Spring has officially begun, and now may be the time to consider some investments that could add a little "spring" to your portfolio.

Topping the list are companies like Lowe's (LOW) and Home Depot (HD). They stand to benefit from the nicer weather as people head outdoors to work on the garden, plant new beds, maintain the lawn, and take care of home improvements.

Continue reading Investments to Put Some 'Spring' into Your Step

Investments to Put Some 'Spring' into Your Step originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Back in November, I was cautious on Deere & Company (DE). Yes, you read that correctly: I was cautious on Deere back in November. When it was trading around the $76 level. Let's see, at what price is the stock trading today? At a little after noon, it's exchanging hands for about $95.

As is painfully obvious, my thinking that Deere may have been overvalued late last year has turned out to be rather wrong. As a matter of fact, the one-year chart is defining an attractive uptrend. It's a really fine example of compelling price action.

Continue reading Deere: Buy or Sell?

Deere: Buy or Sell? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Deere (DE) shares trended higher as corn has rallied to a 30-month high. Overall option implied volatility of 29 is below its 26-week average of 33, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

ARM Holdings (ARMH) closed down 4.8% after rallying sharply over the past seven weeks. January call option implied volatility is at 75, February is at 67, above its 26-week average of 46, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: Deere Volatility Low; Shares Have Rallied with Corn at 30-Month High originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Jan 2011 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• NYSE Euronex (NYX) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• General Dynamics (GD) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Deere (DE), Parker-Hannifin (PH) and ExlService (EXLS) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Aflac (AFL) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Amdocs (DOX) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Juniper (JNPR) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• Rudolph Tech (RTEC) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC) to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer.
• Hershey (HSY) and Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Micron (MU) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AFL, DE, DOX, GD, GS, HSY, ITT, MS, NYX, TXN, UBS, WYNN ...

Analyst Calls: AFL, DE, DOX, GD, GS, HSY, ITT, MS, NYX, TXN, UBS, WYNN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deere (DE) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• American Eagle (AEO) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• FedEx (FDX) and Shaw (SJR) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Superior Energy (SPN) and Rowan Cos. (RDC) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Tesoro (TSO) to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Mechel (MTL) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• SunPower (SPWRA), LDK Solar (LDK) and First Solar (FSLR) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AEO, AMP, DE, EBAY, FDX, FRO, FSLR, HBC, SPWR, TSO ...

Analyst Calls: AEO, AMP, DE, EBAY, FDX, FRO, FSLR, HBC, SPWR, TSO ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

At the time of this writing, Deere & Company (DE) was down 0.6% to $75.87. Earlier Wednesday, the farm-equipment concern issued its Q4 report. You can't call the market overjoyed by the news, but at the same time, this isn't a huge drop. Volume, however, was on the strong side.

According to the Associated Press, Deere made $1.07 per share. This statistic was much better than the loss of 53 cents per share that was booked in the year-ago period (it should be noted, though, that, as the actual press release indicates, last year's adjusted fourth-quarter income was 23 cents per share). Wall Street was interested in seeing at least 95 cents per share.

Continue reading Deere Down After Q4 News

Deere Down After Q4 News originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Options Update: Deere Volatility Flat into EPS and Outlook originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• SanDisk (SNDK) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• JPMorgan resumed Potash (POT) at overweight, up from neutral.
• Ariba (ARBA) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Cirrus Logic (CRUS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Tesoro (TSO) to overweight from equal weight.
• Solarfun Power (SOLF) was upgraded to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Barclays upgraded Ciena (CIEN) to overweight from equal weight.
• Optimer Pharm (OPTR) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Argo Group (AGII) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Green Mountain (GMCR) to buy from underperform and Southern Company (SO) to neutral from underperform.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ATW, CIEN, DE, GMCR, GPN, MEE, MT, POT, SNDK, SO, TSO ...

Analyst Calls: ATW, CIEN, DE, GMCR, GPN, MEE, MT, POT, SNDK, SO, TSO ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Among the quarterly results scheduled for this holiday-shortened week, investors may be thankful for the earnings results from Tyson Foods (TSN). The Arkansas-based poultry and meat producer reported on its sustainability efforts and also was named McDonalds' (MCD) supplier of the year during its fiscal fourth quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings for that period to have doubled from a year ago to 56 cents per share.

Tyson is also expected to post revenue of $7.8 billion for the three months that ended in September, which is 7.4% more than in the same period of fiscal 2009. And the consensus estimate for the full year calls for earnings of $2.08 per share (+87.0%) and revenue of $28.7 billion (+7.3%). Tyson's earnings have been better than expected in recent quarters, beating consensus estimates by as much as 24 cents per share.

Continue reading Week in Preview: Tyson Foods, Analog Devices, Deere Serve Up Earnings

Week in Preview: Tyson Foods, Analog Devices, Deere Serve Up Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 21 Nov 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• DuPont (DD) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• UBS upgraded Deere (DE) to buy from neutral and AGCO (AGCO) to neutral from sell.
• Canadian Solar (CSIQ) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Thoratec (THOR) and DTE Energy (DTE) were upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• NICE Systems (NICE) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Copa Holdings (CPA) to buy from hold.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Nu Skin (NUS) to buy from neutral.
• Continental Resources (CLR) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: CLR, CSIQ, DD, DE, DECK, EMC, EMN, WFMI, WWW ...

Analyst Calls: CLR, CSIQ, DD, DE, DECK, EMC, EMN, WFMI, WWW ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Commodity prices are surging. But rather than recommending a pure commodity play, I'm intrigued by Deere & Co. (DE), the world's largest manufacturer of lawn and farm equipment," says Dr. Melvin Pasternak.

The editor of Trade of the Week explains, "The stock not only benefits from strong commodity prices, but also more profits for farmers. And with farmers seeing fatter profits from their crops, many are taking the money and putting it into new farm equipment.

"According to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, September sales of row-crop tractors increased by +46.9% from August, while four-wheel drive tractor sales rose +20.5%.

Continue reading Deere & Co. (DE): Bet on 'Big Green'

Deere & Co. (DE): Bet on 'Big Green' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Deere (DE) is recently up 6% after the U.S. lowered its outlook for corn and wheat production. Call option volume of 21K contracts compares to put volume of 19K contracts. October put option implied volatility is at 29, November is at 32, December is at 33, verses its 26-week average of 35, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

CSX Corp. (CSX) is expected to report Q3 EPS on October 13. October put option implied volatility is at 37, January is at 33, near its 26-week average, according to Track Data, suggesting nondirectional price risk.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: Deere and CSX Corp. Volatility Flat originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wells Fargo upgraded Accenture (ACN) to outperform from market perform following the company's Q4 results, citing improved tone and increased visibility. The firm raised its target range for shares to $51 to $53 from $41 to $44.
• Macquarie upgraded FirstMerit (FMER) to outperform from neutral and has a $21 price target on the stock. The firm cites FirstMerit's strong fundamentals and competitive advantage for the upgrade.
• Macquarie transferred coverage on Marshall & Ilsley (MI) with a neutral from an underperform based on improved risk/reward.
• Eaton (ETN) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• HSBC (HBC) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Walgreen (WAG) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ACN, ADM, BRCM, CAT, DE, FMER, GOOG, MI, NFLX, UAL, WAG ...

Analyst Calls: ACN, ADM, BRCM, CAT, DE, FMER, GOOG, MI, NFLX, UAL, WAG ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

M & A. That's mergers and acquisitions. They're all over the financial pages. Intel (INTC) is buying Infineon's wireless division for $1.4 billion so the chip manufacturer can diversify beyond computers. HP (HPQ) or Dell (DELL) will end up with 3PAR, a cloud-computing company, at a cost of $2 billion or more. Carl Icahn, the billionaire financier, is making a hostile tender bid for Lions Gate (LGF), the film and television producer. 3M (MMM) is buying Attenti Holdings, an Israeli maker of remote monitoring technology used to track people, for $230 million. Exelon (EXC) is picking up a division of Deere (DE), a renewable energy unit, for about $900 million so it can enter the wind-power segment. Sanofi-Aventis (SNYNF) is trying to buy Genzyme (GENZ) but the board won't accept the bid of $18.5 billion. The board is open to better numbers. There are many more.

Is all this good for investors? Or is there some bad in there?

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: M&A: Good News ... or Bad?

Comfort Zone Investing: M&A: Good News ... or Bad? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Deere & Co. (DE) announced stellar earnings for its fiscal third quarter, but a lackluster fourth quarter forecast caused Wall Street to take its eye off of the longer-term picture for the stock.

Deere reported that third-quarter earnings jumped 47% to $617 million, or $1.44 a share -- which is up from 99 cents a share in the year-earlier period -- while revenue rose 16% to $6.84 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.24 per share and $6.52 billion in revenue.

Unfortunately, this news was overshadowed by the company's announcement that there has been a "sharp downturn" in European sales.

Here's why I think that won't matter so much in the future.

Continue reading Watch for Deere to Continue Plowing Up Profits

Watch for Deere to Continue Plowing Up Profits originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Canaccord upgraded Whole Foods (WFMI) to buy from hold based on the company's solid growth outlook. The firm has a $49 target on the stock.
• Bernstein upgraded Mylan (MYL) to outperform from market perform, citing valuation and expectations that its generic business will grow over then next two years. The firm has a $22 target on the stock.
• Jefferies upgraded Omega Healthcare (OHI) to buy from hold with a $26 target based on the company's earnings outlook, valuation and upside from its SNF portfolio.
• Procter & Gamble (PG) was upgraded to buy from hold at Argus.
• Ryland Group (RYL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Deere (DE) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Longbow.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: APC, DE, HSFT, MYL, PG, RST, TSLA, VECO, WFMI ...

Analyst Calls: APC, DE, HSFT, MYL, PG, RST, TSLA, VECO, WFMI ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Technically, Deere & Co. (DE) is in a 17-week flat base; the stock has now pushed toward the top of the base as in position to breakout at any time; with earnings growth to accelerate the next two quarters, we have has high expectations for a breakout," says Leo Fasciocco.

The technical "breakout" specialist and editor of The Ticker Tape Digest explains, "The company makes farm and turf equipment, and related service parts. The construction and forestry sells machines and parts used in construction, earthmoving, material handling and timber harvesting.

"DE's long-term chart shows the stock climbing from 28 in 2005 to a peak of 94 during that bull market phase. The stock then made the round trip during the following bear market.

Continue reading Deere & Co. (DE): A Breakout Bet?

Deere & Co. (DE): A Breakout Bet? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• UBS upgraded JPMorgan (JPM) to buy from neutral and has a $50 price target on the stock. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade.
• Morgan Joseph upgraded Deere (DE) to buy from hold, citing strong U.S. demand for combines and tractors, favorable fundamentals in Brazil, and expectations for improved domestic construction-equipment demand. The firm has a $75 price target on the stock.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Venoco (VQ) to outperform from market perform to reflect increased confidence in the company's Monterey Shale potential.
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Tenet Healthcare (THC) was upgraded to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Agnico-Eagle (AEM) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AZO, CCL, CSIQ, DE, GSK, JPM, NILE, RCL, RL, THC, VQ ...

Analyst Calls: AZO, CCL, CSIQ, DE, GSK, JPM, NILE, RCL, RL, THC, VQ ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Below are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks. Click through to the original posts for more details.

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) shares sold off after it posted a narrower Q1 net loss, but same-store sales rose.
• Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) swung from a year-ago loss to a Q2 profit that was better than expected.
• Deere & Co. (DE) reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings and improved sales, and raised its full-year outlook.
• Dell Inc. (DELL) posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings, but the gross margin was disappointing, and shares fell.
• GameStop Corp. (GME) higher Q1 earnings beat consensus estimates but same-store sales declined.
• Gap Inc. (GPS) said its higher Q1 earnings beat expectations while revenue fell in line with estimates.

Continue reading Earnings Highlights: Dell, Gap, GM, Home Depot, HP, Sears, Target, Walmart ...

Earnings Highlights: Dell, Gap, GM, Home Depot, HP, Sears, Target, Walmart ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 22 May 2010 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Bad Was Just Less Bad (GS, TGT, GS, IMOS)

Closing Bell: Bad Was Just Less Bad (GS, TGT, GS, IMOS) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 May 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.