24/7 Wall St. » UBS

Are Bank Guarantees Coming For Europe? (NBG, IRE, STD, BBVA, DB, BCS, UBS)

Administrator — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:30:41 +0000

It is never a good thing to see a run on the banks. That is what the fears were recently indicating in Greece. The problem is that Spain is a much larger problem due to excessive lending and the notion that it is a much larger economy than Greece. And what about Italy? Spain and Italy have just recently seen bank rating downgrades. And you know more downgrades are coming.

So the question is, ahead of a summit aimed at putting up fences in Europe to contain problems can the banks really make it. We have heard all sorts of new stories and rumors and frankly it is hard to know what is posturing, what is malarkey, and what is reality. Some talk about bank guarantees is out there, and other chatter is on deeper assistance. And what about lending directly to banks but not the nations? Reuters has a speech today worth a read that underpins some of the problems and hopes for Europe given by ECB policymaker Joerg Asmussen.

A look at the banking ADRs today signals that the bank issues “may” be manageable for Greece or Ireland. The problem is that this could just be a short-covering head fake too. The ADRs for Spain are still in the red.

National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is up 4% at $1.56 against a 52-week range of $1.45 to $7.65. The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) is up 3.8% at $4.93 against a 52-week range of $3.99 to $17.50.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is down 1.2% at $5.70 against a 52-week range of $5.52 to $11.92; Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) is down 1.1% at $6.19 against a 52-week range of $5.96 to $12.13. An IIF report on loan losses is holding these banks down today.

And what about broader exposure? The ADR of Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is up 2.6% at $36.95.

Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) is technically not even a part of the Euro-woes as far as sovereignty, but it would be absolutely naive to think they have no exposure. Ditto for UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) in Switzerland. Barclays is up 2.6% at $11.44 against a 52-week range of $8.38 to $18.40; and UBS is up 1.6% at $11.44 against a 52-week range of $10.41 to $19.62.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: ADR, Banking, Bankruptcy, International Markets Tagged: BBVA, BCS, DB, IRE, NBG, STD, UBS

What’s Important in the Financial World (5/3/2012) Chrysler Plants Open, Roubini’s Iran Worries

247wallst — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:52:19 +0000

The government of Spain got lucky. It planned to raise over 2 billion euros in debt. The amount sold was more than that — 2.5 billion. The international capital markets ignored Spain’s high unemployment and recession. And maybe the nation’s banks and other financial institutions interested in the survival of the country were aggressive buyers. According to Reuters:

It sold 979 million euros worth of bonds maturing in July 2015 with a 4.0 percent coupon, 764 million euros worth of bonds maturing in January 2017, with a 3.8 percent coupon and 773 million euros worth of bonds maturing in July 2017, with a 5.5 percent coupon.

As other financially weak countries in the region have discovered, a little more bad news could turn rates higher within a matter of days. Concerns about austerity and growth have kept the market fickle.

Roubini Predicts …

Nouriel Roubini has come up with another reason for concern that the global economy will come close to collapse next year. He told an audience at Milken Institute Global Conference that a military confrontation between Israel, the U.S. and Iran was likely. The pressure from oil sanctions against Iran and concern about its weapons system will trigger military action. This in turn will drive oil prices to extraordinary levels immediately. The global economy, barely in recovery, cannot stand the shock of a spike in energy prices. There will be a new recession, and it may be worse than the last one.

Chrysler Rebounds

The improbable recovery of Chrysler continues, just three years after a government-supported Chapter 11. Most analysts believed that Chrysler would never have the funds to launch enough new vehicles to compete with larger rivals both in the U.S. and Japan. Chrysler countered by offering just a few cars and light trucks, but nearly every one was a success in the market. Chrysler has announced that it will not close several plants for two weeks of maintenance as it has in the past. The company said it cannot afford to because of demand. While overall domestic vehicles sales in April were modest, Chrysler’s sales rose 20%. Few people believed that the company could eat into the market share of General Motors (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F) and Toyota (NYSE: TM). It turns out those few people were right.

Obama Jobs Plan

President Obama promised that new programs would provide 110,000 jobs for inner city youngsters this summer. The jobs will be added because of funds put through local programs in Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco. Several firms will support this program. They include Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), UBS (NYSE: UBS) and, on the government side, the Department of Education. Unemployment among younger Americans is close to 20% in some regions. The Obama plan may be a temporary way to address that in a very small way. No one can tell if the people who get these summer jobs can keep them. Probably not. The economy is still not healthy enough to support a sharp growth in job creation. It will take more than a scattering of programs to fix that.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Market Open Tagged: F, GM, JNJ, TM, UBS

The Return of the Euro-Bank Fears (NBG, STD, BBVA, IRE, DB, UBS, CS, BCS, RBS)

Administrator — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:45:11 +0000

The U.S. stock markets have by and large been decoupled from the woes of Europe most of this year, as well as the slowing of growth in the key markets of China, India, and in many parts of South America. While “Sell in May and go away!” looks less evident this year, there are some new concerns brewing over the European Union and its banking sector.

S&P actually raised its rating on Greece this morning, but this was a technical upgrade rather than any real improvement. The fears elsewhere are outweighing the hopes right now as French and Dutch austerity measures are now being fought in the political scene. Even more fresh data from various purchasing managers readings from France, Germany, Spain, and elsewhere are only adding fuel to the fire that the recessionary climate in Europe is worse than many have hoped.

Greece saw something highly unusual today: A RATINGS AGENCY UPGRADE! After the distressed debt exchange, Standard & Poor’s removed the SD rating (selective default) up to a rating of “CCC” and said that the long-term outlook is STABLE. The short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit rating was raised to “C” from the “SD” rating and the outlook is now STABLE as well. Unfortunately this is of no help to National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) with its ADRs down 4% at $2.19 in New York trading.

More fears are coming up in Spain as the bank leverage is high. Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is down almost 6% at $6.01 in New York trading, and the prior 52-week trading range was $6.08 to $12.48. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) is down 5.5% at $6.45 and shares briefly dipped to a 52-week low today under the prior 52-week range of $6.43 to $12.96.

Can you leave Ireland out? No, and the ADRs of The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) are down 4.8% at $5.92 in low-volume trading mid-day in New York.

Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is down 4.5% at $452.16 in New York trading of its ADRs.

As Switzerland is being considered a haven, there is a mixed reaction. UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) is up 1.3% at $12.84, while Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) is down 4.2% at $22.51 in New York ADR trading.

England is certainly not in the Euro, but the banks there have deep ties to dealings in Europe. Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) is down 4.4% at $13.88 and Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (NYSE: RBS) is down 2.4% at $8.02 in New York ADR trading.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: ADR, Banking, Economy, International Markets Tagged: BBVA, BCS, CS, DB, IRE, NBG, RBS, STD, UBS

Media Digest (2/17/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:45:44 +0000

Foreclosure abuses likely occurred across the U.S. (Reuters)

Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone loses market share in China, based on Gartner data. (Reuters)

Improved odds of a Greek bailout lift markets. (Reuters)

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to target consumer collection agencies. (Reuters)

Chinese search company Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) will pursue mobile applications for growth. (Reuters)

Ally may be sold because its IPO plans have faced difficulty. (Reuters)

Alibaba says it will not work on foreign M&A in the future. (Reuters)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) used tracking software to take private information on people who use the Apple mobile OS. (WSJ)

UBS (NYSE: UBS) traders establish schemes to set interest rates around the world. (WSJ)

EU-based banks find stability in U.S. consumer operations. (WSJ)

European Central Bank and German plans to aid Greece probably will allow the southern European nation to finally get its bailout. (WSJ)

The Export-Import Bank may match financing set by countries like China to help U.S. exporters. (WSJ)

Twitter launches a program to attract small advertisers. (WSJ)

The International Monetary Fund will offer austerity rules in Greece that will spread the effects over many years. (WSJ)

Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) says it may need to raise more capital. (WSJ)

The EU airline emissions fee faces challenges from a number of quarters. (WSJ)

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) to pursue its $13.7 billion bailout of Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN). (WSJ)

Large investor Blackrock (NYSE: BLK) may determine the fate of the Xstrata and Glencore International merger. (WSJ)

Congress wants to auction TV airwaves to raise money to help improve the deficit. (NYT)

Positive comments from investigators examining Apple supplier Foxconn may be premature. (NYT)

U.S. taxpayers will help support a deal on mortgages set between the federal government and five banks. (FT)

Germany wants one voice from EU ministers set to rescue Greece, which would include approval of an ECB debt swap. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, BIDU, BLK, CLWR, DUK, GOOG, PGN, UBS

Moody’s Bank Downgrade Warnings Look Very Staged (CS, MS, UBS, BCS, DB, GS, HBC, BAC, NMR, FAS)

Administrator — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:14:37 +0000

If you think ratings agencies do not quite matter any longer, today may be a reminder that they can still create at least some nervousness even if they are just late to the party. Moody’s has a downgrade warning on 17 banking and investment banking outfits. While this is a ‘warning’ rather than a downgrade, this certainly looks and feels staged to the point that the downgrades on most of the banks and investments seems assured on level or another. In short, this is being staged.

In the Moody’s warning, Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) were put on notice that their credit ratings could be downgraded potentially by as many as three notches. That is a very aggressive downgrade warning, and it now almost assures that a downgrade of one or two notches is almost certain.

Warnings of a two notch downgrade were handed out to Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS), BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) and HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC). This seems to all but assure that at least a one notch downgrade could come on these.

Interestingly enough, Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) and Nomura Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMR) were “only” given warnings of a possible one notch downgrade.

Moody’s noted that these existing ratings just do not reflect the current market challenges. Here are the pre-market trading indications on each, in New York trading indications:

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) -0.7% at $25.36;
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) -2% at $18.58;
UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) is down only $0.01 at $13.91;
Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) is down 0.4% at $14.97;
Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is down 1.2% at $42.45;
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) is down 0.5% at $112.55;
HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) is down 0.5% at $44.69;
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is down 0.8% at $7.72.

Even the triple-leveraged Direxion Financial Bull 3X Shares (NYSE: FAS) is down ‘only’ 0.7% at $86.30 in the pre-market.

What is interesting here is that the move lower this morning is on the heels of major moves higher since the first of the year. The downgrades seem assured on at least some level now, but the market is not really acting as though it is ready to panic.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls, Banking, Financial Stocks Tagged: BAC, BCS, CS, DB, FAS, GS, HBC, MS, NMR, UBS

Media Digest (2/16/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:49:10 +0000

Moody’s may cut Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and UBS (NYSE: UBS) as the global euro crisis spreads. (Reuters)

Officials in Japan arrest former Olympus executives. (Reuters)

Congress reaches a deal on payroll tax extensions. (Reuters)

Negotiations between Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Alibaba crumble because of disputes over the value of the Taobao unit of the Chinese company. (Reuters)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) seeks court permission to sue Eastman Kodak over IP issues. (Reuters)

Several Chinese cities stop retailers from selling iPads because of an IP dispute with Proview Technology. (Reuters)

High gas prices may hurt the recovery of the U.S. economy. (WSJ)

Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister who heads up the eurozone ministers meetings, says a deal on Greece is closer. (WSJ)

More and more subprime bonds are being sold despite their role in the financial crisis. (WSJ)

Nestle says that earnings will be challenged in 2012. (WSJ)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) stops selling iPads in China at Apple’s request. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) to cut benefits to it salaried workers. (WSJ)

Fed officials are divided over the use of QE3 to help the economy. (WSJ)

Kellogg (NYSE: K) buys Pringles from Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) for $2.7 billion. (WSJ)

AT&T (NYSE: T) is looking for deals to buy spectrum, even after the collapse of its T-Mobile deal. (WSJ)

Japan Air increases airplane purchases as it comes out of bankruptcy. (WSJ)

Some investors are buying customer claims against MF Global. (WSJ)

China is a net seller of Treasuries in December. (WSJ)

Eurozone officials may only offer Greece a partial bailout. (NYT)

Iran warns six EU nations that it will stop selling them oil because of sanctions against it. (NYT)

Brent crude reaches $120 on concerns about Iran. (FT)

The EU wants more control over Greece’s budget. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, AMZN, GM, K, MS, PG, T, UBS, YHOO

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (YUM, DMD, NLY, MS, UBS, AGU, CVS, RL, RAI, TWX, DIS, WYN, BWLD, CSCO, CZR, FFN, TNK, AKAM, NURO)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:06:49 +0000

The US equity markets opened slightly higher this morning, but soon turned around and spent the rest of the morning lower before returning to about even by afternoon. Equities could close at or near where they opened today. The lack of a decision on the Greek debt swap deal is leading investors to exercise caution both in Europe and the US. If the new Greek deal is anything like the last dozen or so, it will send markets up as soon as it is announced; and once people have a chance to read the details, markets will turn south again. Crude is higher today, with WTI up 0.51% at $98.91/barrel and Brent up 1.24% at $117.67/barrel. Gold closed down -0.73% at $1,735.60/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 6 points to 12,883.95 (0.04%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 12 points (0.41%) to 2,915.86, and the S&P 500 rose 0.22% or about 3 points to 1,349.97.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) cut to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) cut to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) cut to ‘market perform’ at FBR; Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) cut to ‘hold’ at Collins Stewart; and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) cut to ‘sell’ at Deutsche Bank.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) is up 2.16% at $82.95; CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) is up 1.18% at $43.59 after posting a new 52-week high of $44.08 earlier in the day; Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) is up 9.8% at $172.50 after posting a new 52-week high of $178.47 earlier today; Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) is down -1.35% at $39.57; Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) is up 0.3% at $38.21 after posting a new 52-week high of $39.23 earlier today; Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is up 0.95 at $41.34; Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: WYN) is up 5.6% at $43.22 after posting a new 52-week high of $43.36 earlier today; and Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) is up nearly 17% at $82.04 after posting a new 52-week high of $82.45 earlier today.

Our preview of tomorrow’s earnings releases is here. Also see our coverage of earnings for Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) due after markets close today

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Ceasars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR) is up more than 70% at $15.32. The casino owner completed its IPO today, with 1.8 million shares going out at $9/share. We have some issues with this IPO.

FriendFinder Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFN) is up nearly 33% at $1.95. The adult dating site had no news today, so this must just be more halo effect from Facebook — or something else.

Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: TNK) is down more than -12% today at $3.98. The shipping company this morning priced a secondary stock offering of 15 million shares at $4/share.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is up about 2% at $34.33. The internet company acquired a Canadian company today, and reports earnings after markets close today. We have more coverage here.

NeuroMetrix Inc. (NASDAQ: NURO) is down more than -17% at $0.95 after posting a new 52-week low of $0.94 earlier today. The medical device maker priced a secondary offering of 10.5 million shares at $1/share this morning.

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

8:30 a.m. – New unemployment benefits claims
10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade report
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
1:00 p.m. – Treasury 30-year bond auction
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AGU, AKAM, BWLD, CSCO, CVS, CZR, DIS, DMD, FFN, MS, NLY, NURO, RAI, RL, TNK, TWX, UBS, WYN, YUM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (NLY, MT, BP, CBOE, DMD, RDY, ING, MS, NOV, OPEN, SOHU, UBS, VSH, YUM)

Administrator — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:18:44 +0000

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

Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) Cut to Sell at S&P Capital IQ.
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) Raised Estimates by UBS; Cut to Hold at Soc-Gen.
CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (NYSE: RDY) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
ING Group, N.V. (NYSE: ING) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Cut to Hold at Collins Stewart.
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) raised target to $96 at Argus.
OpenTable Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer; Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse; Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) lowered targets by Credit Suisse and Nomura.
UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. (NYSE: VSH) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Credit Suisse makes a change to its favorite biotech list.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: BP, CBOE, DMD, ING, MS, MT, NLY, NOV, OPEN, RDY, SOHU, UBS, VSH, YUM

Media Digest (2/8/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:43:53 +0000

The Greeks try to get a financial aid package while some regional leaders say the eurozone does not need the southern European nation. (Reuters)

A House committee pushes through plans for a reconsideration of the Keystone XL pipeline. (Reuters)

The chairman of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) to leave. (Reuters)

Nissan posts better earnings on strong sales. (Reuters)

An attempt to bolster money market funds may involve setting up a capital buffer and blocking redemptions for 30 days. (Reuters)

A hacker releases source code from security firm Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC). (Reuters)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA) may close a transaction to allow the e-commerce company to stream premium video from Viacom properties. (Reuters)

The European Central Bank will change the treatment of its Greek debt to try to salvage a bailout deal. (WSJ)

Some large investors disapprove of a merger deal between Glencore and Xtrata. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) will again try to cut workers at Opel. (WSJ)

UBS (NYSE: UBS) to cut bonuses by 60%. (WSJ)

CalSTRS says it has concerns about the diversity of Facebook’s board. (WSJ)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) asks the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to set rules for patent licensing among mobile device companies. (WSJ)

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti believes Europe must move beyond austerity to plans that will help create growth. (WSJ)

U.S. businesses upgrade plants and move jobs back to the U.S. (WSJ)

European sales of U.S. companies rose in the fourth quarter, which may cause a problem this year as the region’s economy slows. (WSJ)

Six Spanish banks to set aside €11.8 billion because of real estate trouble in the country. (WSJ)

India becomes more open to foreign investment as its economy slows. (NYT)

As Greece fails to set a deal on its debt, more workers go on strike. (NYT)

U.S. stocks reach a six-month high. (FT)

Collateralized mortgage obligations, one of the causes of the credit crisis, are again popular investments for banks. (FT)

Prices for Canadian oil drop sharply as supplies surge. (FT)

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to fire 4,000 and move more production to Asia. (Bloomberg)

The Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) board rejects a $5.7 billion offer from Roche. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, AMZN, GM, ILMN, NOK, SYMC, UBS, VIA, YHOO

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADTN, AAP, APD, MT, ADP, BKU, BA, CATM, CSH, CVX, C, HGSI, LAMR, MA, RSH, SMG, UBS, VE, V, WFT, BRCM)

Administrator — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:14:47 +0000

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

ADTRAN, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) Cut to Hold at Needham Research.
Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Air Products and Chemical, Inc. (NYSE: APD) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
Automatic Data Processing. Inc. (NYSE: ADP) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE: BKU) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) Cut to Sell at Societe Generale.
Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CATM) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Cash America International (NYSE: CSH) Raised to Buy at Sterne Agee.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) maintained Buy with $130 target but cut estimates at Argus.
Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) Maintained Sell at Argus.
Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) Started as Buy with $14 price target at Maxim.
Lamar Advertising Co. (NASDAQ: LAMR) maintained as Outperform and named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks.
MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG) Cut to Underperform at BMO Capital.
UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Weatherford International Inc. (NYSE: WFT) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.

Read Also: Jim Cramer touts Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) as a cheap catch-up semiconductor stock. This creates a chart versus fundamental event in price.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AAP, ADP,, ADTN, APD, BA, BKU, BRCM, C, CATM, CSH, CVX, HGSI, LAMR, MA, MT, RSH, SMG, UBS, V, VE, WFT