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Closing Bell: Intel drives, green shoots semi-return (COF, CIT, LOCM, RICK, INTC, DELL, CSCO)

Posted Jul 15th 2009 4:00PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: Cisco Systems (CSCO), Dell (DELL), Intel (INTC), CIT Group (CIT)

You can call it more positive data or you can call it better expectations than what was out there in recent days. But today can be almost entirely chalked up to Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) beating earnings by so much. Oil inventories and a tame CPI report did not hamper the rally at all, nor did the FOMC minutes hinting at a Fed exit strategy. It looks like 29 of 30 DJIA components were higher at the end of the day.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,616.89 +257.40 (3.08%)
S&P 500 932.24 +26.40 (2.91%)
Nasdaq 1,860.90 +61.17 (3.40%)

Top Analyst Calls
Top Tech Analyst Upgrades

Continue reading Closing Bell: Intel drives, green shoots semi-return (COF, CIT, LOCM, RICK, INTC, DELL, CSCO)

Analyst calls: PEP, FIG, PUK, BEN, ASML, X, RDS.A, CHU, SVR ...

Posted Oct 27th 2008 10:13AM by Laurie Pasternack (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, PepsiCo (PEP), U.S. Steel (X), Analyst initiations

Analyst upgrades:
  • PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  • Fortress (NYSE: FIG) was upgraded at Citigroup to Hold from Sell.
  • Prudential (NYSE: PUK) was lifted to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  • Keefe Bruyette upgraded Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) to Outperform from Market Perform and added shares to their Best Ideas List on valuation as they see an attractive risk/reward at current levels.
  • UBS upgraded ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) to Buy from Neutral on valuation as they believe the company remains a market leader.
  • Oppenheimer raised Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: SGEN) to Outperform from Perform on valuation following the recent weakness as they expect positive clinical news flow beginning in December.
Analyst downgrades:
  • UBS downgraded U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) to Sell from Buy and lowered its target to $30 from $60 citing deteriorating U.S. conditions and concerns about the company's high fixed costs in a falling steel price environment.
  • Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • China Unicom (NYSE: CHU) was lowered to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Continue reading Analyst calls: PEP, FIG, PUK, BEN, ASML, X, RDS.A, CHU, SVR ...

George Bush cozy with Crocs CEO: An ugly tide that raises two boats?

Posted Jun 14th 2007 3:04PM by Sarah Gilbert (RSS feed)
Filed under: Management, Blogs, Marketing and advertising, Crocs Inc (CROX), Politics

george bushI saw this photo of George Bush wearing Crocs on Styledash, and laughed at the suggestion he be impeached for wearing such ugly footwear (although, to be honest, I thought he looked rather dashing in them -- did I just type that?). I thought, hey, great endorsement! and started clicking around to other web sites.

That's when I saw this Forbes article about how Bush's May 18 fundraiser for the Republican Party was held at the estate of Rick and Sherry Sharp. Guess which company Rick Sharp is chairman of? Well, there are two, but the first one is Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX). (The other one is Carmax, Inc. (NYSE: KMX).)

Could it be a coincidence that the country's president is shot sporting the iconic Crocs beach shoes at about the same time his buddy Rick helped raise $630k? Sure, that's chump change when it comes to party fundraising, but I'd be willing to bet the buzz surrounding Bush's fashion choices could have an equal effect to the price of Crocs' stock, which is (of course) very near its all-time high as it is, at $91.01, up 11 cents as of this writing. It's not quite dirty politics, but it is curious and curiouser.

Another BloggingStocks blogger, Garry E. Sattler, opined on the matter: President Bush and Crocs thumb their noses at media polls approval rating

Do you love or hate Crocs? See our gallery for more.

Gallery: Crocs: Love 'em or hate 'em?

George Bush: Loves Crocs (and Crocs chairman Rick Sharp)Mario Batali: Loves 'emGeorges Yared loves Crocs: The next Nike?Escalators: Don't love CrocsElementary school principals: Hate Crocs

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+44.2910,291.26
NASDAQ+15.822,166.90
S&P 500+5.501,098.51

Last updated: November 12, 2009: 03:58 AM

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