Yearly Archives: 2011
Niall Ferguson Rates Obama as The Next Jimmy Carter With a 1970’s Style Economic Forecast
A best case scenario is a 1970’s style economy for a period of time……
Comments »Solar Stocks Surge
Alternative energy related names are being bid up this morning, based upon speculation that countries will shy away from nuclear power, post Fukushima.
TSL (11%), WFR (10%), YGE (8%), LDK (6%), SOLR (6%), STP (6%)
Data provided by The PPT.
Comments »Upgrades and Downgrades This Morning
- Upgrades
- Noble (NE 44.10) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan
- DuPont Fabros Technology (DFT 23.15) upgraded to Top Pick from Outperform at RBC; tgt $32
- Parker Hannifin (PH 85.39) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank; tgt $100
- Cintas (CTAS 27.91) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird; tgt raised to $34 from $32. Firm’s upgrade is based on what they see as attractive valuation with a backdrop of improving fundamentals, supported by recent labor data, preliminary results of Baird’s 1Q11 industry survey, and recent channel checks. Firm additionally notes recent volatility has reduced the relative attractiveness of riskier names, which they believe provides opportunity for outperformance at CTAS, given the co’s lower-risk business model, quality franchise, and leverage to the emerging employment recovery.
- Amer States Water (AWR 32.93) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Brean Murray; tgt $39. Firm notes shares have traded off substantially since November, 2010 and are now at a level they consider attractive from both a P/E and dividend yield perspective. Firm notes risks to the achievement of target price include integration of acquisitions, weather, environmental regulations, regulation of rates, and interest rates.
Downgrades:
- Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS 40.06) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies; tgt $45
- OpenTable (OPEN 91.53) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merriman
- Pall (PLL 57.02) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies
- Noble Corp (NE 44.10) downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at FBR Capital; tgt $48. Firm notes downgrade comes as their near-term thesis on the name is largely played out. They note shares are up 25% year to date, which compares favorably to firm’s coverage universe. Firm now prefers names with a greater preponderance of catalysts that have yet to materialize, particularly Ensco (ESV 55.23). They believe that ESV is ideally situated to benefit from upside in jackup day rates over the next several years, as well as realize substantial synergies from the pending merger with PDE.
Miscellaneous:
- Epocrates (EPOC 25.00) initiated with Overweight at Piper Jaffray; tgt $30
- NeoPhotonics Corporation (NPTN 10.56) initiated with Overweight at Piper Jaffray; tgt $14
Brookings Institute States That U.S. Metro Areas Grew Despite Unemployment
Growth was lumpy and failed to spur employment growth for the 100 largest metropolitan areas around the country….
Comments »Uranium Stocks Crushed
In light of the nuclear reactor semi-meltdown in Japan, uranium related stocks here in the US are getting crushed. Extensive damage can be found in the shares of URRE (-23%), URZ (-23%), DNN (-23%), UEC (-20%) and CCJ (-20%).
Data provided by The PPT.
Comments »Saudi Arabia Said to Send 1000 Troops To Bahrain; Shi’ites Call it an Act of War
In a effort to protect government buildings and other vital facilities…Shi’ites calling this an act of war
Comments »Higher Dividends May Be in Place for the S&P 500
Higher margins and record profits are expected to boost dividends for the S&P 500
Comments »Japan Releases Strategic Oil Reserves as Oil Continues Slide From Last Week
Moody’s Expects Heavy Losses for Insurance Companies and Will This Cause Japan to Sell U.S. Treasuries ?
Moody’s expects insurance and reinsurance companies to take heavy losses from Japan’s disaster. This is causing some to speculate Japan will have to sell U.S. treasury holdings…
Will treasuries be sold for Japan to access liquidity ?
Goldman: Toyota to Lose $72 Million Per Day
With 12 factories closed in Japan, Goldman is estimating that Toyota, TM, will lose $72 million in profit per day, based upon current burn rate.
Comments »Europe Opens and Trades Down With U.S. Futures Off .6-.9%
Berkshire Hathaway to Purchase Lubrizol For $9Billion in Cash
China Against Allowing Yuan to Rise
China’s premier said it must mull over the effect on prices and Chinese companies.
Analyst expect this to lower certain commodities in China price terms. China prices jumped 4.9% in February along with a 11% increase in food prices.
Bank of International Settlements Say Long Term Inflation Expectations Remain Stable
The quarterly report backed recent comments from most central banks, but warned that expectations are not “anchored” since certain measures have inflation higher than pre-crisis levels.
Comments »Nikkei Closes Down 6.18% and The Topix Closes Down 7.49%; Other Asian Markets Manage to Reverse Downside
Anonymous- A Hacker Wiki Leak Hopeful Releases Alleged Documents on Bank of America
Released emails from a former Bank of America employee reveal Balboa, an insurance unit of BoA, potentially removing files from loan document files.
The group Anonymous states it is related to improper foreclosures while BoA state the emails relate to clerical and administrative documents not related to foreclosures.
Japan Adds $183 Billion of Liquidity While Doubling Asset Repurchases
“The BOJ will increase buying of government debt in the fund by 500 billion yen and boost purchases of short-term government securities by 1 trillion yen. Corporate debt will rise by 1.5 trillion yen and it will also take on an additional 450 billion yen in ETFs and 50 billion yen in Real Estate Investment Trusts, today’s statement said.”
Comments »Asian Markets, Sans Japan, Reverse Higher
I am sure the prospect of QE3 is on the minds of all of those who manage money.
The Shanghai, Heng Seng, Seoul and KLSE have all reversed higher, while the Sensex is surging, now up close to 1%. Fair value for the S&P futures are now down less than 4.
Comments »Refining Margins Widening
Gasoil (diesel) margins have erupted to the upside, now at the highest point in 2 1/2 years. The spread to Dubai crude rose to 12% or $22.15 in early Asian trading, based upon the fact that Japanese power companies will need to use alternatives to nuclear to fill power gaps.
Related: Nymex crack spread
