24/7 Wall St. » SNY

Big Changes to Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Stock Holdings, A to Z

Administrator — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:05:01 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) and Warren Buffett have just released their most recent U.S.-listed equity holdings for the Berkshire Hathaway empire. This cut off date is as of March 31, 2012 and Mr. Buffett has already said that he was buying some shares since the end of the quarter on weakness.

Also, keep in mind that portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler are still new and those new positions of under $200 million $300 million are likely tied to them.

24/7 Wall St. has gone through line by line of each position to see which stocks have been bought and sold as new positions, as well as having added in whether or not the number of shares grew or shrank on each since the prior quarter. We had added some color in on some of the positions if applicable.

Be advised that the number of subsidiaries that this filing covers is 14 entities rather than 18 entities in the prior quarter. There is also a note in the 13F filing showing that the SEC has granted “Confidential Treatment” on some Berkshire stock holdings and that likely suggests that Buffett is still acquiring a position he does not want the public to know about yet. This filing does not signal the half-dozen or more European shares that Buffett said he bought so that remains an outstanding issue as well.

The value of the stock portfolio was $66,151,587,000 at the end of 2011 and this was listed as $75,300,250,000 at the end of March 2012.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was over 151.6 million shares, SAME AS last quarter.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) is now 5.6 million shares, HIGHER THAN the 1,793,915 shares last quarter.

CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) is the SAME SIZE at 7.106 million shares after having been a new holding in a recent quarter and having been raised one quarter ago.

Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was right at 200 million shares, SAME AS BEFORE.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is roughly 29.1 million shares, roughly the SAME AS BEFORE but it is still lower than previous quarters in past reports.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 4,333,363 Shares, SAME AS last quarter after having lowered it before.

Da Vita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) is now 6 million shares worth $541 million and that LARGER THAN BEFORE after having been a new position of 2.684 million shares.

DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is a LARGER POSITION listed at 22.999 million worth over $1.13 billion. This one had been 20.348 million shares worth $870 million one quarter earlier and it had been a new position just two quarters ago at 4.249 million shares.

Filed under: Activist Investor, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Compensation, Conglomerates, Insider Activity, Mutual Funds Tagged: AXP, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, CDCO, COP, COST, CVS, DG, DVA, featured, GCI, GE, GM, GSK, IBM, INTC, IR, JNJ, KFT, KO, LMCA, MA, MCO, MTB, PG, SNY, TMK, UPS, USB, USG, V, VIA, VRSK, WFC, WMT, WPO

Short Sellers Cast a Wide Net (ACI, XCO, SD, FST, XOM, DUK, AMD, SNY, PFE, NOK, BKS, SVU, PBI, DV, BPI)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:03:31 +0000

The energy sector saw a lot of activity from short sellers in April, but other stocks saw some action as well. We’ve already covered some of the bigger names here and some of the cult stocks here.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) saw a gain of 18.7% in short interest as of for the two weeks ended April 30th. More than 6.6 million shares were added to short interest and 20% of the company’s float is now short. The coal miner’s poor earnings and forecast are to blame.

Short interest in Exco Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO) rose nearly 12% to more than 33.5 million shares, or 19.3% of the company’s float. The oil & gas driller missed revenue expectations, although it did post a profit. Revenue is more important now however.

Among the largest overall short positions, SandRidge Energy Co. (NYSE: SD) got short interest on 49.5 million shares, nearly 12% of its float and up 6.7% from the previous reporting period. Shares are down more than -33% in the past 12 months, and the small spikes don’t affect short sellers here. The long-term outlook for natural gas continues to call for weak pricing.

E&P company Forest Oil Co. (NYSE: FST) was another recipient of more short interest in late April. Short sellers added about 3 million shares, a 24.7% increase and enough to put nearly 13% of the company’s float short.

Even Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) didn’t escape. Short sellers added 7.7 million shares to their positions, a 31.8% change to 32 million shares, but still less than 1% of Exxon’s shorts.

The final energy company we’ll look at here is Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK), where 5.8 million additional shares were added to short positions, bringing total shorts to just over 79 million shares. That’s an addition of 8% and represents 5.9% of Duke’s float. It’s odd to see a utility on this list.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD)saw short interest in its share rise by 6.5% to more than 70 million shares or 11.9% of the company’s float. AMD continues to suffer from lower-than-expected earnings and revenues.

Short interest in Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) jumped 265% to more 13.4 million shares. While still only about 0.5% of the company’s float, but generic drug sales are hurting the company as is a weak economy in Europe. Neither condition is expected to improve soon either.

Short interest in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) also rose sharply, buy 21.4% to reach a total of 63.6 million shares, about 0.8% of the company’s float. Like Sanofi, competition from generics hurts. The company also said it will reduce marketing expenditures on its Lipitor drug.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) gets the honor for being the equity with the largest number of short shares, 195 million, which represents 5.2% of the company’s float. The good news is that short interest fell by more than 32 million shares, also the largest change.

More than 75% of Barnes & Noble Inc.’s (NYSE: BKS) float is short, about 19.8 million shares. Short interest in the company grew by just 700,000 shares since mid-April.

Short interest holds more than 42% of grocer SuperValue Inc.’s (NYSE: SVU) shares with a total of 88.5 million shares short, up slightly from two weeks ago.

Short interest in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) actually fell slightly , but the company’s total of 50.5 million shares short represents 25.3% of the float and 22 days to cover.

Short interest in for-profit educator DeVry Inc. (NYSE: DV) jumped 123.2% to 3.7 million shares or 6.3% of the company’s float. Another education company, Bridgepoint Education Inc. (NYSE: BPI) posts short interest of more than 9.7 million shares, or 56% of its float.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Short Interest Tagged: ACI, AMD, BKS, BPI, DUK, DV, FST, NOK, PBI, PFE, SD, SNY, SVU, XCO, XOM

Sony’s Turnaround Dreams

247wallst — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:11:00 +0000

Sony (NYSE: SNE) said it would finally turn around is prospects and make money in the next year. Bumbling CEO Sir Howard Stringer is gone. Sony’s core problems are not. It is still in the TV screen business, which has become one of commodity products with no price leverage.

Its takeover of the part of Sony Ericsson it does not already own puts its handset business into competition with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). It has a tiny PC business. And its game console operations compete with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Nintendo. Otherwise, its prospects are excellent.

At this point, Sony is moving down the road Kodak did. It has a legacy of technology, almost none of which it can use

Filed under: Consumer Electronics Tagged: AAPL, MSFT, SNY

One Big Disbelief of an Amylin Buyout… Worth Only $12 Per Share? (AMLN, BMY, MRK, AZN, SNY, PFE, NVO)

Administrator — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:15:28 +0000

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN) is supposed to be acquired by a larger drug company. It is one of the biggest public merger rumors out there. At least that is the belief of Wall Street. Canaccord Genuity is out with a report which may minimize this effort or at least may take out some of the fervent beliefs that this company is all but already sold.

Canaccord’s Salveen Richter has maintained a SELL rating with a price target down at $12.00 per share. This is important because Amylin closed at $25.73 and the 52-week trading range is $8.03 to $26.87. The report is based in part on the notion that Bydureon sales are off to a slow start that was disclosed in the company’s earnings report yesterday. The report was called a weak earnings report with Bydureon revenue of only $6.9 million versus $10.4 million expected.

The report may be very much of a standout because some of the companies which have been named as likely and/or potential bidders are Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY), Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK), AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN), Sanofi (NYSE: SNY), and Takeda. We have also wondered perhaps whether or not Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) or Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) could be among the possible buyers, but these two seem to be dismissed elsewhere as likely buyers.

The report does caution about a floor from the buyout speculation: “That said, continued speculation on the company’s takeout potential will likely set a floor on Amylin shares at current levels, barring a potential E.U. partnership.” Other notes as follows: Bydureon captured 5.9% of the GLP–1 market… Bydureon is being impacted by competition, healthcare reform and reimbursement/access… AMLN Q1/12 total revenue of $153.7 million was under consensus of $162.1 million… it is lowering FY12 Bydureon revenue estimate to $133.9 million from $209.5 million… firm is increasing its non-GAAP SG&A expense to $395.5 million from $356.3 million… firm is lowering FY12 GAAP EPS estimate to -$1.68 EPS from -$1.09 EPS.

Canaccord Genuity’s valuation puts its 12-month price target at $12.00 and it is based upon 20-times the firm’s fully taxed and fully diluted GAAP earnings estimate for 2016 of $1.55 EPS that is then discounted back to 2012 at a rate of 28%.

What is interesting is that the Thomson Reuters consensus target is only $18.10, so there is quite a takeover premium built into the stock. Amylin may get acquired or it may not. This is a bold call considering that the company even recently announced that Carl Icahn voluntarily dismissed his suit against the company. It would seem that Carl Icahn believes that a premium buyout is headed Amylin’s way.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Biotech, Drug companies, Healthcare, Mergers and Buy Outs, Pharmaceuticals, Rumors Tagged: AMLN, AZN, BMY, MRK, NVO, PFE, SNY

Amylin Seeks a Buyer (AMLN, CS, GS, BMY, SNY, LLY, AZN, MRK)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:59:20 +0000

Diabetes drug maker Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN) has hired bankers and lawyers to help the company find a buyer. In February Amylin turned down a $3.5 billion ($22/share) offer from Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY), and the company’s third-largest shareholder, Carl Icahn, has demanded that the company put itself up for sale and the right to nominate his own directors. Amylin has hired Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) as financial advisers.

One potential buyer is Sanofi (NYSE: SNY), the Paris-based drug company that is developing a similar treatment for diabetes. Amylin ended a long relationship with Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) last November, but still owes Lilly payments of $1.2 billion over the next several years. AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN) is another drug maker believed to be on the look-out for an acquisition as is Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK).

Amylin’s diabetes drugs Byetta and Bydureon are both approved for use in the US. Byetta is a twice-weekly injection for Type 2 diabetes, while Bydureon, which was approved only in January, is a once-a-week injection for the disease. Diabetes affects some 300 million people worldwide and 26 million in the US alone. Drugs to combat the disease could be enormous sellers.

The market is very happy with the news from Amylin. Shares are up more than 10% in the pre-market this morning, at $25.15 in a 52-week range of $8.03.25.84.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Drug companies, Mergers and Buy Outs, Pharmaceuticals Tagged: AMLN, AZN, BMY, CS, GS, LLY, MRK, SNY

Sanofi, Regeneron Get Positive News from Drug Trials (SNY, REGN)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:51:54 +0000

An anti-cholesterol drug being co-developed by Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) has shown positive results in two Phase II trials the companies reported this morning. The investigational drug, SAR236553/REGN727, reduced levels of LDL-C, or “bad,” cholesterol in 40%-72% of patients who were taking stable doses of statin drugs.

The drug could be important in helping patients reduce cholesterol levels further when they reach the limitations of what a statin drug can do, according to a press release.

The news has boosted Regeneron shares to a new 52-week high of $121.14, up more than 1%. Sanofy’s ADS are also up about 1% at $38.72.

Filed under: Drug companies, Pharmaceuticals Tagged: REGN, SNY

Berkshire Hathaway & Buffett’s Stock Holdings ‘L to Z’ (BRK-B, BRK-A, LMCA, MA, MTB, MCO, PG, SNY, TMK, USB, USG, UPS, VRSK, V, WMT, WPO, WFC)

Administrator — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:05:03 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) and Warren Buffett have just released the latest holdings of U.S.-listed equities as of December 31, 2011. We have included some accompanying notes on each and this has been broken into two groups to make it more concise on each page.

Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LMCA) is a NEW POSITION of 1.7 million shares worth some $132.7 million.
M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE: MTB) is 5.38+ million shares, SAME AS last quarter.
Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was 405,000 shares, the SAME AS last quarter and up from the quarter before that.
Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) was 28.4 million; SAME AS last quarter but way down from prior quarters and years.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) was 76.7 million shares, SAME AS last quarter but lower than the 96.3 million shares in prior quarters.
Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was 4.06 million shares; SAME AS before.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) was more than 4.2 million, SAME AS last quarter after having been raised in a prior quarter.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was roughly 69 million shares; SAME AS before.
USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) was 17.072 million shares; SAME AS before.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) was 1.429 million shares; SAME AS before.
Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) was already a LOWER POSITION at 3.445 million shares after being recently added as a new position and then grown.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a LARGER POSITION of 2.865 million shares worth $291 million; was 2.291 million shares previously.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was just over 39 million shares; SAME AS before after having been raised in 2010.
Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) was over 1.72 million shares; SAME AS before.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was a LARGER POSITION AGAIN at more than 383 million shares.

PAGE ONE…BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to K’

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Buffett, Conglomerates Tagged: BRK-A, BRK-B, LMCA, MA, MCO, MTB, PG, SNY, TMK, UPS, USB, USG, V, VRSK, WFC, WMT, WPO

Short Sellers Help Push Dendreon Higher

247wallst — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:39:55 +0000

Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN) soared almost 40% in value, or $3.02 a share, in active trading on Thursday after announcing that fourth-quarter revenue from its Provenge prostate-cancer vaccine would exceed earlier forecasts. Looking to 2012, however, chief executive officer Mitchell Gold said he expected only “modest quarter-over-quarter growth.” Consequently, investor enthusiasm could prove fleeting and the stock-price rally short-lived.

The Seattle-based biotech announced sequential revenue growth for the fourth quarter ended December 31 of approximately 25% to $82 million, above the consensus estimate of $72 million. For full-year 2011, Dendreon said sales of Provenge (sipuleucel-T) would total approximately $228 million. Gold credited an improved Provenge reimbursement landscape and ongoing physician education initiatives for the stronger results.

Investors were initially bullish on the growth prospects of the vaccine, which was approved in April 2010 for the treatment of advanced (hormone-refractory) prostate cancer. And with good reason: The first therapy in the U.S. designed to induce the body’s own immune system to attack prostatic tumor cells, Provenge’s side-effects are less toxic than traditional chemo-based treatments for advanced prostate cancer, such as Sanofi’s (NYSE: SNY) taxotere (docetaxel). And, unlike the plethora of drugs in the treatment paradigm for metastatic, castrate-resistant (hormone-refractory) prostate cancer, such as AstraZeneca’s (NYSE: AZN) Zoladex or Abbott’s (NYSE: ABT) wildly popular Lupron injection, Provenge does not focus on reducing testosterone levels, the male hormone fueling growth of tumor cells.

From a high of $42 a share in April 2011, the stock price tumbled more than 80% last fall after the company withdrew prior guidance of $400 million in annual sales, the result of prolonged delays in federal and private insurance reimbursements.

“It’s not what we don’t know that hurts us, it’s what we know for certain that just ain’t so.” ~ American author and humorist Mark Twain

Analysts attribute the dramatic spike in Dendreon’s stock price to the positive shift in insurance coverage — including a reduction in average time to payment of less than 30 days for providers. “We believe that this progress may help clear some of the fog surrounding the Provenge sales trajectory,” said Joseph Pantginis, Roth Capital Partners.

An oft-repeated tragicomedy that befalls investors is how the unabashed certitudes of Wall St. dissemblers result in trading losses for those of us who pile into stocks after the “good” news is out. Not to pick on Pantginis exclusively, but improving trends in reimbursement for Provenge is old news: In a 10Q Detective column posted last November, I noted that CEO Gold had previously mentioned that average (insurance) reimbursement times had fallen from “90 days down to 30 days.”

Though I do not doubt prescription uptake of Provenge by urologists and oncologists is trending higher (read my bullish article, posted on November 17, 2011: Dendreon Buyout, How Imminent?), more likely, the breathtaking climb in Dendreon’s share price was unintentionally engineered by short-sellers closing out open positions. According to NASDAQ, short interest in Dendreon common stock was 31.3 million (as of December 15), about 21% of the stock’s float.

Further exacerbating a combustible trading environment, days to cover had jumped to seven, from 3.9 the month prior.

Need more convincing evidence that Dendreon’s stock price overreacted to acknowledged “modest” growth expectations? On Thursday, January 5, approximately 44.9 million shares changed hands, a 700% increase over its 65-day average volume.

Looking to go long Dendreon stock? Free advice — stand clear, at least for now.

David Phillips

Dendreon – Not Running Out of Cash

Dendreon Buyout, How Imminent?

Filed under: Pharmaceuticals, Short Interest Tagged: ABT, AZN, DNDN, SNY

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AZN, BLK, BRCM, CEG, ED, EBAY, ERIC, EXC, GOOG, NFLX, NOK, PSUN, SOL, SAP, SNY, TRN, UPS, VVUS, VMW)

Administrator — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:21:46 +0000

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

AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) Reiterated Buy with $46 price target at Argus.
Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Reiterated Buy with $40 price target at Argus.
LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) downgraded to Hold at Benchmark; Raised targets at boutique firm Global Equities Research.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Maintained Underperform and cut estimates at Needham.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse (full summary).
Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. (NASDAQ: PSUN) Raised to Buy at Janney Capital Markets.
ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) named as the Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Raised to Neutral at BNP Paribas.
Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Trinity Industries, Inc. (NYSE: TRN) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.
United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) Started as Perform at Rodman & Renshaw.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VWM) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.

If you enjoyed the morning Wall Street research notes, you can sign up to receive these directly in your inbox each morning by joining our free email list in the box below. We also include major movers, key stock calls, news on Warren Buffett and other gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AZN, BLK, BRCM, CEG, EBAY, ED, ERIC, EXC, GOOG, NFLX, NOK, PSUN, SAP, SNY, SOL, TRN, UPS, VMW, VVUS

Best Ideas For 2012: Mostly Dividends & Value (BRK-A, CMCSA, FCX, MET, PG, STX, RDS.A, VOD, SNY, AAPL, GOOG, IBM)

Administrator — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:59:17 +0000

This last weekend brought the first waves of picks for 2012. Barron’s issued its “10 Favorite Stocks For 2012″ and the stocks were just about all lower on Monday with a very weak stock market. The common investment themes for a 2012 list were healthy dividends and low price/earnings ratios.

Barron’s listed Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX), Metlife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG). The list also includes some ADRs via Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A), Vodafone Group PLC (NYSE: VOD), Sanofi (NYSE: SNY), and Daimler (DDAIF).

The aim was companies with low P/E ratios, somewhat high dividends, and companies with an expected upside of potentially 15% to 20%. This won’t excite many investors. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was not in the list nor was Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). Neither pays a dividend, but both have relatively low P/E ratios considering the recent growth (14 for Apple and about 17 for Google). If you use the Thomson Reuters consensus analyst price target, Apple has 29% upside and Google has 16% upside.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) is interesting now that it has added International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) to its portfolio. IBM yields a low 1.5% today and is buying back stock despite trading at all-times highs. The company’s goal is $20.00 in earnings per share by 2015. Intel just warned about a large revenue shortfall but its dividend yield is now about 3.5%.

Comcast Corporation (NYSE: CMCSA) is actually still interesting because of its growth and value and because it is changing its mix to include content. The 2% yield is one which has room for further dividend growth and the cable giant’s share price actually offers almost 30% to the Thomson Reuters consensus price target.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) and Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) are both very opportunistic calls. Hard disk drive troubles around the globe, a prior discount to highs, and a dividend north of 4% helped Seagate. Freeport-McMorRan is an opportunistic call now that global growth has brought down shares of metals companies drastically. It has a 2.5% yield, which is not bad for a metals company, and at $39.00 the Thomson Reuters consensus price target is actually 30% higher than the current share price.

Perhaps the ADRs and European plays of Daimler (DDAIF), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A), Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) and Vodafone Group PLC (NYSE: VOD) are opportunistic around the weakness of Europe today. After all, if the Euro Zone continues its downward trajectory and with the Euro currency at an 11-month low it would seem that the article could blame a worsening effect if these positions do not work out.

24/7 Wall St. has recently announced a couple of key lists with predictions and expected upside. Our DJIA Stocks Soon To Raise Dividends has already seen some come to fruition even sooner than expected, and we have released to our free email subscribers the 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio.

If you want to receive the full 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio you can sign up in the email submission below. Each morning we send our free email list subscribers a snapshot of the key feature stories, the top daily analyst upgrades and downgrades, previews for key events, and many other aspects governing your finances.

Barron’s noted a 6.9% drop so far in 2011 for its Favorite Stocks for 2011 versus a 1.9% drop in the S&P 500 Index.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Defensive Stocks, Dividend, Editor's Picks, Value Investing Tagged: AAPL, BRK-A, CMCSA, FCX, GOOG, IBM, MET, PG, RDS-A, SNY, STX, VOD