MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Lehman initiated the Retail Hardlines Sector with a Neutral. The firm initiated coverage of Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) with Overweight ratings and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) and Williams Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) with Equal Weight ratings.
  
• Oppenheimer initiated Aventine Renewable (NYSE: AVR), Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX) and VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) with Perform ratings. The firm is cautious on the industry due to higher feedstock costs.
  
• UBS initiated Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) and Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) with Buy ratings and an $11 target and $62 target, respectively. The firm views valuation as attractive.

• Morgan Stanley assumed coverage of International Flavors (NYSE: IFF) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Wachovia initiated CGI Group (NYSE: GIB) with a Market Perform rating.
  
• Leap Wireless (LEAP) was initiated at RBC Capital with a Sector Perform rating and $55 target.

Analyst initiations: U.S. retail hardlines, biofuels, IPG and OMC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan upgraded Wright Medical (NASDAQ: WMGI) to overweight from neutral citing company specific momentum and the increasingly favorable orthopedic industry backdrop.
• Atlas America (NASDAQ: ATLS) was raised to outperform from market perform at Friedman Billings citing valuation and outlook for its upstream MLP.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) to Outperform from Neutral citing valuation and capacity cuts. The firm also upgraded Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) to outperform from neutral.

• Broadpoint raised Aventine Renewable (NYSE: AVR) to neutral from underperform.
  
• Crown Castle (NYSE: CCI) and SBA Comm (NASDAQ: SBAC) were upgraded to buy from hold at Soleil.

Analyst upgrades: WMGI, ATLS and DAL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• NutriSystem (NASDAQ: NTRI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Lazard and to Buy from Strong Buy at Broadpoint following its lowered Q3 guidance.
  
• Jefferies downgraded shares of Endo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ENDP) to Hold from Buy after Impax Laboratories (NASDAQ: IPXL) filed a Paragraph IV challenge against Opana ER yesterday to reflect the potential for a generic version of Opana ER arriving as early as 2010 and the possibility of a similar threat against Lidoderm.
  
• Corporate Express (NYSE: CXP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at ING, as they believe the new CEO's long-term targets are overly ambitious.
  
• JP Morgan downgraded Aventine Renewable (NYSE: AVR) and BioFuel Energy (NASDAQ: BIOF) to Neutral from Overweight, citing weaker fundamentals in ethanol pricing.

• JP Morgan downgraded Charlotte Russe (NASDAQ: CHIC) and The Wet Seal (NASDAQ: WTSLA) to Neutral from Overweight.
  
• Goldman downgraded Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ: MPWR) and Hansen Natural (NASDAQ: HANS) to Neutral from Buy; Goldman removed National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) from its Conviction Buy List.

Analyst downgrades: NTRI, ENDP, CXP, AVR and BIOF originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Oct 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Friedman Billings downgraded Aventine Renewable Energy (NYSE: AVR) and Pacific Ethanol Inc (NASDAQ: PEIX) to Underperform and VeraSun Energy Corporation (NYSE: VSE) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform. The firm said the ethanol market has become increasingly challenging as spot market prices have declined by 30% in the past few months and expect pressure to remain through 2008 as the industry's growing pains continue.
  
• Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of BT Group (NYSE: BT) to Underweight from Equal Weight on valuation and regulation uncertainty ahead of Ofcom's first consultation document next week.
  
• AMR Corporation (NYSE: AMR) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman to reflect the company's U.S. exposure as they expect the U.S. economy to slow.
  
• Banc of America downgraded shares of Kyphon Inc (NASDAQ: KYPH) to Neutral from Buy on valuation as the spread on the acquisition by Medtronic Inc (NYSE: MDT) has now narrowed.

• Pepsi Bottling Group Inc (NYSE: PBG) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein.
  
• Oppenheimer downgraded Signature Bank (NASDAQ: SBNY) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• ThinkEquity downgraded BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: BCRX) to Accumulate from Buy.
  
• Merrill Lynch downgraded Luxottica Group (NYSE: LUX) to Neutral from Buy.

Analyst downgrades: Ethanol sector, BT, AMR and KYPH originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Sep 2007 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Deutsche Bank cut Getty Images (NYSE: GYI) to Sell from Hold citing deterioration in its core business. Gabelli downgraded Getty Images to Hold from Buy after the company lowered guidance to reflect the changing industry dynamics.

• Goldman cut Jackson Hewitt (NYSE: JTX) to Sell from Neutral citing near-term risks that include the renegotiation of the HSBC (HBC)/RAL contract, the DoJ/IRS investigation, and decreasing performance in tax.

• Jefferies downgraded Electronic Data Systems (NYSE: EDS) to Hold from Buy to reflect the company's slowing cash flow improvement.

• Wedbush downgraded RC2 Corp (NASDAQ: RCRC) to Buy from Strong Buy on the lower sales forecast for 2007. Soleil cut shares to Hold from Gradually Accumulate to reflect uncertainty over the Thomas recall and increased competition.

• Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform based on valuation...

• Lazard downgraded Kyphon (NASDAQ: KYPH) to Hold from Buy.

• SMH Capital cut Aventine Renewable Energy (NYSE: AVR) to Sell from Neutral.

• Credit Suisse downgraded AutoDesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) to Neutral from Buy.

• UBS cut SABMiller (OTC SBMRY) to Reduce from Neutral.

• CIBC downgraded Marvell Tech (NASDAQ: MRVL) to Sector Performer from Outperformer.

Analyst downgrades 8-02-07: ADSK, CMG, EDS and MRVL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Soleil initiated Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) with a Buy rating and $33 target, expecting a strong upgrade cycle near-term and anticipates expanding addressable markets and its global footprint in the long-term.
• Dell Inc (NASDAQ: DELL) was initiated with an Above Average rating and $27 objective at Caris. The firm expects Dell to have 2-3 potentially "sloppy" quarters and believes investors will give it a "pass," as the company's current valuation reflects a majority of the near-term risk.
• Caris also started Hewlett-Packard Co (NYSE: HPQ) with an Above Average rating along with a $44 objective.
• Deutsche Bank initiated several broker/dealers with Buy ratings including Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS), Merril Lynch & Co (NYSE: MER), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (NYSE: LEH).

• Lehman Brothers started coverage on the U.S. ethanol sector with a Neutral rating. The firm initiated Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, Inc (NYSE: AVR) with an Overweight rating and $23 target.
• Wedbush started Guess?, Inc (NYSE: GES) with a Buy rating and $49 target.
• Kaufman reinstated Covad Communications (AMEX: DVW) with a Buy rating and $2.00 target.
• Prudential started Leap Wireless International, Inc (NASDAQ: LEAP) with an Overweight rating and $90 target.
• RBC Capital initiated shares of TurboChef Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: OVEN) with an Underperform rating and $13 target.

Analyst initiations 4-12-07: DELL, GS, HPQ, MER, MS and MSFT initiated today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cramer says sell alt.energy names, buy CROX originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.