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Cramer on BloggingStocks: Exodus from oil may goose tech

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says all that money has to go somewhere, and this is a likely destination.

Clash of the ideals! Oil's down, and what can you buy when there's so much bad bank news? What can you buy when Wachovia (NYSE: WB) (Cramer's Take) is boosting reserves and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)) (Cramer's Take) is still being pursued by authorities and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) says July stunk and UBS (NYSE: UBS) (Cramer's Take) is so tarnished that you can't believe it was once the most conservative blue chip out there.

The answer is tech, of course!

Wait a second. Would anyone mind if we actually had a reason to buy tech beyond the Kindle, the device that made Citigroup gaga about Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) (Cramer's Take) -- not that you needed a device to do that.

Sure, we have pre-seasonality. Remember, you are supposed to buy tech at the end of the summer, not that anyone waits that long.

But what we really have is that quant thinking that Doug rails about so correctly: the CDO of stocks! We take a little bad tech, the lowest-end stuff like RF Micro (NASDAQ: RFMD) (Cramer's Take) and Parametric (NASDAQ: PMTC) (Cramer's Take); mix in some mid-tech, stuff like National Semi (NYSE: NSM) (Cramer's Take) and Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) (Cramer's Take); then throw in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) (Cramer's Take), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) (Cramer's Take), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) (Cramer's Take), Amazon and Adobe (NASDAQ: ABDE) (Cramer's Take) -- yes, Adobe; then split them into tranches, slice 'em up, and offer a derivative on them for those who want leverage and we have, well, a tech rally!

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Exodus from oil may goose tech

Analyst upgrades: RFMD, QLT and RE

MOST NOTEWORTHY: RF Micro Devices, QLT Inc and Everest RE Group were today's noteworthy upgrades:
  • Jefferies upgraded RF Micro (NASDAQ:RFMD) to Buy from Hold citing strong proprietary Asian channel checks. The firm believes RF Micro is past the worst of the inventory handset correction in Asia and that the MPG business is also recovering.
  • RBC Capital said QLT Inc's (NASDAQ:QLTI) risk/reward has improved and expects divestment announcements to start in late Q2. The firm raised shares to Outperform from Sector Perform.
  • Citigroup upgraded Everest RE (NYSE:RE) to Buy from Hold citing valuation, likely buybacks, the low risk of asbestos charges and the seasonal trade ahead.
OTHER UPGRADES:

Analyst downgrades: RFMD, WDC and BYD

MOST NOTEWORTHY: RF Micro Devices, Western Digital and Boyd Gaming were today's noteworthy downgrades:
  • Jefferies downgraded shares of RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD) to Hold from Buy to reflect the continued softness in the China Market after Asian channel checks suggested the March quarter will be weak.
  • Citigroup downgraded shares of Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) to Hold from Buy, as they believe the HDD industry is nearing a cyclical peak. They also view the likelihood of consolidation as less likely given the current conditions.
  • Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD) was lowered to Neutral from Add at Calyon following its Q4 report.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:

Analyst upgrades 4-30-07: BMY, CL, CAL and CIEN

MOST NOTEWORTHY: RF Micro Devices, Inc (RFMD), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY), Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL), EarthLink. Inc (ELNK) and Hutchinson Technology Inc (HTCH) were today's more noteworthy upgrades:
  • CIBC upgraded shares of RF Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ: RFMD) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer as the firm expects the company to benefit from improving late CY07 trends.
  • Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE: BMY) as the firm believes strong Q1 results suggest sustained earnings recovery may be ahead.
  • AG Edwards believes Colgate's (NYSE: CL) cost cutting efforts have been paying off, creating a greater "position of strength" for the company, upgrading shares of to Buy from Hold.
  • Cowen raised EarthLink Inc (NASDAQ: ELNK) to Neutral from Underperform, believing downside was limited given core business cash flow.
  • Hutchinson Technology Inc (NASDAQ: HTCH) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at W.R. Hambrecht, believing their thesis has played out and that further risks to estimates are priced into shares at current levels...
OTHER UPGRADES:
  • Ciena Corp (NASDAQ: CIEN) was upgraded to Overweight from Market Weight at Thomas Wiesel, citing accelerated strength growth specific opportunities and improving sector fundamentals.
  • Banc of America raised shares of M&T Bank Corp (NYSE: MTB) to Neutral from Sell.
  • Longbow Research upgraded shares of Cummins Inc (NYSE: CMI) to Neutral from Sell.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Analyst downgrades 3-29-07: Viacom, UnitedHeatlth and RF Micro downgraded today

MOST NOTEWORTHY: UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH), RF Micro Devices Inc (RFMD), UTi Worldwide Inc (UTIW) and Viacom B (VIA, VIA.B) were some of today's more notable downgrades:
  • UBS cut UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE: UNH) to Neutral from Buy citing moderating fundamentals in commercial performance and large government exposure that will make it difficult for the company to outperform its peer group.
  • Jefferies downgraded RF Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ: RFMD) to Hold from Buy with a $7 target as the firm believes the company's June guidance signals a slow down of second-half fundamentals.
  • Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Sanders Morris to reflect weak ad growth at MTV, digital revenues that the firm believes are a displacement rather than accretive to the revenue base and the lawsuit against Google's (GOOG) YouTube, which the firm feels is the wrong call.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
  • Sealed Air Corp (NYSE: SEE) was taken down to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia citing valuation.
  • Friedman Billings downgraded shares of Maguire Properties, Inc (NYSE: MPG) to Market Perform from Outperform citing the fallout from subprime-exposed office space.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Analyst downgrades 3-22-07: Aeropostale, Motorola & Alcatel-Lucent downgraded today

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Some of the more notable downgrades today include Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), AstraZeneca plc (AZN), GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) and Motorola, Inc (MOT):
  • Goldman Sachs downgraded shares of Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Neutral from Buy on integration issues, as the firm does not expect a sales recovery before Q3.
  • JP Morgan cut both AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN) and GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE: GSK) to Underweight from Neutral on valuation.
  • RBC downgraded Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) to Sector Perform from Outperform; following Motorola's pre-announcement, the firm expects shares to trade sideways for the balance of the year.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
  • Bank Of America downgraded Aeropostale, Inc (NYSE: ARO) to Neutral from Buy with a $42 target based on valuation.
  • RF Micro Devices, Inc (NASDAQ: RFMD) was cut to Sector Perform from Outperform at CIBC citing the risk from Motorola; the firm believes RFMD's story outside of Motorola remains strong and consistent but sees downside to FY08 targets given MOT's contribution to RFMD's top line.
  • Raymond James downgraded Yamana Gold Inc (NYSE: AUY) to Outperform from Strong Buy. UBS also downgraded Yamana to Reduce from Neutral.
  • Citigroup cut Allegheny Energy, Inc (NYSE: AYE) to Hold from Buy with a $53 target.
  • Lehman downgraded International Rectifier Corp (NYSE: IRF) to Equal Weight from Overweight and a $40 target.
  • Raytheon Co (NYSE: RTN) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman based on valuation.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+203.5210,226.94
NASDAQ+41.622,154.06
S&P 500+23.781,093.08

Last updated: November 10, 2009: 02:05 AM

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