Archive for October, 2010
(JPM) JPMorgan Chase & Co. Passes 900,000 Modifications
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s (JPM) U.S. consumer and commercial banking arm Chase said on Wednesday that it has offered more than 900,000 mortgage modifications since the beginning of 2009. Chase continues to proceed swiftly with its extensive and incessant use of the federal...
7Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) JPMorgan Chase & Co. Aides Jobless Homeowners via Hardest Hit Fund
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) said on Monday that it will help jobless Michigan homeowners by contributing to the state’s Hardest Hit fund, which assists qualified borrowers to pay about half of their mortgage payments for up to 12 months. JPMorgan’s customers who are behind...
7Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TYC) Tyco International Completes Divestiture of European Waterworks
Tyco International Ltd. (TYC) recently completed the divestment of its European Waterworks business. The business was sold to Triton, a private equity firm, for about $245 million, as per the agreement entered in late July 2010. The $350 million annual revenue generating European...
7Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AEE) Ameren Corporation – Bull of the Day
Our bullish outlook for Ameren Corp. (AEE) is supported by the consistent performance across its solid base of stable utility operations in the Midwestern market, as well as its focus on cost minimization, its strong balance sheet, an above industry average dividend yield and...
7Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CTIC) Cell Therapeutics – Bear of the Day
We are downgrading Cell Therapeutics (CTIC) to Underperform from Neutral, primarily due to the uncertainty surrounding the approval of its lead candidate, pixantrone for aggressive NHL in the US. Cell Therapeutics’ future is dependent on pixantrone since it does not have...
7Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 1 comment | Continued(AN) AutoNation Reports Retail New Vehicles Sales Soar 35% in September 2010
AutoNation Inc. (AN) sold 18,040 retail new vehicles in September, a 35% rise from the same month of 2009. The sales growth was higher than the overall industry growth of 29% during the month. However, AutoNation’s new car sales inched up 3% to 56,340 units in the third quarter...
6Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MOT) Motorola Debuts Seven New Android Smartphones
Yesterday, Motorola Inc. (MOT) introduced 7 new smartphones based on Google Inc.’s (GOOG) Android operating system, namely, Bravo, Citrus, Defy, Droid Pro, Flipout, Flipside and Spice. All the devices are targeted toward cost conscious customers, with Droid Pro being the most...
6Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(QCOM) Qualcomm Moves to Divest FLO TV
Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) is systematically getting rid of its mobile TV venture called the “FLO TV”. Yesterday, the company announced that it has decided to stop selling direct-to-consumer FLO TV devices, which include palm-sized gadgets and displays for cars. However, Qualcomm...
6Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TEVA) Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Oncology Drug Progresses
Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. (TEVA) and OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OXGI) recently announced that they have initiated a second phase III study with their oncology candidate, custirsen (OGX-011/TV-1011). The trial, SYNERGY, will evaluate custirsen as a first-line...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ORCL) Oracle First Quarter 2011 Earnings Scorecard
Oracle Corp. (ORCL), the largest database and enterprise software company after Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), reported first quarter 2011 earnings and revenues on September 16 that outpacing Zacks Consensus Estimates. The impressive results were due to strong new software license sales (sales...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(F) U.S. Auto Sales Industry Marks Slow Recovery
Light vehicle sales in the U.S. during September rose 25.5% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 11.8 million units, signaling a slow recovery in the industry. Stable gasoline prices and strong sales at Ford Motor (F) and Chrysler were the contributing factors behind the sales...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PAA) Plains All American Pipeline L.P. Acquires Assets Worth $175 Million
Plains All American Pipeline L.P. (PAA) announced that its subsidiaries have entered into five different agreements to acquire assets worth $175 million. All the acquired assets are in areas where the partnership has existing operations. The assets, which were acquired by the...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ITT) ITT Corporation Wins U.S. Army Night VisionContract
ITT Corporation (ITT) has received a contract to supply its AN/AVS-6(V) 3 aviator night vision goggle and spare image intensifier tubes to the US Army. The contract has been awarded by the U.S. Army Research, Development & Engineering Command. The order, valued at $19.9 million,...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BA) July New Orders for Durable Goods Report is Dismal
New Orders for Durable Goods rose just 0.3% in July. That was far below the consensus expectations for an increase of 3.0% (oh, what a difference a silly little decimal point can make!). The news is worse than even that headline number suggests. All of the strength came from...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GD) General Dynamics Earns $24.9 Million U.S. Army Contract
General Dynamics Corporation’s (GD) business unit General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products has been awarded a $24.9 million contract by the U.S. Army to produce MK47 advanced lightweight grenade launcher (ALGL) systems. The contract is a fixed price award for 130 MK47...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BA) Boeing Earns Another Bulk Order
The Boeing Company (BA) will supply 60 737-800 airplanes to Air Lease Corporation through 2017. Of the orders bagged, 54 are firm orders while the remaining 6 require reconfirmation. Entering into the fourth quarter, this is the second order Boeing received for supplying 737-800...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JNJ) Johnson & Johnson Chronic Pain Drug Faces FDA Complete Response Letter
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) recently announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a complete response letter (CRL) for the company’s moderate-to-severe chronic pain treatment Nucynta (tapentadol). The drug is already in the market as an immediate release...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(KCI) Kinetic Concepts Analyst Initiates Shares at Neutral
Recently, we initiated our coverage on Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (KCI) with a Neutral rating. Kinetic reported an adjusted EPS of $1.01, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.97 and the year-ago quarter’s $0.98. Net sales (including rental income) of the company increased...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DVA) DaVita Plans $1.45 Billion Senior Notes
Moving ahead with its debt restructuring activity, on Friday DaVita Inc. (DVA) announced its plan to sell about $1.45 billion of its senior notes and utilize the net proceeds to redeem another set of outstanding senior security notes, whose principal amount is worth $1.55 billion....
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PVR) Penn Virginia L.P. – Bear of the Day
The recent announcement of Penn Virginia L.P.’s (PVE) merger with its general partner is expected to reap profits in the long term, benefiting from the partnership s lower cost of capital. This would place the company in a better position to compete for acquisitions Incorporatedreasing...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(LMT) Lockheed Martin Earns $119 Million U.S. Navy Contract
The largest US defense contractor, Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) won a $119 million contract from the U.S. Navy for the demonstration of its designs for new radar meant to enhance the U.S. Navy’s capabilities against advanced anti-ship and ballistic missile threats. The...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RTP) Rio Tinto PLC – Reports Record First Half Earnings
Rio-Tinto PLC (RTP) is cashing in on surging commodities to report record earnings. RTP trades at just 8.6x forward earnings. Rio Tinto is one of the world’s mining giants. Headquartered in Britain, it has mines throughout the world with a heavy concentration in Australia...
5Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BHI) U.S. Drilling Rig Count Up Despite Natural Gas Slip
In its weekly release, Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) reported a rise in the U.S. rig count (number of rigs searching for oil and gas in the country), reflecting an increase in the land and offshore rig counts. The Baker Hughes rig counts, issued...
4Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Bank of America Announces Pause in Foreclosure Process
On Friday, Bank of America Corporation (BAC) announced that it is holding up foreclosures in 23 states to examine whether some of its former executives rushed through documents of homeowners without properly evaluating the authenticity of the information. The verification includes...
4Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedStealth Stocks Weekly Update on Monday, October 4, 2010 With Dennis Slothower
Summary of Recommendations Remain defensive as the market is subject to wild swings as fundamentals deteriorate but the Fed continues to prop up stock prices in roller coaster conditions. Market Commentary U.S. stocks fell in light trading on Monday as investors took profits...
4Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TGI) Triumph Group Incorporated – Bull of the Day
Triumph Group (TGI) has been benefiting from acquisitions and internal manufacturing, and the recent Vought acquisition has been highly accretive to earnings. The reported EPS of $1.33 in the first quarter surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.08. Management expects the...
4Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RGS) Regis Corporation – Bear of the Day
Regis Corp.’s (RGS) fourth quarter 2010 earnings fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate, due to a decline in revenues. Slower traffic and limited new product introduction due to economic concerns remain a drag on same-store sales. Moreover, same-store sales are unlikely...
4Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TEVA) Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Learns Drug Approval Delayed
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s (TEVA) Neutroval failed to receive first-round approval in the US with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issuing a complete response letter (CRL) for the company’s Biologic License Application (BLA) for the candidate. Teva...
4Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MCO) Moody’s Raises Harman International Industries’ Credit Rating
Moody’s Investors Service, a subsidiary of Moody’s Corp. (MCO) raised its rating of ‘Ba2,’ a non-investment grade rating or junk status to B1, a non-investment grade rating or junk status for Harman International Industries Inc. (HAR), according to the Associated...
4Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) U.S. Bank Failures in 2010 Climb to 129
U.S. regulators on Friday shuttered two more banks in Florida and Washington, pushing up the figure to 129 so far in 2010. This compares with a total number of 140 bank failures in 2009, 25 in 2008 and just 3 in 2007. While the bigger banks benefited greatly from the various...
4Oct2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued