MOST NOTEWORTHY: Edison International, Animal Health International and SanDisk were today's noteworthy initiations:

• RBC Capital initiated Edison International (NYSE: EIX) with an Outperform rating and $64 target citing strong rate base growth and the favorable environment at Southern California Edison.
  
• Piper assumed coverage of Animal Health International (NASDAQ: AHII) with a Buy rating and $10 target, as they believe the current valuation is attractive from long-term investors.
  
• Pacific Crest started SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) with a Sector Perform rating and believes the valuation is too high following the recent strength as product margins are trending down.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Sandler initiated Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ: HTBK) with a Hold rating and $16 target.
  
• Burger King (NYSE: BKC) was initiated with a Buy rating and $34 target at Piper.
  
• RBC Capital assumed U.S. Geothermal (AMEX: HTM) with an Outperform rating and $4 target.

Investors tired of getting whipsawed by the current stock market gyrations may wish to investigate a stable stock such as PetMed Express (NASDAQ: PETS). Americans currently spend in excess of $40 billion a year on their pets. That figure is expected to rise 12% annually for the next few years as pets fill the void in empty-nester baby boomer households. PetMed Express is sitting on $55 million in cash and NO debt.

At just under $12 per share, PetMed is near its 52-week low. The company recently instituted a $20 million stock buyback program. Latest quarterly and YTD numbers look great. Net sales in 3Q increased 19% to $37.3 million. YTD net sales are up 18% to $148 million. 3Q net income is up a huge 60% to $4.4 million. YTD net income increased 40% to $14 million.

65% of all company orders are placed through the company's website, and online sales continue to increase by volume. Reorder sales increased 28%, meaning more and more pet owners are perfectly comfortable ordering their pets' medication via the internet, just as they do their own.