Score	Change in Rank	Comments
11	Raymond James Financial	RJF	28.867	+274	Settles with SEC for bad behavior with auction rate paper. $300 million hit.
13	Monsanto	MON	27.749	+400	Big profit, but SEC look at sales incentives for customers
18	HealthSouth	HLS	25.784	+177	Charged with false Medicare claims
19	BJ’s Wholesale Club	BJ	25.514	+354	Sold to private parties
21	Freddie Mac	FRE	25.128	+302	More concern about liquidation
33	Computer Sciences	CSC	21.082	+115	Legal claims management misrepresented company’s financial situation
34	Apple	AAPL	20.571	+103	Suit by Samsung over patents
37	Philip Morris International	PM	20.147	+119	Australians want harsh warnings on cigarette labels
44	SAIC	SAI	19.116	+257	New York City claims it should get back $600 million for flawed payroll system
47	Ameren	AEE	18.731	+152	S&P questions value of shares

Data and ranking provided by the Flame Index.

Filed under: General, Research Tagged: AAPL, AEE, BJ, CSC, HLS, MON, PM, RJF, SAI

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALTR, MT, ADM, BRCM, HOC, JBLU, MD, NVTL, ORCL, RIMM, SAI, SUP, UTHR)

Administrator — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:30:51 +0000

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

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) Started as Outperform at RBC.
Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) Cut to Market Perform at BMO.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: Maintained Buy at Argus.
Holly Corp. (NYSE: HOC) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Jetblue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) Raised to Buy at Soleil.
Mednax Inc. (NYSE: MD) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Novatel Wireless, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVTL) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Reiterated Outperform asd #1 Pick at Credit Suisse.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML; Maintained Outperform at Credit Suisse.
SAIC Inc. (NYSE: SAI) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Superior Industries International, Inc. (NYSE: SUP) Maintained as Outperform and Bull of the Day at Zacks.
United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.

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: ADM, ALTR, BRCM, HOC, JBLU, MD, MT, NVTL, ORCL, RIMM, SAI, SUP, UTHR

Top Early Bird Analyst Calls (JBT, XPRT, PTRY, SNY, ERIC, LLTC, MXIM, NSM, NFC, RTP, SAI)

247wallst — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:16:47 +0000

These are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we are seeing early this Monday morning with more than two hours until the open:

John Bean Technologies (JBT) Started as Buy at Janney Montgomery.
LECG Corp. (XPRT) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Pantry Inc. (PTRY) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Ericsson (ERIC) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Linear Tech (LLTC) Cut to Underperform at FBR.
Maxim Integrated (MXIM) Cut to underperform at FBR.
National Semiconductor (NSM) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Nationwide Financial (NFC) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Rio Tinto (RTP) Cut to Hold at Canaccord.
SAIC (SAI) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
November 24, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ERIC, JBT, LLTC, MXIM, NFC, NSM, PTRY, RTP, SAI, SNY, XPRT

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (ADS, AUTH, BRCM, EXC, NVLS, SAI, SNDA)

247wallst — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:30:36 +0000

These are the top upgrades and positive analyst calls we are seeing this Thursday morning:

Alliance Data (ADS) Started as Buy at B of A.
AuthenTec (AUTH) Started as Buy at S&P Equity Research.
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Excelon (EXC) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Novellus Systems (NVLS) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
SAIC (SAI) Raised to Outperform at at Wachovia.
Shanda Interactive (SNDA) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Jon C. Ogg
September 4, 2008

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ADCT, ADTN, CBI, CIEN, CSCO, PAC, OESX, SAI, TWTC, USB, VRAZ)

247wallst — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:44:42 +0000

These aren’t all of the downgrades or negative analyst calls we have seen this Wednesday, but these are some of the impact analyst calls we are seeing:

ADC Telecommunications (NASDAQ: ADCT) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Adtran (NASDAQ: ADTN) Cut to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN) Cut to Underperform from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Grupo Aeroportuario (NYSE: PAC) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Orion Energy Systems (NASDAQ: OESX) Cut to Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
SAIC (NYSE: SAI) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Cowen.
TW Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) Cut to Underweight from Overweight at JPMorgan.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) Cut to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Veraz Networks (NASDAQ: VRAZ) Cut to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies.

Jon C. Ogg
July 16, 2008