exc posts
FeedPosted Jul 31st 2009 1:20PM by Steven Halpern (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newsletters, Commodities, Oil, Stocks to Buy, Green Stocks
"No US utility owns more of them than Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC), with 17 reactors," explains Roger Conrad, who chose the stock as his latest "growth spotlight" in The Utility Forecaster.
"Carbon free and, above all, paid for, existing nuclear plants are among the most prized assets in the power business.
"Some 80% of company earnings come from its unregulated generation fleet, 90% of which is nuclear. And it's by far the best-positioned US utility to ramp up nuclear output.
Continue reading Excelon (EXC): Power play in nuclear
Posted Jul 27th 2009 11:40AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Boeing Co (BA), Analyst initiations
Analyst upgrades:
- B. Riley upgraded Finish Line (NASDAQ: FINL) to Buy from Neutral to reflect the potential for improving trends in second half of 2009. The firm raised its target on shares to $10.50 from $9.
- Merriman upgraded OptionXpress (NASDAQ: OXPS) to Neutral from Sell following the company's better than expected Q2 results. The firm notes higher commissions per trade more than offset weak DARTs and the decline in customer additions in the quarter.
- RBC Capital upgraded Gardner Denver (NYSE: GDI) to Outperform from Sector Perform and raised its target to $34 from $28 citing the additional scale of restructuring, better tone to end-markets, and few downside catalysts. Baird upgraded Gardner Denver to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $35 from $32 based on a bottom in fundamentals and compelling valuation.
- BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital.
- Shire (NASDAQ: SHPGY) was upgraded to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
- UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BA, EXEL, FINL, NTAP, UNH, WU ...
Posted Jul 2nd 2009 3:45PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Industry
The dealmaking is heating up in the nuclear sector. Today, Exelon Corp (NYSE: EXC) upped its hostile bid by 12% for NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG). This new price tag translates into a valuation of $7.45 billion.
The wrangling between the companies has gone on for roughly eight months. In fact, hostile deals can be time-consuming (in some cases, lasting a couple years).
Something else: Exelon has indicated that this is the "best and final offer." Apparently, the company has realized new cost savings, which justifies the higher valuation.
Continue reading Exelon's deal for NRG gets nuclear
Posted Jun 4th 2009 11:40AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Intel (INTC), Yum Brands (YUM), NIKE, Inc'B' (NKE), Analyst initiations
Analyst upgrades:
- Stephens upgraded The Andersons (NASDAQ: ANDE) to Overweight from Equal Weight on expectations the company is benefiting from good space income opportunities and better ethanol profitability. The firm raised its target price to $31 from $28.
- Jefferies upgraded NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) to Buy from Hold as the analyst believes Exelon (NYSE: EXC) will have to materially raise its offer to close the acquisition. The firm raised its target on shares to $25 from $22.50.
- FBR Capital upgraded FMC Technologies (NYSE: FTI) to Outperform from Market Perform after meeting with management to reflect the company's 2011 growth potential. The firm raised its target on shares to $51.
- J. Sainsbury (OTC: JSAIY) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
- SVB Financial (NASDAQ: SIVB) and Fulton Financial (NASDAQ: FULT) were upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ANDE, CAR, YUM, INTC, NKE ...
Posted Mar 5th 2009 10:10AM by Jim Cramer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Market matters, Consolidated Edison (ED), Duke Energy (DUK), Stocks to Buy, Cramer on BloggingStocks
TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that Dominion Resources saw a lot of the green movement coming and moved aggressively.
What do you do with a company that raises its dividend twice in two years by 11%, that has superior growth characteristics in its sector, enlightened management and a plan for executives to buy stock regularly?
Well, in this market, that's an easy question to answer: You sell it. That's what's been going on with Dominion Resources (NYSE: D) (Cramer's Take), the Richmond, Va.-based utility that yields more than 6%, but is bumping along its 52-week low like every other stock I follow.
Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Dominion's an Obama-resistant play
Posted Nov 10th 2008 8:15AM by Melly Alazraki (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Deals, Starbucks (SBUX), Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), China, Market matters, McDonald's (MCD), Citigroup Inc. (C), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Nortel Networks (NT), Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF), Economic data, Wells Fargo (WFC), Urban Outfitters (URBN), Suntech Power Hldgs ADS (STP)

U.S. stock futures were higher Monday morning, indicating stocks could rise at the open after China Sunday announced a $585 billion
stimulus package, which includes tax cuts and infrastructure spending. This cause
world markets to climb as well as commodities. Oil followed stock markets and
jumped above $64 a barrel. Another boost to stocks was further aid from the government to AIG.
[
Update 8:25: Circuit City Stores Inc. (NYSE: CC) filed for bankruptcy. Shares are down 52% in premarket trading to 12 cents.]
American International Group (NYSE: AIG) -- The government on Monday provided
new financial assistance to the troubled insurance giant, including pouring $40 billion into the company in return for partial ownership. Altogether, AIG got around $150 billion. AIG shares are shooting up over 21% in premarket trading.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and Chrysler are also
moving closer to a bailout as Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, called the industry an "essential" part of the U.S. economy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that the administration should consider expanding the $700 billion financial industry bailout to include car companies. With this kind of support, still undecided is the size and timing of any aid. GM shares are up 2.3% (it was hit by a downgrade from Barclays) and Ford shares are up nearly 5% in premarket trade. [Update 9:10: as expected, with the GM downgrade, it is down over 10% in premarket trading, Ford is only slightly down thought]
NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) on Sunday
rejected an unsolicited $6.1 billion all-stock bid from nuclear power giant and utility operator Exelon Corp. (NYSE:
EXC), calling it too low. NRG shares jumped 6.8% in premarket trading.
Continue reading Before the bell: Stocks to start higher; C, AIG, GM, F, NRG, C, NT, SBUX, WFC, STP, ANF ...
Posted Oct 21st 2008 9:20AM by Jim Cramer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Market matters, Target Corp. (TGT), Cramer on BloggingStocks
TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says you can game the psychology of the market if you want, but know the rules. I see the plan: Every day that the market looks like it is going down we give $10 billion to some bank! It is sure-fire. Did you notice the momentary weakness in France Monday? Quick, cut checks to
BNP, SocGen and Agricole. Why not? When
ING (NYSE:
ING) (
Cramer's Take) looked like it was a disaster, giving $13 billion to that one-time conservative bank turned all of Europe around!
Monday, when there was a moment that we looked weak, when it looked like we were going to go from plus 200 to below 100, Treasury let it be known that there is a whole other round of checks coming for the second-tier players. Who knows? Boom. That plus higher oil prices turned the market around in the upside-down world we are now in! No doubt soon
Downey (NYSE:
DSL) (
Cramer's Take) and
BankUnited (NASDAQ:
BKUNA) (
Cramer's Take) might get checks and then everything will go higher.
Oh, and on top of that, we have a new stimulus plan, one specially designed, no doubt, to move
Target (NYSE:
TGT) (
Cramer's Take) back to its moving average and get
Macy's (NYSE:
M) (
Cramer's Take) off the critical list.
Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Playing the bounce
Posted Oct 20th 2008 4:25PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: After the bell, Major movement, Earnings reports, Deals, Cisco Systems (CSCO), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Market matters, Mattel, Inc (MAT), Hasbro Inc (HAS)

Today was another strong day in the market, which may be mostly credited to Ben Bernanke giving a carte blanche for another economic stimulus package in his testimony this morning. We saw a rise in California home buying, but that was credited to foreclosure purchases at far lower prices.
Below are today's unofficial closing bell levels:
DJIA 9,265.43 +413.21 +4.67%
S&P500 985.38 +44.83 +4.77%
NASDAQ 1,770.03 +58.74 +3.43%
10YR T-Bond 3.886% (-0.052%)
Top ANALYST UPGRADES52-Week LowsCisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:
CSCO) traded higher by about 2% in pre-market after its rating was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Morgan Keegan. The firm believes orders are holding up better than many suspect. Another reason for the upgrade was forward valuation levels. Shares closed up almost 6% at $18.96 today.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:
XOM) traded up 10% today to close at $74.99 as part of a
broad oil-sector upgrade at Oppenheimer after recent weakness, and as oil prices recovered throughout the day.
Continue reading Closing Bell: Dow up nearly 5%; CSCO, XOM, HAS, MAT, NRG ...
Posted Oct 20th 2008 8:59AM by Jim Cramer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Deals, Market matters, Cramer on BloggingStocks
TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says this is the first real deal to take advantage of the new low prices of this era. Editor's note: Jim Cramer will present his 2009 stock outlook for the first time at TheStreet.com Investment Conference on Saturday, Oct. 25. Limited seating. Act now. The
Exelon (NYSE:
EXC) (
Cramer's Take) bid for
NRG Energy (NYSE:
NRG) (
Cramer's Take) is what we need to see if we are going to find terra firma. We need to see healthy companies with good balance sheets going after other healthy companies that have balance sheets that won't let them do well.
If there were no credit crunch, NRG -- like
Constellation Energy (NYSE:
CEG) (
Cramer's Take) before it -- would be doing just fine. In fact, you would be wondering what the heck it was doing so low.
Reliant Energy (NYSE:
RRI) (
Cramer's Take) and
Mirant (NYSE:
MIR) (
Cramer's Take) also fit the same pattern. These are all companies that need ready access to capital, and it doesn't exist right now.
NRG has a pro-nuke history and so does Exelon. Nuclear power has taken on an almost holy image in this country if the plants are already built because you simply can't afford to build new ones. NRG is one of the few utilities in the whole country that is trying to build plants, something that would be fabulous for Exelon and NRG's shareholders alike. It's a great match.
Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Exelon's bid for NRG is just what we need
Posted Oct 20th 2008 8:29AM by Paul Foster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Deals, Options
Exelon (NYSE: EXC) offered to buy NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) for $6.2 billion or 0.485 of an EXC share for each NRG shares, which is worth about $26.43 for each NRG share. EXC, the biggest U.S. operator of nuclear power plants, closed at $54.50. EXC November option implied volatility of 75 is above its 26-week average of 75 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.
NRG, a generation company with annual revenues of $5.9 billion, closed at $19.33. NRG November option implied volatility of 133 is above its 26-week average of 42 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.
Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX at 70.33; 10-day moving average is 61.44.
Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com
Posted Oct 20th 2008 8:14AM by Melly Alazraki (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Deals, Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), General Motors (GM), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Market matters, Halliburton (HAL), American Express (AXP), Chevron Corp (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Mattel, Inc (MAT), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), Hasbro Inc (HAS), Texas Instruments (TXN), Economic data, Anadarko Petroleum (APC), SanDisk Corp (SNDK)

U.S. stock futures jumped higher Monday morning as investors gain more confidence in the different government actions taken to stabilize financial markets. Global shares advanced overnight following
measures taken worldwide. Indeed, the three-month
U.S. dollar LIBOR, a measure of the rate at which banks lend to each other, dropped to 4.06% from 4.42%.
Also, investors will be keeping an eye on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testimony before the House Budget Committee on the economic outlook and financial markets at 10:00 am EST, same time as the release of the September leading indicators.
As OPEC prepares for a
production cut and oil rose to above $74 per barrel,
earnings season on Wall Street continues in full swing this week:
- Ericsson AB (NASDAQ: ERIC) shares are rising over 18% in pre-market trading after it posted a better-than-expected third-quarter profit due to cost cut measures and a sales surge.
- Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) reported third-quarter results this morning. Mattel's income rose, but not enough and it missed expectations.
- Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) reported a 14% drop in third-quarter profit, but it beat expectations.
- Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) swung to a loss in the third quarter, but managed to beat earnings expectations by a penny excluding charges. Revenue in the quarter rose 24%.
- SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK), American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) report third-quarter results after the closing bell.
Continue reading Before the bell: Stocks headed higher; ERIC, GM, MAT, SNDK, HAL, EXC, YHOO, AAPL, XOM ...
Posted Jun 30th 2008 11:34AM by Steven Halpern (RSS feed)
Filed under: General Electric (GE), Newsletters, Commodities, Oil, Stocks to Buy, Green Stocks
"To say that alternative energies are critical is a severe understatement." asserts Stephen Leeb, who looks at three plays in the sector that earn a spot in his Growth Portfolio.
The editor of The Complete Investor explains, "Readily scalable energy sources such as solar and wind account for under 1%. It's time to get serious."
Three of the stocks he has selected are holdings in his model Growth Portfolio: FPL Group (NYSE: FPL), Exelon (NYSE: EXC), and General Electric (NYSE: GE). Here's a trio of favorites.
"We have focused on those alternative energy stocks with the strongest growth profiles. None is a pie in the sky fantasy; all provide energy in the here and now and have significant and fast-growing revenue streams.
"The fact that their growth should continue to burgeon is one of the most heartening pieces of news on the energy front. We could argue that investing in these stocks not only will be good for your portfolio but is an act of patriotism as well.
Continue reading Three growth favorites in alternative energy
Posted May 28th 2008 12:00PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst upgrades and downgrades
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Lloyds TSB Group, OmniVision and National Instruments were today's noteworthy downgrades:
- Credit Suisse downgraded shares of Lloyds TSB Group (NYSE: LYG) to Underperform from Neutral as they see greater mortgage risk and capital issues.
- Oppenheimer cut OmniVision (NASDAQ: OVTI) to Perform from Outperform to reflect challenging conditions in the low-end Chinese handset market.
- Thomas Weisel downgraded shares of National Instruments (NASDAQ: NATI) to Market Weight from Overweight as they expect EPS growth as operating margins approach cyclical peaks.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Posted Mar 3rd 2008 11:11AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Boeing Co (BA), Northrop Grumman (NOC)
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Northrop Grumman, Groupe Danone and MercadoLibre were today's noteworthy upgrades:
- Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) to Outperform from Perform after the Pentagon selected the company over Boeing (NYSE: BA) for the newly designated KC-45A Aerial Refueling Tanker with a potential value of $35B.
- Citigroup upgraded shares of Groupe Danone (OTC: GDNNY) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe the sell-off on commodity cost concerns is overdone.
- MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital, as they believe MELI's long-term thesis is more compelling now vs. six months ago and notes favorable reaction to Mercado Pago v2.0.
OTHER UPGRADES:
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