If you are looking for clues to which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should take note.

Jefferies Group (JEF) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending July 9th as insiders snapped up 1,382,000 shares of company stock at a market value of $32,403,125. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by 1.73% and now own 3.76% of the stock.

Continue reading Insiders Snap Up Jefferies, Mannkind and More

Insiders Snap Up Jefferies, Mannkind and More originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading McDonalds Fourth Quarter Earnings Preview

McDonalds Fourth Quarter Earnings Preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Some big names setting new highs today: STAR, GG, PIR, EBAY

Some big names setting new highs today: STAR, GG, PIR, EBAY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Adobe (ADBE) first quarter earnings preview

Adobe (ADBE) first quarter earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Earlier in the week, there was an item on a blog at Barrons.com concerning Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL). It was reported that two analysts revised their earnings estimates for the tech company in the downward direction (shareholders hate that!). Ross MacMillan of Jefferies & Co. took two pennies off his fiscal '09 estimate, reducing it to $1.43 per share. Tim Klasell of Thomas Weisel Partners thinks Oracle will do $1.44 per share; this was likewise a reduction of two pennies. I guess there's something about two pennies and Oracle this week. Both analysts have good ratings on Oracle and think the stock will trade higher from here.

And now, for my own two cents. As far as I'm concerned, I think Oracle is not necessarily a stock to jump into at the moment. The shares have been weak this year (of course, what hasn't been weak this year, I suppose), and at Friday's close of $16.32, they were sitting rather close to their 52-week low of $15.00. I would rather see Oracle pull further away from its low of the year before buying. I've been generally bearish on most stocks in the market, and I have to tell you, the recent rallying mood on Wall Street isn't something I have a lot of belief in. I believe Oracle may end up going lower from here once we get additional negative headlines on the macro environment. If I don't see strength, then I won't buy with any sort of conviction. If I wanted to take on some shares of a tech stock, I'd probably go with stronger brands, like a Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), or perhaps even an IBM (NYSE: IBM). Yes, Oracle is a big brand name as well, but I am not too partial to its stock, quite honestly (I do respect the company, though). However, even if I bought some Microsoft, my inclination right now would be to sell it the next time it makes a small move higher. In fact, I was trying to get hold of some Microsoft this week for a quick trade, but it just didn't happen.

Continue reading Is Oracle a buy?

Is Oracle a buy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF), a middle market investment bank, showed that it can deal with the treacherous credit crunch. While its latest quarterly report showed a 16% drop in revenues to $392 million, it wasn't as bad as the Street expected (the consensus estimate was $275 million). Taking out some charges, earnings came to $0.04 per share (the Street estimate was a loss of $0.16).

The major weakness came from the investment banking. However, there was strength on the trading side, such as with junk bonds.

Basically, Jefferies has taken a number of steps to maintain liquidity and protect its capital base. In fact, in April the company got a $434 million capital infusion from Leucadia National.

Continue reading Jefferies' (JEF) mantra: Preserve capital

Jefferies' (JEF) mantra: Preserve capital originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Friedman Billings initiated Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) with a Market Perform citing the difficult underwriting environment and challenging credit market.
  
• JMP Securities initiated Quality Systems (NASDAQ: QSII) with an Outperform rating and $35 target. The firm expects the company's practice management and electronic medical record solutions to benefit from growth opportunities within the ambulatory market.
  
• Techwell (NASDAQ: TWLL) was assumed with an Overweight rating and $14 target at Thomas Weisel, as they expect TWLL to have continued stable revenue growth given its market leadership and increased global security demand.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Bernstein initiated NetSuite (NYSE: N) with a Market Perform rating and $23 target.
  
• Keefe Bruyette started Comerica (NYSE: CMA) with a Market Perform rating and $37 target.
  
• BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) and Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) were assumed at ING with Buy ratings.

Analyst initiations: Jefferies Group, Quality Systems, Techwell originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Back in mid-October, things were tracking nicely for investment bank Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF). Somehow, the firm was able to weather the turbulence, which ensnared elite firms like Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER).

However, things didn't hold up. In November and December, Jefferies suffered some big setbacks. While Jefferies expects net earnings of $140 million for 2007, the fourth quarter will have a net loss of $24 million, or $0.17 per share.

What happened? Well, Jefferies had issues with two principal trading efforts. There were also problems with the junk bond department. Oh, and there were some postponements of investment banking deals.

Simply put, the markets are experiencing extreme volatility (which was certainly evident last week). No doubt, this makes it pretty tough for firms like Jefferies.

The good news is that Jefferies has a strong capital base and has no need for outside capital infusions. Besides, the firm has taken great efforts to diversify its business (going beyond just a pure broker).

But with investors extremely jittery right now, such things are not being considered - at least in the short-run.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Jefferies Group: Going negative originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Jan 2008 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Dubai World ups its ante in MGM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Oppenheimer believes Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is the largest beneficiary of the secular growth trends in Internet advertising and transitioned coverage with a Buy rating and $625 target.

• Oppenheimer also believes the current price of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) is an attractive entry point given the company's number one position in display advertising and the recent successful launch of Panama. The firm transitioned coverage of Yahoo! with a Buy rating and $34 target.

• RBC Capital sees continued upside for Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) based on achieving its 10M goal for iPhone, upside from Mac momentum and maintaining iPod/iTunes dominance helped by new products, and started shares with an Outperform rating and $160 target.

• Merriman believes Cash Systems (NASDAQ: CKNN) is positioned to gain meaningful share in the casino cash access industry through the near-term introduction of powercash and started shares with a Buy rating.

• Friedman Billings believes Citrix's (NASDAQ: CTXS) latest Presentation Server product release has some near-term risk given raised prices and initiated shares with a Market Perform rating and $35 target...

• ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) was initiated at Oppenheimer with a Buy rating.

• Lehman started Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) with an Equal Weight rating and $82 target.

• JP Morgan initiated Smith Micro Software (NASDAQ: SMSI) with an Overweight rating.

• First Albany initiated coverage of dELiA's (NASDAQ: DLIA) with a Neutral rating.

• Banc of America initiated coverage of Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) with a Buy rating and $34 target.

Analyst initiations 6-26-07: AAPL, CMG, GOOG, YHOO and VCLK originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan downgraded Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL) to Neutral from Overweight based on the lack of near-term catalysts.

• Gabelli downgraded Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) to Hold from Buy on reduced 2008 expectations. The firm expects Electronic to lose market share given the lack of Q1 product launches.

• CRT downgraded ION Media Networks (AMEX: ION) to Sell from Buy and recommends taking profits at these levels as shares are approaching Citadel LP's offer of $1.46 per share.

• BB&T cut Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc (NASDAQ: MDRX) to Hold from Buy after its weak Q1 report.

• Jefferies downgraded Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC) to Underperform from Hold with a $5.50 target to reflect weak volumes.
  

• Brooks Automation, Inc (NASDAQ: BRKS) was cut to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns.

• Prudential downgraded AngloGold Ashanti Ltd (NYSE: AU) to Neutral from Overweight.

• JP Morgan downgraded Jeffries Group, Inc (NYSE: JEF) to Market Perform to Outperform at Keefe Bruyette.

• Pacific Crest cut Cisco Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO) to Sector Perform from Outperform on valuation.

Analyst downgrade 5-09-07: CSCO, ERTS, MDRX, MVL and THC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 May 2007 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo! named Tuesday's value pick at Jefferies originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This week's rumor round-up: Jefferies may be a takeover target originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.