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Before the bell: Futures lower as Street takes a breather, awaits more data

U.S. stock futures drifted lower Friday morning, indicating a weaker start on Wall Street, a day after a market rally that was fueled by strong economic reports. But as investors catch their breath, they also await cautiously for data on consumer spending and sentiment, as earlier data this week surprised to the down side.

On Thursday, the government reported the economy grew 3.5% in the third quarter. While the growth was mostly due to government stimuli, it was enough to lift stocks some 2% for the day. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday the U.S. economy's return to growth shows some stability but recovery is fragile and needs nurturing.

Continue reading Before the bell: Futures lower as Street takes a breather, awaits more data

Microsoft sees appeals court toss out $358 million lawsuit

It's a boring week if Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) isn't being sued or is in court defending itself. In the ring this time is France's Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), which says Microsoft is infringing on its patents in its ultra-popular Outlook e-mail and messaging software. You know, the one that small businesses to megacorporations use for corporate e-mail and calendaring?

After $358 million in damages was awarded Alcatel-Lucent recently, an appeals court judge stated that the lawsuit wasn't supported by evidence. And, he wants the damages amount recalculated. Microsoft said when the original damages were awarded that the amount was way too high, and on appeals it is now being vindicated. The entire amount was based on the global market value for the Outlook product itself, and that Alcatel-Lucent's claims did not contribute to that whole amount.

Continue reading Microsoft sees appeals court toss out $358 million lawsuit

Research in Motion Limited and Motorola receive upgrades

Bright and early Tuesday morning, Credit Suisse issued upgrades to Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM), lifting both of them from Neutral to Outperform. The brokerage cited a recovery at MOT's mobile-phone division along with growing demand for RIMM's BlackBerry as reasons for the upgrades. In addition, Credit Suisse elevated the price targets on both, upping MOT to $9.50 from $7 and RIMM to $95 from $76.

Credit Suisse did not stop there, issuing downgrades to MOT and RIMM competitors QUALCOMM (NASDAQ: QCOM) and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) from Outperform to Neutral.

Continue reading Research in Motion Limited and Motorola receive upgrades

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Reasonable speculation

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the bizarre rules these days make it worth looking at stocks through a different lens.

How much should we care about low-dollar speculation? How much should we care about the incessant trading in CIT (NYSE: CIT) (Cramer's Take) and Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) (Cramer's Take), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) (Cramer's Take), or Vonage (NYSE: VG) (Cramer's Take) and Sprint (NYSE: S) (Cramer's Take)? Or even Citigroup (NYSE: C) (Cramer's Take)?

First, I have to tell you that I worry about it less than I used to. Why? Because when we used to have rules and government officials that were willing to speak the truth about stocks, we wouldn't have these single-digit players out there every day. But without it, how in heck can people not believe that Fannie and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) (Cramer's Take) are the biggest and best bets on a turn in housing?

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Reasonable speculation

Earnings highlights: Coach, Corning, Goodyear, Visa, Waste Management ...

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Coach, Corning, Goodyear, Visa, Waste Management ...

Alcatel-Lucent reports a surprise profit

This morning, Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) reported its first-ever quarterly net profit, sparking a flurry of activity in the firm's stock. In the latest quarter, ALU earned $2.8 million, or 0.01 euro per share. The Street expected ALU to lose 0.08 euro per share during the quarter.

This news is all well and good, but adjusted earnings showed a loss of 62 million euros compared to expectations for a loss of 36 million euros. Nevertheless, the stock traded higher in post-market trading and also opened higher this morning.

Continue reading Alcatel-Lucent reports a surprise profit

Ciena lost money, missed expectations in Q2

Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN), a business that sells various networking and software products for fiber-optic and broadband technologies, and whose colleagues include Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), reported late Thursday a difficult second quarter. Revenues declined by 40%. For the bottom line, Ciena said it lost 25 cents per share on an adjusted basis. Last year at this time, Ciena made an adjusted 40 cents per share. And in terms of expectations, the company was only supposed to lose 9 cents per share. Guess there wasn't a chance of that, huh?

Continue reading Ciena lost money, missed expectations in Q2

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: PCZ, ALU, BIG, GOOG ...

Analyst upgrades:

  • Kaufman Bros. assumed coverage of Ctrip.com (NASDAQ: CTRP) and upgraded the stock to Buy from its previous Hold rating. The firm thinks the company's Q2 targets are achievable while 20%-plus growth should return in Q3 as comps ease.
  • Janney Montgomery upgraded Cogdell Spencer (NYSE: CSA) to Neutral from Sell as it believes last night's capital raise removes risk. The firm has a $4.50 target on shares.
  • Deutsche Bank upgraded Map Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MAPP) to Buy from Hold following the positive Levadex Phase 3 results as it believes the migraine drug could generate peak sales of $250M in the U.S. if approved. Deutsche raised its target on shares to $12 from $5.
  • Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE: NWN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  • Petro-Canada (NYSE: PCZ) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
  • Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) was upgraded to Add from Reduce at WestLB.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: PCZ, ALU, BIG, GOOG ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: CI, CCE, JBLU, LIZ, LLL

Analyst upgrades:

  • Oppenheimer upgraded FTI Consulting (NYSE:FCN) to Outperform from Perform on expectations the stock will outperform in the second half of 2009 due to easier comparisons and a "deeper and longer" restructuring cycle. The firm has a $62 target on shares.
  • Citigroup upgraded Cigna (NYSE:CI) to Hold from Sell to reflect reduced balance sheet risk following the company's capital raise and the potential for a PBM sale. The firm raised its target price to $23 from $13.
  • Goldman expects Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE:CCE) to benefit from favorable soda demand and lower commodity costs. The firm upgraded shares to Conviction Buy from Buy and has a $20 target on the stock.
  • Novellus (NASDAQ:NVLS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Bank of America/Merrill.
  • CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) was upgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Underweight.
  • Allegiant (NASDAQ:ALGT) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: CI, CCE, JBLU, LIZ, LLL

Cisco beats the analysts -- is this tech stock a recovery play?

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) reported Q3 stats after the bell on Wednesday. How did the tech company that runs with the likes of Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR), and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) fare? Very well, thank you.

Well, let me clarify that. Cisco saw a lot of declines in its numbers, but we all know what the most important thing to investors is: beating the Wall Street analysts. In this regard, Cisco's management did just fine. As I observed in my earnings preview piece, the call was for Cisco to do somewhere around 25 cents per share. Well, the company bested that figure by an awesome nickel on an adjusted basis.

Continue reading Cisco beats the analysts -- is this tech stock a recovery play?

Earnings preview: Will Cisco deliver the goods in Q3?

Tech investors will be looking forward to seeing how Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) made out in the third quarter. The networking entity, whose colleagues include Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR), and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), will be reporting Q3 numbers on Wednesday, May 6, after the market closes. According to analysts, Cisco is not expected to grow the bottom line. The call is for 25 cents per share. If that figure is hit, then it will represent a drop of more than 30% on a year-over-year basis.

Here's the bright side, though. Cisco has beat the analysts at their game in recent times. Quite frankly, I think Cisco should be able to come ahead of estimates this week. I don't necessarily see why the trend will break. It's not like the stock has been telling the market that it will. Shares of Cisco have been doing well.

Continue reading Earnings preview: Will Cisco deliver the goods in Q3?

Closing Bell: The pullback with no sting (ALU, AMZN, BA, CROX, CHK, LVS, NVAX)

Ben Bernanke tried to talk up the markets today in light of reports that ten of nineteen banks under the stress test needed capital. Bernanke said that a recovery does lie ahead and that housing is near a bottom. At the end of the day, it was hard to get any feeling for gains or profit taking.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,410.65 -16.09 (-0.19%)
S&P 500 903.80 -3.44 (-0.38%)
Nasdaq 1,754.12 -9.44 (-0.54%)

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Continue reading Closing Bell: The pullback with no sting (ALU, AMZN, BA, CROX, CHK, LVS, NVAX)

Closing Bell: Mixed day, traders in the blender (ALU, AXP, BAC, C, MAT)

Less-bad housing data from Case-Shiller was trumped after a much more positive consumer confidence report came out this morning. Swine flu was all over the media today, but not with as much financial impact.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,016.95 -8.05 (-0.10%)
S&P 500 855.16 -2.35 (-0.27%)
Nasdaq 1,673.81 -5.60 (-0.33%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

Continue reading Closing Bell: Mixed day, traders in the blender (ALU, AXP, BAC, C, MAT)

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: MRK, PALM, DNA, WMT, TEVA ...

Analyst upgrades:
  • Bernstein upgraded Merck (NYSE: MRK) to Outperform from Market Perform and raised its target to $30 from $27 citing valuation and its decision to buy Schering-Plough, at what appears to be a reasonable price.
  • RBC Capital upgraded Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) to Outperform from Sector Perform and raised its target to $12 from $5 as it believes webOS has increased its chances for Smartphone leadership and will increase its attractiveness as an acquisition target.
  • RW Baird upgraded Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Outperform from Neutral on valuation as it believes balance sheet risks are overly discounted in the stock, creating a buying opportunity. The firm has a $3 target on shares.
  • Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) was raised to Buy from Hold at Argus.
  • France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) was upgraded at Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight from Underweight.
  • Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ: FWLT) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Neutral at Goldman.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: MRK, PALM, DNA, WMT, TEVA ...

Next Page »

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-17.539,771.91
NASDAQ+8.122,057.32
S&P 500+2.531,045.41

Last updated: November 03, 2009: 06:54 PM

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