24/7 Wall St. » SRE

Large Company Female CEOs Face Headwinds

Douglas A. — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 02:18:49 +0000

The stock prices of the majority of large public companies led by female CEOs have underperformed the S&P 500 so far this year, in some cases by a great deal. While some may use this data to say that women should not run large corporations, a closer analysis shows that companies are neither harmed, nor helped, by the gender of their leaders. Female CEOs face the same challenges as their male counterparts. Some have been extremely poor stewards of their companies and have posted sub-par performances. Others are excellent executives who are rewarded by good stock performance. Still others have done produced superior financial results, but at companies that are in deeply troubled sectors of the economy. 24/7 Wall St. examined the Fortune 500 companies run by female executives and reviewed their CEOs’ performances.

Read: Large Company Female CEOs Face Headwinds

At the start of 2012, there were 11 public companies with sales in excess of $10 billion that were run by women. One, Angela F. Braly of Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP), was pushed out of her job — as often happens to CEOs. Another, Irene Rosenfeld, ran Kraft, which was broken into two public companies. Rosenfeld continues to run one of those, Mondelēz International Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ). We didn’t include these two CEOs in our analysis.

A review of the performance of these female CEOs might cause some people to believe their performances argue for or against the promotion of more women to the chief executive’s office. Research firms, led by Catalyst, have pressed for an increase in the number of female senior managers and board members at large public companies, based on the idea that women are just as qualified to do these jobs as men are. Whether a current female CEO has done poorly or well bears no relationship to the Catalyst case. Success or lack thereof among the small group reviewed here has nothing to do with the overall qualifications of women to hold senior corporate job.

Another argument that could be derived from the presence of female CEOs is that if women have can hold the highest level jobs in corporate America then all women should be treated the same as their male equivalents. Women have been paid less than men for similar work since records on the matter have been kept. The justification of equal pay should be based on merit, and while that merit is obvious, it has no relationship to the job performances of a small sample of CEOs who are extremely successful financially.

The last argument that some make about the sometimes limited success of women in chief executive roles and their small presence at large companies is that women’s careers are hurt when they decide to leave their jobs temporarily to have children. The widely discussed comments by famed former GE CEO Jack Welch to this effect cannot be proved one way or another, or at least have not been. The nine female CEOs on this list are too small a sample to be a reasonable litmus test about the relationship between family and success

The stock prices of seven the nine companies run by these female CEOs run have underperformed the market. The S&P 500 is up 14% year to date. Seven out of nine is a high percentage. But there is no evidence that poor management by female CEOs is to blame. Some of the chief executives on this list have nearly ruined their companies. Ursula Burns of Xerox and Meg Whitman of Hewlett-Packard lead that list. Others have performed extraordinarily well, whether their stocks reflect it or not. Included among those are Carol Meyrowitz of retailer TJX and Patricia Woertz of ADM. On those scales, they have done no better, or worse, than most of their male counterparts.

Filed under: Corporate Governance, Management Change, Special Report Tagged: ADM, AVP, DD, featured, HPQ, IBM, MDLZ, PEP, SRE, TJX, WLP, XRX

Sempra Looks Ahead, Adds Natural Gas Storage

Paul Ausick — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 18:09:31 +0000

Natural gas producer Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) said today that a subsidiary has added 7.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity at the company’s hub in Simpson County, Mississippi. The addition doubles the facility’s capacity and the company plans to add another 7.5 billion cubic feet of storage at the site next year.

As the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly natural gas storage report has been showing for months, current gas storage facilities in the U.S. are running at near-capacity. Sempra noted that demand for gas storage is only going to grow:

As more natural gas supply comes online and liquefaction terminals move forward, customer demand for additional underground storage at strategic pipeline hubs like Mississippi Hub Storage will continue to grow.

There’s really no arguing with that. The interesting point is that Sempra assumes that U.S. regulators will approve more natural gas liquefaction facilities that will, in turn, require more storage to keep the plants fed. This is very likely a reasonable assumption, but it’s no slam dunk.

Sempra’s shares are down about 1.2% today at $66.96 in a 52-week range of $48.38-$72.32. The growing stocks of natural gas and today’s price decline are likely responsible for the share price drop.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Commodities, Oil & Gas Tagged: SRE

Kinder Morgan Sheds Rockies Express, Other Assets

Paul Ausick — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:35:57 +0000

As a condition of regulatory approval for its acquisition of El Paso Corp., Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: KMP) agreed to divest some assets in the Rocky Mountains. Today the company made good on its promise, selling a number of pipelines and facilities to privately held Tallgrass Energy Partners L.P. for $1.8 billion in cash and the assumption of Kinder Morgan’s proportionate amount of debt on the Rockies Express pipeline. The total value of the deal is $3.3 billion.

Kinder Morgan sold its 50% interest in the Rockies Express pipeline — the other 50% is split evenly between ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and a division of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE). Also gone are the Interstate Gas Transmission and Trailblazer pipelines, as well as processing and treating facilities in Wyoming.

Kinder Morgan’s chairman and CEO Richard Kinder said:

As I previously stated, we would prefer to keep all of these assets, but we anticipated divestiture of certain assets in the Rockies would be necessary to obtain FTC approval [for the El Paso acquisition].

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners recently completed the purchase of 100% of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline company and 50% of the El Paso Natural Gas pipeline in a drop-down transaction with Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI). Kinder Morgan Energy Partners plans to use the proceeds of the sale announced today to repay a $2 billion credit facility that the company used in the acquisition of Tennessee Gas Pipeline and El Paso Natural Gas pipeline.

Regardless of what Richard Kinder had to say about wanting to keep the Rockies Express, the company has to be relieved to be out of the business of sending coal to Newcastle. REX, as its called, can transport up to 1.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day from western gas fields to eastern Ohio. The rapid development of gas production in Ohio and Pennsylvania has reduced the demand on that pipeline, and there has been some talk of reversing the flow to transport gas from the Appalachians west to Chicago.

Shares of KMP are down 0.2% at $82.33 in a 52-week range of $65.00 to $90.60. Shares of KMI are up 1.6% at $34.76 in a 52-week range of $23.51 to $40.25.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Mergers & Acquisitions, Oil & Gas, Private Equity Tagged: COP, KMI, KMP, SRE

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (BIIB, CNK, DECK, EXA, HGSI, IMAX, KBH, MAR, MDC, MOS, NVR, ONXX, RGC, RYL, SLB, SRE, VRSN, WAG)

Jon C. Ogg — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:35:40 +0000

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

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) started as Outperform at Leerink Swann.

Cinemark Holdings (NYSE: CNK) started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK) cut to Underperform at Stern Agee.

Exa Corp. (NASDAQ: EXA) started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity and started as Buy at Needham.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) cut to Hold at Maxim Group.

IMAX Corp. (NYSE: IMAX) started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) maintained as Buy but removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

MDC Holdings (NYSE: MDC) raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

NVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Regal Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: RGC) started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL) raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) raised to Buy at Argus.

Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) cut to Hold at Argus.

VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) cut to Neutral at UBS.

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Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: BIIB, CNK, DECK, EXA, HGSI, IMAX, KBH, MAR, MDC, MOS, NVR, ONXX, RGC, RYL, SLB, SRE, VRSN, WAG

An Outlook for Marcellus Shale Midstream and Pipeline Companies

Paul Ausick — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:28:44 +0000

Higher demand from growing East Coast markets coupled with favorable economics even at currently low prices point to a continued boom in natural gas production from the Marcellus shale play according to a new report from Fitch Ratings. The firm cites a consensus estimate for production to rise from its current level of 4 billion cubic feet/day to more than 10 billion cubic feet/day over the next five years.

The ratings agency has looked at 10 pipeline and midstream companies with an eye to both transportation and processing facilities. These MLPs include Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD), EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT), MarkWest Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: MWE), National Fuel Gas Co. (NYSE: NFG), NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI), Rockies Express Pipeline LLC (a joint venture of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: KMP), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE)), Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE: SE), Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (NYSE: SXL), Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. (owned by Kinder Morgan), and Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ).

The main appeal of the Marcellus shale play is its proximity to the populated markets of the Northeast and Atlantic Coast regions. Fitch expects pipeline expansion and reversal projects, as well as additional processing plants to come online as production grows. Here’s a quick look at each company, along with an implied gain based on today’s share price.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) has proposed building a 1,230-mile pipeline to transport ethane — a natural gas liquid (NGL) — from the southern Marcellus shale play to Texas. The pipeline will involve reversing the flow of a refined products pipeline and building about 450 miles of new pipeline at a cost of about $1.3 billion. Shippers have not yet fully committed to taking all the capacity on the 190,000 barrel/day ATEX pipeline, which is set to be in service by early 2014. Fitch gives Enterprise a first-mover advantage here and expects the pipeline to be fully committed once it is put into service. Enterprise shares are trading at $51.61 today, and the consensus target price is $56.23, for an implied gain of around 9%.

EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT) has put a portion of its mid-stream assets into a new MLP, EQT Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: EQM) and the two companies are expanding rapidly in gathering operations. EQT’s ‘negative’ outlook reflects risk associated with the company’s expansion of its upstream operations, which vary with volatile commodity prices. EQT’s shares are trading at $53.70 today, and the consensus target price is $63.07, for an implied gain of around 17%.

MarkWest Energy Partners (NYSE: MWE) is the largest gatherer and processor in the the Marcellus play and the company continues to expand both its gathering and processing assets. Fitch rates MarkWest ‘positive’ on credit implications due to the focus on expanding fee-based revenues. MarkWest’s shares are trading at $51.02 today, and the consensus target price is $61.00, for an implied gain of around 20%.

Natural Fuel Gas (NYSE: NFG) is currently expanding two pipelines that have been fully subscribed and is working on projects to transport natural gas to Canada. As with EQT, Natural Fuel Gas is also expanding its upstream operations, exposing the company to added commodity risk. Natural Fuel Gas shares are trading at $46.45 today, and the consensus target price is $59.00, for an implied gain of around 27%.

NiSource (NYSE: NI), like Enterprise, is also reversing the flow of one pipeline to transport natural gas from the Marcellus shale play to the Gulf Coast. The reversed flow is scheduled to start in late 2014 with two shippers that have signed long-term transportation agreements. NiSource’s shares are trading at $24.44 today, and the consensus target price is $25.44, for an implied gain of around 4%.

The Rockies Express (REX) pipeline system was constructed to move natural gas from the gas fields of Wyoming and Colorado to a terminus in Ohio. The pipeline is due to re-contract with shippers in 2019, and Fitch is naturally wary of the company’s ability to do so at current rates. Kinder Morgan is also required to sell its 50% stake in the pipeline as part of its agreement with the Federal Trade Commission in the company’s acquisition of El Paso Corp. Fitch places a ‘negative’ credit implication on REX because of the costliness of reversing the flow of the pipeline. Kinder Morgan’s shares are trading at $82.70 today, and the consensus target price is $86.58, for an implied gain of around 5%.

Spectra Energy (NYSE: SE) recently completed a pipeline project in the Marcellus region and has five others on the drawing board. The company is seeking final approval to an expansion of its pipeline into New York City and is also considering additional pipelines to Canada. The company has a ‘stable’ outlook with ‘neutral’ to ‘positive’ credit implications from Fitch. Spectra’s shares are trading at $29.16 today, and the consensus target price is $32.82, for an implied gain of around 13%.

Sunoco Logistics (NYSE: SXL) and MarkWest are jointly developing an NGL pipeline to deliver ethane from the Marcellus region to processing plants in Pennsylvania and Ontario. Sunoco also owns pipelines that could be reversed to transport NGLs to East Coast ports for export. Sunoco’s shares are trading at $37.88 today, and the consensus target price is $39.72, for an implied gain of around 5%.

Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline has a very strong position in the Marcellus play and two current expansion projects due for completion in November 2013. The pipeline company is being held on ‘ratings watch positive’ by Fitch and the fully-subscribed pipeline system is given a ‘positive’ credit reading as well.

Williams Partners (NYSE: WPZ) has committed to capital spending of $11 billion on pipeline and midstream projects in the Marcellus shale by 2017. More than half will be directed at midstream infrastructure and the rest for expansion of the company’s Transco pipeline system. Fitch gives the company a ‘positive’ outlook with a ‘positive’ implication for credit.Williams’s shares are trading at $52.44 today, and the consensus target price is $63.23, for an implied gain of around 21%.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Commodities, Commodities & Metals, Oil & Gas, Value Investing Tagged: COP, EPD, EQM, EQT, KMP, MWE, NFG, NI, SE, SRE, SXL, WPZ

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CELG, CPHD, EBAY, EOG, GRPN, HUN, LLTC, NOV, NE, NOK, RMBS, SRE, PAY, WPI)

Jon C. Ogg — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:33:42 +0000

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

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.

Cepheid (NASDAQ: CPHD) Reiterated Outperform with $45 target at Credit Suisse.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Started as Outperform at KBW.

EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE: EOG) Raised to Buy at UBS.

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.

Linear Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: LLTC) Reiterated Outperform with $37 target at Credit Suisse.

National Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE: NOV) Cut to Outperform at Raymond James.

Noble Corporation (NYSE: NE) Cut to Outperform at Raymond James.

Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Reiterated Hold at Argus and the note was called “Going from troubled to endangered?”

Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) Reiterated Hold and raised target to $76 at Argus.

VeriFone Systems, Inc (NYSE: PAY) Raised to Buy at UBS.

Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI) Reiterated Buy with $90 target at Canaccord Genuity.

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.

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Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: CELG, CPHD, EBAY, EOG, GRPN, HUN, LLTC, NE, NOK, NOV, PAY, RMBS, SRE, WPI

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ABB, ADBE, BBVA, BBY, BOKF, BP, EAT, CBS, HGSI, IRG, NAV, BPOP, RF, TSLA, XNPT, ACI, DD, SRE, HES, FSLR, CHSI, STX, QCOM, CVS, EXC, CCE, HIG)

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:28:03 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls this Thursday. We also have many changes to the Argus Model Portfolio.

ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) Cut to Sell at UBS.

Best Buy Co, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Citigroup; Fitch outlined its buyout rumors yesterday.

BOK Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: BOKF) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

BP plc (NYSE: BP) Maintained Hold but cut estimates at Argus.

Brinker International (NYSE: EAT) Raised to Buy at Argus.

CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) Cut to Market Perform at JMP Securities.

Ignite Restaurant Group (NASDAQ: IRG) Started as Outperform at Raymond James.

Navistar International (NYSE: NAV) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPOP) Started as Neutral at Stern Agee.

Regions FInancial (NYSE: RF) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) Started as Buy at Lazard.

Xenoport, Inc. (NASDAQ: XNPT) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

MANY CHANGES TO ARGUS MODEL PORTFOLIO PICKS:

SELLING: Removing Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI); Removing E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), or DuPont; Removing shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE); Removing Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES); Removing First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Removing Catalyst Health Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: CHSI).

BUYING: Adding Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX); Adding Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM); Adding CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS); Adding Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC); Adding Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE); Adding The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: HIG).

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.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ABB, ACI, ADBE, BBVA, BBY, BOKF, BP, BPOP, CBS, CCE, CHSI, CVS, DD, EAT, EXC, FSLR, HES, HGSI, HIG, IRG, NAV, QCOM, RF, SRE, STX, TSLA, XNPT

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

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Filed under: Active Trader, 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

The Strongest Charts In The S&P 500 (AZO, CMG, HD, INTC, ISRG, PM, RHT, SRE, UNH, WFM)

Jon C. Ogg — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 14:24:25 +0000

24/7 Wall St. has partnered with The Chart Lab to feature the standout names in the S&P 500 over the last week. This weekend’s chart represents the strongest names in the S&P 500 as the close of Friday April the 13th based on the www.chartlabpro.com proprietary statistical and technical algorithm.

The following stocks have exhibited the strongest chart patterns: AutoZone Inc. (AZO); Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG); The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD); Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC); Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG); Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM); Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT); Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE); Unitedhealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH); and Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM).

These names year to date have outperformed the S&P 500 by 12.92%. During the month of April these particular stocks have risen an average of 0.66% while the S&P 500 has actually fallen by a rate of -3.31%.

As always, past performance is not indicative of future results. These results for the strongest names are updated daily and stronger names do rotate daily into the composite of the top 10.

Currently the 10 stocks featured this week are not technically overbought, but they are approaching a overbought condition according to the methodology used by the Chartlabpro.com model.

The methodology from chartlabpro.com shows that a 5 rating is considered a Strong Buy and conversely a 1 is a Strong Sell. As a reminder, Chipotle, Intel, Philip Morris International, and Unitedhealth Group are due to report quarterly earnings in the coming days.

Featured exclusively for 24/7 Wall St. by ChartLabPro.com.

Filed under: Active Trader, Calendar, Charts, Technical Analysis, The Week Tagged: AZO, CMG, HD, INTC, ISRG, PM, RHT, SRE, UNH, WFM

Most Ethical Companies List Published (GE, F, INTC, ADBE, MSFT, XRX, SRE, AXP, DE, CSCO)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:19:48 +0000

International think-tank Ethisphere Institute has just announce the 143 global companies that made the Institute’s 2012 list of Most Ethical Companies. Of the total, 102 are US-based companies, and 23 of the 143 have made the list for all six years of its publication.

Among US companies included are General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX), Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE), and Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO)

Notable exclusions include Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), all of the supermajor oil companies, and the largest financial firms both in the US and the rest of the world.

The full list is available here.

Filed under: General Tagged: AAPL, ADBE, AXP, CSCO, DE, F, GE, GOOG, INTC, MSFT, SRE, XRX