MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Nollenberger believes Majesco Entertainment (NASDAQ: COOL) is an attractive turnaround story on track to start delivering accelerating revenue growth with expanding margins and started shares with a Buy rating and $3.00 target.

• Nollenberger started Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU) with a Neutral rating, citing concerns about competitive pressures, summer seasonality, IPO lockup expiration and valuation.

• JP Morgan's believes Cache Inc's (NASDAQ: CACH) initiatives, including loyalty and credit card programs, show the potential for longer term growth, but the uncertainty in the women's apparel space makes the company cautious, and started shares off with a Neutral rating...

• Bear Stearns started Haynes International (NASDAQ: HAYN) with an Outperform rating and L-1 Identity Solutions (NYSE: ID) with a Peer Perform rating.

Analyst initiations 7-06-07: CACH, COOL and ID originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Jul 2007 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last week, the Transportation Security Administration became aware that an employee lost an external hard drive containing employment records of 100,000 TSA employees from January 2002 through August 2005.

Oops.

The data, which included names, social security numbers, dates of birth, payroll information and bank account routing information, among other things, was discovered missing from the TSA Headquarters Office of Human Capital. The names included various personnel and even U.S. Sky Marshals.

I'm not going to discuss how this puts our Sky Marshals, the travel industry and the American public at great risk, but you all know the potential Pandora's Box that was just opened.

While the TSA notified the FBI and Secret Service to help find the lost hard drive, they failed to notify their workers with as much haste.

If you didn't know by now, the TSA, a division of the Homeland Security Department, is responsible for the security of the nation's transportation system, including airports and train stations. The TSA has not yet mastered protecting computer hardware and their employee's private information.

Despite the fact that the TSA claims it follows strict data protection laws and has "zero tolerance for employees not following policies on data protection," they still earned a D in computer security from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. To make things even worse, 2006 was the first year the Department of Homeland Security scored a passing grade.

This past Monday, the Washington Post scolded the TSA and the government saying, "This is getting ridiculous," and "... Uncle Sam's track record is horrendous."

But the TSA is not the only government organization losing things.

• The IRS lost 490 laptops during 2003-2006, many with unencrypted data
  

• The U.S. Department of Transportation lost a laptop with the personal information of 133,000 Florida residents in July of 2006.

• Personal data from 26.5 million U.S. military veterans was stolen from a Department of Veteran Affairs data analyst who took information home last May (The data was later recovered).

• The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Agriculture exposed 63,000 farmers to Identity theft last month.

For additional security breaches from the government see here.

It's true that most Americans worry about identity theft. If you happen to be one of the victims that I mentioned above, or fear that your own identity is at risk, Crediteria.com has a great worksheet for you.

Identity theft continues to haunt the American people originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 May 2007 17:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan downgraded L-1 Identity Solutions (NYSE: ID) to Underweight from Neutral based on valuation.

• THQ Inc (NASDAQ: THQI) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Banc of America, as the firm believes further upside to estimates is limited.

• JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) was cut to Neutral from Add at Calyon and to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns following reduced guidance and higher fuel costs.

• JP Morgan downgraded Brinker International (NYSE: EAT) to Neutral from Overweight citing challenging fundamentals after the restructuring announcement. Stephens cut Brinker International to Equal Weight from Overweight.

• Elsewhere, Citigroup cut Lexmark Int'l (NYSE: LXK) to Hold from Buy with a $58 target based on valuation...

• Hutichinson Technology Inc (NASDAQ: HTCH) was cut to Underweight from Overweight at JP Morgan.
  

• Punk, Ziegel & Co downgraded KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) to Sell from Market Perform.

• WR Hambrecht downgraded shares of Silicon Storage Technology, Inc (NASDAQ: SSTI) to Sell from Hold to reflect negative fundamentals in the NOR Flash memory market.

• CIBC downgraded Ipsco Inc (NYSE: IPS) to Sector Underperformer from Sector Performer on valuation.

Analyst downgrades 4-25-07: EAT, JBLU, LXK and THQI downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Apr 2007 11:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While in pursuit of the low life scum who hijacked our dearly departed toddler's social security number, my wife and I rounded up a great deal of information which is essential for those unfortunate enough to fall victim to various forms of identity theft.

Here are some first lines of defense in cases when someone claims to be you, or someone you love, when they're not.

We found this Investopedia article which has all the pertinent information gathered in one condensed list. Bookmark this handy reference and print out a copy to save with your important financial papers. This one page could save you hours of searching and thinking if you ever need to address an identity theft situation. It also has a link attached with ideas to help defend from being victimized in the first place.

I also turned up a form which is provided by the Federal Trade Commission which makes reporting these problems a bit more organized. Reading this form is a good first step in the reporting process because it provides a valuable framework for getting started. The FTC is the federal government's dedicated agency for investigating identity theft and fraud by misuse of social security numbers but all of the affected agencies want to hear from you as soon as possible. Whether it be your local law enforcement agency, the IRS, or Social Security, there are many good people in your corner if you have identity theft problems. They wait only for you to reach out to them.

I hope you never have to deal with this issue, but the odds are that one in three of us will at some time encounter identity theft in one form or another. The key to successful resolution of these cases is to hit them hard and fast. Use the information I have provided and do some of your own research also. Gather up your contact information and keep it all in one safe place. Then, if the day comes when you need to defend yourself against this kind of criminal, at least you'll have some ammunition at your side.

Identity theft: the first line of defense originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 04 Mar 2007 17:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.