24/7 Wall St. » STI

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GOOG, JCI, VLO, TSCO, HUM, INTC, IBM, BAC, AXP, GE, SLB, STI, INSM, TLB, SHLD, NCIT, CCOI)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:08:42 +0000

Equity markets opened mixed this morning, with the DJIA up slightly and the NASDAQ Composite and S&P 500 down slightly. That pattern held throughout the day as last night’s report from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) held tech stocks down today. Financials were mixed and no other sector took the lead to push trading higher. A positive report on existing home sales did not appease traders either. Crude oil is down today on continuing concern that Chinese demand will soften and that European growth will be low. WTI crude is down -1.92% at $98.46/barrel and Brent crude is down -1.39% at $110.00/barrel. Gold is up 0.60% at $1,664.40.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 97 points to 12,720.48 (0.76%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 2 points (-0.06%) to 2,786.70, and the S&P 500 rose a bare 0.07% or less than 1 point to 1,315.37.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Google maintained as ‘buy’ but target price cut to $700 at Canaccord Genuity; Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) reiterated as ‘buy’ with $35 target price at Argus; Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $92 at Argus; and Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo.

Earnings reports since markets closed yesterday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Google is down -8.78% at $583.39; Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) is up 2.75% at $26.33; IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is up 4.48% at $188.61; Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is up 1.42% at $7.06; American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is down -1.94% at $49.96; General Electric is down -0.21% at $19.11; Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB is up 0.74% at $73.40; and Suntrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) is up 4.79% at $21.21.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Insmed Inc. (NASDAQ: INSM) is up nearly 30% at $4.94. The biotech company announced that the FDA has lifted a clinical hold on a lung disease drug.

The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) is up nearly 18% at $3.17. The clothing retailer is rumored to be under consideration for a takeover by two private equity firms.

Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) is up nearly 14% at $49.25. The general merchandise retailer is thought to be under consideration for a takeover offer from its largest shareholder.

NCI Inc. (NASDAQ: NCIT) is down nearly -32%, after posting a new 52-week low of $7.71 earlier today. The federal contractor will restructure to compensate for loss of contracts.

Cogent Communications Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI) is down nearly -18% at $15.45. The network communications provider is suffering from the shutdown last night of the Megaupload.com website, one of Cogent’s largest customers, by federal authorities.

Stay tuned for Monday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

11:30 a.m. – 3-month and 6-month Treasury bill auctions

Have a great weekend.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: AXP, BAC, CCOI, GE, GOOG, HUM, IBM, INSM, INTC, JCI, NCIT, SHLD, SLB, STI, TLB, TSCO, VLO

Beyond Stress Tests: Banks Reach Ridiculous Discounts To Book Value (JPM, BAC, C, WFC, BBT, BK, COF, FITB, GS, MS, JEF, PNC, STI)

Administrator — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:29:01 +0000

The new proposed stress tests are just one more thorn in the side for the banking sector, but analysts from Dick Bove to Meredith Whitney, as well as value and bargain investors and short-selling hedge funds, routinely have an opinion on the banking sector and on individual banks almost daily. Some are good, some are just awful. It seems amazing on the surface if you just look at the screens of the largest banks trading at or under book value. Unfortunately, that implied book value for the foreseeable future is going to be a cap rather than a floor as the market tries to digest the real long-term earnings power being far lower ahead. The trick in evaluating book value is avoiding the obvious value traps.

It still feels as though calculating a bank’s book value is a bit like calculating the cash per share of an emerging biotech that just experienced an implosion due to a poor drug candidate’s test result. The value may be eroded through time. Now that earnings season has passed. 24/7 Wall St. has run a screen of the money-center banks, large broker-dealers, and super-regional banks trading at or under book value from the last quarter under the FinViz screen.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) now trades around $25.30 and its October earning’s book value was listed as $45.93 per share, up from $44.77 one quarter earlier and versus $42.29 a year earlier.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is almost embarrassing, or actually it is embarrassing. After a 2% drop to $5.36 today, BofA’s tangible book value per share in October was $13.22 versus $12.91 a year earlier and compared to $12.65 in the second quarter. The stated book value per share was $20.80 in the third quarter, down from $21.17 a year earlier and up from $20.29 in the second quarter of 2011.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) is another large discount to book value and the $24.60 price compared to a stated book value $60.56 per share and a tangible book value per share of$49.50.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), Warren Buffett’s favorite bank, used to trade at a premium to book value but that now trades at 0.93-times its most recently stated book value.

A screen at FinViz gave some key banks that are large and well-known institutions, some of which have no exposure to Europe and/or the PIIGS to speak of, which are trading at a discount to their stated book value. Others screened from FinViz are as follows, and these banks are all expected to be profitable on an operations basis ahead:

The trust and fiduciary banks are also at discounts. BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) trades at 0.88-times its latest book value. The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK) trades at 0.66-times its latest book value.

Other regional and large banking outfits are at large discounts too… Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) trades at 0.64-times its latest book value. Fifth Third Bancorp (NYSE: FITB) trades at 0.81-times its latest book value. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) trades at 0.64-times its latest book value. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) trades at 0.64-times its latest book value. Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF) is just about to have a quarter-end but it trades at 0.64-times its latest book value. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) trades at 0.78-times its latest book value. SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI) trades at 0.47-times its latest book value.

As a reminder, our take is that even if the market were to suddenly recover, tangible book values would be the first line to watch and stated book value would be much later after that. The book value game is one that looks and feels shockingly cheap today because the sector’s earnings power is being challenged each and every day. Until the climate moves beyond winding down prop-trading, not going for many loans, not being able to earn money in the short-term and intermediate-term fixed income markets, and a climate where these are sued over and over for actions of yesteryear and with the regulators running the banks.

Value investors and investors screening for “cheap stocks” still need to look elsewhere, unless they know how to model worst case scenarios for about a year or two out from today or if they think they can quantify the regulatory, legal, and operating restriction-adjusted earnings ahead.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Banking, Bankruptcy, Brokerage Firms, Financial Stocks, Value Investing Tagged: BAC, BBT, BK, C, COF, FITB, GS, JEF, JPM, MS, PNC, STI, WFC

What’s Important in the Financial World Today (11/1/2011) China PMI Trouble, Fed Divided, MF Global Fails

247wallst — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:33:16 +0000

Bank plans to charge for debit cards abandoned. U.S. banks continue to abandon plans to charge fees to holders of debit cards. SunTrust (NYSE: STI) and Regions (NYSE: RF) today announced they will kill charges on debt cards. That means Bank of American (NYSE: BAC), which had planned on the tolls for new revenue, will have to drop its charges as well. It cannot afford to be isolated and lose customers who believe the fee is unfair. Bank of American chief executive Brian Thomas Moynihan said it was fair to set the charge to make profits for shareholders. Instead, it just caused more bad publicity for the troubled company.

China’s PMI trouble. China’s PMI showed manufacturing activity in the country fell to a low not recorded since early 2009. Economists were left to question whether this means the People’s Republic is in danger of moving toward recession, or if the news signals a tempering of China’s overheated economy. The recession argument is the more compelling of the two. China’s official PMI fell to 50.4 in October from 51.2 in September, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. The consensus among analysts was that the number would remain steady with September’s. Chinese officials said the weak economy in the EU caused the dip; the EU economy is the world’s largest by GDP — about 20% larger than the U.S. Europe is in recession, so China’s manufacturing problem has just begun.

MG Global New Woes. MF Global (NYSE: MF) filed for Chapter 11 after its gambles on the financial fate of Europe turned out to be wrong. The filing may only be the start of the company’s trouble. “Early this morning, MF Global informed the regulators that the transaction had not been agreed to and reported possible deficiencies in customer futures segregated accounts held at the firm,” the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in a joint statement. Somehow MF Global “mishandled” client accounts. Worse, it may have used client money to support trades that turned out to be untenable. That would almost certainly cause a number of civil and criminal charges to be brought against MF Global, and perhaps its CEO, former Goldman Sachs chief, Jon Corzine

The Fed will remain quiet. The Federal Reserve will announce its intentions after a two-day policy meeting. The market expects no change in the central bank’s major policies. This may be due to a battle among the Fed’s members. A minority believe that any Fed attempt to aid the economy will fuel inflation soon. Most members believe the central bank must keep rates as low as possible and perhaps begin a QE3 program. “I have never seen the Fed more deeply divided than it is at this moment,” said David Jones, head of DMJ Advisors and the author of books on the Fed, according to the AP. The muddle will cause more uncertainty about the future of the economy and markets. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Economy, Financial Stocks, Politics Tagged: BAC, MF, RF, STI

Media Digest (11/1/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, Bloomberg

247wallst — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:15:44 +0000

Greeks will vote on planned austerity, which could wreck the chances of a conclusion to the bailout. (Reuters)

China’s PMI falls to the lowest level since early 2009. (Reuters)

Chemical and defense companies hit by cyber attacks. (Reuters)

The MF Global (NYSE: MF) bankruptcy damages futures exchanges around the world. (Reuters)

Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) to fire 1,500 more people after a weak Q3. (Reuters)

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) set distribution deals with Disney (NYSE: DIS). (Reuters)

China’s equivalent of Groupon files for a $100 million IPO. (Reuters)

Nomura (NYSE: NMR) lost money in the past quarter and will sharply cut costs. (WSJ)

Toyota (NYSE: TM) and Honda (NYSE: HMC) face trouble because of the value of the yen and poor choices on model lines. (WSJ)

Mortgage foreclosure settlements between the government and large banks could cost the financial firms $25 billion. (WSJ)

Obama sets a plan to improve shortages of critical drugs. (WSJ)

Eurozone jobless numbers hit a record. (WSJ)

The OECD forecasts weak growth among its members. (WSJ)

A judge rejects the Tribune Company’s proposed restructuring plan. (WSJ)

October was the best month in nine years for U.S. stock markets. (WSJ)

SunTrust Banks (NYSE: STI) and Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) to discontinue fees charged for debit card use. (WSJ)

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) will cut overhead to further invest in content businesses. (NYT)

The EU debt crisis could hurt growth in Asia. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: General Tagged: AMZN, CS, DIS, HMC, MF, NFLX, NMR, RF, STI, TM, TWX

Earnings Hat Trick: Ignore Bank Book Values (JPM, BAC, C, WFC, GS, MS, BBT, BK, COF, FITB, PNC, STI)

Administrator — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:09:39 +0000

You hear it all the time… “This bank is so cheap against book value that it cannot go lower.” Book value, and even tangible book value, has become a pre-recession metric that just does not matter in the current banking climate. In many cases, calculating a bank’s book value can be a bit like calculating the cash per share of an emerging biotech that just experienced an implosion due to a poor drug candidate’s test result.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) will lead off the banks as far as earnings season. It is likely that book value here grew or did not fall much and we will be paying attention to Jamie Dimon’s comments on how his internal customers’ credit metrics came out in Q3. Jamie Dimon showed that book value was listed as $44.77 versus $43.34 the first quarter and versus $40.99 a year earlier. If Chase is the best quality of the money-center banks that there is, then a $33 handle today generates close to 0.75-times book value.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) noted in July that tangible book value per share was $12.65, down from $13.21 in the first quarter of 2011 and up from $12.14 in the second quarter of 2010. Its stated book value per share was listed as $20.29 as of June 30, down from $21.15 in the first quarter and down from $21.45 in the same period of 2010. Shares are trading under $6.50 today. The trick is not that Bank of America is lying about the book value today. We think that the number was actually true based upon a snapshot in time, but the issue is that the street cannot figure out how to model its mortgage exposure and lawsuit exposure and what that does to the book value a year or two out. What if regulators move to press for a break-up of if the company remains under pressure for the long-haul. What if they keep losing customers over the $5.00 fee for using debit cards for buying goods. Also, Bank of America is expected to have a loss this quarter and its charges and other issues have likely continued to pressure the book value metrics. What is there to say about the likely direction of the book value for the foreseeable future.

We ran a screen of banks trading at or under book value from the last quarter under the FinViz screen. Book value should be considered a ceiling rather than a floor for the time being. Ultimately that will change, but we live in a climate where banks are winding down prop-trading, not going for many loans, are not able to earn money in the short-term and intermediate-term fixed income markets, being sued over and over for actions of yesteryear, are under more and more regulation, and more. There is just no real good news that is evident yet and shareholders are going to not care about book value any time soon.

A screen at FinViz gave some key banks valued at over $10 billion and trading under book value, and that is generally the stated book value rather than the tangible book value. We would note that the price changes of the shares may alter these numbers slightly as the prices move up and down into and during earnings season. We have also included earnings estimates for the quarter from Thomson Reuters to show which banks have a shot at higher book value rather than the banks losing money:

BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) trades at 0.92-times its latest book value. Earnings estimates for the quarter are $0.49 EPS.

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK) trades at 0.69-times its latest book value. Earnings estimates for the quarter are $0.53 EPS.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) trades at 0.46-times its latest book value. Earnings estimates for the quarter are $0.84 EPS.

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) trades at 0.68-times its latest book value. This one is in the midst of digesting additional purchases so tallying up a relevant book value may be a couple of quarters out. Earnings estimates for the quarter are $1.68 EPS.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NYSE: FITB) trades at 0.80-times its latest book value. Earnings estimates for the quarter are $0.33 EPS.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) trades at 0.68-times its latest book value. Earnings estimates for the quarter are $0.37 EPS.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) trades at 0.50-times its latest book value. Earnings estimates for the quarter are $0.34 EPS.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) trades at 0.81-times its latest book value. Earnings estimates for the quarter are $1.49 EPS.

SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI) trades at 0.51-times its latest book value. Earnings estimates for the quarter are $0.35 EPS.

As a reminder, earnings from operations do not assure that any growth will have been seen in stated book value nor in tangible book value.

******

An exception to the rule: Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) at 1.01-times its most recently stated book value. Wells Fargo is around $27.00 now, although the book value per share was listed as $23.84 in its July earnings report. Earnings estimates for the quarter are $0.72 EPS.

Until Wall Street investors can figure out where these banks are going to make their profits and until Main Street and state and federal agencies stop putting severe pressure on the banks, what good is book value? Book value is current a ceiling rather than a floor.

Value investors and investors screening for “cheap stocks” still need to look elsewhere, unless they know how to model worst case scenarios for about a year or two out from today.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Banking, Earnings, Earnings Warning, Financial Stocks, Value Investing Tagged: BAC, BBT, BK, C, COF, FITB, GS, JPM, MS, PNC, STI, WFC

Week’s Biggest Market Losers: Motorola, Boeing, And More

247wallst — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 13:46:53 +0000

Continued success of the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and the chance that a new version of the smartphone would launch in September pressures Motorola Mobility’s shares.

A battle between Walgreen’s and joint venture partner Express Scripts pulled down the drug retailer chain

Boeing (NYSE: BA) share fell as it was pounded by rival Airbus based on orders made by airlines at the Paris Airshow.

BIGGEST STOCK PRICE LOSERS

FOR WEEK, MONTH (JUNE) AND YEAR-TO-DATE AS OF JUNE 24

S&P 500 WEEK: BOTTOM 10 (17 JUN – 23 JUN)	Ticker	Weekly Price Change (%)	Close Price 23Jun11	Close Price 17Jun11	Market Cap ($Mil)
Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc	MMI	-5.3	23.46	24.78	6919.7
Walgreen Co	WAG	-4.7	42.59	44.67	38989.4
SunTrust Banks Inc.	STI	-4.4	25.03	26.18	13438.3
Boeing Co	BA	-3.9	71.25	74.16	52602.1
Fifth Third Bancorp	FITB	-3.7	12.09	12.55	11107.4
Cablevision Systems Corp	CVC	-3.6	34.73	36.04	8111.9
First Horizon National Corp	FHN	-3.6	9.85	10.22	2593.9
Goldman Sachs Group Inc	GS	-3.5	132.36	137.23	68527.4
Dean Foods Co	DF	-3.5	12.22	12.66	2238.6
Sears Holdings Corp	SHLD	-3.4	71.50	74.02	7701.0
Source: Capital IQ

Filed under: Research Tagged: AAPL, BA, CVC, DF, FHN, FITB, GS, MMI, SHLD, STI, WAG

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AAPL, BBY, A, BBT, BRCM, COH, FSLR, GPS, HBAN, JBHT, JCI, KR, LULU, SWY, STI, TIF, TROW, WFMI)

Administrator — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:22:03 +0000

These are some of this Wednesday’s key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls. This morning we have two key updates from late yesterday afternoon, followed by our normal morning calls.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Maintained Outperform but removed from “Best Idea List” at Morgan Stanley (late-Tuesday call).

Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) Raised to Buy at Standpoint Research on weakness; Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (BOTH calls are from late-Tuesday). This morning Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) was Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT) Cut to Neutral at Janney.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) Reiterated Buy and $55 target.
Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Raised to Hold at Needham; Reiterated Buy with $167 target at Auriga.
Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) Started as Neutral at BofA/ML.
JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
The Kroger Company (NYSE: KR) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI) Cut to Sell at Janney.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TROW) Added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) Started as Buy with $55 target at BofA/ML; Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: A, AAPL, BBT, BBY, BRCM, COH, FSLR, GPS, HBAN, JBHT, JCI, KR, LULU, STI, SWY, TIF, TROW, WFMI

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AGN, ARMH, ATHN, BIDU, CPNO, CRY, ERIC, NOK, PAA, RST, STI, TRV)

Administrator — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:40:45 +0000

These are some of the more prominent analyst upgrades and downgrades seen this Friday morning from Wall Street research calls:

Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) Started as Outperform at Macquarie.
ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH) Raised to Buy at RBS.
Athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) Maintained Buy but Target Raised to $90 at Goldman Sachs.
Copano Energy LLC (NASDAQ: CPNO) Raised to Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
CryoLife Inc. (NYSE: CRY) Started as Buy at Benchmark.
Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) Cut to Strong Sell from Sell at S&P Equity Research (late yesterday call).
Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Raised to Buy at Wunderlich.
Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE: PAA) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
Rosetta Stone (NYSE: RST) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
SunTrust Banks (NYSE: STI) Raised to Market Perform at Wells Fargo; Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Annual Report Tagged: AGN, ARMH, ATHN, BIDU, CPNO, CRY, ERIC, NOK, PAA, RST, STI, TRV

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ABB, BHI, BRCM, CREE, CSX, CVS, DO, INTC, NE, NSC, NVDA, STI, TLAB, RIG)

Administrator — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:24:47 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations we have seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning:

ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) Cut to Neutral at Susquehanna.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) Started as Buy at Wunderlich.
CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) Started as Buy at TD.
CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) Cut to Neutral at Susquehanna.
Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Cut to Underperform at FBR.
Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) Started as Buy at TD.
NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) Started as Negative at Susquehanna.
Suntrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI) Raised to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

JON C. OGG

Sponsor: 3 Recovery Stocks to Own Now – Get the names of the best cheap stocks to rebuild your wealth in 2010 and beyond.

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ABB, BHI, BRCM, CREE, CSX, CVS, DO, INTC, NE, NSC, NVDA, RIG, STI, TLAB

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Latest Stock Holdings S to Z (BRK-B, BRK-A, SNY, TIF, TMK, USB, USG, UPS, WMT, WPO, WFC, WSC, STI, TRV, UNH, WLP)

Administrator — Mon, 17 May 2010 21:56:44 +0000

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) has shown its latest holdings as of the close on March December 31, 2010 after the close. These have been broken down into 3 groups of ‘A to G’ and ‘H to R’ and ‘S to Z’ so it is more concise and clear to see the path of changes etc. Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘S to Z.’

Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, SAME as before.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) is NOT a common stock… but Buffett still holds the preferred shares and warrants.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) roughly 2.82 million, SAME as before.
US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) roughly 69 million; SAME as last quarter.
USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, SAME as last quarter.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares, SAME as before.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is just over 39 million; SAME as last quarter after it had been raised from 37.8 million; well above the 19.9+ million shares three quarters ago.
Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares, SAME as before.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: was roughly 319.5 million shares; roughly SAME as last quarter’ before that it had raised from 319.5 million shares versus 313.3 million shares a quarter ago and above the 302 million shares before that and above the 290+ million shares before that.
Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.703 million shares, SAME as before.

Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) IS ZERO, so it is gone from being a decreased position of almost 2.4 million shares, down from 3.079 million shares a quarter ago and down from 3.2+ million two quarters ago.
Travelers Cos. (NYSE: TRV) is ZERO, but this was always tiny at 27,336 shares before.
United Health Group (NYSE: UNH) is ZERO; that has been eliminated after having been a decreased holding of 1.175 million shares after 3 or 4 quarters of decline. .
Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) is ZERO; that has been ELIMINATED from the 1.343 million shares the quarter before.

BUFFETT HOLDINGS A to G

BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘H to R’

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, key analyst calls, and more.

JON C. OGG

Sponsor: 5 best investments for 2010 – The next nine months represent a bold new era for investors.

Filed under: Buffett Tagged: BRK-A, BRK-B, SNY, STI, TIF, TMK, TRV, UNH, UPS, USB, USG, WFC, WLP, WMT, WPO, WSC