Analyst upgrades:

• Wachovia upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) to Outperform from Market Perform on expectations for greater pricing power given Goldman's position as the largest remaining independent securities firm.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Investment Technology Group Inc (NYSE: ITG) to Outperform from Market Perform as they believe the company will take market share with the reshaping of the large wire-house brokerage community. The company's target was raised to $37 from $33.
• Broadpoint raised Hoku Scientific Inc (NASDAQ: HOKU) to Buy from Neutral as they believe the contract with Tianwei New Energy reduces financing risk.
• ACE Ltd (NYSE: ACE) and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE: TRV) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• Axcelis Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: ACLS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold and Evergreen Solar Inc (NASDAQ: ESLR) was lifted to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.

Analyst downgrades:

Continue reading Analyst calls: GS, ITG, HOKU, CME, QSII, TUP, ABFS, PSE, RAX

Analyst calls: GS, ITG, HOKU, CME, QSII, TUP, ABFS, PSE, RAX originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Goldman lowered its rating on Sony (NYSE: SNE) to Neutral from Buy, citing the yen strength and the economic slowdown.
• Merriman downgraded shares of FiberTower (NASDAQ: FTWR) to Neutral from Buy following the CEO resignation due to added uncertainty. They do not anticipate the valuation to improve from current levels until a permanent CEO is named.
• Cardiome Pharma (NASDAQ: CRME) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill following the FDA's decision to delay the Kynapid drug.

• American Express (NYSE: AXP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
• JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Piper.
• Merrill added Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) to its Bank Least Preferred List.

Analyst downgrades: SNE, FTWR and CRME originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Jan 2008 08:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Before the bell: C, STM, GNSS, FRE, SNE originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sunday night, while the writers and producers in Los Angeles were doing their strike countdown, a good friend was catching a flight to Albuquerque to start production on a new feature film. It seems that New Mexico is offering tax credits that make it worthwhile for a feature film to be produced there, yet again "stealing" revenue from Los Angeles and California.

While no one on the production was interested in leaving town, the studio decided that the tax credits made it worthwhile. Sooooooo, he and his 80 crew members blew town to set up shop for months outside of Hollywood, and the state of California let them go. Vancouver and Toronto have established solid credentials as filming locations at a discount to Hollywood, and they have all the trappings for major productions. With about $350 million in film and television income last year, Louisiana has established itself as one of the nation's most popular film centers, and 40 other states are looking to follow suit.

California is losing hundreds of millions of dollars annually to these "runaway" productions. Runaway used to mean a film was over budget, or it was breaking box office records. Now it means they will film somewhere else.

Surprisingly, California, with its movie star Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, is doing little to keep the productions here. You would think The Governator would be interested in the subject, but alas -- nothing. No matching tax credits, no partial tax credits, no competitive move whatsoever.

Continue reading Hollywood's message to California: Leaving on a jet plane

Hollywood's message to California: Leaving on a jet plane originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft plans family-themed Xbox 360 console originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) is reviewing its options to finance the building of WiMax, a wireless broadband network; a hook-up with Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) is a possibility.
• The word is out that Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LCAPA) and EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) will make a joint bid for the satellite communications provider Intelsat, Ltd, possibly somewhere in the $4.5B-$5.5B range, the Wall Street Journal reported.
  
• The Financial Times reported that Congress removed blocks on arms transfer requests by U.K. weapons manufacturer BAE Systems plc (OTC: BAESY), acting after BAE assured them that the transfer requests were unrelated to a defunct British investigation into bribery allegations involving Saudi Arabia and BAE.
• According to Barron's Online's "Weekday Trader," Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) is climbing its way back to electronic prominence, but more work remains, and it may be time to take profits.

• LiveMint.com reported that Citigroup Inc's (NYSE: C) emerging markets private-equity investment arm, Citigroup Venture Capital International, will reportedly invest $1.5B in India over the next three years, the largest investment by a single private-equity investor in the Indian markets.

Newspaper wrap-up 6-14-07: Sprint may hook up with Clearwire for WiMax originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sony down on settlement news originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.