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Analyst downgrades 6-28-07: BBBY, DISK, DRIV and JNJ

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Chittenden Corp (CHZ), Digital River (DRIV), Image Entertainment (DISK) and Foot Locker (FL) were today's noteworthy downgrades:
  • Chittenden Corp (NYSE: CHZ) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at AG Edwards based on the buyout news from People's United Financial (PBCT).
  • Digital River (NASDAQ: DRIV) was downgraded to Hold from Buy, and its target was cut to $44, at Jeffries based on the weak Microsoft (MSFT) ramp and weakness in the Symantec (SYMC) transition.
  • SMH Capital downgraded shares of Image Entertainment (NASDAQ: DISK) to Sell from Neutral and recommends investors take profits on the upside and sell shares.
  • Foot Locker (NYSE: FL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Matrix, as the firm believes fundamentals trends are turning negative; the firm sees limited upside from current levels.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
  • Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Roth Capital Partners.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Analyst downgrades 6-26-07: ADBE, BIIB, CSG and VZ

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Cadbury Schweppes plc (CSG), Adobe Systems (ADBE), Verizon Communications (VZ) and Arcelor-Mittal (MT) were today's noteworthy downgrades:
  • Citigroup downgraded shares of Cadbury Schweppes (NYSE: CSG) to Hold from Buy as they see limited upside now that the company is close to divesting its beverage division.
  • Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman and was removed from the Americas Buy List as they do not believe revenue growth will significantly top 17% this year and may not meet investors high expectations.
  • Soleil downgraded shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) to Sell from Hold on valuation as they think the stock is trading near the high end of a reasonable trading range. They believe shares are due for a 10%-15% correction.
  • Merrill expects carbon steel prices to come under pressure in Q3, sending Arcelor-Mittal (NYSE: MT) shares to Neutral from Buy...
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Top 20 advisors: David Fried flies with SkyWest

Last December, over 100 stocks were featured in our Top Picks for 2007 report. Now, at mid-year, we turn to the 20 advisors whose picks showed the strongest gains to get an update on their previous picks, as well as a new favorite stock for the second half of the year.

David Fried, editor of the Buyback Letter, chose Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) as his favorite stock for 2007, which rose 39% as of 6/1/07. Please see his original recommendation and his current opinion on Big Lots.

Fried's new pick is SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYW). He explains, "SkyWest, the nation's largest independently owned regional airline, is a contract carrier for United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and, most recently, Midwest Airlines.

"Nimbler than the big legacy carriers and not burdened by their bloated labor costs, SkyWest has a steady earnings stream, good cash flow, and an attractive P/E of 11. Its reputation as an efficient, low-cost operator and as the best-managed regional airline in the business was enhanced with the 2005 acquisition of Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which made SkyWest a player on the national stage.

"Since the mid-1970s, SkyWest has grown from a company with annual revenue of under $1 million to a publicly held company with annual revenues of more than $1 billion and almost 15,000 employees. SkyWest is set for continued long-term growth.

Continue reading Top 20 advisors: David Fried flies with SkyWest

Least surprising news of 2007- airline delays the worst in 13 years

Latest FAA statistics confirm that air travel has reached a new low. In the first third of 2007, over one-quarter of flights within the U.S. were late on arrival, and almost 70,000 flights were canceled. And this despite many airlines padding their arrival times to give them a generous cushion against delays.

Nearly half of the delays were weather-related, including the Denver snowstorm debacle that sent JetBlue's (NASDAQ: JBLU) reputation for customer service plummeting. Even in April, after the weather improved, JetBlue was second only to US Airways in lowest on-time arrivals, at 64.8%. Comair joined the tardy trio with 67.9% on-time arrivals.

US Airways (NYSE: LCC), which I've nicknamed "Air Mañana," operated four of the six most frequently delayed flights in April. These six flights you most want to avoid:

Continue reading Least surprising news of 2007- airline delays the worst in 13 years

Analyst upgrades 4-04-07: Hewlett-Packard & Coldwater Creek upgraded today

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Weyerhaeuser Co (WY), Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc (JTX), Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ) and Coldwater Creek Inc (CWTR) were some of today's more noteworthy upgrades:
  • UBS upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser Co (NYSE: WY) to Neutral from Reduce citing the stock's recent weakness.
  • Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (NYSE: JTX) to Equal Weight from Underweight on valuation as the firm believes yesterday's sell-off was overdone.
  • Coldwater Creek (NASDAQ: CWTR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Bank of America based on the company's favorable risk/reward.
OTHER UPGRADES:
  • BB&T upgraded shares of Pacer International, Inc (NASDAQ: PACR) to Buy from Hold citing the company's operational changes and new $100M shares' repurchase.
  • SkyWest, Inc (NASDAQ: SKYW) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at Prudential.
  • Bear Stearns upgraded shares of Sonic Corp (NASDAQ: SONC) to Outperform from Peer Perform on expectations of an acceleration in partner drive-in same store sales and system wide unit expansion.
  • Citigroup upgraded Corinthian Colleges, Inc (NASDAQ: COCO) to Buy from Hold after a company visit as the firm believes expectations are finally low enough and recent initiatives are taking hold. Further, Citigroup believes takeover speculation will limit downside as their analysis suggests an LBO could work.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+30.8310,277.80
NASDAQ+12.612,163.69
S&P 500+4.281,097.29

Last updated: November 11, 2009: 02:56 PM

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