Archive for July, 2011
(MCD) U.S. Publishes Awful Jobs Report In Depth – Part 2
This is the second part of our jobs report analysis. To read part one, please click here. This month’s employment report was deeply disappointing, and would have been shockingly low, even if not for the better-than-expected ADP report on Thursday. The rate of job creation slowed...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedU.S. Publishes Awful Jobs Report In Depth – Part 1
This is the first part of our jobs report analysis. To read part two, please click here. The economy added a total of just 18,000 jobs in June. That is much worse than consensus expectations for a gain of 80,000. This report is particularly disappointing in light of the much...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Bank of America Sells Balboa Life to Securian
In yet another effort to remove non-core assets from its balance sheet, Bank of America Corporation (BAC) has announced a deal to sell its Balboa Life Insurance Co. (BLIC) and Balboa Life Insurance Co. of New York (BLICNY) to St. Paul, Minnesota-based Securian Financial Group...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TEN) Tenneco Incorporated Analyst Remains Neutral
We reiterate our Neutral recommendation on Tenneco Inc. (TEN), which is a leading manufacturer and supplier of emission control, ride control systems, and systems for the automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the aftermarket. Tenneco Inc. released its 2011 first...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SYK) Stryker Wraps Up Memometal Buy
Orthopedic devices giant Stryker Corp (SYK) has completed the acquisition of France-based privately-held extremity devices maker Memometal Technologies S.A. for $150 million in cash. The deal, which was announced on June 6, 2011, also involves an additional payment of $12 million...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WFC) Wells Fargo Lawsuit Costs $125 Million
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) is said to have agreed to settle a mortgage-backed securities case by paying $125 million, according to a Bloomberg report. Investors had alleged Wells Fargo of duping them about risks associated with those mortgage-backed securities. A lawsuit was...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WRB) W.R. Berkley Corporation Analyst Reiterates Shares at Neutral
We are maintaining our Neutral recommendation on the shares of W.R. Berkley Corp. (WRB) in anticipation of the second quarter results. Last month, Berkley announced its estimated April-May catastrophe losses (cat losses) of $65 million, significantly higher than $35 million projected...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PFG) Principal Financial Group to Take Over Origin
Yesterday, Principal Global Investors, LLC, a unit of Principal Financial Group (PFG), announced that it would purchase a 74% stake in London-based Origin Asset Management, LLP. The acquisition of Origin would strengthen Principal’s global equity capability, broaden its product...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(E) Eni SpA Commences Appaloosa Oil Flow
Italian oil major Eni SpA (E) announced the start-up of oil production from the Appaloosa field in the deepwaters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM). This follows the Nikaitchuq field start-up in Alaska earlier this year and strengthens Eni’s hold as a producer in the GoM. The...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Company News for July 11, 2011 – Corporate Summary
• Local.com Corp. (NASDAQ:LOCM) entered into a Google Services Agreement with Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) • Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC), Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) were picked by Living Social as lead underwriters...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ADP) Stock Market News for July 11, 2011 – Market News
A lower-than-expected increase in non-farm payrolls dragged the markets lower on Friday, but gains made earlier during the week ensured a finish in the green for the benchmarks. The report comes at a time when investor confidence in the economic recovery was beginning to grow....
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ERTS) Electronic Arts to Ship New Adventure Pack
Video game developer and publisher, Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS), better known as EA, announced that its new adventure game The Sims Medieval: Pirates and Nobles will be available in stores from August 2011. Developed by The Sims Studio, the first adventure pack to The Sims Medieval...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SJR) Shaw Communications Analyst Remains Neutral
We are maintaining our Neutral recommendation on Shaw Communications Inc. (SJR), a leading provider of broadband cable television and Direct-to-home (DTH) satellite services in the U.S and Canada, based on strong third quarter 2011 results where both the top line and bottom line...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AAPL) Jury Orders Apple to Pay $8 Million
In yet another patent infringement suit, Apple Inc. (AAPL) has been ordered by a federal jury in Eastern Texas to pay $8 million in damages to Personal Audio LLC, according to Bloomberg.Personal Audio, a Texas based patent licensing company, had claimed $84 million in damages...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(OSG) Transportation Sector Rated by ValuEngine
Below, we present the latest data on leading Transportation Sector stocks from our Institutional software package (VEI). These results were filtered by market price and volume–no results below 3$/share or less than 100k shares/day volume. Top-Five Transportation Sector...
11Jul2011 | valuengine | 0 comments | Continued(DUK) Duke Energy Corporation Unit Duke Energy Renewables Announces Windpower Project
Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) announced that its unit Duke Energy Renewables will build and operate a 131-megawatt (MW) Cimarron II Windpower Project in Gray County, Kansas. This new project is another addition to Duke Energy’s renewable power generation portfolio. The...
10Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PRGO) Perrigo Downgraded to Neutral
We recently moved to a Neutral rating on Perrigo Company (PRGO) from Outperform. Our target price on the stock is $94.00. Perrigo’s broad line of store brand pharmaceutical products has the same active ingredients and comparable quality and efficacy as the national brands....
10Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(T) AT&T Enhances Broadband Service
AT&T Inc. (T) announced that it has added new frequency layers to 12 cell sites of the Sarasota-Bradenton wireless network in South Tampa, Florida to enhance mobile broadband service. Since early 2011, AT&T has been adding capacity to over 20 cell sites including Bradenton,...
10Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MDRX) Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Selected by Aria Health
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (MDRX) was selected by Aria for its Allscripts Community Record, powered by dbMotion, to provide end-to-end connectivity in the health system and the concerned communities. Aria Health, with 477 beds, is the largest healthcare provider in...
10Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BA) Boeing Maintains Delivery Level in 2011 Second Quarter
The international commercial airplane producer, The Boeing Co. (BA) maintained its delivery level in the second quarter of 2011 with deliveries of 118 airplanes versus 114 in the second quarter of 2010 and 104 airplanes in the first quarter of 2011. The 737 model continues to...
10Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GD) General Dynamics Produces Radios for US Military
General Dynamics C4 Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics Corporation (GD), has received an order for the production of 6,250 Rifleman and 100 Manpack radios from the U.S. Department of Defense. The Low Rate Initial Production (‘LRIP’) order has an initial value of...
10Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SNP) China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation-Henan Win Chinese Blocks
China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec (SNP) and Henan Provincial Coal Seam Gas Development and Utilization Co. were awarded a shale gas block each by the Chinese government in its first auction of the unconventional gas resource. The auction was initiated last...
10Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RCI) Rogers Communications Launched LTE Network
Yesterday, Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI) achieved a milestone as the company was the first in Canada to launch an LTE network. Initially the LTE network is deployed in the Ottawa region, which will be extended into Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal within the next 3-4 months....
10Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AAPL) Hackers to Target Apple Devices?
German authorities have identified potential security flaws in Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) devices such as iPhone, iPad and iPod that are feared to be vulnerable to cyber attacks. According to reports from the Associated Press, German security agencies cautioned that the security hole...
10Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SRDX) SurModics Analysts Cut Shares to Neutral
We are downgrading SurModics (SRDX) to Neutral from Outperform following its setback, when partner Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) announced in June 2011 that it will stop manufacturing Cypher and Cypher Select Plus sirolimus-eluting coronary stents by year-end. SurModics receives...
10Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ITRI) Itron Installs ChoiceConnect
Itron Inc. (ITRI) recently announced the completion of the installation of more than 150,000 Itron gas meter communication modules in Greater Houston for a natural gas distribution subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy Inc. (CNP). The project will include a total of 1.2 million communication...
10Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(APA) Apache Hits Record at Forties
Apache Corporation (APA) announced that its development wells in the Forties field have started production at a record rate, reaping benefits from the advanced seismic technology that was applied to enhance output. As per the company, the Charlie 4-3 well’s initial production...
10Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DAL) Delta Air Lines’ June Traffic Dips
Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) reported a 1.5% year-over-year traffic decline in June. Airline traffic is measured in billions of revenue passenger miles, which means one mile flown by one passenger. Capacity (or, available seat miles) grew 0.2% year over year and load factor (percentage...
8Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(FST) Forest Oil Updates Forecast
An independent oil and gas company Forest Oil Corporation (FST) provided guidance for the second quarter as well as second half of 2011. The company’s forecasts are mainly reflective of the more oil-weighted development initiatives through the expansion of its Eagle Ford Shale...
8Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WAG) Walgreen’s June Sales Swell
Leading retail pharmacy chain, Walgreen (WAG) reported sales of $6.04 billion in June, up 6.8% from the year-ago period. Total front-end sales increased 6.4% while comparable store’s front-end sales increased 4.7%. Prescriptions filled at comparable stores went up by 5%, which...
8Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued