unh posts
FeedPosted Nov 16th 2009 8:00AM by Paul Foster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Options
UnitedHealth (UNH) closed at $29.08 Friday, near one-year high. UnitedHealth is hosting an investor meeting on December 2. December option implied volatility is at 40; January is at 42; below its 26-week average of 48 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.
Semiconductor Holders Trust - SMH overall volatility at 29; 26-week average is 33.
Russell 2000 - IWM overall implied volatility at 27; 26-week average is 33.
Financial Select Sector - XLF overall volatility at 34; 26-week average is 40.
Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com
Posted Oct 13th 2009 4:00PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: Ford Motor (F), Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

Today was another trading day bare of major economic data. Shares were all over the place today with the indexes not giving any clear direction at any point of the day. It was not until right before the close that you had a real feel for whether we would close up or down today.
Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 9,874.31 -11.49 (-0.12%)
S&P 500 1,073.56 -2.63 (-0.24%)
Nasdaq 2,140.22 +1.08 (0.05%)
Top Analyst UpgradesTop Analyst DowngradesTop Stock RumorsDay Trader AlertsContinue reading Closing Bell: The Yo-Yo market (ENER, ITT, F, GS, UNH, RA, FIG)
Posted Aug 20th 2009 6:50PM by Wade Hansen (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bad news, Rumors

Unless you've been spending your summer vacation on a tropical beach with no television or internet access, you have seen that the public reception to Congress' proposals for heathcare reform have not exactly been well accepted. I mean, nut jobs showing up to town hall meetings with guns strapped to their legs isn't really the norm.
So you would think that the Republicans who are against a public insurance plan are in control, right? Not so fast.
Congressional Democrats are now talking about splitting the healthcare bills into two parts so they can take advantage of a loophole called reconciliation.
Continue reading Reconciliation is a nasty word for healthcare stocks (UNH, WLP and HUM)
Posted Jul 27th 2009 11:40AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Boeing Co (BA), Analyst initiations
Analyst upgrades:
- B. Riley upgraded Finish Line (NASDAQ: FINL) to Buy from Neutral to reflect the potential for improving trends in second half of 2009. The firm raised its target on shares to $10.50 from $9.
- Merriman upgraded OptionXpress (NASDAQ: OXPS) to Neutral from Sell following the company's better than expected Q2 results. The firm notes higher commissions per trade more than offset weak DARTs and the decline in customer additions in the quarter.
- RBC Capital upgraded Gardner Denver (NYSE: GDI) to Outperform from Sector Perform and raised its target to $34 from $28 citing the additional scale of restructuring, better tone to end-markets, and few downside catalysts. Baird upgraded Gardner Denver to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $35 from $32 based on a bottom in fundamentals and compelling valuation.
- BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital.
- Shire (NASDAQ: SHPGY) was upgraded to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
- UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BA, EXEL, FINL, NTAP, UNH, WU ...
Posted Jul 26th 2009 10:10AM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Starbucks (SBUX), Coca-Cola (KO), Amazon.com (AMZN), Ford Motor (F), McDonald's (MCD), Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Hershey Co (HSY), Kimberly-Clark (KMB), Merck and Co (MRK), Hasbro Inc (HAS), Contl Airlines'B' (CAL)
Continue reading Earnings highlights: Amazon, Coca-Cola, Ford, McDonald's, Merck, Starbucks ...
Posted Jul 21st 2009 4:00PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: Coca-Cola (KO), International Business Machines (IBM), Caterpillar (CAT), duPont(E.I.)deNemours (DD), Merck and Co (MRK), United Technologies (UTX)

Today's news boiled down to two issues. First was that five DJIA components reporting earnings this morning, with
details on three components. The second issue was Ben Bernanke testifying that inflation was not a huge concern because the economy is likely to stay frail for some time. The markets were mixed to down most of the day until a late day rally saved shares.
Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 8,911.71 +63.56 (0.72%)
S&P 500 954.10 +2.97 (0.31%)
Nasdaq 1,914.13 +4.84 (0.25%)
Top 10 Analyst Upgrades/DowngradesContinue reading Closing Bell: DJIA earnings mix it up (CAT, KO, DD, IBM, MRK, UNH, UTX)
Posted Jul 7th 2009 4:00PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: Amer Intl Group (AIG), Marvell Technology Group (MRVL)

This was an interesting day in the markets. The market opened higher because of yesterday's recovery, but slid from the open. And it slid lower most of the day. Commodities fell again on worries that the economy isn't far enough along to support higher prices, and possible regulation on the size of speculators continued to hamper prices.
T. Boone Pickens gave
bullish oil forecasting today, but compared to the past it wasn't that bullish. There was no major economic data for the markets to chew today, just a continued
paring down of expectations ahead of earnings season. Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 8,162.39 -162.48 (-1.95%)
S&P 500 880.96 -17.76 (-1.98%)
Nasdaq 1,746.17 -41.23 (-2.31%)
Top Analyst Calls Continue reading Closing Bell: Investors gear down earnings expectations (AIG, HNSN, MRVL, MYL, UNH)
Posted Jun 11th 2009 12:45PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Bank of New York (BK), MasterCard Inc'A' (MA), Analyst initiations, American Eagle Outfitters (AEO)
Analyst upgrades:
- Keefe Bruyette upgraded Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to Outperform from Market Perform due to valuation and the company's better balance sheet following capital raises. The firm raised its target on shares to $16.50.
- Merriman upgraded Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ:BCSI) to Buy from Neutral to reflect stabilizing demand and merger synergies from the Packeteer acquisition.
- Thomas Weisel upgraded Genomic Health (NASDAQ:GHDX) to Overweight from Market Weight based on valuation, a new colon cancer assay expected in 2010, and upside from new sales hires.
- Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
- Great Plains Energy (NYSE:GXP) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
- Ericsson (nASDAQ:ERIC) was upgraded at Societe Generale to Buy from Hold.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BAC, ERIC, UNH, WRC
Posted Mar 17th 2009 11:00AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Home Depot (HD), Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), Analyst initiations, Garmin Ltd (GRMN)
Analyst upgrades:
- Jefferies upgraded Home Depot (NYSE: HD) to Buy from Hold as they expect significant multiple expansion as earnings revisions start to bottom out and the market starts to factor in a recovery. The firm raised its price target to $24 from $18-$20.
- Goldman upgraded HSBC (NYSE: HBC) to Neutral from Sell and removed the stock from their Asia Pacific Sell List given the company's plans to stop making new loans at its U.S. unit.
- Deutsche Bank upgraded Ensco International (NYSE: ESV) to Hold from Sell on valuation as it believes weakening shallow water demand is priced into shares at current levels. The firm raised its target price to $32 from $30.
- Liberty Global (NASDAQ: LBTYA) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
- UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) was lifted to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: HD, HBC, GS, MS, BAC, JPM, C ...
Posted Feb 27th 2009 10:10AM by Jim Cramer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT), Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Market matters, Target Corp. (TGT), Aetna Inc (AET), Procter and Gamble (PG), Amgen Inc (AMGN), Limited Brands (LTD), Cramer on BloggingStocks, Northrop Grumman (NOC)
TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says if you need money for anything important in the near future, get it out of the stock market. Fall back. Fall back to basic principles. What do people have to do whether they want to do it or not? What do governments have to pay for whether they want something or not? What must be used whether you like it or not?
That's where we are right now in the helter-skelter pell-mell race to take all stocks to single digits as the notion of a worldwide global depression sinks in.
Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Don't need stocks? Don't own 'em
Posted Feb 23rd 2009 1:19PM by Brent Archer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major movement, Bad news, Industry, Options, Technical Analysis
Humana (NYSE:
HUM -
option chain) stock is declining today after the company said preliminary
2010 Medicare Advantage payment rates could cause reduced profits in 2010. These comments from HUM are dragging down the entire group, including industry stalwart
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:
UNH), which is off by upwards of 15%. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on HUM.
This morning, HUM opened at $36.70. So far today the stock has hit a low of $30.57 and a high of $36.86. As of 11:55, HUM is trading at $31.41, down $9.13 (-22.5%). Prior to today, the chart for HUM looked bullish, while
S&P gives HUM a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.
Continue reading Humana (HUM) plummets on Medicare warning
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