This post is part of a series in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked financial experts to name their top stock pick if McCain or if Obama wins the election.
Which stocks would benefit from a victory by either Senator John McCain or Senator Barack Obama? To help investors sort through the sectors and stocks best positioned to benefit in a post-election environment, we posed this question to some of the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.
Importantly, this is not a partisan report; each participating advisor has provided a favorite stock for both candidates, focused not on political preferences but unbiased stock analysis. Below we feature those stocks and ETFs that the advisors believe will be the winners depending on which candidate prevails.
The Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street" reported that analysts believe investors should take a look at some Indian pharmaceutical stocks, including two of the subcontinent's biggest generics makers, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited (NYSE: RDY) and Cipla Ltd.
According to the Wall Street Journal's "Heard in Asia," shares of India's three largest tech and outsourcing companies by sales, Infosys Technologies Limited (NASDAQ: INFY), Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT), may be worth a look by investors despite some near-term volatility.
OTHER PAPERS:
David Letterman is seeking his own deal with the Writers Guild of America which would allow his show to return to air on CBS Corporation's (NYSE: CBS) CBS station in early January even if the strike is continuing, the New York Times reported.
According to the UK Times, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is expected to name Tata as the preferred bidder for its Jaguar and Land Rover units.
According to a person briefed on the situation, Merrill Lynch & Co Inc's (NYSE: MER) CEO Stan O'Neal was negotiating the terms of his forced departure on Sunday and the departure is expected to be announced on Monday. The top contenders for the CEO position are said to be BlackRock Inc's (NYSE: BLK) CEO Laurence Fink and NYSE Euronext Inc's (NYSE: NYX) CEO John Thain, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The WSJ also reported that Alibaba.com raised $1.5B after the company priced its IPO at HK$13.50, at the top-end of the HK$12-$HK13.50 range. Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) holds a 39% stake in Alibaba Group.
OTHER PAPERS:
Ness Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: NSTC) was awarded a contract worth NIS 5 Million to convert the pension fund data managed by Opal Future Technologies, Globes reported.
Indian company Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited (NYSE: RDY) is set to attempt to raise its share of the U.S. over the counter drug market by partnering with at least six more U.S. retail chains; the company plans to launch up to 10 drugs over the next 12 months that could become OTC offerings in the U.S., the Economic Times reported.
WEB SITES:
According to TechCrunch, IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) may have submitted a letter of intent to acquire movie-centered social network Flixter over the last week or so.
Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group of India, has confirmed his interest in the Jaguar and Land Rover units of Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), according to the Wall Street Journal.
OTHER PAPERS:
The Washington Post reported that Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) has made a deal to sell its supply arm, HD Supply, for $8.5B, down from the original price of $10.3B, to a consortium of private equity firms headed by Carlyle Group, inside sources say.
According to a sources with knowledge of the discussions, Altria Group Inc (NYSE: MO) is considering spinning off its Philip Morris International division as part of a restructuring plan to increase shareholder value, reported the New York Times.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: PetSmart, Inc (PETM), Google (GOOG), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd (RDY) and Optimal Group Inc (OPMR) were today's more noteworthy downgrades:
Stifel cut PetSmart Inc (NASDAQ: PETM) to Hold from Buy biting valuation.
First Global downgraded shares of Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) to Market Perform from Outperform.
Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (NYSE: RDY) to Equal-Weight from Overweight after a U.S. court ruling appeared set to block generic competition to Japanese company Eisai Co, Ltd's (ESALY) ulcer drug Aciphex.
B. Riley downgraded shares of Optimal Group (NASDAQ: OPMR) to Neutral from Buy to reflect increasing uncertainty regarding further legal actions, which may be taken by the U.S. Attorney's office against the company...
MOST NOTEWORTHY: United Rentals, Inc (URI), Nintendo Co (NTDOY), Shuffle Master, Inc (SHFL), CheckFree Corp (CKFR) and The Kroger Co (KR) were some of today's noteworthy downgrades:
JP Morgan cut United Rentals Inc (NYSE: URI) to Underweight from Neutral believing the company's strategic alternatives and valuation upside are limited given slowing end markets and lack of sources to unlock value.
Prudential downgraded Shuffle Master Inc (NASDAQ: SHFL) to Neutral from Outperform following a field trip to Macau, as they are incrementally more negative given competition in electronic table games and continued market share erosion in slots.
JMP Securities cut CheckFree Corp (NASDAQ: CKFR) to Market Outperform from Strong buy and has a greater degree of certainty that Bank of America (BAC) is planning on moving its payment warehouse portion of online bill pay in-house over an unspecified period. The firm believes earnings can be impacted by 25c-30c annually.
HSBC downgraded shares of The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) to Neutral from Overweight.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
ThinkEquity downgraded KLA-Tencor Corp (NASDAQ: KLAC) to Accumulate from Buy.
Cowen downgraded Salesforce.com, Inc (NYSE: CRM) to Neutral from Outperform and removed the company from its Focus List citing reduced visibility, lack of near-term catalysts and potential increased competition from Oracle Corp (ORCL) and Microsoft (MSFT).
JP Morgan cut Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd (NYSE: RDY) to Underweight from Overweight to reflect the increased risk of changing market conditions in Germany.
Matrix USA downgraded Coinstar, Inc (NASDAQ: CSTR) to Sell from Hold on valuation.
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