MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• VMWare Inc (NYSE: VMW) was initiated by a host of firms: Banc of America believes the current valuation captures most of the upside potential, and started shares with a Neutral rating and $75 target. Wachovia started shares with a Market Perform rating and Deutsche Bank started shares with a Hold rating and $80 target on valuation. The stock was also started with a Buy rating and $92 target at UBS, with a Buy rating and $100 target at Citigroup and with an Overweight rating at JP Morgan and with a Neutral rating at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Validus Holdings (NYSE: VR) was started with a Buy rating and $29 target at UBS on valuation and benefits from the Talbots (NYSE: TLB) acquisition. Shares were also initiated at JP Morgan with a Neutral rating.
  
• CIBC resumed coverage of Hologic Inc (NASDAQ: HOLX) with a Sector Outperformer rating and $77 target as the firm is positive on Hologic's merger with Cytyc Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTC) and views it as one of the top mid-cap stories in the coming year.

• B. Riley initiated shares of EuroBancshares (NASDAQ: EUBK) with a Buy rating and $10 target.
  
• Rodman resumed coverage of Ziopharm Oncology Inc (NASDAQ: ZIOP) with a Market Outperform rating and $8 target.
  
• Citigroup started shares of Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) with a Buy rating and $43 target.
  
• MercadoLibre Inc (NASDAQ: MELI) was initiated with a Sector Perform rating and $39 target at RBC Capital.

Analyst initiations: VMW, VR and HOLX originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) has hired Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) to find a buyer for its WMC Mortgage subprime mortgage unit, signaling its exit from the mortgage business, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
  
• GE's CNBC cable business news channel and the Financial Times Group are in discussions to share resources and shore up their Web business, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• VeriSign Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN), which oversees dot-com and dot-net domain names registry, has recorded an additional $160M in compensation expenses related to stock option grants made between 1998 and 2006, causing the CFO to resign, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Virgin Media Inc (NASDAQ: VMED) has hired financial services company UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) yesterday to pursue strategic buyers.

• From BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column:
  
• Investors are paying attention to Arbitron Inc (NYSE: ARB), the media research company that compiles radio ratings.
  
• Ziopharm Oncology (NASDAQ: ZIOP) is testing the use of ZIO-101 arsenic [organic] to treat myeloma and other blood cancers.
• Zoltek Companies Inc's (NASDAQ: ZOLT) carbon fiber used in wind turbines is in-demand, as windmill demand soars as an alternative energy source.

Newspaper wrap-up 7-13-07: GE in the news originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Jul 2007 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.