Non-farm payrolls came in higher than analysts' forecasts and the unemployment rate fell to 8.8%. That good news sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new 2011 high. At midday the Dow was up 78 points to 12,397 -- as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Except for a brief sell-off to the 11,500 level, the market has moved quickly to regain lost ground and is now at new highs. Last week the USDA's crop report was bullish for grains. It's not surprising that Caterpillar (CAT) led the charge, up 1.7%. But there are always some losers. Office Depot (ODP) fell 11% after reporting a fourth quarter loss and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD), which also had a fourth quarter loss, fell 17%.

Continue reading Dow Hits New 2011 High: What's Next?

Dow Hits New 2011 High: What's Next? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Boeing (BA) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Alcoa (AA) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• BP (BP) to outperform from market perform at Raymond James.
• Office Depot (ODP) and Staples (SPLS) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• ON Semiconductor (ONNN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Kennametal (KMT) and Polyone (POL) to buy from hold at KeyBanc.
• Airgas (ARG) to outperform from market perform at William Blair.
• EchoStar (SATS) to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AA, BA, BP, BSX, COH, GM, INTC, NSM, STJ, TIF, TSN, UA ...

Analyst Calls: AA, BA, BP, BSX, COH, GM, INTC, NSM, STJ, TIF, TSN, UA ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded BP (BP) to buy from neutral.
• STEC (STEC) was upgraded to buy from hold at Needham.
• MCG Capital (MCGC) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Corporate Office (OFC) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• Citigroup upgraded K-Sea Transportation (KSP) and Post Properties (PPS) to hold from sell.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Embraer (ERJ) to buy from underperform.
• Wilmington Trust (WL) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.
• Parkway Properties (PKY) was upgraded to hold from sell at Stifel Nicolaus.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BP, EOG, FDO, MOT, MRO, NEM, NOK, ODP, RIMM, TGB ...

Analyst Calls: BP, EOG, FDO, MOT, MRO, NEM, NOK, ODP, RIMM, TGB ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Nov 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Office Depot Set to Have a Good Day as CEO Resigns

Office Depot Set to Have a Good Day as CEO Resigns originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Anadarko Petroleum Tops Bullish Volatility Skews; Millipore Tops Bearish

Anadarko Petroleum Tops Bullish Volatility Skews; Millipore Tops Bearish originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Anadarko Petroleum (APC) to overweight from neutral on valuation as it views the recent pullback in shares as excessive. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target for shares to $82 from $90.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Office Depot (ODP) to perform from underperform and upped its target for shares to $7 from $3 after raising its estimates for companies in the Office Products Retail space. The firm expects trends to accelerate for the sector due to moderating unemployment pressures. In conjunction with the upgrade, Opco raised its target for OfficeMax (OMX) to $26 from $21 and target for Staples (SPLS) to $30 from $28. Both stocks remain outperform rated.
• C.K. Cooper upgraded iRobot (IRBT) to buy from hold with a $30 price target following the company's analyst day.
• Seadrill (SDRL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Vodafone (VOD) was upgraded to neutral from reduce at Nomura.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: APC, ODP, IRBT, NFLX, POM, MMSI, NTAP, LULU, LNCE ...

Analyst Calls: APC, ODP, IRBT, NFLX, POM, MMSI, NTAP, LULU, LNCE ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 May 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Coinstar Inc. (CSTR) shares surged following stronger-than-expected Q1 earnings driven by DVD rentals.
• Humana Inc. (HUM) shares traded lower despite the report of better-than-expected earnings for Q1.
• IMAX Corp. (IMAX) reported strong Q1 results that easily topped consensus estimates, but shares declined.
• Kellogg Co. (K) topped Q1 earnings expectations and announced a share buyback program.
• Office Depot Inc. (ODP) Q1 earnings fell short of consensus estimates and same-store sales declined.

Continue reading Earnings Highlights: IMAX, Kellogg, Sprint, 3M, UPS, Viacom, Visa and More

Earnings Highlights: IMAX, Kellogg, Sprint, 3M, UPS, Viacom, Visa and More originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 01 May 2010 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Office Depot, Inc. (ODP), whose colleagues include OfficeMax Incorporated (OMX) and Staples, Inc. (SPLS), was off by 1.4% at the time of this writing in afternoon trading. That put the share price below the $7 level. The stock is also well below the 52-week high of $9.19. What do the technical and fundamental factors tell us about the potential of this investment idea?

They're not telling us comforting things, in my opinion. The one-year chart doesn't look too bad. Like many other one-year charts, it shows a company that wants to head higher, albeit in a choppy way.

Continue reading Should Investors Avoid Office Depot for Now?

Should Investors Avoid Office Depot for Now? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to the press release, total sales decreased 6%. Earnings per diluted share declined as well, dropping 7% on an adjusted basis to 39 cents. That was good enough, though, to beat expectations by a penny, as indicated by our preview piece.

Continue reading Staples heads higher on third-quarter release

Staples heads higher on third-quarter release originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Staples Inc. (SPLS), whose website had trouble keeping up with the crush of Black Friday traffic, is scheduled to discuss its third quarter 2009 financial results in a conference call Tuesday, December 1, at 8:00 AM ET. You can catch the live webcast of the call on the company's website.

During the three months that ended in October, Staples executives sold shares and the company was named one of the world's 100 hardest working brands. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect the world's biggest office supply superstore operator to report that earnings for that period fell 9.5% from a year ago to $0.38 per share. Revenue for the quarter is expected to be 7.3% lower to $6.5 billion.

Continue reading Staples earnings preview: Shrinking profit seen as stock hits 52-week high

Staples earnings preview: Shrinking profit seen as stock hits 52-week high originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In his 'Master Trading' portfolio, Bernie Schaeffer uses fundamental, technical and sentiment metrics to select trades. Here's a trio of ideas from Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"I have initiated a long position in Office Depot (NYSE: ODP). Price action for ODP has been strong, with the equity gaining more than 108% year-to-date.

"Recently, the equity pulled back to its 20-day moving average. There is heavy out-of-the-money put open interest for ODP. An unwinding of the short positions related to this open interest could provide a tailwind for the stock.

Continue reading A trio of technical bets from Bernie Schaeffer

A trio of technical bets from Bernie Schaeffer originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS), a seller of office supplies and a competitor of chains such as Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX), and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), reported Q2 earnings on Tuesday. Although they weren't that great, I can't say I felt they were a total disaster, either. I think the quarter was lackluster and indicative of the immense work ahead for management in terms of getting people into their stores and increasing sales per transaction.

According to the press release, total sales increased 9% and adjusted earnings per share declined 24% to 16 cents. That's a steep drop, but they did match analyst expectations. Staples used the increase it saw in free cash flow in a smart way: debt reduction. I approve of that move, to be sure.

Continue reading Staples' earnings drop, but meet expectations

Staples' earnings drop, but meet expectations originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As the current advertising campaign from Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) makes clear, the nation's largest office supply store operator is hoping for what so many retailers (aside perhaps from those participating in the cash for clunkers program) are hoping for: a boost from back-to-school sales. Unfortunately, any such sales won't affect the second quarter results that Staples is scheduled to report tomorrow morning before the market opens. Those results will include July, though, when retail sales were disappointing all around.

Staples is scheduled to discuss its second quarter 2009 results tomorrow morning in a conference call at 8:00 AM ET. You can catch the live webcast of the call on the company's website.

Continue reading Lower Q2 earnings expected from Staples

Lower Q2 earnings expected from Staples originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For private equity investors, one of the worst sectors has been retailing. Just look at some of the failed deals: Goody's, Linens 'n Things, Mervyns, and so on.

Despite the carnage, it looks like private equity operators are seeing opportunity in the sector. For example, CCMP Capital Advisors recently agreed to pay $202 million for defunct Eddie Bauer.

And, this week we got another deal: BC Partners announced a $350 million direct investment in Office Depot (NYSE: ODP).

Continue reading Office Depot gets a lifeline

Office Depot gets a lifeline originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS) issued its Q1 report on Wednesday. Call me unimpressed. It beat earnings estimates by a penny, coming in at 22 cents on an adjusted basis. Sure, that's what investors want to see. They want the bottom line to go beyond expectations.

But there isn't a lot of excitement to be had with the Staples story. According to the press release, that 22-cent figure represented a decline of 27% in per-share profit. Furthermore, there's weakness in terms of same-store sales. In the North American market, comps dipped 8%. On the international front, comps went down by 14% in Europe.

Continue reading Staples beats analysts in Q1, but tough economy causes decline in comps

Staples beats analysts in Q1, but tough economy causes decline in comps originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 May 2009 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings as revenues surged in the quarter.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) just beat Q3 expectations despite weak same-store sales growth.
• Corn Products International Inc. (NYSE: CPO) Q1 results were dragged down by higher corn costs.
• Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) Q1 earnings sank on falling sales, job cuts and acquisition costs.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) reported a deeper-than-expected Q1 loss and suspended its dividend.
• Energizer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ENR) posted better-than-expected Q2 earnings but revenue declined.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Starbucks, Kodak, Verizon, Visa, Office Depot, Baidu and more

Earnings highlights: Starbucks, Kodak, Verizon, Visa, Office Depot, Baidu and more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 02 May 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bright and early this morning, Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) announced that the global recession led to a fiscal first-quarter loss of 20 cents per share, down from a profit of 25 cents per share last year.

The office supply retailer stated that demand for office supplies, namely computers and other big-ticket items, dropped thanks to the economic slowdown. Taking charges out of the equation, ODP earned 10 cents per share, which was better than the estimated loss of 9 cents per share. This positive surprise pushed ODP shares higher in pre-market trading.

Continue reading Office Depot reports a quarterly loss

Office Depot reports a quarterly loss originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS), whose colleagues include Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) and OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX), is set to report earnings for the fourth quarter on Wednesday, March 11. The famous seller of office supplies has seen its stock go from a 52-week high of $26.57 all the way down to a 52-week low of $13.57.

Actually, that's one of the better ranges I've seen! Goes to show how bad things are out there. Staples saw its shares close at $14.63 on Monday, so a beat on the bottom line could really help things out.

Will management be able to beat? I don't have much confidence that it will, but that doesn't necessarily have to do with Staples per se, it's just that the economy's got me down on so many of these earnings prospects. Analysts are hoping for Staples to do about 42 cents per share in Q4, which would represent a 10% drop in the bottom line.

Continue reading Earnings preview: Will Staples have a good day at the office this week?

Earnings preview: Will Staples have a good day at the office this week? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Bidz.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDZ) Q4 earnings release included notice about an SEC investigation.
• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) saw net income drop by almost 50%, falling short of estimates.
• Ducommun Inc. (NYSE: DCO) received an analyst's downgrade after its Q4 earnings release.
• Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) said Q4 earnings fell due to weakness at Gap and Old Navy stores.
• General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) worse-than-expected results prompted speculation about its survival.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Dell, GM, Lowe's, Heinz, Smucker, Washington Post and more

Earnings highlights: Dell, GM, Lowe's, Heinz, Smucker, Washington Post and more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Office Depot (ODP) slumps after reporting loss; it's not going to rally soon

Office Depot (ODP) slumps after reporting loss; it's not going to rally soon originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.