CB posts
FeedPosted Sep 23rd 2009 9:10AM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Chubb Corp (CB), Stocks to Buy
Other insurers' loss is
Chubb Corp.'s (NYSE:
CB) gain. Back in May, the case was made that given competitors' woes, and Chubb's demonstrated business model, superior personal lines, and diverse business mix, CB deserved a higher multiple than its May P/E of 9.
Well, the market finally took note of CB, boosting shares this summer, hence I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for Chubb, first recommended
on May 29, 2009 at a price of $39.65. If you bought CB then, you're up about 23%.
Continue reading Chubb is finally getting noticed
Posted Jun 2nd 2009 10:00AM by Jim Cramer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Apple Inc (AAPL), Ford Motor (F), Market matters, Citigroup Inc. (C), Chubb Corp (CB), Amer Intl Group (AIG), DJIA, Cramer on BloggingStocks, Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV)
TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that it's the most conservative player in an industry filled with gunslingers. The keepers of the Dow Jones Industrial Average must have felt insurance-less after the defrocking of
AIG (NYSE:
AIG) (
Cramer's Take), so it's fitting that they added
Travelers (NYSE:
TRV) (
Cramer's Take) to the list, even as I would have preferred
Ford (NYSE:
F) (
Cramer's Take) or
Apple (NASDAQ:
AAPL) (
Cramer's Take).
They needed a financial that wasn't a bank and there aren't many out there that still trade at anything but desperate levels or weren't saved by the government.
Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Travelers is a fitting pick
Posted Apr 23rd 2009 10:40AM by Jim Cramer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), eBay (EBAY), Intel (INTC), Market matters, International Business Machines (IBM), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Best Buy (BBY), Corning Inc (GLW), Sun Microsystems (JAVA), Oracle Corp (ORCL), QUALCOMM Inc (QCOM), Broadcom Corp'A' (BRCM), Cramer on BloggingStocks
Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: It's go with the flow on tech stocks
Posted Feb 25th 2009 10:45AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, AT and T (T), Chubb Corp (CB), Analyst initiations, General Dynamics Corp (GD)
Analyst upgrades:
- Banc of America/Merrill upgraded DPL Inc (NYSE: DPL) to Neutral from Underperform following the settlement agreement with staff of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on Electric Security Plan.
- Friedman Billings upgraded SeaBright Insurance (NYSE: SBX) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation as they believe shares are oversold at current levels. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target price to $14 from $16.
- JP Morgan upgraded AT&T (T) to Overweight from Neutral as it believes upside earnings revisions are likely in 2009 due to the company's conservative wireline margin outlook. The firm finds the stock's valuation attractive at current levels and raised their target on shares to $28 from $24.
- Chubb (NYSE: CB) was upgraded to buy from Neutral at UBS.
- Cascal B.V. (NYSE: HOO) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
- Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE: HR) was upgraded at Keefe Bruyette to Outperform from Market Perform.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: T, FSLR, CEPH, CB ...
Posted Feb 5th 2009 11:45AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Dell (DELL), Chubb Corp (CB), Analyst initiations, Akamai Technologies (AKAM), Marvell Technology Group (MRVL)
Analyst upgrades:
- Citigroup upgraded shares of Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q4 results as they believe fundamentals are stabilizing. The firm raised their target price to $22 from $12.
- Baird upgraded Theravance (NASDAQ: THRX) to Outperform from Neutral. The firm said the company looks poised to realize the two-product success necessary to drive profitability, and Horizon will likely play a role in succeeding $7B+ Advair. Note that last night Theravance/Glaxo (GSK) reported positive results for Horizon.
- RBC Capital said Aeterna Zentaris (NASDAQ: AEZS) is on the cusp of a Cetrorelix deal and has turned more positive on shares. Shares were upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform.
- Marvell Tech (NASDAQ: MRVL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman and added to the firm's Conviction Buy List.
- Sangamo BioSciences (NASDAQ: SGMO) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merriman.
- Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG) was upgraded at Piper Jaffray to Buy from Neutral.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AKAM, MRVL, THRX, DELL, CRNT, TRV, AEIS ...
Posted Oct 7th 2008 12:25PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Other issues, Good news, Rants and raves, General Electric (GE), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Market matters, Money and Finance Today, DJIA, Stocks to Buy, Recession
My colleague (sort of) James Cramer has suddenly turned into a giant, growling bear. He has been moving in that direction for a few months and now he thinks we all should go into hibernation for five years. He is so wrong!
First of all, it is never a good idea to make decisions while you are in panic mode. Second, Jim's guidance is moving with the market so he is not making any serious prognostication, just staying slightly ahead of the mob. He might as well stick his finger in the air.
Are things bad? Yes! Could they get worse? Yes! Would I run for the hills? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Even though I agree we are in for some tough times, I think the market is reacting to more than meets the eye (see All bets are off -- stocks' irrational downside).
If I recall correctly, 50% of the significant gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average were made on 7% of the up days. You have to be in the game to win the game. If you are in panic mode you should alter your investment portfolio so that you can rest easy. Diversification helps and speculation hurts.
Most people who have been investing for any length of time have heard of dollar cost averaging. This is where you put a certain amount of money into an index fund regularly each month, so that when the market is up you are buying fewer shares at higher prices and when the market is on sale, like it may be today, you are buying more shares at a lower price. This allows you to grow your portfolio consistently while paying a reasonable price for the shares you add -- on average.
Continue reading No Cramer, now is not the time to panic!
Posted Oct 6th 2008 1:11PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Good news, Walt Disney (DIS), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Chubb Corp (CB), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), Bargain stocks, Serious Money, Stocks to Buy, Israel, Xcel Energy (XEL)

It was July 1, 2008 when I first posted
Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times. The title speaks for itself. This update, after nine weeks and horrible market conditions, is through Friday October 3, 2008.
The index for comparison is the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The S&P closed Friday at 1,099.23 , down 14.12%.
Each of my five picks is beating the market and three of the five are actually up despite crushing news in the financial sector, unemployment and housing. Congress did pass a Wall Street backstop/bailout bill that President Bush has signed, but only after adding another 450 pages and $130 billion to the amount. Although the five stocks have averaged a 0.75% loss, as intended, they easily beat the S&P by 13.37%.
Here are the five stocks that I still think are worth considering. For my original rationale see the linked story above.
1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) -- when recommended, the stock closed at $64.34 and paid a 2.89% dividend yield. It closed Friday at $66.16 -- up 2.75%. JNJ was featured in Barron's this month as the most respected from the top 100 companies in the world.
2)
Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ:
TEVA) -- when recommended, the stock closed
at $45.80 and paid a 1% dividend yield. It closed October 3 at $46.08
-- up 0.06% 0.62% Teva (of Isreal) is the largest generic drug company in the world and just got bigger through the acquisition of Barr Pharmaceuticals last month.
Continue reading Serious Money: Stable stocks beating S&P 500 - CB, DIS, JNJ, TEVA, XEL
Posted Sep 17th 2008 2:30PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Other issues, Good news, Rants and raves, Walt Disney (DIS), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Chubb Corp (CB), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), Serious Money, Xcel Energy (XEL)

The Dow Jones is down around 300 points again (
Update: closed down 450) so it's time to revisit my stable stock picks to see how they are holding up. Each of my five picks is beating the market and all of them are up despite crushing news in the financial sector every day since my last report.
The prediction business is highly speculative, but I gave it a try anyway, searching for stocks that would hold their value. This update is a spot-check of my earlier post,
Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times. The closing prices are from yesterday but these companies are doing well in today's down market too as the
government steps in again and bails out AIG with $85 billion.
The standard for comparison is the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The S&P closed yesterday at 1,213.59, down 5.47%. The percentage gains for the stable stocks do not include dividends. They are up 4% for a 9.47% advantage. The volatility in the market today may alter some of the data points so expect an after market update. Update: the following five stocks remain ahead of the market but they did turn down in the last hour.
1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) -- when recommended, the stock closed at $64.34 and paid a 2.89% dividend yield. It finished at $69.80 -- up 8.48% -- and is trading up this morning. JNJ was featured in Barron's this week as the most respected from the top 100 companies in the world. Final Update: down $-0.29 to $69.51
2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) -- when recommended, the stock closed at $45.80 and paid a 1% dividend yield. It finished at $45.96 -- no change -- and is trading slightly down this morning. Teva is the largest generic drug company in the world and just got bigger throught the acquisition of Barr Pharmaceuticals. Final Update: down $-1.25 to $44.11
Continue reading Serious Money: Good news in crushing market - CB, DIS, JNJ, TEVA & XEL
Posted Sep 16th 2008 12:13PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Apple Inc (AAPL), Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Chubb Corp (CB), , Palm Inc (PALM), Lilly (Eli) (LLY), Analyst initiations, Broadcom Corp'A' (BRCM), Unilever ADR (UL), JetBlue Airways (JBLU)
Analyst upgrades:
- Merrill upgraded shares of General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F) to Neutral from Underperform on expectations for fundamentals to improve in 2009.
- Citigroup upgraded Chubb (NYSE: CB) and Travelers Group (NYSE: TRV) to Buy from Hold as they expect the company to benefit from the AIG (NYSE: AIG) fallout. The firm raised Chubb's target to $57 from $56 and Travelers Group's target to $51.50 from $49.50.
- Credit Suisse upgraded shares of SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) to Outperform from Neutral as they believe margin expansion can drive higher profitability.
- JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Argus.
- Goldman raised Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) to Neutral from Sell.
- NetLogic (NASDAQ: NETL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Piper.
Analyst downgrades:
- JP Morgan downgraded Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) to Underweight from Neutral citing the company's early stage pipeline and generic competition.
- Merrill downgraded Unilever (NYSE: UL) to Neutral from Buy as they believe the incoming CEO is unlikely to bring a major restructuring or split up the company.
Continue reading Analyst calls: GM, F, CB, MER, LLY, UL, BRCM, AAPL, PALM ...
Posted Sep 4th 2008 5:20PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major movement, Walt Disney (DIS), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Chubb Corp (CB), Economic data, Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), Serious Money, DJIA, Xcel Energy (XEL)
I was out all morning and returned to my desk to find employment and retail numbers sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling down 345 points today. That made me think it was important to check out how stable my stable stocks -- stocks with the ability to ride out this bearish run -- were doing in bad times.
This update is a spot-check of my earlier post Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times, to see how my picks are holding up so far. Closing prices are for today.
The standard for comparison is the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The S&P closed today at 1,236.82, down 3.37%. The percentage gains do not include dividends. Four out of five of my picks beat all the indices; CB was close.
1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) -- when recommended the stock closed at $64.34 and paid a 2.89% dividend yield. It finished at $70.45 -- up 9.5%
2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) -- when recommended the stock closed at $45.80 and paid a 1% dividend yield. It finished at $47.92 -- up 4.63%.
Continue reading Serious Money: How 'Stable' after 345 DJIA drop? -- CB, DIS, JNJ, TEVA & XEL
Posted Aug 13th 2008 1:00PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rants and raves, Market matters, Walt Disney (DIS), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Chubb Corp (CB), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), Serious Money, Stocks to Buy, Best Stocks for 2008, Xcel Energy (XEL)
Well, the market was in the dumps yesterday and is even worse today. So this may be a good time to check on my list of stocks for those looking for equities that are stable enough to ride out this bearish storm.
This update is a spot-check of my earlier post Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times, to see how my picks are holding up so far. Closing prices are for August 12, 2008.
The standard for comparison will be the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The following are the five stocks with closing prices from July 1.
1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) -- when recommended the stock closed at $64.34 and paid a 2.89% dividend yield. It finished at $71.70 -- up 11.44%
2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) -- when recommended the stock closed at $45.80 and paid a 1% dividend yield. It finished at $46.41-- up 1.3%.
3) Chubb Corp. (NYSE: CB) -- when recommended the stock closed at $49.01 and paid a 2.64% dividend yield. It finished at $48.39 -- down 1.26%.
Continue reading Serious Money: 'Stable stocks' update - CB, DIS, JNJ, TEVA & XEL
Posted Jul 11th 2008 1:11PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Walt Disney (DIS), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Chubb Corp (CB), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), Serious Money, S and P 500, Stocks to Buy, Best Stocks for 2008, Xcel Energy (XEL)
Updating the story with the final numbers heading into the week end. The market looked sad again today, so I thought I would spot-check
Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times, to see if my picks, (suggested watchlist considerations) were holding up...so far so good, sort of...
The standard for comparison will be the Standard & Poors 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The following are the five stocks with closing prices from July 1.
1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) closed at $64.34 and pays a 2.89% dividend yield. (NOW $66.53 -- up 3.4%) finished at $66.26 -- up 2.98%.
2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) closed at $45.80 and pays a 1% dividend yield.( NOW 42.58 -- down 7%) finished at $41.78 -- down 8.78%.
3) Chubb Corp (NYSE: CB) closed at $49.01 and pays a 2.64% dividend yield. (NOW $47.51 -- down 3%) finished at $47.56 -- down 2.96%.
Continue reading Serious Money: Spot-checking 'stable stocks'
Posted Jul 2nd 2008 2:19PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Getting started, Walt Disney (DIS), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Chubb Corp (CB), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), Comfort Zone Investing, Serious Money, Stock screen, S and P 500, Stocks to Buy, Best Stocks for 2008, Xcel Energy (XEL)
After seeing the interest in yesterday's Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times, I decided to track the stocks on a quarterly basis to see how they hold up over time (otherwise, what would be the purpose of discussing them in the first place?).
I said that all five have shrewd, conservative management teams and have been in the right place, at the right time -- and prepared. The standard for comparison will be the Standard & Poors 500 Index which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. Although my original story was published yesterday, I will be using the second quarter end point for my five stocks as well.
1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) closed at $64.34 and pays a 2.89% dividend yield.
2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) closed at $45.80 and pays a 1% dividend yield.
3) Chubb Corp (NYSE: CB) closed at $49.01 and pays a 2.64% dividend yield.
Continue reading Serious Money: Tracking five stable stocks
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