Continue reading Closing Bell: Forgetting All About Europe (ARO, JPM, KR, GAS, IACI, LINTA, TOL)

Closing Bell: Forgetting All About Europe (ARO, JPM, KR, GAS, IACI, LINTA, TOL) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Pali Capital upgraded Lazard (LAZ) to buy from neutral, citing a healthy restructuring environment, improving M&A and strength in the asset management segment. The firm has a $46 target on shares.
• Baird upgraded Scansource (SCSC) to outperform from neutral, citing strength in the channel business and growth drivers from improved telephony and security. The firm has a $30 target on shares.
• Citigroup upgraded Liberty Interactive (LINTA) to buy from hold, citing the company's QVC unit's return to growth. The firm raised its target on shares to $13.25 from $12.
• Hess Corp (HES) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Vulcan Materials (VMC) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Dillard's (DDS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BRCM, D, FRED, INTC, LAZ, SCSC ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BRCM, D, FRED, INTC, LAZ, SCSC ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded National Fuel (NYSE: NFG) to Hold from Sell to reflect better than expected drilling results for the company's Marcellus shale assets. Citi raised its target on shares to $43 from $42.
• Baird upgraded Netezza (NYSE: NZ) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $14 from $7 based on the company's new product announcement and potential revenue acceleration.
• JPMorgan upgraded Liberty Interactive (NASDAQ: LINTA) to Overweight from Neutral. The firm finds the valuation attractive following Liberty's better than expected Q2 results and set a $13 price target on the stock.
• Marlin Business (NASDAQ: MRLN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair.
• Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) was upgraded to Sell from Conviction Sell at Goldman.
• Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BBY, DAI, FTE, LOGM, RIMM ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BBY, DAI, FTE, LOGM, RIMM ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Corning (NYSE: GLW) to Buy from Hold as it believes LCD glass production and sales have bottomed and will pick-up in Q2. The firm raised its target price to $16 from $11.25.
  
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Celera (NASDAQ: CRA) to Overweight from Market Weight based on valuation and its strong business model.
  
• ThinkEquity upgraded Varian Semi (NASDAQ: VARI) to Buy from Accumulate and raised its target to $32 from $20 based on valuation and weakness at its sole competitor.
• Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.
  
• Agilent (NYSE: A) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  
• Liberty Interactive (NASDAQ: LINTA) was upgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Underweight.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: GLW, A, BHP, MJN, AET ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: GLW, A, BHP, MJN, AET ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Barclays upgraded Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised their target to $35 from $28 citing the company's earnings power and free cash flow generation.
  
• William Blair upgraded St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) to Outperform from Market Perform following the company's Q4 results on valuation and the company's "steady growth."
  
• Wunderlich upgraded Liberty Interactive (NASDAQ:LINTA) to Buy from Hold as they believe debt concerns are overdone. The firm thinks that language in the proxy statement for the Liberty Entertainment hard spin suggests that cash and cash flow from the stub Entertainment tracker could be used to provide inter-company support to Interactive. The firm raised their target to $5 from $4.25.
• Lloyds TSB Group (NYSE:LYG) was raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
  
• BB&T (NYSE:BBT) was removed from Goldman's Conviction Sell List.
  
• Patni Computer (NYSE:PTI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BBY, LYG, XOM, BIDU

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BBY, LYG, XOM, BIDU originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Merrill believes Assurant (NYSE: AIZ) is well-positioned to weather the turmoil in the capital markets environment and cites the company's defensive characteristics for the upgrade. The firm upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded R.H. Donnelly (NYSE: RHD) to Hold from Sell to reflect the company's cost cuts and its ability to buy back bonds at discounted prices.
  
• Citigroup raised Consol Energy (NYSE: CNX) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they are seeing no fundamental deterioration in coal.
• Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
  Raymond James raised shares to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Penske Automotive (NYSE: PAG) was upgraded to Add from Neutral at Calyon.
  
• ICF International (NASDAQ: ICFI) was lifted to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.

• Deutsche Bank downgraded Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) to Sell from Hold after the company reported Q2 results to reflect a deceleration in growth and margin pressures. RIMM's target was lowered to $70 from $120. RBC Capital downgraded Research in Motion to Sector Perform from Outperform citing reduced margin visibility and the slowing macroeconomic environment.
  
• Stephens downgraded Vitran (NASDAQ: VTNC) and Saia (NASDAQ: SAIA) to Equal Weight from Overweight to reflect the companies' deteriorating demand and pricing environment. Vitran's target was cut to $15 from $22 and Saia's was lowered to $16 from $24.
  
• Mentor (NYSE: MNT) was downgraded to hold from Buy at Jefferies to reflect continued weakness in the breast implant market and the potential for lowered guidance. Mentor's target was lowered to $31 from $36.
  
• Merrill cut ING Group (NYSE: ING) to Underperform from Neutral.
  
• CF Industries (NYSE: CF) was downgraded at Citigroup to Hold from Buy.
  
• Liberty Interactive (NASDAQ: LINTA) was lowered to Sell from Hold at Natixis.

• Suntrust initiated Idexx Laboratories (NASDAQ: IDXX) with a Neutral rating, citing slowing organic revenue growth, valuation and a slowing lab business.
  
• Jefferies initiated Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) with a Hold rating and $33 target. The firm prefers to stay on sidelines due to valuation and macro risks.
  
• Hersha Hospitality (NYSE: HT) was assumed with a Market Perform rating and $7.50 target at Keefe Bruyette. The firm believes near-term demand trends in New York City could slow.
  
• Ecolab (NYSE: ECL) was initiated at Baird with a Neutral rating and $54 target.
  
• KeyBanc assumed ENGlobal (NASDAQ: ENG) with a Hold rating.
  
• Piper initiated Pentair (NYSE: PNR) with a Neutral rating and $39 target.

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AIZ, RIMM, ING, URBN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Nova Chemical, Tomkins Plc and Office Max were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Citigroup downgraded shares of Nova Chemical (NYSE: NCX) to Sell from Hold as they believe the ethylene cycle is trending downward due to economic uncertainty. Citigroup lowered their target to $21 and $25 and added the stock to the Top Picks Live List as a Sell.
  
• Goldman cut Tomkins Plc (NYSE: TKS) to Sell from Neutral as they believe the slowing economy could impact sales.
  
• Piper downgraded shares of OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX) to Neutral from Buy following the negative pre-announcement by competitor Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) on concerns of deteriorating industry fundamentals. Piper lowered their target on OfficeMax to $11 from $22.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• National City (NYSE: NCC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill.
  
• Danaher (NYSE: DHR) was removed from Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
  
• Liberty Interactive (NASDAQ: LINTA) was lowered to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst downgrades: Nova Chemical, Tomkins Plc, OfficeMax originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Before the bell: F, VZ, IACI, GOOG, V, HOG, AAPL

Before the bell: F, VZ, IACI, GOOG, V, HOG, AAPL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) and Liberty Media (NASDAQ:LINTA) have sued each other over IACI's planned breakup into five separate businesses. A Delaware Chancery Court Judge is expected to issue a ruling soon. IACI announced the plan to separate IACI into five publicly traded companies on November 5, 2007:

1) HSN, will include business comprising IACI's retailing segment;
2) Ticketmaster;
3) Interval International, which will include CondoDirect, Resort Quest Hawaii and VacationSource;
4) LendingTree, which will include RealEstate.com Domania, GetSmart, Home Loan Center and iNest; and
5) IAC media & advertising, Ask.com, Bloglines, City Search, Cursor Mania, Evite, Excite, insiderpages, iWon, My Fun cards, Black Web Enterprises Shoebuy.com, Match.com.

IACI April option implied volatility of 47 is above its 26-week average of 38 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Option Update; InterActiveCorp volatility Elevated into expected breakup ruling originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Whomever buys The Weather Channel will probably see nothing but blue skies.ss

Disney, CBS, GE, see blue skies ahead for The Weather Channel originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading IAC/InteractiveCorp lower on pending Diller/Malone struggle

IAC/InteractiveCorp lower on pending Diller/Malone struggle originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Barry Diller is in top form in fight with John Malone

Barry Diller is in top form in fight with John Malone originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A number of economic readings Tuesday include some more housing data:

• RealtyTrac already reported foreclosure data. The number of foreclosures soared by 75% in 2007, with 405,000 households losing their home, with total foreclosure filings soared 97% in December alone compared with December of 2006.
  
• At 8:30 a.m. EST, December durable goods orders is due.
  
• At 9 a.m., the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for November is released.
• At 10 a.m. January consumer confidence will be reported. The Census Bureau will also give its report on fourth-quarter home ownership and the number of vacant homes for sale on the market.

Continue reading Before the bell: Futures higher on rate-cut hopes; earnings, data ahead

Before the bell: Futures higher on rate-cut hopes; earnings, data ahead originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 07:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What once appeared to be a funny dust-up between a couple of older gentlemen has gotten nasty. John Malone's Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LINTA) has long held a controlling interest in IACI (NASDAQ: IACI), run by former Hollywood mogul Barry Diller. Diller has had the right to vote Liberty's shares giving him de facto control of IACI.

Diller had made the decision to take IACI and break it into five publicly traded pieces. That probably made some sense. The Home Shopping Network does not belong under the same roof as Ask.com and Lending Tree. But, Malone has not seen enough bang in the IACI share price since the spin-offs were announced. The stock trades at just over $27, near its 52-week low.

Mr. Malone today moved to push out Diller and most of the board that supports him at IACI. Whether Malone can take away the rights Mr. Diller has to vote Liberty's shares is unclear.

According to The Wall Street Journal, in a response to Liberty's actions Mr. Diller said in a statement: "After reading this new salvo, I am beginning to think these people are insane. Everything they cite is hogwash. First of all, we have never asked the board to take action on any specific proposal high, low or no-vote. What we have done, which we thought was the responsible thing to do given this conflict, is to go to the Delaware court and ask them to tell us what rights IACI has or doesn't have."

Wall Street will just have to wait a few weeks to see who is insane and who is not.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Malone's Liberty fights to oust Diller at IACI originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) and Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LINTA) have sued each other over IACI's planned breakup into five separate businesses.

IACI is recently up 20 cents to $24.60; shares near three-year low into company break up.

IACI is expected to report EPS on February 6.

IACI announced the plan to separate IACI into five publicly traded companies on November 5, 2007:

1. HSN, will include business comprising IACI's retailing segment.
   
2. Ticketmaster.
   
3. Interval International, which will include CondoDirect, Resort Quest Hawaii and VacationSource.
   
4. LendingTree, which will include RealEstate.com Domania, GetSmart, Home Loan Center and iNest, and
   
5. IAC media & advertising, Ask.com, Bloglines, City Search, Cursor Mania, Evite, Excite, insiderpages, iWon, My Fun cards, Black Web Enterprises Shoebuy.com, Match.com.
   

IACI February option implied volatility of 47 is above its 26-week average of 33 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Option update 1-28-08: InterActiveCorp volatility up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: ADBE) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 5pm
• UTStarcom Inc (NASDAQ: UTSI) to hold business news update at 6pm

• Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) to hold special media event at the London flagship store at 10am
• Federal Open Market Commiittee meeting; announcement at 2:15pm
• Bank of Japan Monetary Policy Meeting (Two-day Meeting, 9/18 - 9/19)

• General Mills Inc (NYSE: GIS) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:30am
• Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 11am.

• The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 8:30am
• The Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 10am
• Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 5pm

• Sysco Corporation (NYSE: SYY) to hold analyst meeting at 8am
• Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LINTA) to hold 2007 Investors' Meeting at 9am
• Alexander & Baldwin Inc (NASDAQ: ALEX) strategic update at 2pm

Market highlights for next week: ADBE, GIS, MS, GS and BSC to report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Time Warner sells the Atlanta Braves! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 May 2007 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Inside Scoop" reported that Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) director Edward Kozel spent $595,200 buying 20,000 shares of Yahoo on the open market.
• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported that Brady Dougan will succeed Oswald Grubel as CEO of Credit Suisse Group ADS (NYSE: CS).
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) to explore Chrysler's future. "All options are on the table," said chairman Dieter Zetsche.
  

• According to the Detroit News, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is offering cash rebates on the new Ford Edge crossover, but says the move is a testament to the new vehicle's success. Automakers usually add incentives when they are having a difficult time selling selling a particular model.
  
• The Telegraph wrote that several media companies have accused Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) of selling advertising for two piracy websites, and smaller advertisers are complaining that their ads are appearing on sites with no content that may be run by fraudsters.
• Investor's Business Daily's "New America" column focused on Liberty Media Corporation Interactive (NASDAQ: LINTA), which owns the QVC home shopping network. The article notes that QVC had revenues last year of about $5.5B, concluding a run of 20 years of increased sales.

Newspaper wrap-up 2-15-07: Ford exploring strategic options originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 15 Feb 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.