Special Reports

Top 10 News Items 11/30-12/04: Non-Farm Payrolls Much Better-Than-Expected, Comcast to Take 51% Stake in NBC Universal, BofA to Repay $45B in TARP Funds Dec 4, 2009 04:41PM

Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street:

1. The always-highly-anticipated jobs report came in much better-than-expected on Friday of this week: the change in non-farm payrolls for November was down 11,000, vs. the consensus of down 125,000. The unemployment rate fell to 10.0%. While the drastic upside surprise boosted futures sharply, traders began taking profits as the market opened, and soon after, as the dollar began rallying, stocks began selling off, putting bulls in quite a less cheery mood.

2. Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) will dive headfirst into the world of TV programming, announcing the formation of a joint venture between it and GE (NYSE: GE) related to NBC Universal. Comcast will hold a 51% stake, while GE will remain a 49% holder. Shares of Comcast finished this week about 8% higher and GE shares was just modestly higher.

3. On Wednesday after the close, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) announced its plans to repay the $45 billion in TARP funds it owes US taxpayers. The repayment consists of $26.2 billion in excess liquidity and $18.8 billion in proceeds from the sale of "common equivalent securities." The bank priced 1.286 billion shares at $15. The stock closed Friday's trading session up 3%.

4. Following last week's debt crisis in Dubai, traders were relieved to find out that the problem may not result in fallout, and, instead, might just be a Dubai-only issue.

5. The Street was shocked on Tuesday night when GM announced that its almost-brand new CEO, Fritz Henderson, would be stepping down. The automaker said that its Chairman, Ed Whitacre, will take over Henderson's role until a replacement is found.

6. Amid continued dollar turmoil, gold (NYSE: GLD) broke out to an all-time high this week, pushing over the $1,200 level for the first time ever, only to give up gains on Friday as the dollar strengthened. To end this week's trading, gold fell more than 40 points to around $1,170.

7. Shares of Take-Two Interactive (Nasdaq: TTWO) were absolutely smashed on Friday after the company lowered guidance on Thursday night. The company said it expects to report Q4 revs of $325-$350 million, versus the consensus of $371 million, and adj-EPS of $0.05-$0.10, versus the consensus of $0.33. For FY09, Take-Two sees revs of $950-$975 million, versus the consensus of $995.1 million and a loss of $1.10 to $1.15, versus the consensus of $(0.85). The Company expects to report a non-GAAP net loss per share for fiscal 2010 in the range of $0.40 to $0.60 on $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion in revenue. The consensus is $0.64 and $1.24 billion, respectively. The stock fell 29% on Friday.

8. Retail sales for the month of November came in this week, with most retailers reporting lower-than-expected same stores sales. Despite this, the XRT (NYSE: XRT) finished this week about flat.

9. Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) reported solid Cyber Monday sales this week, helping push the stock to an all-time high at $145.91. The stock finished this week about 4% higher.

10. Golf fans were unpleasantly surprised this week Tiger Woods finally broke his silence about last Friday's car crash. Woods issued a statement via his personal website in which he admitted complete fault for the accident, where he crashed his black Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant in front of his home before hitting a tree. Many media sources suggested that Tiger basically admitted to adultery. Yikes...

Trading Radar for 12/7: Kroger (KR), Pep Boys (PBY), Krispy Kreme (KKD), Casey's General Stores (CASY) Report Dec 4, 2009 03:17PM

The Trading Radar highlights key earnings and economic announcements for tomorrow's trading session:

Before Market Opens:
Earnings:

KMG Chemicals (NASDAQ: KMGB) – consensus EPS $0.36

Intraday or Not Specified:
Economics:
2:00pm EST

• Consumer Credit - Street sees ($9.3) Billion

Earnings:

Blyth Inc. (NYSE: BTH) – consensus EPS $0.28
Integral Systems (NASDAQ: ISYS) – consensus EPS $0.03
Krispy Kreme Doughnut (NYSE: KKD) – no consensus
Retail Ventures, Inc. (NYSE: RVI) no consensus
The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) – consensus EPS $0.37

After Market Closes:
Earnings:

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ: CASY) – consensus EPS $0.60
Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY) – consensus EPS $0.04
Resource America, Inc. (NASDAQ: REXI)- consensus loss $0.02

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Unusual 11 Mid-Day Movers 12/04: BIG, FLOW, SNV, OCLS Higher; TTWO, ZIOP, VSNT, SWHC Lower Dec 4, 2009 12:36PM

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) 28.3% LOWER; sees Q4 revs of $325-$350 million, versus the consensus of $371 million. Sees Non-GAAP EPS of $0.05-$0.10, versus the consensus of $0.33. Sees FY revs of $950-$975 million, versus the consensus of $995.1 million. Sees EPS of $(1.10) to $(1.15), versus the consensus of $(0.85). The Company expects to report a non-GAAP net loss per share for fiscal 2010 in the range of $0.40 to $0.60 on $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion in revenue. The consensus is $0.64 and $1.24 billion, respectively. Take-Two's preliminary forecast for the fiscal first quarter is for a non-GAAP net loss per share in the range of $(0.40) to $(0.50) on $210 million to $260 million in revenue. The consensus is $(0.26) and $244.2 million, respectively. Click here for the full report. The stock has been downgraded at numerous firms, including Piper Jaffray, Wells Fargo, Brean Murray and Kaufman. Click here to see all the analyst downgrades today.

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIOP) 19.4% LOWER; announced the pricing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 15,484,000 shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase 7,742,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $3.10 per unit. The warrants, which represent the right to acquire 0.50 of a share of the Company's common stock for each share of common stock purchased in the offering, will have a five-year term from the date of issuance and will be exercisable at a price of $4.02 per share.

Versant Corporation (Nasdaq: VSNT) 18.1% LOWER; reports Q4 EPS of $0.45, compared to $0.59 in the same quarter last year. Revenue for the quarter was $4.1 million, versus $6 million in Q408. Versant's Board of Directors has approved a new stock repurchase program. Under the program, Versant is authorized to repurchase up to $5.0 million worth of its outstanding common shares from time to time on the open market, in block trades or otherwise. Sees FY10 sales unchanged from '09.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: SWHC) 17.1% LOWER; reports Q2 adjusted EPS of $0.10, 1 cent better than the analyst estimate of $0.09. Revenue for the quarter was $108.8 million, which compares to the estimate of $104.90 million. Sees Q309 Sales $90 - $95 million, versus $104.7 million consensus.

Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) 15.6% HIGHER; reports Q3 adjusted EPS of $0.27, 9 cents better than the analyst estimate of $0.18. Revenue for the quarter was $1.04 billion, which compares to the estimate of $1.02 billion. Raises Q409 EPS to $1.09 - $1.14 and FY09 EPS to $2.15 - $2.20. Consensus is $1.04 and $2.01, respectively. The Board of Directors also authorized a $150 million share repurchase program.

Flow International Corp. (NASDAQ: FLOW) 15.2% HIGHER; reports Q2 EPS of $0.01, 3 cents better than the analyst estimate of ($0.02). Revenue for the quarter was $42 million, which compares to the estimate of $38.7 million.

Synovus Financial (NYSE: SNV) 14.7% HIGHER; upgraded at FBR this morning. Click here for more color.

Oculus Innovative Sciences (Nasdaq: OCLS) 13.8% HIGHER; continuing higher today following yesterday's 20% jump amid the unveiling of its expanded regulatory/commercial pipeline for its Microcyn-based products.

Steris Corp. (NYSE: STE) 13.2% LOWER; tumbling after an FDA notice concerning the STERIS System 1 Processor. Click here to see the letter.

Spherion (NYSE: SFN) 11% HIGHER; Staffing service companies are higher today following the better than expected job loss number. Here are some others.

OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) 8.9% HIGHER; Office supplies companies higher on jobs report, which showed we are getting closer to job creation. Here are some other stocks moving for similar reasons.

To get this report daily visit http://www.streetinsider.com/entities/Unusual+11+Mid-Day+Movers.

Notable ETF Movers 12/04: UUP, UNG Up; XME, GDX, GLD, SLV Down Dec 4, 2009 12:33PM

StreetInsider.com Notable ETF Movers:

HIGHER;

• PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE: UUP) up about 1% to $22.39. Shares of the Bullish Dollar ETF are on the rise as confidence returns to the U.S. on a significant jobs report that showed losses approximately 114K below analyst expectations.
  
  
• United States Natural Gas (NYSE: UNG) up 2.59% to $8.73. Natural gas futures are on the rise after the jobs data released this morning. Shorts may also be covering their positions, even after the increase in storage reported yesterday.

LOWER:
The metals and metal miners are taking a little bit of a hit as job losses drop, unemployment is down 0.2% and the dollar receives renewed investor confidence:

• SPDR S&P Metals & Mining (NYSE: XME) trading down 3.43% to $47.92;
  
  
• Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) down 7.15% to $49.72;
  
  
• SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) down 3.38% to $114.69;
  
  
• iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) lower 2.74% to $18.11.

Notable Analyst Rating Changes 12/04: BAC, SNV, FSLR, AKAM Upgraded; TTWO, SWHC, AKS, NFLX Downgraded Dec 4, 2009 10:51AM

UPGRADES:
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raised its preferred-stock ratings on Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) to 'BB' from 'B'. The firm also raised their preferred-stock ratings on BofA's bank subsidiaries to 'BB+' from 'B'. All other ratings, including the 'A/A-1' counterparty credit rating, are affirmed. The outlook is stable.

FBR Research upgrades Synovus Financial (NYSE: SNV) to Market Perform from Underperform and maintaining our price target of $2.50. Click Here for more color.

Collins Stewart upgrades First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) from Hold to Buy, also setting a $160 price target. For more color, Click Here.

Citi upgrades Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) from Hold to Buy, also boosting its price target from $23 to $31. Oppenheimer also upgraded Akamai Tech from Perform to Outperform.

Natixis Bleichroeder upgrades ATP Oil & Gas (Nasdaq: ATPG) from Hold to Buy.

For daily real-time Upgrades go to http://www.streetinsider.com/Upgrades

DOWNGRADES:
Take Two (NASDAQ: TTWO) taking a downgrade from several ratings firms:

• Kaufman Brothers to Sell from Buy, and cuts price target from $11 to $7. Click Here for more color;
  
• Wells Fargo to Market Perform from Outperform, and set a lower valuation of $7 - $8 from $13 - $15. For more color, Click Here;
  
• Piper Jaffray to Neutral from Overweight and lowers price target to $10 from $15. Click Here for more color;
  
• Brean Murray to Hold from Buy, and removed their $14 price target. For more color, Click Here;
  
• Cowen & Co. to Neutral from Outperform;
  
• MKM Partners to Buy from Neutral.

Merriman Curhan Ford downgrades Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) from Buy to Neutral. For more color, Click Here. Cowen & Co also downgraded Smith & Wesson from Outperform to Neutral.

Citi downgrades AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) from Buy to Hold. Price target $21.

Citi also downgrades Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) from Buy to Hold. The firm maintained their $59 price target.

For daily real-time Downgrades go to http://www.streetinsider.com/Downgrades

NEW COVERAGE:
Bank of America initiates coverage Moody's (NYSE: MCO) with a Buy rating and price target of $28. The firm also started McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP) with a Buy and price target of $38. The firm cited the outlook for growth in credit markets

Oppenheimer initiates coverage on Visa (NYSE: V) with an Outperform and price target of $95. The firm also initiated MasterCard (NYSE: MA) with an Outperform rating and price target $290.

Morgan Stanley initiates coverage on ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG) with a Equalweight rating. Price target $23.

Wedbush initiates coverage on Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) with an Outperform rating. Price target $45. Click Here for more color.

Jefferies & Co initiates coverage on Under Armour (NYSE: UA) with a Buy rating. Price target $32.

For daily real-time New Coverage go to http://www.streetinsider.com/New+Coverage