Jon OggThese are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Thursday morning. Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) Raised to Buy at UBS. Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI)…
Banks were already having a good day, but a new ruling has come out from the Federal Reserve on interchange fees. Maybe the proper description would be “less bad” of news. Banks were expected…
Another research report is actually out in support of Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRD). Yesterday came a report from short seller Muddy Waters questioning some accounting issues from back years on top of the…
There are several ways in which companies can return money to shareholders, but the two most common methods of returning cash to shareholders are dividends and stock buybacks. Dividends are rarely controversial unless they…
When (if) a conversation ever turns to battery technology, most folks’ eyes glaze over and they begin to think about their next vacation. Maybe that should change. Johnson Controls, Inc. (NYSE: JCI), maker of…
Over the last couple of week’s, two of the best performing ETFs were the iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (NYSE: ITB), up more than 7%, and the SPDR Series Trust S&P Homebuilders…
The Keystone XL Pipeline project has been under review for more than two years now, and has already secured approval from the Alberta provincial government and the Canadian national government. The pipeline, originating near…
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is showing investors this morning that its book value may actually be more relevant than what it had been given credit for. The largest bank by deposits in…
Jon OggThese are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Wednesday morning. AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank. ARM…
Quantitative Easing, or QE, is a term that many investors were forced to understand. Then came QE2 as an even more difficult pill to swallow. After the FOMC or any central bank has taken…
ZyngaCNBC got the ball rolling today on yet another bubbly internet social media IPO coming down the pipe via Zynga with an IPO filing as soon as Wednesday. Now the WSJ is noting much…
Following a pretty steady climb since August 2010, the NASDAQ peaked in late April before tumbling almost 9%. The tech-heavy index is trying to start over again, but it’s a bumpy hill. It’s trading…
Sirius XMSIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) has seen its corporate credit rating lifted in tone today by Standard & Poor’s. The current rating of “BB-” was given a an outlook upgrade to ‘positive’…
Having positions and covering them openly on a near-live basis is a tricky business. At issue is not so much an insider trading question, but when financial transactions meet issues behind freedom of speech. …
For the past couple of weeks the price of corn has risen above the price of wheat, a market condition that has occurred just twice before in the last 27 years. The reversal typically…
Trinseo S.A. has filed its foreign registration paperwork with the SEC for an initial public offering of it shares. Trinseo is public limited liability company under the laws of Luxembourg. Through its offering the…
Do voluntary markets for renewable energy work? Government-mandated energy portfolios sort of work although the energy costs more and utilities — and consumers — often wail at having to buy the more expensive energy.…
Companies sometimes make moves that spook investors, even if the intent is to signal something else entirely. Today marked the change where The Knot Inc. (NASDAQ: KNOT) changed to XO Group Inc. (NYSE: XOXO). …
Water may be the source of life, but it is also perhaps one of the most misunderstood and most “under-invested” themes for those investors who want income and growth year after year throughout the…
Jon OggThese are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning. Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) Reiterated Buy with $79 target at Argus. Avanir Pharmaceuticals,…