Key Stocks To Watch This Coming Week, The Unusual Suspects (AIG, ACOM, BAC, BRK-A, BRK-B, BMTI, C, CROX, GPRE, SLV, LULU, NBG, PG, RAH, CAG, SNE, THC, CYH, X)

We have a very busy week ahead for equity investors, even outside of earnings season.  This coming week’s key events, what we call The Unusual Suspects, is non-earnings related and includes the following: American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG); Ancestry.com Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOM); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B); BioMimetic Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: BMTI); Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C); CROCS Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX); Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRE); iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV); Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU); Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG); Ralcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RAH); ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE: CAG); Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE); Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC); Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH); and United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X).

We have given much more detail on these individually and we have outlined specifics on each.  In some cases, we have even included what the expected impact could be to the shares if it is a price-changing event. 

We created a separate detailed earnings calendar with full previews already and that can be accessed.  We also have to watch for key inflation data this week as outlined in our economic summary for the key issues to watch this week from government scores on economic data.  Also, here is a list of the Top 7 Analyst Calls of Last Week with big predictions or controversial calls.

American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) was highlighted in Barron’s as a “Moment of Truth” due to the current share sale that has run into issues.  The Treasury wants closer to current prices, but investment bankers think more of a discount has to be offered due to the dilution.  Consider this the second week of a five or six-week ordeal.

Ancestry.com Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOM) is expected to have its secondary price this week, perhaps Tuesday) for 3.75 million shares.  At $40.95 on Friday, this one has a 52-week range of $15.23 to $45.79. Keep in mind that this is from selling holders rather than from the company, but the company did commit to buying $25 million of its stock directly from the holders as part of its $125 million share buyback plan.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) may offer more light on its dividend and on its mortgage putback fears as its annual meeting is Wednesday.  Shares have not been holding up well, particularly when you consider that Bank of America is now well under its book value.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) turned in its official earnings for the first quarter on Friday and the $966 EPS per A-Share was under a $1,149 per share consensus from Bloomberg.  This was in the news, but we already knew that the net income was going to be stunted due to losses from natural disasters in its insurance operations.  The data had mostly been released the weekend before at the Annual Shareholder Meeting.

BioMimetic Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: BMTI) is rather small at $371 million in market cap and it is by and large at the pre-revenue stage.  It is also thinly covered by analysts. This coming Thursday will begin a FDA Advisory Panel meeting with a consideration for the company’s new bone graft product.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) will see its 1-for-10 reverse stock split take effect.  If the Friday prices remain static, then the new adjusted price would be $45.20 and its adjusted 52-week trading range would go to $35.30 to $51.50.  We gave a full breakdown of what to expect, with some other winners and losers from the impact here (far and wide).

CROCS Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) has its annual analyst meeting on Monday.  This is going to be treated much differently because shares have risen some 150%… The stock closed at $21.00 on Friday and the 52-week range is $8.53 to $21.59.  This one is no longer “cheap” but the average analyst price target is above $25.00 now.  We’ll look for many new long-term estimates to be altered by analysts on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRE) is one that investors and traders need to watch as one of the large independent ethanol players on reports that Senator Grassley is pushing for an end to the ethanol blending tax credit as it is today to more of an oil price dependent benefit ahead.  This could be one more big blow to what is already a very controversial sector via ethanol.

iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) is going to remain in focus all over again this week now that its shares have tracked the collapse of silver after a meteoric rise.  This is down almost $14 from its highs and closed at $34.48 on Friday.  More importantly, there was an average of over 200 million shares a day last week.  Expect more volatility this week as new margin requirements kick in on the futures markets.  We have outlined why some of the bounces may just be dead cat bounces.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) came in as the #1 chart on the IBD-100 in Investors Business Daily this weekend.  At $94.95, its 52-week trading range is $31.08 to $102.83.  What we find odd here is that shares closed down this last week from a prior Friday close of $100.05.

National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) will be key to watch for Greece as the rumors that Greece was leaving the Euro were refuted and appear to be baseless (for the near term anyway).  This one slid hard on the rumors on Friday and the ADR lost 5.4% to close at $1.40 and it briefly hit a new 52-week low of $1.35 on the rumors as well.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) has finally seen its 52-week trading range normalize and it now no longer appears in major stock screens to have doubled.  The Flash Crash of 2010 gave this one artificially low prints down around $39.00 and it took a whole year for this to disappear.  The proper range now is $58.92 to $66.95 and Friday’s close was $65.27.

Ralcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RAH) received a merger offer of $82 from ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE: CAG) in cash and stock, which was then raised to $86 per share in cash, and Ralcorp has rejected the sweetened deal.  Ralcorp even adopted a poison pill.  It is expected this week that ConAgra will make public that ConAgra hired a proxy firm to go hostile and Ralcorp shares closed at $90.34 on Friday after hitting a 52-week high of $90.78.  We are about to find out just how high ConAgra is willing to go.

Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) was said to have more delays in restarting its PlayStation Network due to the hacking incidents.  The company is facing more and more challenges after what was already a questionable situation.  There are also rumors that more hacks are planned against Sony and the credibility of its entire system is now under fire. Now Sony is going to have to figure out how to salvage its reputation and its integrity.

Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) is seeing its $7.25 tender offer from Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH) expire on Monday.  The prevailing thought is that Tenet is not going to play ball, particularly as its shares closed Friday down at $6.53.  The numbers going around the investing community for what it would take to get a deal done really might not matter because Tenet basically doesn’t want to sell.  Its stock used to be significantly higher.

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) was given a positive article this weekend in Barron’s by Andrew Bary, “Why U.S. Steel Could be a Steal.” While no formal price target was given outright, this could generate gains of 1.5% to 2% in a market neutral scenario.  Thomson Reuters listed a consensus price target of nearly $60.00 on U.S. Steel, so there is already a large expected upside besides teh Barron’s help.  Shares closed at $45.66 on Friday and the 52-week range is $36.93 to $64.03.

This coming Tuesday we get to see Import/export prices and wholesale trade; on Wednesday we get to see International trade data and the likely depressing Treasury Budget (Bloomberg sees -$65 billion).  On Thursday we get to see wholesale inflation via PPI, retail sales, weekly jobless claims, business inventories, and even a 30-Year Treasury Bond auction.  On Friday we get to digest retail inflation data via CPI and then comes Consumer Sentiment from University of Michigan.

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JON C. OGG