BSkyB’s entry is not good news for Netflix’s nascent service. The British company claims about 10.4 million paid subscribers to its satellite service that now costs about $75/month. Worse, for Netflix, is that BSkyB currently owns first-run satellite rights to most Hollywood movies and the company has been willing to pay high prices to maintain its catbird seat.

Customers of BSkyB will be able to pay a monthly subscription rate (as yet unspecified) or rent the movies on a per-viewing basis. Netflix offers only a subscription package. Still worse for Netflix, BSkyB already offers its 10.4 million subscribers free streaming of some content.

Perhaps worst of all for Netflix, which is getting price competition from Lovefilm already, is that BSkyB, with its lock on first rights for new content, may actually be able to charge customers more for the streaming service. Most of Netflix’s content is older movies and TV shows because content owners have been reluctant to allow the company to stream the content until DVDs have been released.

If BSkyB is able to maintain its hold on new content, and charge more for it, Netflix and the other streaming providers will have a very tough fight on their hands. One thing the competition has on its side is a running investigation of BSkyB’s near-monopoly position in the pay TV movie market. A final ruling is due in August, and a preliminary ruling did go against the British giant.

From a BSkyB shareholder’s point of view, it might be better to sign up more subscribers at $75/month than a lot of streaming only subscribers paying less than $10/month, at least in the short run.

Netflix shares are down nearly -5% today, at $119.20 in a 52-week range of $62.37-$304.79. In the last month, Netflix shares have gained 72% on a run of positive developments. Today’s news is the first serious hiccup.

Paul Ausick

Netflix also faces competition from the BBC and the UK’s Channel 4, both of which offer free streaming video. Lovefilm, in a counter-move, today began offering unlimited streaming for about $7.50/month in the UK. Other competitors include Virgin Media Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED) and British Sky Broadcasting.

Netflix has already said that it will lose money in the first quarter because profits in the US will not cover the investments the company is making internationally.

The company’s early success with DVD rentals has caused the media providers more demand higher royalties, putting Netflix in a squeeze that forced the company to try to raise US subscription fees by 60%. The company’s ill-fated Qwikster launch in the US drained 800,000 customers from Netflix’s US subscriber base and caused the company’s share price to fall by more than -50%.

Whether or not Netflix can enjoy the same level of success in Europe that it once held in the US remains to be seen. Fierce competition in the US and internationally coupled with rising prices for content present strong headwinds to Netflix, which depends on subscriber fees for revenues and profits. Amazon, for example, essentially offers its streaming video service free to Amazon Prime members who pay an annual fee of $79 and also get free 2-day shipping on all merchandise orders.

Netflix shares are up about 4.5% this morning, at $90.11 in a 52-week range of $62.37-$304.79.

Paul Ausick

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) reiterated Buy with $100 target at Argus.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Maintained Buy but cut target to $90 at Argus.
Gardner Denver, Inc. (NYSE: GDI) named Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
j2 Global Communications (NASDAQ: JCOM) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
McDermott International Inc. (NYSE: MDR) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) Raised to Outperform and $135 target at Credit Suisse.
Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) Cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Cut to Sector Perform at Scotia (late-Thursday).
Spectrum Brands Inc. (NYSE: SPB) Started as Outperform with $35 target at Credit Suisse.
Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) Raised to Outperform at Macquarie.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM) Raised to Buy at BNP Paribas.
Virgin Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

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Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) Raised to Strong Buy at S&P Equity Research (late-Tuesday).
Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP) Maintained positive and raised target to $26 at Susquehanna.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) Raised to Outperform at Bernstein.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Hold at Auriga.
Knight Transportation Inc. (NYSE: KNX) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Lender Processing Services (NYSE: LPS) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Mobile Telesystems OJSC (NYSE: MBT) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Vimpel-Communications (NYSE: VIP) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Virgin Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: WYN) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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

JON C. OGG

BP plc (NYSE: BP) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) Started as Buy with $8 target at Janney.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Started as Neutral with $18 target at Janney.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) STarted as Buy with $34 target at Janney.
Encore Wire Corporation (NASDAQ: WIRE) maintained Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Started as Buy with $48 target at Janney.
Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
NeAtpp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) Started as Neutral at Janney.
North American Palladium Ltd. (AMEX: PAL) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.
OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE: OMX) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Petroleum Development Corporation (NASDAQ: PETD) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) Cut to Neutral at Collins Stewart.
Teradyne Inc. (NYSE: TER) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Universal Tech Institute (NYSE: UTI) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Virgin Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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

JON C. OGG

Ace Ltd. (NYSE: ACE) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) Removed from Conviction Buy List but maintained Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Canadian Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) Cut to Hold at Auriga.
Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
CM Group Inc. (NYSE: CME) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Raised to Buy with $138 target at Auriga.
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) Raised to Buy at Lazard.
New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: NYB) Raised to Outperform at BMO.
Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Virgin Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) Cut to 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

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The companies on the 24/7 Wall St. Worst Places for Women to Work list have no women on their boards and no women in senior management.  Any company on the list would have to: 1) completely lack sensitivity to the issues of women in the work place, or 2) have enough misgivings about women to insure that all the people who have any meaningful place in running their companies have to be men. It is hard to say whether these companies are “female-free” at the top tiers because of misogyny or dull-wittedness.  The practice of equal opportunity is missing at all of these companies.

Our analysis makes an assumption, but we believe it is a fair one. A company with no women on its board or in senior management is extremely unlikely to be concerned about the issue of disparity in pay by gender  and is likely to perform worse than the national census average in terms of what it pays its non-executive female management and its women rank-and-file employees.

24/7 Wall St.’s 1o Worst Places For Women To Work:
1. Phillip Morris (PM) is one of the largest tobacco companies in the world and has nearly 75,000 employees. Women are often assigned to run human resources and corporate communications departments at companies where men dominate the management, and PM is no exception. The highest ranking corporate executive is Daniele Regorda, vice president of human resources. Phillip Morris claims that the company is “always striving to broaden the diversity of our workforce and are continuously working to identify, hire and retain the best qualified individuals, wherever they are located or whatever their background.” No wonder they call him the Marlboro Man. Nine board members, zero women.

2. Icahn Enterprises (IEP) is a diversified holding company with around 47,000 employees. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is the firm’s chairman. Women looking for executive positions at the company can contact Icahn Enterprises, 767 Fifth Avenue, 47th Floor, New York, NY, 10153. Icahn can afford a female board member.

3. Virgin Media (VMED) is in the mobile telephone and broadcast business, and has 13,380 employees. Virgin is based in the UK and is part of the Richard Branson collection of companies. Branson is a media star among global corporate chiefs. The firm has 11 directors, all of which are, you guessed it, men. The senior female member of the Virgin Media management is Elisa Nardi, Chief People Officer, or head of human resources.

4. Liberty Media (LINTA) has a $7.7 billion dollar market value.  This part of cable and content king John Malone’s empire has about 19,000 employees and holds a number of satellite broadcast and content assets including assets in QVC, Starz, and Expedia. The company has nine directors including Malone. No women executives are listed at the corporation’s website.

5. L-3 (LLL) Holdings provides military technology and employs 66,000 people. It is the sixth largest defense company in the United States. L-3 as nine directors. There are no women in executive management but the head of employee benefits and general counsel are both women. It is almost impossible to understand why the federal government would sanction this.

6. EOG Resources (EOG) is an oil and natural gas company with 2,100 employees and a $23 billion market cap, which makes it one of the most valuable firms in its sector. The head of human resources and administration and the head of accounting are women.

7. Cameron International (CAM) provides equipment for the national gas and oil industries. The company has 17,000 employees, eight board members, no women in positions of major responsibility. Seven senior executives are listed in the proxy–all male. Also, all board members but one are over 60–a sort of reverse age discrimination.

8. National Oilwell Varco (NOV) is an oilfield services company which provides mechanical components for oil and gas drilling projects. About 40,000 employees. Eight directors, none of which are women.

9. Emcor (EME) is an electrical and mechanical construction and facilities services company with 28,000 employees. The only female corporate executive is the head of corporate communications, and she is not considered “senior management” as the SEC defines the term.

10. XTO Energy (XTO) has 3,100 employees and a market cap of $27 billion. The firm prides itself on its ability to find and import oil and natural gas.  Apparently, they aren’t quite as concerned about scavenging for corporate gender diversity.

Honorable mention: Shaw Group (SHAW) is a diversified manufacturing company has nearly 28,000 employees. Its market cap at $3 billion is relative small. They have no female officers or directors either.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS) hit a yearly high of $57.19 after the company announced the opening of 37 new stores.

Och-Ziff Capital Management (NYSE: OZM) hit a yearly high of $12.24 as the company continues to recover from a significant decline in assest under management.

Petrobras Energia Participaciones SA (NYSE: PZE) rallied over 180% to a yearly high of $17.97 after it announced that the company was completing reorganization moves.

TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE: TDG) hit a yearly high of $49.94 after announcing that it would offer $425 million of senior subordinated notes in order to fund a special dividend.

Virgin Media Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED) hit a yearly high of 13.97, capping off a monthly gain of 17%.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) hit a yearly  high of $17.80, capping off a monthly gain of nearly 20%.

Garrett W. McIntyre

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) cut to Sell from Hold at Citi.
Fred’s Inc. (FRED) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Family Dollar Stores (FDO) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.

Finish Line (FINL) Started as Outperform at Wedbush Morgan.
Sepracor (SEPR) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Virgin Media (VMED) Started as Outperform by Credit Suisse.
Whitney Holding (WTNY) Raised to Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Zumiez (ZUMZ) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.

JON C. OGG

• BB&T (BBT) Raised to Market Perform at KBW.
• Expeditors International (EXPD) Raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
• Fluor (FLR) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
• Jacobs Engineering (JEC) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
• J. Crew (JCG) Raised to Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Nokia (NOK) Raised to Hold from Sell at Societe Gednerale.
• Sigma-Aldrich (SIAL) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• Virgin Media (VMED) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
January 23, 2009