in the news posts
FeedPosted Sep 22nd 2008 10:15AM by Laurie Pasternack (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, , Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Analyst initiations, Teva Pharm Indus ADR (TEVA), Garmin Ltd (GRMN)
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Analyst upgrades:
- Keefe Bruyette upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein (NYSE: AB) to Outperform from Market Perform as they find AB's risk/reward attractive given its attractive long-term business model. Wachovia upgraded Watson Pharma (NYSE: WPI) and Teva Pharma (NASDAQ: TEVA) to Outperform from Market Perform citing valuations and positive drivers for generics that include patent expirations and market share expansion.
- UBS raised Lloyds TSB Group (NYSE: LYG) to Neutral from Sell on expected pricing power following the HBOS (OTC: HBOOY) acquisition.
- Otter Tail (NASDAQ: OTTR) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
- GFI Group (NASDAQ: GFIG) was upgraded at Citigroup to Hold from Sell.
- Merrill upgraded Logitech (NASDAQ: LOGI) to Neutral from Underperform.
Analyst downgrades:
- JP Morgan downgraded shares of Lloyds TSB Group to Underweight from Neutral on capital concerns and believes the HBOS acquisition is not in the best interest of shareholders.
- Stephens downgraded Universal Truckload (NASDAQ: UACL) to Equal Weight from Overweight on valuation and concerns about a slowdown in the flatbed sector. The firm's target remains $28.
Continue reading Analyst calls: AB, WPI, TEVA, LYG, UACL, NTAP, SIMO, BRCM ...
Posted Dec 28th 2007 3:07PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: International markets, SEC filings, Products and services, Management, Middle East, Oil, Headline news
Dubai World, a state owned investment company, announced that it has increased its ownership in
MGM Mirage (NYSE:
MGM) to 6.5% by purchasing an additional
five million shares of stock in the company.
Following the announced purchase, Lawrence Klatzkin of Jefferies & Co. told his clients that MGM is one of his top three picks and
maintains a "buy" rating. According to Klatzkin, investors can expect to see Dubai World continue to add to its MGM holdings. This will continue to help keep the stock strong and definitely minimize any sort of downside risk.
Dubai, which has been swimming in money since the oil boom brought billions into the economy, has been moving fast over the past decade to branch out in its revenue streams. Seeing the end of the country's oil reserves in the near future, the country has been working hard to become one of the world's top tourist destinations, and moving into Las Vegas gaming is just one more step in the country's strategy to remain a relevant world player once the oil runs dry.
Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.Posted Dec 26th 2007 12:45PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: SEC filings, Deals, Press releases, Products and services, Management, Industry, Competitive strategy, General Electric (GE),
General Electric (NYSE:
GE) and
Merrill Lynch (NYSE:
MER) announced a deal Monday, which will result in
GE picking up most of Merrill's commercial finance business.
The deal is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2008, and will add an estimated $10 billion plus in assets to GE Capital. Merrill has been hit pretty hard this year with the subprime mortgage mess, and this deal will result in around $1.3 billion worth of capital that the company will be able to allocate elsewhere.
Merrill, which announced a massive $8.4 billion worth of write downs back in October is in the middle of what it is calling a "strategic focus on divesting non-core assets." This sale is beneficial to Merrill because the firm's commercial-lending business has become reliant on companies that
do not posses investment-grade credit ratings and pose a financial risk that Merrill does not need to be assuming, especially after Merrill's recent write down.
Continue reading General Electric buys Merrill Lynch finance units
Oil has been moving to the upside today following a 
Closing Bell: Economic Catapult for Thanksgiving & Black Friday (WMT, TGT, GRMN, GOOG, MSFT)
Deere up on Q4 earnings performance
Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point)
