Archive for September, 2009
(C) Citigroup Wins Lawsuit Dismissal
Citigroup Inc.’s (C) officers and directors (including Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit) won the dismissal of a lawsuit claiming they breached their duty to the bank by manipulating the market for auction-rate securities (ARS). On Sep 10, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor...
11Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ABT) Abbott Laboratories Expands Vascular Business
Yesterday, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) agreed to acquire 90% of the outstanding equity of Evalve, Inc. that it has not yet accquired, for up to $410 million. The accquisition will move ahead with an upfront payment of $320 million, and a $90 million payment on the achievement of...
11Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(S) Femtocell – The Emerging Wave
Femtocell is quickly emerging as a fundamental technology enabler in the deployment of next-generation (3G/4G) wireless network infrastructure. A femtocell is a small cellular base station, typically designed for use in a residential or small business environment. This access...
11Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CTSH) Cognizant Technology Solutions Buys Pepperweed Advisors
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) recently announced that it has acquired almost all of the assets of Pepperweed Advisors, the IT consulting services division of Pepperweed Consulting. Management expects that the acquisition will strengthen Cognizant’s IT Infrastructure...
11Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(XTO) Natural Gas Inventories Rise Less Than Expected
In its weekly release yesterday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a less-than-expected 69 billion cubic feet (Bcf) weekly addition to natural gas stockpiles for the week ended September 4. This takes the current storage level to 3.39 trillion cubic feet (Tcf),...
11Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CRMT) America’s Car-Mart Inc. – Beat Estimates by Nearly 50% – Estimates Rise
America’s Car-Mart Inc. (CRMT) saw revenues leap 10.7% in the first quarter as same store sales also jumped 8.4%. The company has surprised on estimates the last 4 quarters by an average of 17.82%. CRMT has attractive value characteristics, with a forward P/E of 12.27. Company...
11Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NBR) Nabors Industries- Bear of the Day
Nabors Industries (NBR) second-quarter earnings of $0.32 per share topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.28 buoyed by stronger margins associated with new rig deployments in its international operations and solid performance from the Alaska sub-segment. However, results were...
11Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MW) Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. – Beat Estimates in the Last Four Quarters by an Average 44%
Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. (MW) is up more than 200% in the last 6 months as the company uses promotional activities and special discounts to drive sales. Company Description The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of men’s suits in the United...
11Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(EXC) Top Utilities Equity Funds – Mutual Fund Commentary
Today we are featuring top-performing “Utilities” Equity mutual funds, which primarily invest in equity securities of utilities Incorporatedluding telephone or cable-television firms. Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Utilities...
11Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WXS) Wright Express – Second Consecutive Earnings Surprise
Wright Express Corp. (WXS) pleased investors with its latest earnings report which sent shares soaring. Company Description Wright Express offers payment processing and information management services. The company services commercial and government fleets through its own marketing...
11Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(EMN) Eastman Chemical- Bull of the Day
We have upgraded our long-term recommendation for Eastman Chemical Company (EMN), a manufacturer of chemicals, plastics and fiber, to Outperform with a target price of $60.00. Eastman stands to benefit from its business restructuring and cost-cutting measures, which are expected...
11Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WMT) Census Bureau: Poverty Rising
Today the Census Bureau released its report on incomes, poverty and health insurance coverage for 2008. Most of it was (not surprisingly) bad news. Here are some of the highlights (lowlights?): The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that real median household income in the United...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CRM) Salesforce.com Introduces Cloud Solution
A next-generation customer service solution with Service Cloud 2 is the new offering from Salesforce.com (CRM). In the recent past, the company has enhanced its cloud computing capabilities and innovated products, turning into an enterprise cloud computing company. It has also...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(LLL) L-3 Communications Provides Power Generators to U.S. Army
L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL) yesterday won a contract from the U.S. Army to provide power generators for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The bid, whose financial terms were undisclosed, was awarded to the company’s Combat Propulsion Systems and Magnet Motors units....
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WPO) Kaplan Acquires & Expands
Recently, Washington Post Company’s (WPO) wholly owned subsidiary Kaplan, Inc, the provider of higher education and professional training, acquired the Murdoch Institute of Technology from the Alexander Education Group for an undisclosed sum. The Murdoch Institute of Technology...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MRK) More Indications for Merck Drug
Yesterday, an advisory panel of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended the use of Merck’s (MRK) Gardasil vaccine in males 9 to 26 years of age to prevent genital warts. Originally, Gardasil was approved by the FDA in June 2006, as the first vaccine for cervical...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NCS) NCI Building Systems Beats Expectations
Yesterday, NCI Building Systems Inc. (NCS) posted third-quarter profit of 25 cents per share, which came in well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 cents. The better-than-expected earnings primarily came from the company’s cost-reduction programs implemented since November...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GSK) GlaxoSmithKline Moves Ahead With Cervarix
Yesterday, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) received a favorable recommendation from the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) for its cervical cancer vaccine, Cervarix. While the advisory committee voted 12-1...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WFC) Wells Fargo Widens Money Transfer Program Online
Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) announced the expansion of its money transfer program to the Internet, making it easier for customers to send money to family members living in Mexico, India and other South Asian countries. The ExpressSend remittance service was introduced in...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PLD) ProLogis Leases to UK Retailer
ProLogis (PLD), one of the leading global providers of distribution facilities, has recently signed an agreement with Marks & Spencer, a premier retailer in the U.K., to lease about 382,000 square feet of space in the country. The leased facility is located at ProLogis Park...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CNP) CenterPoint Energy Deep in Debt
CenterPoint Energy Inc. (CNP) yesterday announced a follow-on public offering of 21 million shares of its common stock. In the offering the underwriters have an option to purchase 3.2 million shares to cover any overallotments. The company plans to use the net proceeds from the...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TRID) M&A Activity: Discover Which Sector is Primed for M&A Action
by Louis Basenese, Advisory Panelist Trying to call market tops and bottoms is a foolish and fatally flawed endeavor. However, we all know the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market is notoriously cyclical. And deal volume picks up coming out of recessions. And if the last...
10Sep2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(KFT) Kraft Foods Outlines Cost Savings
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT), a leading manufacturer and marketer of packaged food and grocery products worldwide, has outlined several cost saving strategies to position itself as a strong bidder for the possible takeover of Cadbury Inc (CBY). Kraft Foods and Cadbury combined would...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MSFT) Top Goldman Sachs Funds – Mutual Fund Education
Goldman Sachs Tollkeeper A (GITAX) was incepted in October 1999. The investment seeks long-term growth of capital. The fund normally invests in equity investments of companies that are well positioned to benefit from the proliferation of technology. It may invest up to 25% of...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CCE) CORRECTION Coca-Cola Enterprises Updates Guidance
Correcting and Replacing – Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) updated its guidance, not The Coca-Cola Company (KO), as the orginal version stated. KO has NOT provided guidance. Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) on Tuesday September 8, 2009, narrowed its annual earnings guidance to...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ELOS) Syneron Medical Ltd to Purchase Candela
Yesterday, Syneron Medical Ltd (ELOS) announced that it would buy Candela Corp. (CLZR) in a $65 million all-stock transaction. The merger is expected to be completed by year-end. It was agreed that Candela stockholders would receive 0.2911 ordinary shares of Syneron for each...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($ABX) Barrick Gold Corporation to Sell Silver Stake
Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), the world’s biggest gold producer, recently agreed to sell 25% interest in its Pascua-Lama silver project in South America to Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW) for about $625 million. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Silver Wheaton is the world’s only...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(VOD) Vodafone Debuts UK’s Small and Medium Enterprises Market
Vodafone (VOD) UK has reportedly launched a converged fixed-mobile service (called “Vodafone One Net”) yesterday for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the UK, helping them to more effectively manage their corporate communications. This follows the company’s...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($CVX) Chevron Corporation Signs Massive Liquefied Natural Gas Deals
Earlier today, Chevron Corp. (CVX) — the second-biggest U.S. energy company — entered into multiple deals to sell nearly 3 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per annum from its Gorgon venture in Australia. The company said that its Australian subsidiaries...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WFC) Wells Fargo & Bank of America Revamp Loan Rates
Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) and Bank of America Corporation (BAC) showed impressive improvements in their loan-modification rates in August 2009 after experiencing poor rates in July 2009. However, both Wells Fargo and Bank of America still remain way behind their competitors...
10Sep2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued