A thorn in Time Warner Cable's side: The Omaha Forbearance Order originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Goldman downgraded shares of British American Tobacco (NYSE: BTI) to Neutral from Buy on valuation.
  
• Covad Communications (NYSE: DVW) was lowered to Hold from Buy at Jefferies. The firm downgraded shares after Platinum Equity Holdings agreed to acquire the company.
• Keefe Bruyette downgraded Pacific Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ: PCBC) to Market Perform from Outperform following its Q3 credit loss pre-announcement.
  
• ThinkEquity reduced Volcom (NASDAQ: VLCM) to Accumulate from Buy following its reduced guidance.
  
• American Medical Systems (NASDAQ: AMMD) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James and at Piper Jaffray. Piper downgraded shares following the lower-than-expected Q3 results. Shares were also downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel following the weak Q3 report.

• Citigroup downgraded Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Hutchison Telecommunications (NYSE: HTX) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
  
• Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital.
  

Analyst downgrades: BTI, DVW, PCBC, VLCM and AMMD originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Oct 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Best Buy (BBY) looking to buy Covad Communications? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Oct 2007 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The FDA is soon expected to issue an alert to physicians about "serious risks" regarding the use of drugs to diagnose heart problems while using ultrasound imaging machines, reported the Wall Street Journal. The key drug is Bristol-Myers Squibb's (NYSE: BMY) Definity and General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) Optison.
• According to the Wall Street Journal's "Heard the Street" column, there's no quick recovery in sight for AMR Corporation (NYSE: AMR), as significant revenue gains are not apparent and the company is saddled with high costs.
• JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) are expected to reveal combined losses of about $3B on holdings of mortgage securities and leveraged loans when they report Q3 results this month, reported the Financial Times.

• A consortium led by Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) is believed to be the frontrunner in the GBP4B auction of Southern Water, the utility that supplies water to more than 1 million households in the Southeast, reported the U.K. Times.
• Rumors are reportedly circulating at telecom company Covad Communications (NYSE: DVW) that Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) is seeking to buy the company, a source told Broadband Reports.

Newspaper wrap-up: Best Buy (BBY) looking to buy Covad? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Oct 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• UBS downgraded shares of Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Neutral from Buy following the company's Q1 report that showed weaker than expected operating cash flow.

• Hiland Holdings (NASDAQ: HPGP) was cut from Wachovia to Underperform from Market Perform.

• AVX Corp (NYSE: AVX) was downgraded to Underweight form Neutral at JP Morgan.

• Goldman cut Tibco Software Inc (NASDAQ: TIBX) to Sell from Neutral, citing valuation.

• Stifel downgraded United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) to Hold from Buy at Stifel, after Q1 showed a slight decline in U.S. Ground parcel volume...

• AG Edwards downgraded Cigna Corp (NYSE: CI) to Hold from Buy.

• Covad Communications (AMEX: DVW) was cut to Hold from Buy at Stanford to reflect the postponed profit growth.

• Citigroup downgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

• LongBow Research cut LSI Corp (NYSE: LSI) to Neutral from Buy; Wedbush cut shares to Hold from Buy on their disappointing Q1 report.

Analyst downgrades 4-26-07: AAPL, CI, ERIC, TIBX and UPS were downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:36:00 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.