Analyst Upgrades

• Chesapeake (CHK) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Biogen (BIIB) and Regeneron (REGN) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Caribou Coffee (CBOU) to outperform from neutral and Encore Energy (ENP) to neutral from underperform at RW Baird.
• Fluor (FLR) to market perform from underperform at BMO Capital.
• Hornbeck Offshore (HOS) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Saks (SKS) and Zale (ZLC) to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BIIIB, CBOU, CELG, CHK, CIEN, HOS, LULU, RHT, SKS, ZLC ...

Analyst Calls: BIIIB, CBOU, CELG, CHK, CIEN, HOS, LULU, RHT, SKS, ZLC ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Applied Materials (AMAT) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Air Products (APD) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Youku.com (YOKU) and Pinnacle West (PNW) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Stryker (SYK) and Zimmer (ZMH) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Zions Bancorp (ZION) to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Alnylam (ALNY) to buy from hold at Needham.
• AK Steel (AKS) to buy from hold at KeyBanc.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AEP, AKS, AMAT, EZCH, FRX, LOPE, MYGN, PNW, ZION ...

Analyst Calls: AEP, AKS, AMAT, EZCH, FRX, LOPE, MYGN, PNW, ZION ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: A six-day rally (AIG, REGN, M, MOT, PALM, RIMM)

Closing Bell: A six-day rally (AIG, REGN, M, MOT, PALM, RIMM) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Many investors need income, especially as they reach retirement. They look for ancillary cash flow to supplement their Social Security payments and any retirement benefits from a company for which they've worked. But those aren't the only investors who should be interested in income.

That's because studies show that dividends are a significant contributor to overall performance of a stock. When held for years, a stock's dividend can help diminish the volatility of a stock's price and keep returns reasonable, especially in down markets. Here are five stocks that have decent income as well as potential capital gains. All are exceptionally financially strong.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Five stocks for income and growth

Comfort Zone Investing: Five stocks for income and growth originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Royal Bank of Scotland upgraded shares of Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's dividend yield.
  
• JMP Securities expects HFF Inc. (NYSE: HF) to benefit from increased U.S. commercial real estate sales and mortgage volumes. Shares were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm has a $5 target on shares.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Church & Dwight (NYSE: CHD) to Outperform from Perform as it believes Church & Dwight's value-oriented portfolio should continue to benefit from the consumer trade-down and that concerns over distribution are overblown. The firm set a $62 price on shares.
• Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  
• Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• AMB Property (NYSE: AMB) was lifted to Neutral from Underperform at Banc of America/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: VOD, CBS, BCS, MS, ICE, AU ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: VOD, CBS, BCS, MS, ICE, AU ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan downgraded Allegheny Tech (NYSE:ATI), Carpenter Tech (NYSE:CRS) and Haynes (NASDAQ:HAYN) to Neutral from Overweight based on the decline in nickel prices and its impact on nickel-based metals demand on valuation, as they find the risk/reward less attractive following the recent rally and increased raw material costs.
  
• Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Motorola (NYSE:MOT) to Underperform from Perform after channel checks indicated the company could miss Q2 handset guidance and continued market share losses.
• UBS said the risk/reward profile for owning Machinery stocks given macro challenges and valuations. The firm downgraded Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) and Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) to Sell from Neutral and United Rentals (NYSE:URI) and RSC Holdings (NYSE:RRR) to Neutral from Buy. Additionally, shares of Paccar (NASDAQ:PCAR) were cut to Sell from Neutral and Navistar (OTC:NAVZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy due to weak U.S. truck demand.
  

• Jefferies cut Hercules Inc (NYSE:HPC) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Goldman downgraded Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and DirecTV (NASDAQ:DTV) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Regeneron (NASDAQ:REGN) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Analyst downgrades: ATI, CRS, HAYN, MOT and Machinery stocks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The notes out of the Fed gave no indication of rate cuts. Too much worry about inflation.

After a report showing that supplies have dropped, oil traded north of $132.00 per barrel today. Maybe T. Boone Pickens' call for $150 oil was intended to be by the end of the month rather than the end of the year. The minutes from the last FOMC meeting may say it all: increased inflation expectations, increased unemployment expectations, lowered GDP expectations. But no recession, at least not officially while the Fed describes the environment of stagflation. Below are the unofficial closing US index levels:

AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) saw shares fall a sharp 25% after the company announced at its annual shareholder meeting that it was going to slash 11% or 12% from its flight capacity. To make bad matters worse, Soleil issued an untimely downgrade of the sector today.

Continue reading Closing bell: Any good news?

Closing bell: Any good news? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 May 2008 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), a Chinese-language internet search provider, is recently down $33.10 to $310.09. BIDU call option volume of 95,184 contracts compares to put volume of 67,862 contracts. BIDU October 330 straddle is priced at $35.50. BIDU November option implied volatility of 90 is above its 26-week average of 55, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN), is primarily focused on the development of drugs for oncology. REGN is recently up $0.59 to $19.09. REGN October 20 calls have traded 42 times on transaction volume of 881 contracts, above its open interest of 710 contracts. REGN November call option implied volatility is at 85, puts are at 73 above its 26-week average of 56, according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options: VIX.X up 2.54 to 19.21.

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

Option update 10-11-07: Baidu & VIX volatility spike on selloff originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cramer's meow & nasty biotech originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Mar 2007 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.