MOST NOTEWORTHY: American Eagle, Hologic and British Airways were today's noteworthy downgrades:
Friedman Billings downgraded American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) to Underperform from Market Perform citing slowing top-line growth, difficult macro-environment, and the challenging women's category.
Soleil cut Hologic (NASDAQ: HOLX) to Hold from Buy as it believes the cancellation of the FDA Radiological Devices Panel means a further delay in the tomosynthesis pre-market approval application.
ABN downgraded shares of British Airways (Other OTC: BAIRY) to Sell from Hold as it believes the recent rally in the face of higher oil prices is unjustified. Shares were also lowered at Deutsche Bank to Sell from Buy as it believes the company may not be able to raise ticket prices enough to offset higher fuel costs.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
ArthroCare (NASDAQ: ARTC) was cut to Accumulate from Buy at ThinkPanmure.
ING downgraded J Sainsbury (Other OTC: JSAIY) to Sell from Hold.
RBC Capital downgraded Ceragon Networks (NASDAQ: CRNT) to Sector Perform from outperform.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: J. Sainsbury, Orthofix and Salary.com were today's noteworthy downgrades:
Merrill Lynch downgraded J. Sainsbury (Other OTC:JSAIY) to Sell from Neutral following the company's quarterly results; Deutsche Bank downgraded shares to Sell from Hold as they believe the company's results show it has lost momentum.
ThinkPanmure downgraded Orthofix (NASDAQ:OFIX) to Source of Funds from Accumulate citing the loss of Osteocel, which will impact growth.
Wachovia cut Salary.com (NASDAQ:SLRY) to Market Perform from Outperform citing concerns that FY09 will be a challenging given significant increases in investment for sales and marketing.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Smith & Nephew, British Sky Broadcasting and Electronic Data Systems were today's noteworthy downgrades:
Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN) was cut to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan, citing deteriorating fundamentals in several of SNN's key business lines.
Goldman removed British Sky Broadcasting (NYSE: BSY) from its Conviction Buy List and said shares continue to trade at all-time low multiples and that the timing with Sky-Virgin dispute remains unclear. Shares remain Buy rated.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: UCBH Holdings, National Atlantic Holdings and J Sainsbury were today's noteworthy downgrades:
Friedman Billings downgraded UCBH Holdings (NASDAQ: UCBH) to Market Perform from Outperform. The firm said the departure of auditor PWC could not have come at a worse time following the recent CFO replacement and the credit-quality-related adverse change to Q4 earnings in the 10-K.
Citigroup cut National Atlantic Holdings (NASDAQ: NAHC) to Hold from Buy after the company announced plans to merger with a subsidiary of Palisades Safety and Insurance.
Goldman removed J Sainsbury (OTC: JSAIY) from the Conviction Buy List on fears that stagflation could impact earnings.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Kroger (NYSE: KR) announced last week that it would stop selling milk that carried synthetic hormones that are made by Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON), despite the FDA saying the hormones are safe.
A group of financial experts predicted that the U.S. will enter a recession soon, due to inflation, the economic prescriptions of a Democratic president, and the housing market meltdown, reported Barron's Magazine.
OTHER PAPERS:
According to insiders, Martha Stewart is not happy with Lampert's Kmart chain as she feels the company is not doing enough to sell her Martha Stewart products in its stores, which in turn is causing a "drag" on Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc's (NYSE: MSO) earnings, reported the New York Post.
Qatari investment firm Delta Two may have to provide more than GBP1B in additional equity in order to win backing from J Sainsbury's (OTC: JSAIY) board for its offer for Sainsbury, reported the U.K. Times.
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MOST NOTEWORTHY: American Eagle, Hologic and British Airways were today's noteworthy downgrades:
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