Jon OggThese are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Friday morning. Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse. BB&T…
The social media hype around the Facebook IPO is driving many shares in the sector of online social media. Some of the Halo-effect may not even be deserved, and this has all the ingredients…
Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) was having a good day on its own with a 6% gain, but light revenues are gutting the stock. The company’s revenues were light against an already lowered range…
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) is trading lower after earnings, but this may be due more to a give back from big gains this week and it may be a headline issue. The first headline…
The world of high-yield corporate bonds and the world of investment-grade corporate bonds may be nearing another near-term inflection point. Many retail investors have to go find yield elsewhere outside of the Treasury market,…
StemCells, Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) is seeing a rather favorable reaction to an FDA trial approval today. The question to ask is if the move is justified. The exact news is a FDA authorization for the…
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) was mixed enough in the earnings report that you might have been scratching your head as to how the reaction would have been going into the halt. …
Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE: BZH) and PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM) are seeing two different reactions after earnings. Beazer’s recent order growth came at a price against margins. It had 31% order growth but the…
Just what does a cratering Baltic Dry Index mean? Frankly, it looks and acts as though it is signaling the next recession is here already rather than signaling that it is coming. That flies…
We have noted that this week should be the climax of the companies reporting earnings which have a calendar or quarterly year-end in December. Still, some reports are still coming this week and next…
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) has issued a voluntary recall of more than 1 million fax machines. The recall pertains to some 928,000 HP fax 1040 and 1050 machines in the United States and another…
The trucking segment of the transportation sector is not all that well-known for its great dividend payments. Don’t tell that to J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT). This trucking outfit has been raising dividends…
MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) has been seeing its shares sag ahead of a stock and debt offering. The company plans to sell about $50 million in new shares and up to $161 million in debt. …
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was testifying in front of the House Budget Committee this morning and he made some interesting comments about our ongoing deficits and debt levels wrecking the future. The FOMC…
Sandridge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) is getting shelled today. The company’s new announcement that it was going to buy Dyanmic Offfshore for $1.28 billion has created some waves. Dynamic operates in the Gulf of…
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is launching a new Sports Collectibles Store and it is claiming to offer more than 2 million unique collectibles from major sports leagues and sporting events. While this is a…
Merck & Company, Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is trading up after its earnings report. With a high dividend yield of 4.4%, many investors are watching this despite a stance of little to no real growth…
The weekly jobless claims data from the Labor Department showed a continued trend of improvement this morning. The new jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 367,000 in the week ended January 28. The reading…
Jon OggThese are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Thursday morning. AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.…
2012 is getting off to a great start for the equity markets. We recently looked at the performance of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B), which is underperforming this year so far with…