A senior Chinese official says he expects the global recession to last for some time. (Reuters)

Spain’s center-right People’s Party gains a majority in parliament as work on austerity grows. (Reuters)

Delphi Automotive (NYSE: DLPH) may begin M&A work once its IPO is done. (Reuters)

Some retailers, including Gap (NYSE: GPS), Zales (NYSE: ZLC) and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), expect a hard holiday season. (WSJ)

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) pays $60 million to settle bribery claims brought by the government. (WSJ)

Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) may skip a large dept payment. (WSJ)

Twenty-two states set partial-work patterns that allow workers to operate part-time and receive reduced unemployment checks. (WSJ)

The used car business is growing quickly in China. (WSJ)

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) takes responsibility for a major spill off Brazil’s coast. (WSJ)

Many monthly magazines have ad page fall-offs in the fourth quarter. (WSJ)

Warren Buffett to invite analysts to the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) annual meeting. (WSJ)

Large U.S. companies continue to sell bonds with little impact from troubled financial markets. (WSJ)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has trouble competing with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Office. (NYT)

Retailers try to help catalog sales with apps. (NYT)

UBS (NYSE: UBS) may cut its bonus pool. (FT)

Volkswagen to make electric cars in China. (Bloomberg)

Foreign banks’ reserves at the Fed have doubled since the end of last year, as the financial firms seek safety. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

This weeks top analyst calls were in the following stocks: Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU); Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU); Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR); First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F); Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE); Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX);Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT); Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM); and Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC)

Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) was previously the high-flying network and communications equipment stock of the year, but then it went to being the most butchered stock of all of its peers.  We wonder if this downgrade last week that took the price target to $2.35 as the rating was cut to Underperform at Jefferies may have been the last bit of bad news to get out of the way.  Jefferies doesn’t seem to think so.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is one of the companies which we had listed as being one to outperform Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) over the next year if the analysts were anywhere close to accurate on their price targets.  Needless to say, it was a bit surprising to see that the rating was cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs when it seems as though China is seeing a soft landing rather than a hard landing.

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) is out of bankruptcy and is still sort of considered the laggard of the cable TV sector.  Not to Credit Suisse.  The firm initiated coverage with a rating of “Outperform” and it gave a $60.00 price target.  That would get the stock only within $1.00 of its post-reorganization high and the consensus price target from Thomson Reuters appears to be above $66 on this one.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is becoming the whipping boy of Wall Street.  Despite shares falling almost each and every week, its rating was cut last Monday to Hold from But by the research team at S&P Capital IQ.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) caught a corporate credit rating upgrade on Friday from Standard & Poor’s that takes Ford to one-notch under investment grade.  The rating rose from “BB-” to “BB+” and that brings Ford closer and closer to being comfortable enough to resuming its quarterly dividend payments.  Ford rose 4.7% on the news.

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) may have finally found a level where the stock value equals the upside.  The specialty steel player was Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo on Wednesday as shares were down more than 30% from the yearly high.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) rose well over 25% on Friday due to the woes of rival Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) due to Thailand floods hurting production.  Seagate was raised to Outperform at Baird and also raised to Buy at ThinkEquity on Friday ahead of the continued move higher.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is acting as though it wants to break out to the upside on the chart and go above the $55 ‘chart peak” to challenge $60.00 again.  Coincidentally, last Wednesday it was named as the Growth & Income Stock of the Day by Zacks investment research.  Maybe this time really is different.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) is just about always an expensive stock and buying it on pullbacks has generally been a gift.  One analyst thinks it is not so expensive, or at least thinks that the organic and high-end grocery destination is heading higher still.  Shares were raised to Buy at Jefferies and the price target is $90.00 per share.  That is $15 above the consensus price target.

Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) is the jeweler that needs all the help it can get and it is far less actively covered than say Tiffany. Last week shares were raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch as the company has a new CFO and as the bank expects a turnaround to continue.  Shares were under $3.00 early in the week and closed at $3.71 on Friday.

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Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Raised target to $30 from $28 at Credit Suisse; Reiterated Hold at Canaccord.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Started as Neutral at Lazard.
NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Steven Madden, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SHOO) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) named Growth & Income stock of the day at Zacks.
Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

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JON C. OGG

Be advised that many earnings estimates have not been updated in days and some of these estimates may have already changed.

Tuesday, August 30

Barnes and Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) has very few estimates but the company is now under a shadow since it lost Liberty as a bidder even if it got an investment from it. Shares are trading around $ 11.40; the 52-week trading range is $8.45 to $21.06.

China Finance Online Co Ltd. (NASDAQ: JRJC) has too few estimates to count but we are going to watch because the financial information provider is under the China cloud.  Shares are trading around $2.84; the 52-week trading range is $2.35 to $8.59.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) has estimates of $0.47 EPS and $3.54 billion in revenues.  Shares are trading around $33.50 and the 52-week trading range is $26.64 to $35.09.  We love this one long-term, but always keep in mind that private equity sellers are an overhang any time the price rises too much.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) has estimates of $0.22 EPS; shares are around $3.08 and the year’s range is $2.19 to $6.44.  Shares were up double-digits on Monday as it announced the exchange offer of shares by Ocean Rig UDW.

Wednesday, August 31

Fresh Market Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM) has estimates of $0.20 EPS and $273.9 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $34.95, the 52-week trading range is $30.86 to $46.85.

Zale Corp. (NYSE: ZLC) has to be looked at after Tiffany beat so well last week.  It has estimates of -$1.53 EPS and $336.65 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $4.75, the 52-week trading range is $1.50 to $6.90.

Thursday, September 1

Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) has been a poor performer in the tech selling and it should be assumed that its outlook will be weak if its peers are any indication.  The communications equipment maker has estimates of -$0.21 EPS and $443.3 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $12.10 and the 52-week trading range is $10.33 to $29.24.

Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR) has also been battered with tech stocks.  It has estimates of $0.21 EPS and $228.3 million. Shares are trading around $18.08, and the 52-week trading range is $12.26 to $46.09.

H & R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) has estimates of -$0.39 EPS and $275.1 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $14.95 and the 52-week trading range is $10.13 to $18.00.

Jos A Bank Clothiers Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB) is very thinly covered but it almost always has a large short interest.  The clothier has estimates of $0.67 EPS and $209.7 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $45.99 and the 52-week trading range is $36.41 to $57.14.

Friday, September 2

Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) has estimates of $0.37 EPS EPS and $1.57 billion in revenues. Shares are trading around $31.70, the 52-week trading range is $29.69 to $37.59.

Teavana Holdings Inc. (NYSE: TEA) is one that we do not have the research quiet period wrapped up yet but the company will give its first earnings report.  At $23.90, the recent post-IPO range is $20.28 to $29.35.

JON C. OGG

American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) Started as Buy at BofA/ML.
Black Hills Corporation (NYSE: BKH) Raised to Outperform but cut target to $33 at Credit Suisse.
Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) Raised to Buy at Argus.
CIGNA Corporation (NYSE: CI) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
CME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME) Raised to Buy at UBS.
FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) Maintained Buy but cut target to $3.00 at Canaccord Genuity.
James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) Cut to Strong Sell at S&P Equity Research (late-Thursday).
LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
Maidenform Brands, Inc. (NYSE: MFB) Reiterated Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE: MU) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo; Reiterated Buy and $14 target at Gleacher & Co.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Reiterated Outperform as #1 pick with $42 target at Credit Suisse.
SciQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ: SQI) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
SodaStream International Ltd. (NASDAQ: SODA) Reiterated Buy as Aggressive Growth at Zacks.
StanCorp Financial (NYSE: SFG) Reiterated Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Zipcar, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIP) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

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

We have gone through many analyst research reports to find ”the top analyst calls of the week.”  Of all of the calls we followed we came up with seven top research features from this last week that we wanted to keep in mind going forward.  Those top analyst calls calls were in shares of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD), Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO), HCA Inc. (NYSE: HCA), LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD), Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM), Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NYSE: QIHU), and Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC).

This week has mostly a bullish-call bias, but that is rarely the case as we usually have a mix of upgrades and downgrades that stood out throughout the week.  We often see some great research that flags more caution than ambition.  Included in each call is the price action and the implied target goals, along with color if applicable.

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) has failed to yield much of the upside we forecast that it could see when we called it one which could double over the next 12 to 24 months back in 2010.  This week came a sector upgrade for the most part in networking out of Janney Capital Markets’ Bill Choi where Brocade went from “Hold” to “Buy” with an $8.00 price target.  What was impressive about this call was that it was going into earnings and that can be a very dangerous time to recommend Brocade due to its volatile nature around earnings and guidance.

In short, it was a very gutsy call to upgrade Brocade even if it was part of a sector call.  Brocade closed up 6.5% at $6.67 on Friday and the 52-week range is $4.64 to $6.88.  Getting near the $11.00 per our old double is probably an opportunity that has passed Brocade by even if the stock is higher, but the $8.00 target from bill Choi of Janney Capital Markets compares to a consensus target from Thomson Reuters of $7.31.  Choi cited new products that can help it beat Cisco and on the belief that much negative news is already price into the stock.

Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) is one with the double-double as two different outfits touted this battered gold stock during the week.  A firm in Quebec called Desjardins upgraded this one to “Buy” from “Hold” this week. The move was up over 3% combined after the call and that si how much it closed up this last week.  Another portfolio fund manager named Tom Winmill at Midas Fund (a gold fund) also gave us a very positive outlook for this low-cost gold producer in our exclusive interview on Friday where he discussed $1,700 gold with Eldorado among several of his top picks mentioned.  After we took a look, most analysts feel that Eldorado IS gold because there is an implied 50% upside in the whole group of analysts as is.

HCA Inc. (NYSE: HCA) was an unusual catch among Whale Watching Week where all the billionaire and large portfolio manager holdings were released.  Reuters has an internal analyst group that looks for anomalies and other unusual data for ideas, although it is not always issuing Buy/Sell recommendations.  The catch is in a Reuters internal analyst audio-video where it was noted after the big Whale Watching that HCA was now a position held by eight of the thirty top hedge funds now that it has come public again in an IPO.  This was an unusual catch and the sub-$35 price today compares to a consensus price target of $39.61.  As it came public in March, chances are that the eight of thirty may actually be more as investors might have been slow to add the position since they only had three weeks to decide whether to add this position before the quarter-end.

The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Apartment Investment & Management Co. (NYSE: AIV) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO) Started as Outperform at KBW.
Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) reiterated Buy and raised target to $50 at Canaccord Genuity.
BRF - Brasil Foods S.A. (NYSE: BRFS) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
CAI International Inc. (NYSE: CAP) Maintained Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
CRA International (NASDAQ: CRAI) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) Started as Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) Started as Outperform at Macquarie.
Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM) Raised to Strong Buy at S&P Equity Research (late-Thursday).
Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NYSE: QIHU) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (NASDAQ: RRGB) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Regis Corporation (NYSE: RGS) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Maintained Buy with $170 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $24 at Argus.
Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) Raised to Buy at KeyBanc.
Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) Raised to Buy with $4.75 at BofA/ML.

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

When we look at the luxury jewelry market of US-traded shares, Tiffany & Co. stands above companies like Harry Winston Diamond Corporation (NYSE: HWD), Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE: SIG), and Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC).  Zale’s has been losing money and is not in a position to pay a dividend, but Signet last had a dividend in 2008 and Harry Winston last paid a dividend in early 2009.

When you annualize this to $1.16 per year and use roughly a $70.00 stock price it comes to a dividend yield of 1.65%.  This might not sound like a super-high dividend, but some of that is because Tiffany & Co.’s stock has a 52-week range of $35.81 to $70.26.  Its market cap is now $8.9 billion and Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of only $68.75.

With shares currently above the consensus price target objective, Tiffany’s only real choice was to hike its dividend.  Hiking a dividend is much better of a signal to investors than share buybacks.  Share buybacks are usually meant to infer that the stock is cheap at the current time, but when companies raise a dividend it is meant to imply that business is going to remain ample to support that payout for years.  A company can stop buying stock, but investors generally treat a lowering of dividends with a poor reception.

As far as how $1.16 per year comes out on the math, Thomson Reuters has estimates of $3.32 EPS for its Fiscal January-2012 and $3.79 EPS for its Fiscal January-2013.  If Tiffany can come anywhere close to its earnings estimates ahead then it can keep raising its dividends.

JON C. OGG

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) Raised to Buy at Collins Stewart.
Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES) Removed from Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) Removed from Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Raised to Buy at S&P Equity Research (late-Wednesday call).
Strayer Education Inc. (NASDAQ: STRA) maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.

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

24/7 Wall St. regularly compiles a report of brands that are likely to disappear in the near-term. Last April, and again in December, we published our findings. Usually, it would take a full year before such a list could be compiled again. However, the current economic climate has accelerated this process and a majority of the brands on the first two lists are either gone, have been acquired, or have filed for bankruptcy. Last April, 24/7 Wall St. identified twelve brands that our analysis showed would disappear, including Saturn, Borders, Palm, AIG and Eddie Bauer.

We also accurately identified brands that would disappear in our December list.

The first brand on that list was Newsweek. The publication was founded in 1933. Parent firm, The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO), has given up on the magazine, which it has owned since 1961. None of the buyout offers made thus far seem to be serious. Closing magazines was in vogue during the depths of the recession. Newsweek has little chance of staying open.

Another brand on last year’s list was Palm. Its sales were so slow and its new mobile device, the Pre, sold so poorly that Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) was able to buy Palm for next to nothing. The Palm brand is so badly damaged that HP is likely to keep the technology and kill the name.

Borders Group (NYSE: BGP), which was also on the December list, is still in business – barely. The company has closed most of its Waldenbooks stores, gone through serial layoffs and has now had two consecutive majority shareholders. It recently fired a number of the people in its UK operation. Borders is burdened with $300 million in debt, and its stock recently traded as low as $.35. The company is outmatched by larger and more successful competitors, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) were on our earlier list. We were wrong about them closing. They have become “wards of the state,” kept open by the US government to help maintain an orderly mortgage market. It is estimated that keeping the two firms open costs taxpayers about $7 billion a month. The companies lost a combined $291 billion in 2009. Members of Congress are pushing to have the companies shuttered. It is almost certain that they will not be around, at least in their current forms, much longer. One estimate is that the cost of supporting the two companies will total $1 trillion, making it more likely that they will be closed in the favor of other alternatives to maintain the mortgage market.

Another financial firm on our list, bond insurance firm Ambac (NYSE: ABK), warned last week that it may have to file for bankruptcy in the near-term. That news caused the stock to drop from a 52-week high of $3.39 to a $.51.  Ambac’s stock traded at $96 three years ago.

Sun Microsystems failed so badly in its core server market that it was forced to downsize to the point where it was not a viable standalone company. It was sold to Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) for a fraction of what it was worth three years ago.

We also completely missed the mark on a few companies.  They include Eastman Kodak, Motorola, and The GAP’s Old Navy brand.

With a number of the brands on the December list either gone or on a short-term path to extinction, 24/7 Wall St. has put together the latest version of the Ten Brands that Will Disappear. To qualify, we expect that brand to be gone by the end of 2011, or for its parent to be sold or go into Chapter 11.