This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

"My pick for 2010 is Blue Coat Systems (BCSI), a company that provides web security," says Leo Fasciocco, a leading technical analyst known for his focus on stocks that are breaking out of basing patterns.

In his The Ticker Tape Digest, he explains, "We consider the stock an excellent intermediate-term play because of its strong profit outlook."

Continue reading Top Picks for 2010: Blue Coat (BCSI)

Top Picks for 2010: Blue Coat (BCSI) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Host Hotels (NYSE: HST) to Hold from Buy and lowered their target to $19 from $22.50 on a lack of near-term catalysts and industry headwinds. Note the firm also downgraded Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE: SHO), Strategic Hotels (NYSE: BEE) and DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE: DRH) to Hold from Buy.
• Merriman downgraded shares of Packeteer (NASDAQ: PKTR) to Neutral from Buy following the acquisition bid by Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ: BCSI) as they are not expecting additional suitors to emerge.
  
• ABN Amro cut France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) to Hold from Buy as they see increased risk from the company's acquisitions strategy.

• Keefe Bruyette downgraded Capitol Federal (NASDAQ: CFFN) to Underperform from Market Perform.
  
• Omnicell (NASDAQ: OMCL) was lowered to Neutral from Strong Buy at Broadpoint.
  
• National City (NYSE: NCC) was downgraded at Bear to Underperform from Outperform.

Analyst downgrades: NCC, HST, PKTR and FTE originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Baird upgraded shares of Strattec Security Corp (NASDAQ: STRT) to Neutral from Underperform following its Q3 report.

• Shares of Palm, Inc (NASDAQ: PALM) were raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Lehman Bros.

• Banc of America upgraded Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) to Neutral from Sell based on valuation.

• J.C. Penney Co Inc (NYSE: JCP) was raised to Strong Buy from Accumulate with a $105 target at Buckingham, citing strategic merchandise, flow and cycle-timing initiatives.

• Wachovia believes that as the lodging cycle matures, Marriott International's (NYSE: MAR) diversified fee-based, unit-driven model will outperform relative to pure hotel-owned companies, and upgraded shares to Outperform from Market Perform.

• Goldman Sachs upgraded CNOOC Ltd (NYSE: CEO) to Buy from Neutral.

• JMP Securities raised Packeteer, Inc's (NASDAQ: PKTR) rating to Market Perform from Underperform.

• Oppenheimer upgraded Playtex Products, Inc (NYSE: PYX) to Buy from Neutral on its acquisition of Tiki Hut, strong fundamentals and realistic investor expectations.

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of American Standard Cos Inc (NYSE: ASD) to Overweight from Neutral.

• Matrix USA raised the rating of Hecla Mining Co (NYSE: HL) to Hold from Sell.

• Shares of VCA Antech, Inc (NASDAQ: WOOF) were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.

Analyst upgrades 4-20-07: JCP, MAR, NFLX and PALM all upgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Bernstein started Celgene Corp (NASDAQ: CELG) with an Outperform rating and $62 target. The firm believes Revlimid can achieve the company's global sales of more than $3.2B by 2012 and feels the recent low $50's is an excellent share entry point.

• JP Morgan initiated Luminent Mortgage Capital (NYSE: LUM) with an Overweight rating based on valuation.

• First Albany initiated CNET Networks inc (NASDAQ: CNET) with a Buy rating and $10 target, citing valuation.

• RBC initiated Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc (NASDAQ: MFLX) with an Outperform rating and $23 target.

• Jefferies started Packeteer, Inc (NASDAQ: PKTR) with a Buy rating and $18.50 target on valuation.

• Jefferies also initiated Riverbed Technology, Inc (NASDAQ: RVBD) with a Hold rating and $28 target.

• UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) was started with a Buy rating and $79 target at Bank of America.

• Matrix USA initiated Transocean Inc (NYSE: RIG) with a Buy rating.

• Wedbush initiated both eFunds Corp (NYSE: EFD) and NCR Corp (NYSE: NCR) with Buy ratings.

Analyst initiations 3-13-07: Celgene, CNET Networks & Transocean initiated today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.