Archive for October, 2009
(FCX) These two stocks continue to hit new highs – Charting Zacks Elite Stocks
Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) took a hit with the overall market in the big sell off of late 2008 and early 2009, but shares have since recovered nicely and posted big gains after bottoming out in early March. More recently shares have been pressuring an area...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(F) Trade Deficit Improves in August
In August, the monthly trade deficit fell to $30.7 billion from $31.9 billion in July. We got improvement from both sides as exports rose by $0.2 billion to $128.2 billion and imports fell to $158.9 billion from $159.8 billion in July, a decrease of $0.9 billion. This reverses...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SRDX) Surmodics Inks Licensing Deal With Roche
On Tuesday, SurModics Inc. (SRDX) announced that it licensed its drug delivery technology to Roche (RHHBY) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Genentech. Drug delivery technologies create and support site specific drug delivery polymers and coating technologies for use in drug/device...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HUBB) Electrical Products Industry Neutral
The U.S. Electrical Products industry is highly fragmented, with the largest suppliers together accounting for only a small percentage of total sales. Some of the largest players in this market are Hubbell (HUBB) and Thomas & Betts (TNB), which distribute their own products....
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HUM) Humana Expands Medicare Coverage in California
Recently Humana Inc. (HUM) announced that its Medicare coverage in 3 California countries is expanding. Members eligible for Medicare in Fresno , San Bernardino and Riverside can enroll in a Humana Gold Plus health maintenance organization (HMO) plan. Coverage would be effective...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Earnings Preview for Oct 12-16 – Large-cap Companies Will Dominate the Earnings Headlines This Week
Large-cap companies will dominate the earnings headlines this week. Dow components Bank of America (BAC), General Electric (GE), IBM (IBM), Intel (INTC) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) are scheduled to release third-quarter results. Joining them will be Goldman Sachs (GS) and...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CPKI) California Pizza Kitchen Raises Earnings Outlook
California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. (CPKI), a leading casual dining restaurant chain, recently raised its third quarter 2009 earnings outlook on the back of operating efficiencies and a lower tax rate that helped offset falling top-line. Management now expects third quarter earnings...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SNY) Sanofi-Aventis Influenza Vaccine Proves Effective
The vaccine unit of Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), Sanofi Pasteur, stated the effectiveness of a single dose of influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccines – Panenza (15 mcg dose, non-adjuvanted) and Humenza (3.8 mcg dose, adjuvanted) in children and adults. It was observed from the...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BCE) iPhone Deploys to More Canadian Carriers
Bell Canada , the subsidiary of incumbent Canadian telecom carrier BCE Inc (BCE), and Telus Corp (TU) have reportedly inked agreements with Apple Inc (AAPL) to market iPhone (3G and 3GS) in Canada in November 2009. This will effectively end the country’s largest wireless carrier...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CMI) Cummins to Rehire 270 Workers at its Columbus Midrange Engine Plant
Cummins (CMI) has revealed that it will recall about 270 production employees at its Columbus Midrange Engine Plant (CMEP) in Walesboro, Indiana. A temporary increase in orders for the Dodge Ram turbo diesel pickup truck engines made at the plant has led to the recall. The workers...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(XTO) Natural Gas Storage Hits New High
In its weekly release yesterday, the Energy Information Administration [EIA] reported a bigger-than-expected 69 billion cubic feet (Bcf) addition to natural gas stockpiles for the week ended October 2. This takes the current storage level to a new record high of 3.66 trillion...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NVS) Novartis Acquires Antibiotic Rights
Today, Novartis (NVS) acquired exclusive worldwide rights to PTK 0796, a broad spectrum antibiotic from a privately held company, Paratek Pharmaceuticals. The drug is meant for the treatment of infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HELE) Helen of Troy Ltd. Outdoes Estimates
Helen of Troy Ltd. (HELE), a designer and producer of personal care and household consumer products, reported its fiscal second quarter earnings yesterday. The company reported quarterly earnings of 51 cents per share, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 39 cents per shares...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(UAUA) UAL Corporation’s United Airlines’ September Traffic Down
Yesterday, United Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of UAL Corp. (UAUA) announced preliminary mainline traffic results for September. The company reported mainline passenger load factor of 81.2%. Total scheduled mainline revenue passenger miles (RPMs) decreased 1.1% on a capacity...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AIR) AAR Wins $600M U.S. Air Force Contract
AAR Corp. (AIR) has been selected to provide maintenance and operations for the U.S. Air Force as part of a Northrop Grumman team. The contract is worth $600 million for nine years. The announcement was made following U.S. Air Force’s selection of Northrop Grumman as the...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DIS) Walt Disney Co Announces Rich Ross to Head Disney Studios
Recently, Walt Disney Co.’s (DIS) President and CEO, Robert A. Iger, named Rich Ross as the Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios effective immediately, after the sudden departure of the studio’s longtime Chairman Dick Cook. Earlier, Rich used to head Disney Channels Worldwide. As...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(C) Citigroup’s External Review – A Positive
The management team of Citigroup Inc. (C) received a positive review in an outside appraisal but some shuffling of senior executives could be on the anvil. The review was conducted this summer for Citi’s board by recruiting and consulting firm Egon Zehnder International....
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(COP) ConocoPhillips Hikes Dividend, Trims Capex
ConocoPhillips (COP) on Wednesday said it will increase its quarterly dividend by 6% to 50 cents per share (annualized rate of $2.00 per share) from the existing rate of 47 cents (annualized rate of $1.88). The increased dividend is payable on Dec. 1, 2009, to shareholders of...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NYX) NYSE Euronext Announces Exchange Volumes
On Oct. 7, NYSE Euronext, Inc. (NYX) announced trading volumes for its global cash equities and derivatives exchanges for September 2009. Trading volumes declined year-over-year as the crisis-level volatility drove near-record trading volumes last year. However, volumes increased...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($USB) US Bancorp on Acquisition Spree
As part of its strategic acquisitions, US Bancorp (USB) has announced on Wednesday that its lead bank, U.S. Bank, has agreed to buy the bond trustee business of First Citizens Bank, a subsidiary of First Citizens BancShares Inc. (FCNCA). Post acquisition, U.S. Bank’s corporate...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(S) Sprint Nextel Expands 4G WiMax Footprint
Sprint Nextel (S) has further expanded its fourth-generation (4G) wireless broadband network coverage to ten more U.S. markets. The third largest US carrier has officially launched commercial services in Salem (Oregon), Milledgeville (Georgia) and Texas cities of Amarillo ,...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAX) Baxter International Gets H1N1 Authorization
Baxter International Inc. (BAX) recently received marketing authorization for CELVAPAN H1N1 vaccine, commonly known as the Swine Flu vaccine, in the European Union. The company has already delivered limited quantities of H1N1 vaccine to a few countries, such as the UK and Ireland,...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RT) Ruby Tuesday Incorporated Reports a Penny Above Street Estimates
Ruby Tuesday Inc. (RT) posted fiscal first quarter results after the closing bell yesterday. The company recorded net income of $6.1 million, or 11 cents per share, compared to $285,000, or a penny per share in the year-ago period. The result also edged past the Zacks Consensus...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TGT) Target Corporation Lowers Toy Prices
In order to woo customers this holiday season, major discount retailer Target Corporation (TGT) recently announced an aggressive price cut on toys. The announcement came on the back of the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) news on offering 100 toys for $10 each through the Christmas...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BCE) BCE Incorporated’s HSPA Network Debuts Soon
Bell Canada, the subsidiary of incumbent Canadian telecom carrier BCE Inc. (BCE), has reportedly accelerated the deployment process of its next-generation high-speed wireless network. The Canadian operator will begin commercial launch of the much anticipated 3G high speed packet...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($IBM) IBM Faces Antitrust Investigation Hurdle
International Business Machines (IBM) has been charged by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), a non-profit trade group organized by IBM’s rivals Microsoft (MSFT) and Oracle (ORCL). The allegation is directed at its Mainframe computer business, which...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CIEN) Ciena Corporation Takes Over Nortel Networks’ Unit
Yesterday, telecommunications and network equipment company Ciena Corporation (CIEN) announced the acquisition of substantially all of the optical networking and carrier Ethernet assets of its rival Nortel Networks’ (NT) Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) division, for a total of...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NOC) Northrop Grumman Bags Army Contract
Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) yesterday bagged a five-year $599 million contract from the U.S. Army to provide laser rangefinders. Northrop Grumman is supplying the army with its universal terrain lightweight designators/rangefinders since 2002. Till date, the company has delivered...
9Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GD) General Dynamics Bags Two Contracts
General Dynamics Corporation (GD) yesterday bagged twin contracts worth approximately $750 million from the U.S. Army and Navy. General Dynamics’ subsidiary General Dynamics Land Systems bagged a five-year contract worth $430 million for work at the Army tank research center....
8Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PGN) Progress Energy to Replace Coal Units
On Oct 1, 2009, the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) approved Progress Energy Carolinas’ plan to build new a natural gas-fueled power generation plant in Wayne County. The commission approved a certificate of public convenience and necessity for Progress Energy...
8Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued