Analyst upgrades:

• Morgan Keegan upgraded Marvell Tech (NASDAQ: MRVL) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation and sustainable growth.
  
• Merrill upgraded Lehman (NYSE: LEH) to Neutral from Underperform and said the government bailout of the GSE's removes "considerable uncertainty" in the residential mortgage markets and that the housing market is now closer to a bottom. The analyst believes the environment has improved for Lehman to attract equity capital needed and that loss expectations are reflected in valuation.
• Friedman Billings upgraded Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION) and UCBH Holdings (NASDAQ: UCBH) to Outperform from Market Perform.

• Lehman downgraded shares of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) to Equal Weight from Overweight after the U.S. government said it will place Fannie and Freddie into a conservatorship. Citigroup also downgraded shares to Sell from Buy following the federal government's plan to place the GSEs into conservatorship as they believe both Fannie and Freddie will no longer be managed to maximize common shareholder returns.
  
• Nokia (NYSE: NOK) was cut to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. The firm downgraded shares following the company's guidance reduction and believes the forecast could still be optimistic.

Continue reading Analyst calls: MRVL, LEH, FNM, FRE, NOK, PETM ...

Analyst calls: MRVL, LEH, FNM, FRE, NOK, PETM ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Rice protein has joined wheat glutton on the list of tainted pet food ingredients imported from China, according to USA Today.

Natural Balance Pet Foods is recalling some products after it found melamine, an industrial chemical, in some of its food that it suspects was in a rice protein concentrate, the paper said, adding that's the same chemical that lead to the massive recall by Menu Foods.

At this point in the game I personally have nearly lost all faith in the pet food industry to protect the health of its furry consumers. I'm also wondering if former Pres. Bill Clinton is fondly recalling the memories of all those USDA inspectors which he pink slipped. It's coming back to bite Bill now ain't it... I told you so...

I have not discontinued feeding my cats their usual commercial food. It's not that I don't love the little furballs, but changing their diet the way I'd like to would involve a small increase in our grocery budget which I choose not to bear. If the kitties were showing signs of digestive troubles or exhibiting any other symptoms, I'd surely contact our veterinarian and change their food immediately.

If I was to change my cats' diet, I would feed them human-grade salmon, tuna, shrimp, liver, beef, grains, oils and greens. Each meal would be a blend of two of the meat ingredients plus some grains and greens blended to a consistency similar to the commercial canned cat food. Wheat grass works well as a green ingredient and can be grown on your windowsill easily. As a matter of fact, it's not a bad idea to keep a pan of wheat grass growing at all times for your kitty. They love to chew it up and it often helps them to expel those nasty hairballs. Most local pet stores sell wheat grass seeds.

Continue reading Pet food recalls becoming downright confusing

Pet food recalls becoming downright confusing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

March 18 through 24, 2007, marks National Poison Prevention Week and it comes with some good news.

In the 1970s there were more than 200 child deaths a year attributed to the accidental ingestion of any manner of dangerous household chemicals, personal care products, over-the-counter medications, and cleaning agents. Due to the efforts of multiple agencies, the occurrence of these unfortunate accidents has been reduced to about 36 a year.

In 2005 about 91,000 young children visited hospital emergency rooms do to unintentional poisoning, and poison control call centers fielded more than 1 million calls. By maintaining constant availability and aggressive public awareness, organizations such as the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission seek to further reduce accidental poison fatalities.

To prevent these incidents, CPSC recommends the following safety steps:

Continue reading National Poison Prevention Week and other good news!

National Poison Prevention Week and other good news! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 17 Mar 2007 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.