Continue reading Before the bell: AAPL, INTC, HPQ, GCI, DFS, MCD ...

Before the bell: AAPL, INTC, HPQ, GCI, DFS, MCD ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Rationality's price

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Rationality's price originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Riddle me this investors: is the smart money heading into newspaper stocks? Don't laugh but CNN/Money's Paul La Monica points out that some well-known funds are increasing their stakes in this most hated of sectors on Wall Street.

But before people start loading up on the New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT), E.W. Scripps Co. (NYSE: SSP), Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI), Lee Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: LEE) or McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI) consider that these shares are down double-digit percentage points because their businesses are floundering. Yes, online advertising revenue is picking up but remember that these companies will get the vast majority of their profit and revenue from dead trees for some time to come.

But has all of the bad news been priced into these stocks? Ariel Capital Management, Wellington Management, T. Rowe Price and Fidelity Management and Research seem to think the stocks have nowhere to go but up, La Monica says.

They are certainly buying low. Can they sell high?

Continue reading Some investors like newspaper stocks -- believe it or not

Some investors like newspaper stocks -- believe it or not originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 Sep 2007 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Merrill reduced estimates on New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) and McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) to Sell from Neutral due to the slowing economy and the impact from the housing market on newspaper advertising.
  
• Citigroup downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC) to Hold from Buy following the departure of Brian Storms, CEO of Marsh Brokerage, as they believe it suggests a continued struggle at the company's core business.
  
• The firm also downgraded Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) to Sell from Hold to reflect a more bearish outlook for European Banks due to the drop in credit-market revenue.
  
• UBS downgraded shares of Ryanair Holdings (NASDAQ: RYAAY) to Neutral from Buy as they expect higher costs to squeeze margins.
  
• Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Applebee's International Inc (NASDAQ: APPB) to Sell from Neutral as they do not expect another suitor to come forward.

• Goldman Sachs removed Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE: FST) from its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Bear Stearns downgraded Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) to Peer Perform from Outperform.
  
• Soleil downgraded shares of US BioEnergy Corporation (NASDAQ: USBE) and VeraSun Energy Corporation (NYSE: VSE) to Sell from Hold.
  
• Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Analyst downgrades: NYT, LEE, MNI, MMC, DB, RYAAY and APPB originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Banc of America initiated six stocks in the newspaper sector with Neutral ratings: Gannett (NYSE: GCI) was started with a $51.50 target, citing a lack of clarity into the company's acquisition strategy; New York Times (NYSE: NYT) was started with a $21 target, reflecting a lack of clarity into the company's acquisition strategy; E.W. Scripps (NYSE: SSP) was started with a $43 target, as the firm feels the company's Interactive division is a "big question mark" that could drag down company growth; McClatchy Co (NYSE: MNI) was started with a $26 target, as the firm is positive longer-term, but sees downside risk to 2007 consensus estimates; Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) was initiated with a $19.50 target; Gatehouse Media (NYSE: GHS) was started with a $12.50 target.
  
• Dolan Media (NYSE: DM) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $24 target at Piper Jaffray. Piper believes DM's Q3 guidance is conservative given the default rates in July and August and notes the company processes defaults in two of the three highest default rate states. Dolan Media was also started with a Buy rating and $26 target at Merrill Lynch and with a Buy rating and $28 target at Craig-Hallum.

• Think Equity assumed coverage of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) and Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) with an Accumulate rating and $26 target and a Buy rating and $18 target, respectively.
• Citigroup started shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) and Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL) with Hold ratings.
• SuperValu Inc (NYSE: SVU) was started with a Hold rating and $47 target at Citigroup.
• Rodman & Renshaw initiated shares of Omrix Biopharmaceuticals (NYSE: OMRI) with a Market Outperform rating.

Analyst initiations 9-11-07: Select newspaper stocks and DM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Sep 2007 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Wachovia upgraded Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation.

• RBC Capital raised Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY) to Sector Perform from Underperform citing upside potential from its real estate monetization strategy.

• Cumulus Media (NASDAQ: CMLS) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup based on the proposed buyout offer.

• VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Soleil based on the acquisition of three 110mgy ethanol projects from ASAlliance.

• Gabelli upgraded Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI) to Hold from Sell following the company's announcement that it will pursue a tax-free spin-off of its specialty products business...

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Delphi Financial Group (NYSE: DFG) to Outperform from Market Perform.

• RightNow Technologies (NASDAQ: RNOW) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

• Pacific upgraded Secure Computing (NASDAQ: SCUR) to Outperform from Sector Perform.

• Lehman raised Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) to Equal Weight from Underweight.

• Stanford upgraded Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMLN) to Buy from Hold.

Analyst upgrades 7-24-07: CMLS, DFG, PBY and RNOW originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

File this under Julie Roehm: avenger. The PR food fight between Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and its former marketing communications chief just got more interesting. I don't know why she picked late Friday afternoon on a get-away-weekend to launch her latest missive but according to the Wall Street Journal, Julie Roehm is alleging that WMT executives violated its ethics policy by accepting discounts on yachts, diamonds and personal gifts from vendors.

To put this into perspective, here's a recap of the rounds so far:

1. Wal-Mart fires Roehm alleging she accepted gifts from an advertising agency that was later chosen to handle WMT's ad account (12/06).
2. Roehm countersues WMT for breach of contract (12/06).
3. In a countersuit, WMT releases salacious details about an alleged affair Roehm had with a subordinate -- Sean Womack -- accusing her of misusing WMT travel funds on business trips with him. The suit cites one e-mail purportedly sent to Womack by Roehm as saying: "I think about us together all of the time. Little moments like watching your face when you kiss me." (3/07).

And today's round goes to Roehm, who alleges that WMT CEO H. Lee Scott, received "preferential prices" on yachts and "a large pink diamond for his wife" through his relationship with Irwin Jacobs. One of Jacobs's companies, Jacobs Trading, has the exclusive right to buy unsold WMT merchandise.

Continue reading Julie Roehm strikes back, claims Lee Scott violated ethics

Julie Roehm strikes back, claims Lee Scott violated ethics originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 May 2007 17:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.