NVS posts
FeedPosted Dec 27th 2010 12:00PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Apple Inc (AAPL), General Electric (GE), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Diageo plc (DEO), Citigroup Inc. (C), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Chevron Corp (CVX), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), China Life Insurance ADS (LFC), Bargain Stocks, Chasing Value™, Oil, Newcastle Investment (NCT), Raytheon Company (RTN), EZCORP (EZPW), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), Telefonica SA (TEF), Noble Corporation (NE)
Could a stock that you made 1,100% on still have room to run? Yes, it is possible. In particular if it had a near death experience as a penny stock for a while.
That is the case with Newcastle Investments (NCT), the CMBS lender and real estate investment company that reached a recent high of $7.10 and has settled back down, most recently hovering between $6.70 to $7.00. It closed Thursday December 23 at $6.71.
Continue reading Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- Part 2
Posted Dec 7th 2010 11:50AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Red Hat Inc (RHT), Smithfield Foods (SFD), Analyst Initiations
Analyst Upgrades
- Tyco Electronics (TEL) and Weight Watchers (WTW) to buy from neutral, and Smithfield Foods (SFD) to buy from underperform, at BofA/Merrill.
- Red Hat (RHT) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
- Gold Fields (GFI) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
- Novartis (NVS) to outperform from neutral and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
- Dollar General (DG) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
- Eagle Rock Energy (EROC) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: AZN, DG, GSK, NBS, NRGY, NVS, RHT, SFD, STX, TYC ...
Posted Dec 2nd 2010 3:20PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Apple Inc (AAPL), General Electric (GE), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Diageo plc (DEO), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), China Life Insurance ADS (LFC), Chasing Value™, Israel, EZCORP (EZPW), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), Telefonica SA (TEF)
It's that time of year when I start thinking about my 2011 stock picks, and enough folks have been nudging me that I might as well get on with it. The list will not be finalized until the end of the month. During the interim time I will take readers through a number of possibilities, explaining the rational for my suggestions along the way and adding and subtracting until I get the list down to ten.
Today I will start by reviewing opportunities discussed in another post and determine which of these stocks might provide the best value. The list was originally cast as a globally diversified, large cap, dividend paying and relatively stable group of companies that would likely weather any storm. See: Chasing Value: Bonds, Gold, Stocks and Capital Flight
Continue reading Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- The Journey Begins
Posted Nov 15th 2010 4:30PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: International Markets, Competitive Strategy, General Electric (GE), China, Getting Started, Diageo plc (DEO), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), China Life Insurance ADS (LFC), Chasing Value™, Israel, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), Telefonica SA (TEF)

It certainly is presumptuous, perhaps even self serving of me to assume the market is going higher in the face of so much
uncertainty.
The reason I hold this belief is that so much money is sitting on the sidelines and much of it is getting restless. It's one thing for those on a fixed income to suffer because the Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates so low, but it is quite another thing to expect $2 trillion dollars of corporate cash to want to live like senior citizens. That cash is a bigger drag on earnings with each passing day.
Continue reading Chasing Value: Bonds, Gold, Stocks and Capital Flight
Posted Nov 10th 2010 11:20AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Charles Schwab Corp (SCHW), Dean Foods (DF), Analyst Initiations, Las Vegas Sands (LVS)
Analyst Upgrades
- Advance Auto Parts (AAP) was upgraded to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
- Macquarie upgraded Gen-Probe (GPRO) and Beckman Coulter (BEC) to neutral from underperform.
- Tyco (TYC) was upgraded to neutral from reduce at Nomura.
- BofA/Merrill upgraded Cousins Properties (CUZ) to buy from underperform.
- Morgan Stanley upgraded Energy Conversion (ENER) to equal weight from underweight.
- Thermo Fisher (TMO) was upgraded to buy from hold at Auriga.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: AAP, DF, ENER, KEYW, LVS, NVS, SCHW, SLW, TYC ...
Posted Nov 4th 2010 12:00PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major Movement, International Markets, Good news, Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Procter and Gamble (PG), Unilever ADR (UL), Chasing Value™, Telefonica SA (TEF)
In the midst of deep fear and melodramatic headlines in May, I dove into the market suggesting investors take a hard look at three companies that would survive anything the world could throw at them.
There are often profits to be made from the headlines as fear and greed drive the market. You must have read umpteen times in journals worldwide "my pal Warren's" trumpeting smart investors to buy on fear. Well, last may Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Telefonica SA (TEF) and Unilever ADR (UL) were on sale as fear ruled the day. So let's see how these ideas worked out.
Continue reading Chasing Value: Novartis, Telefonica, Unilever Bought on Fear
Posted Sep 30th 2010 4:00PM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Novartis AG ADS (NVS)

According to Bloomberg, Novartis AG (
NVS) has agreed to pay
$422.5 million in order to resolve criminal and civil investigations into the marketing of Trileptal -- an epilepsy drug. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia announced that NVS will plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a $185 million fine.
NVS has also agreed to pay $237.5 million in order to resolve civil allegations over Trileptal's promotion for uses not approved by the U.S. FDA. The settlement brings to an end several lawsuits that were filed by whistleblowers citing the False Claims Act -- which allows private citizens to sue on behalf of the government and share in any recovery.
Continue reading Novartis Agrees to Pay $422.5 Million for Settlement
Posted Sep 22nd 2010 11:30AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Time Warner (TWX), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Adobe Systems (ADBE), American Express (AXP), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Costco Wholesale (COST), FedEx Corp (FDX), United Parcel'B' (UPS), Starwood Hotels Worldwide (HOT), Analyst Initiations
Analyst Upgrades
- Soleil upgraded Baxter (BAX) to buy from hold on expectations the company will benefit from supply disruptions at privately-held plasma manufacturer Octapharma. The firm raised its price target for shares to $56 from $45.
- Deutsche Bank upgraded Dolby (DLB) to buy from hold, citing valuation following the recent underperformance of shares. The firm upped its price target to $75 from $70.
- Bernstein upgraded Alexion (ALXN) to outperform from market perform based on increased Soliris forecasts for PNH and potential in aHUS. The firm also raised its price target to $75 from $60.
- Agrium (AGU) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
- Roche (RHHBY) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
- BMO Capital upgraded Energizer (ENR) to outperform from market perform.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: ADBE, AXP, BAX, COST, DLB, FDX, HOT, NOK, NVS, TWX ...
Posted Sep 9th 2010 11:30AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, American Express (AXP), BB and T (BBT), Research in Motion (RIMM), Analyst Initiations, Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Lloyds TSB Group plc ADS (LYG)
Analyst Upgrades
- Oppenheimer upgraded Teva (TEVA) to outperform from perform. The firm expects the company to generate strong 2H10 earnings and thinks the competition created by Novartis's (NVS) Gilenia will be limited.
- Citigroup upgraded Celanese (CE) to buy from hold, citing valuation and the company's move to add assets in China, as well as possible takeover interest.
- Needham raised Stereotaxis (STXS) to buy from hold as the firm thinks that strong clinical data recently announced by the company could result in faster adoption rates of its robotic surgery.
- BMO Capital upgraded Smurfit-Stone Container (SSCC) given strength in the containerboard market.
- Melco Crown (MPEL) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
- Goldman Sachs raised Temple-Inland (TIN) to buy from neutral.
- Barclays upgraded Lloyds Banking (LYG) to equal weight from underweight.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: AMGN, APOL, CE, CELG, HGSI, RIMM, STXS, SUN, TEVA, VAL ...
Posted Aug 16th 2010 1:30PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Getting Started, McDonald's (MCD), International Business Machines (IBM), Diageo plc (DEO), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Altria Group (MO), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Automatic Data Proc (ADP), Kellogg Co (K), Consolidated Edison (ED), General Mills (GIS), Procter and Gamble (PG), Merck and Co (MRK), Duke Energy (DUK), Chasing Value™, Stocks to Buy, Southern Company (SO), Annaly Capital Management (NLY)
Here is a common sentiment about the stock market: "No fun at all. As I have said before, I believe it has turned into one big casino largely divorced from its original goal of providing capital to companies who produce something of value."
There's a lot of truth to what "granny" recently said to me in an e-mail. Fortunately she also noted "FYI Granny's up 5.86% + dividends." That would give her a gain of about 10% in the past ten months since I posted Where should granny put $50,000, suggesting a very conservative portfolio for an uncertain time.
Not only has she earned a very nice return, surpassing her CD account by 9.5% (20 fold), but she was able to do so with a great deal less volatility than the overall market most of us have lived through.
Continue reading Chasing Value: Granny Said, 'It Has Turned into One Big Casino'
Posted Jul 15th 2010 5:30PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Pfizer (PFE), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Merck and Co (MRK)

I'm looking at Novartis (
NVS) late in the trading day. There's less than an hour to go before the market closes. The stock is up 0.4% to $50.97. Is it me, or is Wall Street telling us that it isn't too excited by the drug maker's latest earnings report? Which actually wasn't bad, as far as I can tell. Perhaps the market actually is excited, but the response is being muted by the overall tone of the session (volume is strong, I should mention).
The
one-year chart for the equity probably wouldn't make you want to buy this one for a trade. It almost seems as if the chance to get in on a great pullback has come and gone, doesn't it? Well, let's have a peek at the fundamentals.
Continue reading Is Novartis a Buy After Q2 Numbers?
Posted Jul 7th 2010 6:00PM by Wade Hansen (RSS feed)
Filed under: Stocks to Buy

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently gave Shire Plc (
SHPGY) shareholders something to smile about when it approved Daytrana for treating patients between 13 and 17 years who suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Daytrana is the only ADHD treatment that is available in a transdermal patch, which delivers methylphenidate through the skin into the bloodstream. It is already approved for use by patients between 6 and 12 years.
With this announcement, Shire -- which licensed Daytrana from Noven Pharmaceuticals -- stands to gain market share and increase revenues.
Continue reading ADHD Patch Helps Investors Focus on Shire
Posted Jun 28th 2010 2:30PM by Melly Alazraki (RSS feed)
Filed under: Pfizer (PFE), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Merck and Co (MRK), Lilly (Eli) (LLY), Stocks to Buy

In its weekend edition,
Barron's Andrew Bary wonders whether
Big Pharma's punishment on Wall Street has gone too far. The sector has fallen out of favor with Wall Street and now has one of the lowest price/
earnings ratios of any major sector of the stock market, Bary writes.
Investors are staying away from the large pharmaceutical companies ahead of their looming patent cliff, when blockbuster drugs like Lipitor, Plavix and Singulair lose patent protection and lose most of the sales from these drugs to generics. Investors also fear the companies don't have enough new drugs in the pipeline to make up for the lost sales, which could mean big hits to earnings.
But when the Street writes off one of the world's most important industries and with valuations at all-time lows, investors ought to take notice, Bary says. Especially when the average dividend yield of the big drugmakers is 4.8%.
Continue reading Wall Street Ignoring Big Pharma -- Should You?
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