Cramer cautiously bullish on Lehman Brothers (LEH) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Higher interest rate are making commercial real estate deal makers think twice about deals, according to the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street," sending shares of companies like Archstone-Smith Trust (NYSE: ASN) down from $64 to $60.75 a share.
• The Financial Times reported that U.S. senators have proposed new laws that would impose higher taxes on private equity firms that list their shares on stock exchanges, a move that could be a blow to private-equity firm Blackstone Group, which is seeking to list its shares.
• The U.S. and U.K. are working on a treaty that would allow Britain to buy American weapons without obtaining export licenses, the Financial Times reported; any deal on the issue could face opposition in the U.S. Congress, although the British believe eliminating the need for the licenses would expedite the arms purchasing process.

• Turnaround candidate Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) may be ready to shine, BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column reported, and now may be a good time to evaluate a potential EK play, according to investment advisor Gregory MacArthur.
• Gateway Inc (NYSE: GTW) is selling products in China for the first time in a pilot program with Digital China Holdings Ltd, the LA Times reported.
• According to The Nation, The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) is planning to ask its board of directors later this year for approval to invest in five petrochemical projects in Thailand.
• Cementos Portland Valderribas, a unit of Fomento de Construcciones y Contractas is planning a bid for Texas Industries Inc (NYSE: TXI), the Expansion reports, citing people close to the situation.

Newspaper wrap-up 6-15-07: Gateway selling products in China originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 Jun 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan as the firm believes the company has addressed weakness in display advertising with recent partnership announcements and the acquisition of Right Media. Additionally, the firm still sees upside to Panama.
• Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, citing valuation and a favorable risk/reward.
• Merriman upgraded shares of Dress Barn (NASDAQ: DBRN) to Buy from Neutral to reflect the improved sales trends in May and sees the stock trading at the high end of its peer group average or in a range of $25.50-$27.00.

• Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) was upgraded to Buy from Sell at Societe Generale, which also added shares to its Premium List.
• Lehman Brothers upgraded AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB) to Equal Weight from Underweight, as the firm views AVB as a close comp to Archstone-Smith Trust (NYSE: ASN). Lehman also upgraded Post Properties (NYSE: PPS) to Equal Weight from Underweight, citing industry M&A activity, and China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC) to Buy from Neutral, citing valuation.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of BG Group plc (NYSE: BRG) to Buy from Hold to reflect expected growth in the company's liquefied natural gas business.
• Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W Baird, which expects improved performance at JBoss and a positive mix shift in the core O/S business following the release of RHEL 5.

Analyst upgrades 5-31-07: Yahoo! upgraded to Overweight originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 May 2007 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Rodman & Renshaw downgraded Bioenvision to Market Perform from Outperform, as the firm expects the majority of shareholders to vote in favor of Genzyme Corp.'s (NASDAQ: GENZ) acquisition, but does not believe the transaction price reflects the true value of the company.
• Bioenvision Inc. (NASDAQ: BIVN) was also downgraded at UBS to Neutral from Buy due to the acquisition.
• Archstone-Smith Trust (NYSE: ASN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel Nicolaus, to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia and to Market Perform from Outperform at Friedman Billings following the acquisition by Tishman Speyer and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH).
• GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Merrill Lynch to reflect an unattractive risk/reward profile as they believe Avandia sales will be negatively impacted by the safety concerns raised in the New England Journal of Medicine.

• Clayton Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CLAY) was downgraded to Market Outperform from Strong Buy at JMP Securities, as the firm believes a 2H07 recovery in the subprime MBS market is becoming less visible.
• CDW Corp (NASDAQ: CDWC) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns following the acquisition by Madison Dearborn Partners.

Analyst downgrades 5-30-07: GlaxoSmithKline to Sell originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 May 2007 11:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Before the bell 5-29-07: M&A activity pushing stocks higher originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 May 2007 07:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Bear Stearns upgraded MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) to Outperform from Peer Perform following Kirk Kerkorian's intentions to purchase the Bellagio and City Center and also pursue strategic alternatives for the rest of the company.

• Matrix raised KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) to Buy from Hold, believing that growing demand for memory chips used in computers is leading to increasing revenues and profits.

• Cowen upgrade shares of Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) to Outperform from Neutral based on cash deployment potential from the RAC sale, pension EPS tailwind, foreign sales cycle, and strong execution.

• Wachovia upgraded shares of Archstone-Smith Trust (NYSE: ASN) and Apartment Investment and Management Co (NYSE: AIV) to Outperform from Market Perform and Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) and UDR, Inc (NYSE: UDR) to Market Perform from Underperform...

• AG Edwards upgraded Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE: MRO) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RSA.A) to Buy from Hold.

• Stifel raised Citrix Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CTXS) to Buy from Hold.

• RBC Capital raised Kilroy Realty Corp (NYSE: KRC), Boston Properties, Inc (NYSE: BXP) and Maquire Properties, Inc (NYSE: MPG) to Sector Perform from Underperform.

Analyst upgrades 5-22-07: BXP, KLAC, MGM and RTN originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 May 2007 10:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.