Archive for September, 2011
(DAL) Delta Air Lines Faces Hurricane Irene Ire
Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) reported a 0.3% year-over-year traffic decline in August. Airline traffic is measured in billions of revenue passenger miles, which means one mile flown by one passenger. On a year-over-year basis, capacity (or, available seat miles) grew 0.8% and load...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CF) CF Industries Holdings Analyst Upgrades Shares to Outperform
We are upgrading our recommendation on CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) to Outperform from Neutral after the company posted excellent second-quarter 2011 results. CF Industries delivered $6.87 per share in the second quarter, striding ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) The Goldman Sachs Group Analyst Raises Shares to Neutral
We have upgraded our recommendation on The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) to Neutral from Underperform based on the company’s cost reduction initiatives and broader outlook for client activity. In July, Goldman reported second-quarter 2011 earnings per share of $1.85, significantly...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(COST) Costco Wholesale Corporation Delivers Consistent Sales Growth
Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) continues to be a dominant retail wholesaler based on the breadth and quality of merchandise it has to offer. The company’s strategy to sell products at heavily discounted prices has helped it to remain on a positive growth track amid beleaguered...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(EMN) Eastman Chemical on Expansion Spree
Eastman Chemical Company (EMN) expanded its Benzoflex plasticizer production line at the Estonia location for the second time. The move will boost the Benzoflex production capacity by 11,000 metric tons and is expected to be completed by the end of second-quarter 2012. Eastman...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Bank of America Shares Downgraded to Underperform
We have downgraded our long-term recommendation on Bank of America Corp. (BAC) to Underperform on expected damages from the recent mortgage lawsuit filed against it by the U.S. Government. Its decision to settle legacy Countrywide mortgage repurchase and servicing claims had...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MCD) McDonald’s Reports Weak August Comps
McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) has posted global comparable sales (comps) growth of 3.5% in August on the back of strong beverage sales as well as core menu products. However, the fast-food chain operator witnessed a relatively downward movement on a year-over-year basis across...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ENZN) Enzon Pharmaceuticals Analyst Downgrades Shares to Sell
We recently downgraded our rating on Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ENZN) from Neutral to Underperform with a target price of $9.50. In mid-May 2011, Enzon announced plans to halt the development of its lead pipeline compound PEG-SN38 (EZN-2208), a PEGylated version of the active...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) U.S. 2011 Bank Failures Hits 71 – Florida Bank Fails
Last Friday, U.S. regulators shuttered The First National Bank of Florida, taking the number of failed banks thus far in 2011 to 71. This follows 157 bank failures in 2010, 140 in 2009 and 25 in 2008. While the financials of bigger banks have been stabilizing on the back of an...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(LH) Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings-UnitedHealth Extend Pact
Last week, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) announced that it has extended its agreement with UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, an affiliate of UnitedHealth Group (UNH). The agreement, effective since January 1, 2007, will continue until 2018. Under the terms...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CHT) Chunghwa Telecom Analyst Maintains Neutral on Shares
We reaffirm our Neutral recommendation on Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd. (CHT) following its solid performance in the second quarter of 2011. Chunghwa is the dominant telecom operator in Taiwan. It holds 80% of broadband market share, coupled with 96% of local fixed-line and 77% of...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AZN) AstraZeneca’s Brilinta Now in US
AstraZeneca plc (AZN) recently announced the US launch of Brilinta (ticagrelor). The drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month, to reduce the rate of heart attack and cardiovascular (CV) death in adult patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Following...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CAR) Company News for September 15, 2011 – Corporate Summary
• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) announced its plans to add an additional $5 billion shares to its stock-repurchase program taking the total number of shares to be re-purchased to about $2.1 billion • Avis Budget Group (NYSE:CAR) said it will not attempt to acquire Dollar...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(XLK) Stock Market News for September 15, 2011 – Market News
Cross-Atlantic news and a positive turn of events guided the markets’ throughout Wednesday’s session, finally boosting the benchmarks to their third-straight days of gains. Initially, negative news from Austria seemed to threaten the markets, while Moody’s downgraded French...
15Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AAPL) Could Apple Take a Bite Out of Kodak or Netflix?
by Justin Dove, Investment U Research Thursday, September 1, 2011 It’s anyone’s guess how Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) will handle the departure of its prodigal son, Steve Jobs. The market has taken the news in stride as Apple’s stock is up roughly three and a half percent since...
14Sep2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(CHK) This State Will Produce 25% of America’s Natural Gas
by David Fessler, Investment U Senior Analyst Thursday, September 1, 2011 And it just happens to be the one I live in. Pennsylvania. It’s nicknamed the “Keystone State.” But if current natural gas production trends continue at this pace, we may have to rename it something...
14Sep2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(ERJ) Embraer S.A. Analyst Downgrades Shares to Neutral
We recently downgraded our recommendation on Embraer S.A (ERJ) to Neutral from Outperform. The lowered rating is backed by the rising operating cost and significant international competition in the aircraft manufacturing industry, which may adversely affect the company’s margins...
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GD) General Dynamics Gets Army Contract
General Dynamics C4 Systems Inc., a business unit of General Dynamics Corporation (GD) won the Command Hardware Systems-4 contract. The fixed-price U.S. Army contract is worth $3.7 billion spread over a period of five years. Per the contract, General Dynamics would provide technology...
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ADP) Automatic Data Processing Reports ADP Survey Sees 91K Job Gains in August
The Automatic Data Processing (ADP) employment survey was slightly weaker than expected in August. It shows that private sector employment rose by 91,000, below consensus expectations for a 100,000 increase. The July numbers were also revised down slightly to a gain of 109,000...
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DNDN) Dendreon Analyst Maintains Neutral on Shares
We have maintained a Neutral rating on Dendreon Corporation (DNDN) with a target price of $13 per share after appraisal of the second quarter 2011 results. Dendreon Corporation reported weaker-than-expected second quarter 2011 sales of $49.6 million of its potential blockbuster...
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JNPR) Juniper Networks Launches New Cloud Offering
Networking component major Juniper Network (JNPR) is gradually tightening its grip on the cloud computing market. The company recently made significant additions to the Juniper Networks vGW Virtual Gateway solution for customers looking for a comprehensive virtualization security...
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HPQ) Hewlett-Packard’s Winning Spree Continues
Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ) recently announced that the U.S. Air Force (USAF) will deploy its Workstations and Desktop PCs. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The latest deal emerges from an enterprise information technology purchase program conducted by the USAF....
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BMY) Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer Get Encouraging Data
Recently, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) and partner Pfizer (PFE) announced encouraging data from a late-stage study (ARISTOTLE: n=18,201) which evaluated their blood thinner Eliquis (apixaban) in patients suffering from erratic heartbeat and carrying at least one additional...
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(KFT) Kraft Foods Cuts Coffee Prices by 6%
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) has cut down the prices of its flagship coffee brand Maxwell House by roughly 6% in the US, effective immediately, driven by a decline in the prices of coffee beans. Accordingly, the price slit converts to 20 cents per pound on roast and ground coffees...
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AAPL) Personal Computer Market Losing Luster
Uncertainty continues to loom over the PC market. The rise of next generation ultra-portable gadgets (mainly tablets) has taken the market by storm, diverting consumer spending dollars from traditional desktops and notebooks. The success of Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPad has convinced...
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GNW) Genworth Financial – Bear of the Day
Genworth Financial’s (GNW) second quarter operating loss wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate loss. A substantially higher year-over-year loss at the U.S. Mortgage Insurance segment, partially offset by better results at Retirement & Protection and at International,...
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(M) Macy’s Incorporated – Bull of the Day
Macy’s, Inc. (M) has been taking prudent steps to increase sales, profitability and cash flows, which include integration of operations, consolidation of divisions and customer-centric localization initiatives. To help drive traffic, Macy’s continues to focus on price...
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(VZ) Verizon Communications Raises Dividend by 2.5%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) has recently increased its quarterly dividend by 2.5% to 50 cents per share from 48.8 cents. The increased dividend equates to $2.00 per share on an annualized basis and will be paid on November 1, 2011, to shareholders of record as of October...
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PBR) Oil Industry Mergers and Acquisitions 2011
by Justin Dove, Investment U Research Monday, September 12, 2011 Oil Services Industry Set for “Gusher Of Profits” As Ian Cooper’s recent article for Wealth Daily stated, the world isn’t necessarily running out of oil. It’s running out of “easy to get” oil. Oil...
14Sep2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(GTIV) Gentiva Health Services – Bear of the Day
We have downgraded our recommendation on Gentiva Health Services (GTIV) to Underperform, prompted by poor operating performance coupled with weakening financial position. The company’s second-quarter earnings lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate, on the back of high interest...
14Sep2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued