The Oracle of Omaha is slowly but surely unwinding his stake in Moody's Corp. (MCO). According to a regulatory filing, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) sold 1.4 million shares, worth about $34 million, since Friday. Berkshire now has a 12% stake in Moody's, down from 13% in June.

It's possible that Moody's has simply become too high-maintenance an investment for Buffett. Back in June, The Wall Street Journal's Matt Phillips noted that the billionaire investor seemed "pretty cranky and unhappy" when called upon to testify before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission about Moody's role in the meltdown of 2008.

Continue reading Buffett Trims His Stake in Moody's Corporation

Buffett Trims His Stake in Moody's Corporation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Jefferies upgraded Computer Sciences (CSC) to buy from hold and raised its target to $53 from $47. The analyst said Computer Sciences' valuation has created one of the best LBO opportunities in several years and could provide a five year IRR of 25+%.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Comerica (CMA) to outperform from market perform, citing strength of the company's capital. The firm raised its target for shares to $44 from $43.
• RBC Capital upgraded Nokia (NOK) to outperform from sector perform and raised its price target to $14 from $12. The firm upgraded shares based on valuation, reduced execution risk on software development, and potential catalysts from new devices based on Symbian^3. RBS upgraded Nokia to buy from hold after the company named Stephen Elop as CEO.
• Allstate (ALL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Moody's (MCO) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BCR, BUD, CLX, CMA, CSC, CSCO, DELL, LEN, MCO, NOK, TRV ...

Analyst Calls: BCR, BUD, CLX, CMA, CSC, CSCO, DELL, LEN, MCO, NOK, TRV ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• JMP Securities upgraded Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to outperform from market perform based on valuation and checks that indicate strength in enterprise PCs, high growth geographies and light laptops. The firm has a $50 target on the stock.
• RBC Capital upgraded Rio Tinto (RTP) to outperform from sector perform, citing the company's improving growth plans and attractive risk profile.
• Goldman upgraded FormFactor (FORM) to neutral from sell, but lowered its price target to $6 from $10. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade.
• MCG Capital (MCGC) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• CRH (CRH) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Melco Crown (MPEL) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BSX, FORM, HPQ, JACK, MCO, NFLX, PPL, RTP, VALE ...

Analyst Calls: BSX, FORM, HPQ, JACK, MCO, NFLX, PPL, RTP, VALE ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On Wednesday, billionaire investor Warren Buffett was compelled to testify before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. The Oracle of Omaha took a seat beside Raymond McDaniel, the CEO of Moody's Corporation (MCO), and offered a somewhat half-hearted defense of the ratings agency's business model.

When asked whether Moody's was in need of new management, Buffett noted simply, "I would say they made a mistake that virtually everybody in the country made."

Continue reading Bears Bet Against Moody's Despite Buffett's Defense

Bears Bet Against Moody's Despite Buffett's Defense originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Options Update: United States Oil Fund Volatility Flat; Oil Below $72 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 May 2010 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Susquehanna upgraded Yahoo! (YHOO) to positive from neutral. The firm, which has a $19 price target on the stock, cites the steep decline in shares for the upgrade.
• UBS upgraded Time Warner Cable (TWC) to buy from neutral. The firm believes fears regarding FCC reclassification of broadband are "overblown" and that industry fundamentals are bullish. The firm has a $57 target on the stock.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Stifel Financial (SF) to outperform from market perform on valuation following the recent pullback in shares. The firm has a $64 price target for the stock.
• Boeing (BA) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• RBC Capital upgraded Southern Union (SUG) to sector perform from underperform.
• Rubicon Technology (RBCN) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BA, GR, MCO, RAX, SF, SSNC, SXE, TWC, WAG, YHOO ...

Analyst Calls: BA, GR, MCO, RAX, SF, SSNC, SXE, TWC, WAG, YHOO ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 May 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The ratings game that was played during the financial crisis was a major factor in bringing down our economy.

Here's how the game was played. Banks like Goldman Sachs (GS) would pay a rating agency to rate their securities. Moody's chief executive, Raymond McDaniel, told a Senate panel on Friday that he was not told by Goldman about the fact that hedge fund Paulson & Co. was betting against Goldman's Abacus securities. He said: "It just changes the whole dynamic -- if the person choosing it wants to blow it up."

Continue reading Moody's McDaniel Admits That Banks Pressured Them for Good Ratings

Moody's McDaniel Admits That Banks Pressured Them for Good Ratings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 25 Apr 2010 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With borrowing costs at their lowest levels since 2004, reinsurers are loading up on corporate debt in part to fund stock buybacks. The latest tally, according to Bloomberg News, is $1.34 billion in additional borrowing, with Endurance Specialty Holdings (ENH), a Bermuda-based company, recently selling $85 million in bonds. Other recent transactions include Axis Capital Holdings (AXS) and PartnerRe (PRE) each issuing $500 million in bonds and RenaissanceRe (RNR) adding $250 million to the count.

Continue reading Reinsurers Returning Capital Despite Catastrophes

Reinsurers Returning Capital Despite Catastrophes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 28 Mar 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Despite all the hype and wishful thinking, retail sales, reported Thursday morning, fell in December. This came as a surprise to analysts, many of whom forecasted increases of 2% or more, though there were some calling for declines of up to 3%. The holiday season wasn't enough to overcome cautious consumer spending, which has been driven largely by an unemployment rate that remains stubbornly high at 10%.

Data from the Commerce Department released Thursday puts the decline in retail sales from November to December at 0.3%, while expectations were for an increase of 0.5%. Excluding auto sales, the drop was 0.2%, still weaker than the 0.3% increase anticipated by analysts. This decline follows an increase of 1.2% in October and 1.8% in November. In September, retail sales fell 2% from August.

Continue reading Retail Sales Fall in December, Surprising Analysts

Retail Sales Fall in December, Surprising Analysts originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lloyd's of London is poised to take some risks in 2010. In fact, it's ready to put more than $36 billion into the insurance and reinsurance world, according to analysts at reinsurance intermediary Guy Carpenter, a division of Marsh & McLennan (MMC).

The year-over-year increase could be as high as 27% compared to 2009, with the additional capacity coming from lower risk-transfer rates for some lines of business, though much of it is being offered to compensate for the weakness of the British pound relative to stronger currencies, such as the U.S. dollar.

Continue reading Lloyd's Amps Up Insurance and Reinsurance Capacity This Year

Lloyd's Amps Up Insurance and Reinsurance Capacity This Year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: When Bears Dial 9-1-1 (AMZN, F, MCD, MCO, WYNN)

Closing Bell: When Bears Dial 9-1-1 (AMZN, F, MCD, MCO, WYNN) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Robert Half (NYSE: RHI) to Hold from Sell following the company's Q2 results, believing the worst may be behind the company. Citi raised its target on shares to $24 from $18.
• Goldman upgraded AnnTaylor (NYSE: ANN) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $13 from $6.50, citing improved merchandising and inventories.
• Baird upgraded TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI) to Outperform from Underperform and raised its target to $12 from $9, citing the better-than-expected Q2 report and guidance, strong balance sheet, and valuation.
• F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Sanmina (NASDAQ: SANM) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ANN, CS, MCO, NRG, RHT, TJX ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ANN, CS, MCO, NRG, RHT, TJX ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Deutsche Bank upgraded HealthSouth (NYSE: HLS) and Rehabcare (NYSE: RHB) to Buy from Hold after raising its Post Acute Care sector view to Positive from Neutral. The firm believes volumes and margin leverage can drive better than expected Q2 results and 2009 guidance. The firm raised its target on HealthSouth shares to $16 from $12 and on Rehabcare to $28 from $19.
  
• Jefferies upgraded Moody's (NYSE: MCO) to Hold from Underperform to reflect stabilizing credit markets and its belief regulatory concerns are overstated. The firm raised its target on shares to $30 from $19.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to Outperform from Market Perform as it finds the stock inexpensive following the better than expected results. The firm has a $195 target on shares.
• Vale (NASDAQ: VALE) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
  
• CNOOC (NYSE: CEO) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• International Game Tech (NYSE: IGT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Janney Montgomery.
  

Continue reading Analyst calls: MCO, VALE, GS, CSCO, PALM, LLY, JBHT, PTR

Analyst calls: MCO, VALE, GS, CSCO, PALM, LLY, JBHT, PTR originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• ING upgraded Roche (OTC: RHHBY) to Buy from Hold as it believes Roche will not pay more than $100/share for Genentech (NYSE: DNA) and that the Avastin adjuvant data due April 2009 provides significant upside potential.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to Outperform from Perform on valuation as it believes sentiment is at an all-time low and the stock has limited downside. The firm set a $5 target on shares.
  
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Comerica (NYSE: CMA) to Equal Weight from Underweight citing valuation that adequately reflects credit deterioration in its commercial-heavy loan portfolio and aggressive government action.
• Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) and Nucor (NYSE: NUE) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: RHHBY, MOT, RBS, DKS, MCO ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: RHHBY, MOT, RBS, DKS, MCO ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you've been watching earnings this past week, or if you read last week's Week in Preview, then this coming week may leave you feeling a bit like Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day. That is, again analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings declines to be more frequent and deeper than earnings gains.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), IAC Interactivecorp (NASDAQ: IACI), Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO), Elizabeth Arden Inc. (NASDAQ: RDEN), Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN), Diebold Inc. (NYSE: DBD), Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC), United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT), and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) are scheduled to report quarterly results this week, and they're all expected to report double-digit declines in earnings.

But again this week, let's take a look who Wall Street feels may have done well in the past quarter.

Continue reading The week in preview: High hopes for MasterCard, Avon, Aflac, Northrop Grumman

The week in preview: High hopes for MasterCard, Avon, Aflac, Northrop Grumman originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 01 Feb 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Moody's (NYSE: MCO), a provider of credit ratings, closed at $21.61 Wednesday. MCO is scheduled to announce Q3 EPS on October 29. Warren Buffett's Berkshire owned a 19% stake in MCO as of December 31, 2007. MCO November call option implied volatility is at 117, puts are at 131; above its 26-week average of 58 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

USG (NYSE: USG), a building materials company, closed at $19.68 Wednesday. USG is scheduled to report Q3 EPS on October 28. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns 17% of USG. USG November call option implied volatility is at 71, puts are at 81; above its 26-week average of 44 according to Track Data suggesting larger price movement.

American Express (NYSE: AXP) closed at $25.02 Wednesday. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns a 13% stake in AXP. AXP November option implied volatility of 80 is above its 26-week average of 51 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Option Update: Warren Buffett's holdings near six-year lows (MCO, USG, AXP) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they see a long-term buying opportunity following the recent correction. The firm maintains a $29 target.
• Moody's (NYSE: MCO) was upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at Lehman.
  
• Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.

• Jefferies downgraded shares of Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) to Hold from Buy on concerns about the company's ability to hit expectations and drive margin expansion in the face of an eroding CDMA revenue stream. The firm lowered their target to $7.25 from $11.
  
• B. Riley cut Charlotte Russe (NASDAQ: CHIC) to Neutral from Buy on concerns about how well the company can perform with the interim management team, especially in light of the current retail environment. The firm lowered their target to $14 from $17. Roth Capital downgraded shares to Sell from Hold to reflect the management uncertainty and lowered their target to $9 from $14.
  
• Goldman cut Warner Music (NYSE: WMG) to Sell from Neutral and Deere (NYSE: DE) to Neutral from Buy.

• Banc of America expects top-line growth at Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) to be driven by Denosumab and for investors to look to the stock for biotech exposure following the potential acquisition of Genentech (NYSE: DNA). The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $70 target.
• Sirius Satellite (NASDAQ: SIRI) was initiated at JP Morgan with a Neutral rating.
  

Analyst calls: AKAM, NT, CHIC, WMG, DE, AMGN, SIRI ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So the earnings crunch continues, and here's a look at some companies scheduled to report results this week that are anticipated to be big winners and losers in terms of earnings growth.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect the following to report strong earnings growth when compared to the same period of the previous year.

• Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA): $4.10 EPS (+53.9%) on revenue of $3.8 billion (+54.6%)
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG): $2.34 EPS (+50.0%) on revenue of $1.7 billion (+62.2%)
• Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP): $0.47 EPS (+44.7%) on revenue of $2.6 billion (+11.5%)
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT): $0.62 EPS (+43.5%) on revenue of $5.3 billion (+7.0%)
• Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES): $2.76 EPS (+38.4%) on revenue of $8.3 billion (+14.6%)
• Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR): $2.19 EPS (+35.2%) on revenue of $7.8 billion (+126.2%)
• Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL): $2.08 EPS (+34.6%) on revenue of $1.0 billion (+40.1%)
• U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X): $3.91 EPS (+32.0%) on revenue of $5.9 billion (+39.6%)
• Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW): $0.49 EPS (+30.6%) on revenue of $1.7 billion (+21.3%)
• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM): $2.52 EPS (+27.4%) on revenue of $144.4 billion (+46.8%)

Clearly expectations are high for oil and energy. Other companies expected to report double-digit earnings growth include Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS), NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYSE: NYX), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), and Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET).

Continue reading The week in preview: High expectations for oil and energy

The week in preview: High expectations for oil and energy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

S&P and Moody's (NYSE:MCO) do not have the best reputation these days. They missed most of the calls on the danger of subprime paper. Some of that has been blamed on computer problems. And, the dog ate my papers.

Now, S&P says it may downgrade its ratings on nine airlines and review one more. According to The New York Times, "In total, 10 airlines, including all the major carriers, are now under the CreditWatch negative designation." The companies include AMR (NYSE: AMR), Delta (NYSE: DAL) and United (NASDAQ: UAUA).

S&P says some of the airlines may even face Chapter 11.

It would be fair to ask where the ratings agency has been. Jet fuel prices are close to doubling in a year. Every airline faces huge losses throughout the rest of 2009. Some carriers have lost nearly 80% of their market value in a year. AMR now trades just above $6, down from almost $30. Its market cap is only 7% of annual revenue. In other words, the company trades close to its liquidation value.

S&P has image problems for a reason. It either gets its calls wrong, or it gives them out way too late.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.

S&P may downgrade nine airlines originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 May 2008 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reuters reports that Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) controls 19.6% of Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO), is saying that he thinks Moody's will be around a long time. Even though Berkshire Hathaway's $188 billion market capitalization is more than 20 times that of Moody's -- Buffett's $1.8 billion loss -- the 50% drop in the value of his 19.6% Moody's stake from its February 9, 2007 peak -- has to sting.

Moody's was already under fire over the U.S. mortgage market crisis when it took a fresh blow on Wednesday -- launching an investigation into a report that it had wrongly assigned triple-A ratings to about $4 billion of complex European debt products -- Constant Proportion Debt Obligations (CPDOs), funds that used borrowed money to bet on credit-default swaps -- and had then not downgraded them. Buffett's comment: "I don't think one day will permanently change the franchise value of Moody's."

As I posted, the ratings agencies competed for lucrative fees from investment banks that created and sold these asset-backed securities. Moody's took in $3 billion for such structured finance ratings between 2002 through 2006. The agencies that offered the best ratings won the business.

Continue reading Can Buffett's Moody's survive?

Can Buffett's Moody's survive? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 May 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.