Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Wells Fargo (WFC) to buy from hold as it believes the TARP repayment should remove uncertainty and that the company will report strong Q4 results. The firm raised its target price on shares to $36 from $29. Keefe Bruyette upgraded Wells Fargo to market perform from outperform following the TARP repayment and raised its target on shares to $28 from $24.
• Wells Fargo believes News Corp's (NWS) newspaper and TV station segments are finally outperforming budget, while cable nets continue to perform well. The firm upgraded shares to outperform from market perform and has a $16 to $17 Valuation range.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Starwood Hotels (HOT) to buy from underperform as they expect "strong cyclical recovery in lodging earnings" in late 2010. The firm raised its target to $40 from $25.
• ArcelorMittal (MT) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• JA Solar (JASO) was upgraded to hold from sell at ThinkEquity.
• Acxiom (ACXM) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Stephens.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: CBS, H, HOT, MT, NWS, WFC, XTO ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: CBS, H, HOT, MT, NWS, WFC, XTO ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded Momenta Pharmaceuticals (MNTA) to outperform from perform as it finds the stock attractive ahead of FDA's decision on M-enoxaparin. The firm has a $15 price target on the stock.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Symmetry Medical (SMA) to market perform from underperform. The firm cited several factors for the upgrade, including valuation and its belief that Symmetry's customers have begun to deplete their inventories.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Myriad Pharmaceuticals (MYRX) to neutral from underweight after the company announced Phase 2a date for Azixa. The firm has a $5 price target on shares.
• AvalonBay (AVB) and Mid-America Apartment (MAA) were upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• GSI Commerce (GSIC) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• FICO (FICO) was upgraded to equal weight from Underweight at Stephens.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: CVS, FICO, HOTT, INTC, MNTA, TXN ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: CVS, FICO, HOTT, INTC, MNTA, TXN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• FBR Capital upgraded Frontline (NYSE: FRO) to Market Perform from Underperform to reflect the company's above-average day rates and alleviated near-term financing pressures. The firm raised its target on shares to $23 from $14.
• Baird upgraded Varian Medical (NASDAQ: VARI) to Outperform from Neutral and said checks at ESTRO meeting indicate European radiation therapy market demand will remain "respectable" in 2010 and that launch of Unique could drive incremental demand in developing markets. The firm has a $49 target on shares.
• Goldman believes GameStop (NYSE: GME) Street expectations are beatable and valuation is attractive. The firm upgraded shares to Conviction Buy from Neutral and has a $28 target.
• Borg-Warner (NYSE: BWA) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
• KKR Financial (NYSE: KFN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities.
• Cathay Pacific (OTC: CPCAY) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BA, FRO, GENZ, JBLU, MS, VARI ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BA, FRO, GENZ, JBLU, MS, VARI ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Subprime bailout could lead homeowners to tank their credit scores originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shares of Moody's (NYSE: MCO) have plunged as the ratings agencies become Public Enemy No. 1 in the quest for a villain in the subprime fiasco.

Now Forbes is wondering (subscription required) about Fair Isaac (NYSE: FIC), a rating agency for individuals that uses a complex algorithm to calculate a FICO score. As evidenced by the rising foreclosure rates on loans that were given based on people's FICO scores, it seems that the algorithm may not have had as much predictive power as they thought.

According to Forbes, "In January a contrite Fair Isaac, along with bond rating agency DBRS (formerly Dominion Bond Rating Service), produced a study that revealed some of FICO's limitations. It found, for instance, that a borrower with a high credit score is just as likely to default on a no-money-down mortgage as a lower-scoring borrower who puts down 40%. So two portfolios with identical average FICOs can behave very differently."

In other words, the average FICO score of a portfolio of loans is not an accurate predictor of risk -- a huge problem because that's exactly what many investors assumed it was.

Now Fair Isaac seems to be backing off the value of its ratings: According to a vice president at the company, "FICO scores an individual's risk over time. It's not an assessment of the riskiness of the loan made."

If a FICO score can't be used to asses the riskiness of a loan, what good is it in determining whether to lend to someone?

In the wake of the blow-ups of numerous quant funds and scandals involving rating agencies with complex algorithms, it looks like investors would do well to step away from the computer and do some old-fashioned hands-on due diligence.

FICO takes some heat for the subprime mess originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Sep 2007 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The practice that involves people "renting" credit history to improve their own credit score will come to an end, according to Fair Issac Corp (NYSE: FIC), the company responsible for FICO credit scores. The change will occur in a new version of its credit score system, the sixth generation, this September.

The move ends the ability for a consumer with poor credit to be placed as an authorized user of another person's credit card, who has great credit. This person would then benefit from having the payment history of the primary cardholder on their own credit report and improve their credit scores.

The practice has grown more common with internet companies popping up offering money to people with good credit to take on those with bad credit as an authorized user, then collecting fees from those consumers for the act.

This is fraud people; plain and simple.

It's hard to believe this practice still exists in the world we live in today. In a nation where state attorney offices and the U.S. attorney's office go after anyone and everyone who looks like they participate in fraud, including UBS Financial Services, Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) and the one that started it all, the Enron case.

This was considered the "first great scam of the new millennium" by Terry Savage of TheStreet.com. She highlighted that people with poor credit could "borrow" good credit for 60 days and then apply for a mortgage at a lower rate. Maybe that's one of the many reasons why this month's
foreclosure rates rose a whopping 90% year-over-year.

What do you think of this new move from Fair Issac? Do you think this is fair to the people with poor credit? What's your opinion?

Piggybacking stops now, says Fair Issac Corp originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Motley Fool's Dan Caplinger takes a look at the issue of credit piggybacking, and what the industry is looking to do about it. Basically, someone with a low credit score can pay someone with a better score to add them to their accounts as an authorized user, without actually using the account. There are companies that offer this "service" and, needless to say, the credit card companies aren't happy about it because it distorts credit. It allows completely irresponsible people to buy good FICO scores. It's no different than buying SAT scores from someone else to get into a good college.

While it's hard to have too much sympathy for the credit card companies, they have a right to be upset here. Fair Isaac (NYSE: FIC) has simply elected to stop considering authorized users when calculating credit scores, which seems like a logical step.

A crackdown on piggybacking could also lead to the demise of one of the easiest ways for parents to build credit histories for their children: adding them as authorized users. I'd like to see this end as well because the principle is the same. People should not get credit for stuff they had nothing to do with. It also reeks of nepotism, and seems unfair to kids whose parents don't have good credit. Do we really need to give rich kids another advantage? By piggybacking off their parents credit, kids with responsible parents can have great credit scores without ever having a credit card. Kids with less fortunate parents don't have that opportunity, and that's wrong.

There's no intelligent reason that piggybacking on credit should be allowed, and it will probably be stopped soon.

Piggybacking for credit and the industry's crackdown originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Jun 2007 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If someone handed me one million dollars and said "Write an interesting, easy to understand book about credit scores and how to improve yours," I would hand the money back and say it cannot be done. Liz Pulliam Weston is probably one of the only people on the planet who is able to that successfully with her book Your Credit Score: How to Fix, Improve, and Protect the 3-Digit Number that Shapes Your Financial Future.

As a responsible saver and spender, I figured that I knew enough to get by without reading this book. I was wrong. The credit scoring formula is just that: a formula, with all kinds of idiosyncrasies that may cause your credit score to have little do with how responsible you are. For example, as a young person with little credit history, I thought that I could build my credit up by getting a credit card, using it instead of a debit card, and paying it off in full each month. This is certainly a financially sound thing to do, but there's one problem: Surprisingly, it could impact my credit score.

Continue reading Book Review: Your Credit Score

Book Review: Your Credit Score originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.