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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: CMCSA, GAME, GRMN, ETN, FO, MDT, MSO ...

Analyst upgrades:

  • Deutsche Bank upgraded Vale SA (NYSE: VALE) to Buy from Hold on expectations the company will benefit from higher realized prices. The firm raised its target on shares to $30 from $23.
  • Soleil upgraded Education Management (NASDAQ: EDMC) to Buy from Gradually Accumulate following the company's Q1 results and raised its target on shares to $34 from $32.
  • Credit Suisse upgraded Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) to Outperform from Neutral. The firm also added the stock to its Focus List and raised its target on shares to $49 from $41. Credit Suisse believes Medtronic's base business is stabilizing and the stock's risk/reward is compelling.
  • Medivation (NASDAQ: MDVN) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital.
  • Martha Stewart (NYSE: MSO) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Morgan Joseph.
  • Dominion Resources (NYSE: D) was upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: CMCSA, GAME, GRMN, ETN, FO, MDT, MSO ...

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Weak dollar powering profits

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the weak dollar is benefiting U.S. corporations and no longer going against them.

Why have the industrials been so red-hot? Why do they seem to levitate? One reason, of course, is that people think the economy's getting better. A second reason is that even if the economy stands still vs. last year the comparisons will be amazing and nothing gets the juices going more rapidly than easy comparisons.

Why will they be so glaring? First, the layoffs have been brutal, the cost-cutting immense and it hasn't hurt at all ... yet. It is totally and unequivocally positive.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Weak dollar powering profits

Earnings highlights: Caterpillar, DuPont, GE, Halliburton, Texas Instruments ...

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Caterpillar, DuPont, GE, Halliburton, Texas Instruments ...

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Eaton's a sign the bulls are in charge

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says all of Eaton's businesses declined; the stock, however, gapped and never looked back.

The Eaton (NYSE: ETN) (Cramer's Take) quarter was the tell Monday. Even more than the PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) (Cramer's Take) quarter was last week.

In a vacuum, Eaton didn't do well. Its businesses all declined severely. Europe's bad, maybe even getting worse. The cash flow is not so hot. The outlook is really pretty grim. They didn't even give you the "mildly improved" language that rocketed PPG. I worried about the dividend immediately.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Eaton's a sign the bulls are in charge

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Europe may be an unlikely savior here

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says a data point out of Germany gives him cause for hope.

I have seen the future, and it is German manufacturing orders! We are always looking for totems when we are teetering on the second dip, and a number that came out today from Germany showing a 4.4% increase in May manufacturing orders -- the best in two years -- ignited the European markets and should do the same for ours.

It's been no secret that our economy's doing nothing while the Chinese economy does all the heavy lifting. But what happens if Europe, which is supposed to be so, so sick, gets better? I don't know a soul who believes that Europe isn't worse than the U.S., with their banks being in far worse shape and their governments showing no signs of being worried about anything but Weimar.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Europe may be an unlikely savior here

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: SNDK, HOT, CAT, HOG, ANF, ERTS ...

Analyst upgrades:

  • Goldman upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Buy from Neutral and raised their target to $22 from $16 citing the renegotiated royalty agreement with Samsung.
  • Goldman also upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) to Buy from Sell and raised their target to $27 from $11 citing strong operating leverage as RevPAR recovers.
  • KeyBanc upgraded Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) to Hold from Underweight citing a recent improvement in freight demand.
  • J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) was upgraded to buy from Underperform at Banc of America/Merrill.
  • Savvis (NASDAQ: SVVS) was raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
  • Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was upgraded at Citigroup to Buy from Hold.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: SNDK, HOT, CAT, HOG, ANF, ERTS ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations

Analyst upgrades:
  • Jefferies upgraded shares of SourceFire (NASDAQ:FIRE) to Buy from Hold as they believe the company is benefiting from recent spending by the U.S. Federal government and private enterprises to improve cybersecurity. The firm raised their price target on the stock to $11 from $7.
  • Piper Jaffray upgraded Brocade (NASADAQ:BRCD) to Buy from Neutral as they believe an expanded OEM announcement with IBM (NYSE:IBM) could be announced as early as the end of April, creating a positive catalyst. The firm raised their price target on the stock to $6 from $4.
  • UBS upgraded Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) to Buy from Sell but lowered their target to $4 from $21 citing reduced churn and cashflow concerns, expectations for FY10 to be a trough year, and a potential reacceleration in deferred growth.
  • AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  • Strattec (NASDAQ:STRT) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.
  • Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) was upgraded at William Blair to Outperform from Market Perform.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations

Earnings highlights: Yahoo!, McDonald's, American Express, Pfizer, Delta and others

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Yahoo!, McDonald's, American Express, Pfizer, Delta and others

Monday earnings recap: Netflix, Amgen, Halliburton, Wyeth, Tyson

Here's a quick look at some of Monday's earnings results:

Netflix Inc.'s (NASDAQ: NFLX) fourth-quarter earnings jumped 45% percent to nearly $23 million, or 38 cents per share, which surpassed analysts' estimates. Revenue in the period rose 19% to $360 million. The company ended 2008 with 9.4 million subscribers, a gain of 718,000 customers from the end of September. Shares fell $0.29, less than 1% Monday.

Amgen Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AMGN) fourth-quarter profit grew 15% percent to $961 million, or 91 cents per share, mostly due to lower expenses. Revenue was $3.75 billion about the same as last year. Results included $60 million in restructuring costs a year ago. Shares rose $1.22, or 2.3%, but fell in after-hours trading.

Continue reading Monday earnings recap: Netflix, Amgen, Halliburton, Wyeth, Tyson

Top Stock Picks '09: ProShares Ultra Gold (UGL)

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

"The injections of huge amounts of liquidity into the markets worldwide will leave us all with huge inflationary pressures in the years to come," notes Steve Rawls.

In his Tipping Point Stocks, the advisor suggests, "Historically, the best place for an investor in inflationary times is gold. And ProShares Ultra Gold (NYSE: UGL) is the best way to invest in gold in 2009."

The advisor explains, "Right now, the battle being fought is to stimulate economic growth to prevent a worsening recession; whether or not this will be successful remains to be seem.

"But one thing is certain, the injections of huge amounts of liquidity into the markets worldwide will leave us all with huge inflationary pressures in the years to come.

"The pressures related to government guarantees and bailouts (and the necessary borrowing to finance them) are hidden right now because of the slowing economy, but that doesn't make them any less real.

Continue reading Top Stock Picks '09: ProShares Ultra Gold (UGL)

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Ending an awful year

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says we have the right people in charge, so 2009 looks a lot brighter.

Send out the clowns. That's how I am looking at 2008.

The people who got us in this mess, whether it be Chris Cox -- last-minute stifling of any accounting hopes ... thanks, Chris! -- or the incredibly overrated and somehow revered Hank Paulson, and, most important, President Bush. Not for a minute did that man do anything to get us out of this jam. It is telling that when people speak of the outgoing administration on Wall Street, they never speak of Bush. It's all Paulson and some Bernanke, a Bush appointee. But in the biggest economic collapse statistically since the Great Depression, the president has played no role and clearly doesn't understand most if not all that is happening around him.

When we speak of the next administration and domestic policy, it is clear that we are going to speak about President Obama. He won't fob it off or deny what's happening. And remember, this crisis got very deep because the man at the top said the fundamentals were sound, and repeated that over and over and over, right up until the beginning of 2008, which is why things are as horrible as they are. And they are horrible. The president's advisers, no doubt cowed by a clueless chief, never wanted to differ, and Bernanke reminds me of one of those academics around presidents Kennedy and Johnson, a brilliant man who has gotten us into the equivalent of a domestic Vietnam. He's finally bombing the heck out of the economy, but it was too late, and now a new administration has to clean up his and Paulson's and Bush's mess for him.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Ending an awful year

Earnings highlights: Best Buy, FedEx, Goldman Sachs, Nike, RIM, Oracle and others

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Best Buy, FedEx, Goldman Sachs, Nike, RIM, Oracle and others

Cramer on BloggingStocks: The latest tug of war

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the economics are still dire, but stocks aren't even flinching on huge warnings.

Preannouncement after preannouncement after preannouncement. Yawn after yawn after yawn.

I've never seen anything like it. Worst ever. But, did anyone really think Ingersoll Rand (NYSE: IR) (Cramer's Take), cut in half here, would make the quarter? How about Nucor (NYSE: NUE) (Cramer's Take)? Stanley Works (NYSE: SWK) (Cramer's Take)? ITT (NYSE: ITT) (Cramer's Take)? Eaton (NYSE: ETN) (Cramer's Take)? Pentair (NYSE: PNR) (Cramer's Take)? I figured they would all miss. I bet the ones that preannounced last night hardly go down. Why should they? ITT's up nicely. Eaton's unchanged. Not even glancing blows. Nucor's up 10! Ten from a preannouncement.

Most glaring: the 10% miss by Joy Global (NASDAQ: JOYG) (Cramer's Take) with the almost 15% rally! Now that's gigantic.

That's why people feel better about this tape. In the end of that big run up, stocks failed to react to even the biggest beats. Now they fail to react to the biggest misses.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: The latest tug of war

Eaton (ETN) drops on lowered guidance

ETN logoEaton (NYSE: ETN - option chain) stock is falling today after the company cut its fourth-quarter earnings guidance. ETN now expects adjusted EPS of $1 to $1.10, down from an earlier estimate of $1.70 to $1.80. Analysts are looking for EPS of $1.68. ETN cited weakness in the American auto market for the cuts. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on ETN.

This morning, ETN opened at $41.59. So far today the stock has hit a low of $40.61 and a high of $42.60. As of 11:50, ETN is trading at $42.31, down $1.60 (-3.6%). The chart for ETN looks neutral and S&P gives ETN a 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a January bear-call credit spread above the $50 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 11.1% return in one month as long as ETN is below $50 at January expiration. Eaton would have to rise by more than 18% before we would start to lose money.

ETN hasn't been above $50 since early November and shown resistance around $48 recently.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in ETN.

Eaton (ETN) boosted by Berkshire Hathaway

ETN logoEaton (NYSE: ETN - option chain) shares have soared higher today after Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) disclosed in an SEC filing Friday afternoon that it has bought 2.91 million shares of ETN over the past six months. Usuall,y when announcements like this are made, investors follow the Oracle of Omaha and send the stock higher. If you think the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on ETN.

ETN opened this morning at $42.30. So far today the stock has hit a low of $41.48 and a high of $43.35. As of 12:25, ETN is trading at $43.49, up $2.34 (5.7%). The chart for ETN looks neutral and S&P gives ETN a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a December bull-put credit spread below the $30 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 5.3% return in just five weeks as long as ETN is above $30 at December expiration. Eaton would have to fall by more than 30% before we would start to lose money.

ETN hasn't been below $37 at all in the past year and has shown support around $39 recently.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in ETN or Berkshire.

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Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+132.7910,450.95
NASDAQ+29.972,176.01
S&P 500+14.861,106.24

Last updated: November 24, 2009: 06:19 AM

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