Jim Cramer Blog

Here are 7 trading ideas for today. These lists come directly from the TradingMarkets Stock Indicators page and are based upon our latest quantitative research.
Bullish
Gaps Down 5% or More: These are stocks that gap down by 5% or more and are trading above their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading above their 200-day moving average that gap down by more than 5% have shown positive returns, on average, 1-day, 2-days and 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
Joy Global (NasdaqGS:JOYG - News). JOYG's PowerRating is 7.
Laps Down 5% or More: These are stocks that lap down by 5% or more and are trading above their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading above their 200-day moving average that lap down by more than 5% have shown positive returns, on average, 1-day, 2-days and 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
Hoku Scientific (NasdaqGM:HOKU - News). HOKU's PowerRating is 9.
5+ Consecutive Down Days: These are stocks that have closed down for five or more consecutive days and are trading above their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading above their 200-day moving average that close down for five or more days have shown positive returns, on average, 1-day, 2-days and 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
Frontier Oil (NYSE:FTO - News). FTO's PowerRating is 7.
5+ Consecutive Lower Lows: These are stocks that have made a lower low for five or more consecutive days and are trading above their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading above their 200-day moving average that make lower lows for five or more days have shown positive returns, on average, 1-day, 2-days and 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - News). SUN's PowerRating is 7.
2-Period RSI Below 2: These are stocks that have a 2-period RSI reading below 2 and are trading above their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading above their 200-day moving with a 2-period RSI reading below 2 have shown positive returns, on average, 1-day, 2-days and 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
Ceridian (NYSE:CEN - News) & Altria (NYSE:MO - News). CEN's PowerRating is 6, and MO's PowerRating is 6.
Bearish
5+ Consecutive Higher Highs: These are stocks that have made a higher high for five or more consecutive days and are trading below their 200-day moving average. Our research shows that stocks trading below their 200-day moving average that make higher highs for five or more days have shown negative returns, on average, 1-day, 2-days and 1-week later. Historically, these stocks have provided traders with a significant edge.
Amgen (NasdaqGS:AMGN - News). AMGN's PowerRating is 4.
PowerRatings (for Traders) are courtesy of TradingMarkets.com

Labels: AMGN, CEN, FTO, HOKU, Hot Stocks, JOYG, MO, SUN

Frontier Oil Corp. (NYSE:FTO - News) said fourth-quarter earnings fell to $52.4 million, or 47 cents a share, from $63 million, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier. The Houston oil refiner said earnings fell primarily because the gasoline and diesel crack spreads following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 was not repeated in 2006. The results for the quarter ending Dec. 31 include an inventory loss of 22 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had been expecting earnings of 55 cents a share, on average. Revenue declined 5.5% to $1.09 billion from last year's $1.15 billion.
Guitar Center Inc. (NasdaqGS:GTRC - News) reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $1.36 a share, including a charge of $2.49 a share to write down goodwill associated with the music and arts division.
Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL - News) plans to dispose of its remaining interest in KBR Inc. (NYSE:KBR - News) through a split-off exchange offer to Halliburton shareholders..
Healthcare Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE:HR - News)intends to sell its senior-living-assets portfolio, expecting a total consideration of about $400 million and a net gain of about $57 million.
Health Care REIT Inc.'s (NYSE:HCN - News) fourth-quarter net income fell 34% as revenue increased 15% to $87.8 million.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ - News) said it would acquire closely held PolyServe Inc. to expand the company's offerings of storage-software applications.
Hansen Natural Corp. (NasdaqCM:HANS - News) said that fourth-quarter gross sales rose 51% to $171.5 million, while net sales increased 54.2% to $151.1 million. Gross profit rose to $80.2 million, from $51.9 million a year ago. The sales increase reflected continued strong sales of energy drinks.
Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE:HOG - News) has taken down its targets for motorcycle shipments and earnings growth as the result of a recently ended three-week strike at its York, Pa., manufacturing plant, the company said Tuesday. While full production is expected to resume over the next week, the strike will eventually result in a loss of approximately one month's production. "A disruption of this magnitude has a significant impact on our business, as well as our suppliers, dealers, employees and our retail customers," said Tom Bergmann, Harley's chief financial officer, in a written release. The company expects to ship 64,000 to 66,000 units in the first quarter, down from a previous goal of 82,000 to 84,000 units, although it hopes to make up 4,000 to 5,000 during the remainder of the year. For the full year, Harley said it now expects "moderate" revenue growth, along with lower margins, and earnings per share growth in the range of 4% to 6%. But it forecast a return to 11% to 17% EPS growth in 2008 and 2009.
Hovnanian (NYSE:HOV - News) expects a first-quarter loss. It delivered 3,266 homes in the first quarter while net contracts declined 23% to 2,570.
Magna International (NYSE:MGA - News) said fourth-quarter net income fell 65% to $29 million, or 26 cents a share, from $83 million, or 75 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the company would have earned 99 cents a share. The average forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Financial was for earnings of $1.17. The company said the difficult automotive environment, particularly in North America, is taking its toll. Sales rose 9% to 6.34 billion, helped by an increase in the company's European and rest of the world production sales. The company declared a quarterly dividend of 19 cents a share. For 2007, Magna expects consolidated sales of $22.9 billion to $24.2 billion. It sees spending for fixed assets in the range of $800 million to $850 million.
NetEase.com's (NasdaqGS:NTES - News) fourth-quarter profit grew 19% as the Beijing Internet company's revenue grew nearly 15% to $69.2 million.
Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE:JWN - News) fourth-quarter earnings climbed to 89 cents a share from 69 cents as sales rose 15% to $2.63 billion. Same-store sales increased 8.3%.
NYSE Group Inc. (NYSE:NYX - News) named Duncan Niederauer president and co-chief operating officer, effective April 9. Niederauer is currently managing director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS - News).
Oneok Inc. (NYSE:OKE - News) reported fourth-quarter earnings of 66 cents a share, down from $2.30 a share in the year ago-period. The year-ago quarter included a gain of $1.57 a share from the sale of Texas gathering and processing assets
Oneok Partners L.P. (NYSE:OKS - News) fourth-quarter earnings were 82 cents per unit, up from 72 cents in the year-ago period. There were 82.9 million units outstanding during the latest quarter vs. 46.4 million units a year earlier.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NasdaqGM:PNCL - News) said its fourth-quarter net income more than tripled to $36.8 million, or $1.67 a share, from $10 million, or 45 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. The 2006 fourth quarter included a benefit of $26.1 million, or $1.18 per share, associated with a settlement with Northwest Airlines Corp. . The Memphis, Tenn., regional airline said revenue in the three months ended Dec. 31 fell 4% to $204.5 million from $213 million. Three analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast earnings, on average, of 57 cents a share.
Sanderson Farms Inc. (NasdaqGS:SAFM - News) narrowed its fiscal first quarter loss, but the poultry producer said Tuesday it remained firmly in the red on high feed costs and soft, though slowly rising, pricing. Sanderson said it lost $2.8 million, or 14 cents a share for the quarter, compared to a loss of $8.6 million, or 43 cents a share in the year-ago period. Revenue came in at $292.7 million, up from $236.2 million. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been for the company to lose 11 cents a share on sales of $277 million. Looking out to the rest of the fiscal year, Sanderson said trends in chicken prices are currently "favorable" but it expects feed costs will continue to rise.
Shuffle Master Inc. (NasdaqGS:SHFL - News) shares tumbled after the company said it expects fiscal first-quarter net income and earnings per share to be "significantly lower" than the year-ago quarter. The Las Vegas-based gambling supply company said it's still in the process of finalizing its financial results, and forecast revenue of $35 million to $38 million.
Published By Marketwatch

Labels: FTO, GS, GTRC, HAL, HANS, HCN, HOG, HOV, HPQ, HR, JWN, KBR, MGA, NTES, NYX, OKE, OKS, PNCL, SAFM, SHFL

Inflation fears sparked by a rise in consumer prices and Federal Reserve comments detailed in the minutes of the last FOMC meeting combined to push stocks to a mixed finish today. Blue Chips as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index traded lower, while the Nasdaq composite managed to eke out a small gain. Crude oil prices reversed course. After declining yesterday on warmer temperatures in key heating oil markets, oil jumped sharply to close above $60 a barrel. Crude has been trading in a fairly narrow band for the past couple of weeks. The 10-year Treasury note also dipped on the inflation news.
The consumer price index rose 0.2% in January, the Labor Department reported. That was down from the 0.4% increase in December, but still more than the 0.1% increase economists expected. Core CPI rose 0.3% in January after a 0.1% gain in December. The increase in the core reading, which excludes food and energy, also rose more sharply than economists had forecasted. Also weighing on stocks was the release of the meeting minutes from last January's rate-setting meeting. The Fed governors debated whether it was time to change their bias away from fighting inflation to a more neutral stance, but decided there was enough of an inflation threat to continue its long-standing policy.
In earnings news, the nation's largest prescription benefits manager was one of the day's top performers after posting profits that surged past Wall Street's expectations. Medco Health Solutions (NYSE: MHS - News) added 10% after reporting a 29% increase in its Q4 profit. The company raised its guidance for the current quarter and said it would increase its share buyback program after posting record profits of $229 million, or 77 cents per share.
Nasdaq stocks managed a small gain in large measure due to a strong performance by Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL - News). The stock advanced 4% after receiving a boost from Prudential Securities, which raised its earnings target for the current quarter. Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - News) managed a modest gain today as well on positive comments about Windows Vista from Chairman Bill Gates yesterday. Gates' comments seemed to contrast with recent reduced guidance from CEO Steve Ballmer. Subscribers can read further analysis on these two tech leaders in today's issue.
The news wasn't as good for other sector bellwethers. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ - News) slid despite reporting a 26% increase in its fiscal Q1 profit after the bell last night. Analysts suggested the printer and computer maker had probably achieved most of the savings it could realize from cost-cutting. Intel (Nasdaq: INTC - News) and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO - News) also moved lower today.
In the energy sector, Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO - News) added 3% after Friedman Billings Ramsey raised its earnings estimate for the independent oil refiner and suggested the company will increase its stock buyback plan this year. FBR maintained its "outperform" rating on Valero and raised its target from $79 to $82. Other independent refiners also moved higher, including Tesoro (NYSE: TSO - News), up 3%; Holly (NYSE: HOC - News), which added 4%; and Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO - News), which closed 3% higher. Frontier announced last night that it bought an ethanol company, Ethanol Management, for $31.1 million. Frontier had been a customer. The deal will enable the firm to ensure ethanol supplies for blending, and to expand ethanol production. Ethanol leaders like Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings (NYSE: AVR - News) and VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE - News) ended higher on the day.
Published By Bullmarket.com Staff

Labels: AAPL, AVR, FTO, HOC, HPQ, INTC, MHS, MSFT, TSO, VLO, YHOO

AdvancersAvanir Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM:AVNR - News) received an approvable letter and acceptable labeling from the FDA for a new formulation of its antipsychotic drug FazaClo.
Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA - News) net income more than doubled in the fourth quarter, capping a year in which it set a record for airplane orders and setting the stage for higher growth in 2007, the company said.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - News) shares rose following a report in The Financial Times that the company has hired Lehman Bros., Morgan Stanley and Citigroup to help it field possible takeover bids. Earlier in the week, a report surfaced that the company had drawn acquisition interest from French conglomerate Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:SNY - News).
Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners (NasdaqGM:CPRX - News) was initiated with a buy rating at Stifel Nicolaus with a $9 price target.
C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NasdaqGS:CHRW - News) reported fourth-quarter net income of $71.8 million, or 41 cents a share, up from $58.1 million, or 33 cents, a year ago. Quarterly revenue for the trucking company rose to $1.64 billion from $1.58 billion.
CheckFree Corp. (NasdaqGS:CKFR - News) reported a slight profit gain on advances in its core business. For its fiscal second-quarter, CheckFree said net income rose 4% to $35.3 million or 39 cents a share, compared to $33.8 million or 36 cents a share a year ago.
Corus Group Plc (NYSE:CGA - News) shares leapt after India's Tata Steel won a bidding war to acquire the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker for $12.1 billion.
EchoStar Communications (NasdaqGS:DISH - News) was upgraded to overweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. The firm lifted its price target on the shares to $44 from $40.
Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL - News) shot up after the cosmetics giant said its second-quarter profit more than doubled amid robust sales of major lines coupled with cost cutting and a favorably currency exchange.
Frontier Oil (NYSE:FTO - News) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
Harris Corp. (NYSE:HRS - News) said second-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $94 million, or 67 cents a share, from $30 million, or 22 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. Before items, quarterly per-share income rose to 68 cents from 52 cents in the prior year.
Harris Stratex Networks (NasdaqGM:HSTX - News) was initiated with a buy rating at Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.
Hologic Inc. (NasdaqGS:HOLX - News) reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of $16.1 million, or 30 cents a share, up from a year-ago profit of $5.7 million, or 12 cents a share. Revenue jumped 86% in the latest three months to $163.2 million from $88 million in the same period a year earlier. The Bedford, Mass.-based company attributed the higher earnings to an increase in product sales of its Selenia full-field digital mammography systems.
Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:IR - News) fourth-quarter earnings fell 24% as sales of its small earthmover Bobcat vehicle slumped due to weaker demand in the North American market, the company's financial results showed Wednesday.
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (NYSE:JLL - News) said fourth-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $80.9 million, or $2.37 a share, from $66.9 million, or $1.99 a share, during the same period in the prior year. Analysts were looking for per-share income of $2.26.
Kinetic Concepts (NYSE:KCI - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
Levitt Corp. (NYSE:LEV - News) agreed to be acquired by BFC Financial Corp. (NYSEArca:BFF - News) for $286 million in stock. In addition, Levitt said preliminary figures show its home building division generated fourth-quarter revenue of $143.6 million, with 426 homes delivered in the quarter at a margin of 19.6%. Backlog at Dec. 31 was 1,248 units with a sales value of $438.2 million. New home orders totaled 204, but were partly offset by 122 cancellations. The company said it has entered into sales contracts to dispose of certain properties and is expected to realize a pre-tax loss of $9.0 million upon disposition, and will write-off $1.4 million in pre-acquisition costs for properties which will not be acquired.
Lone Star Technologies (NYSE:LSS - News) said its fourth-quarter earnings fell to $18.1 million, or 58 cents a share, from $70.9 million, or $2.28 a share, a year earlier, hurt by an income-tax expense. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected, on average, quarterly earnings of 58 cents a share, before items. The Dallas oilfield pipe and tubing company's revenue for the quarter decreased to $334.8 million from $337.5 million a year ago. Wall Street expected quarterly revenue of $334 million.
New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT - News) swung to a fourth-quarter loss after an $814 million charge for write-downs, staff-reduction costs and accelerated depreciation.
Omnicell (NasdaqGM:OMCL - News) shares jumped after the company posted fourth-quarter earnings of $3.8 million, or 13 cents a share, up from a year-ago profit of $2.2 million, or 8 cents a share. Revenue rose 26.4% in the latest three months to $42.3 million. The Mountain View, Calif., provider of patient safety technology products said its product backlog ended the quarter at $114.3 million, up 64.2% from the same period a year ago.
O'Reilly Automotive (NasdaqGS:ORLY - News) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse. The firm lifted its price target on the stock to $38 from $36.
Quicksilver Resources (NYSE:KWK - News) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse. The firm also boosted its price target on the stock to $47 from $43.
Panera Bread Co. (NasdaqGS:PNRA - News) said same bakery-cafe sales rose 0.8% in January from the same month a year ago. The St. Louis bakery-cafe chain said company-owned same-store sales rose 0.7% while franchise-operated sales were up 0.9%.
ProQuest (NYSE:PQE - News) said Alan Aldworth is leaving its chairman, president and CEO positions, effective immediately. The company named Richard Surratt president and CEO. Surratt had served as the CFO of the Ann Arbor, Mich., publishing company.
RedEnvelope Inc. (NasdaqGM:REDE - News) said third-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $5.31 million, or 56 cents a share, from $4.1 million, or 43 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. The branded online retailer said quarterly revenue rose to $57 million from $53 million in the prior year.
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (NasdaqGS:RRGB - News) said it has signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire the assets of 17 its franchised restaurants in California for $47.5 million, minus any assumed debt.
Sierra Health Services Inc. (NYSE:SIE - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $39.3 million, or 65 cents a share, compared with $28.3 million, or 44 cents a share, in the same period last year, boosted by higher medical premiums revenue.
Sirf Technology Holdings Inc. (NasdaqGS:SIRF - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $9.1 million, down from $10.23 million in the same period the prior year, mainly due to higher stock-based compensation and acquisition-related contingent payments.
U.S. Concrete (NasdaqGM:RMIX - News) said it sees fourth-quarter revenue of $211 million, compared with its prior view of $195 million to $205 million. The company cited stronger-than-anticipated sales volumes of ready-mixed concrete, partially attributable to relatively mild winter conditions. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial are looking for quarterly revenue of $204 million. U.S. Concrete said it sees a fourth-quarter net loss of 62 cents to 63 cents per share, a view that includes a 70-cent-per-share after-tax goodwill impairment charge associated with its Michigan assets. Excluding the charge, the company expects income for the fourth quarter of 7 to 8 cents per share, compared with its November outlook of 3 to 7 cents. Analysts are looking for per-share income of 5 cents.
Published by Michael Baron at MarketWatch

Labels: AVNR, BA, BMY, CGA, CHRW, CKFR, CPRX, DISH, EL, FTO, HOLX, HRS, HSTX, IR, JLL, KCI, SNY

Avanir Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM:AVNR - News) received an approvable letter and acceptable labeling from the FDA for a new formulation of its antipsychotic drug FazaClo.
Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA - News) reported fourth-quarter earnings of $989 million, or $1.29 a share, up from a year-ago profit of $460 million, or 58 cents a share. On a continuing operations basis, the Dow component earned $980 million, or $1.28 a share, in the latest quarter. On an adjusted basis, excluding tax benefits as well as discontinued operations, the Chicago-based aerospace giant earned $1.16 a share, in the latest quarter, compared to 74 cents a share last year. Revenue rose in the three months ended Dec. 31 to $17.54 billion from $13.9 billion in the same period a year earlier. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was for a profit of 98 cents a share in the December period on revenue of $16.48 billion. The company also lifted its outlook for fiscal 2007 to earnings of $4.55 to $4.75 a share. The current average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial is for a profit of $4.75 a share for the year. It forecast earnings of $5.55 to $5.75 a share for fiscal 2008, saying this view reflects expectations for strong revenue growth and expanding margins across all of its businesses.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - News) shares rose following a report in The Financial Times that the company has hired Lehman Bros., Morgan Stanley and Citigroup to help it field possible takeover bids. Earlier in the week, a report surfaced that the company had drawn acquisition interest from French conglomerate Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:SNY - News).
Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners (NasdaqGM:CPRX - News) was initiated with a buy rating at Stifel Nicolaus with a $9 price target.
C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NasdaqGS:CHRW - News) reported fourth-quarter net income of $71.8 million, or 41 cents a share, up from $58.1 million, or 33 cents, a year ago. Quarterly revenue for the trucking company rose to $1.64 billion from $1.58 billion.
CheckFree Corp. (NasdaqGS:CKFR - News) reported a slight profit gain on advances in its core business. For its fiscal second-quarter, CheckFree said net income rose 4% to $35.3 million or 39 cents a share, compared to $33.8 million or 36 cents a share a year ago.
Corus Group Plc (NYSE:CGA - News) shares leapt after India's Tata Steel won a bidding war to acquire the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker for $12.1 billion.
EchoStar Communications (NasdaqGS:DISH - News) was upgraded to overweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. The firm lifted its price target on the shares to $44 from $40.
Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL - News) said its fiscal second-quarter net income more than doubled to $208.4 million, or 99 cents a share, from $81.7 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier. The New York cosmetics company said second-quarter income from continuing operations increased 39% to $208.5 million, or 99 cents a share, from $150.4 million, or 70 cents a share, and net sales advanced 12% to $1.99 billion from $1.78 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, on average, had been expecting Estee Lauder to earn 76 cents a share on net sales of $1.91 billion for the second quarter ended Dec. 31. The maker of Aveda and Clinique products expects third-quarter earnings from continuing operations to be about flat from a year earlier as sales rise 4% to 6%.
Frontier Oil (NYSE:FTO - News) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
Harris Corp. (NYSE:HRS - News) said second-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $94 million, or 67 cents a share, from $30 million, or 22 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. Before items, quarterly per-share income rose to 68 cents from 52 cents in the prior year.
Harris Stratex Networks (NasdaqGM:HSTX - News) was initiated with a buy rating at Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.
Hologic Inc. (NasdaqGS:HOLX - News) reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of $16.1 million, or 30 cents a share, up from a year-ago profit of $5.7 million, or 12 cents a share. Revenue jumped 86% in the latest three months to $163.2 million from $88 million in the same period a year earlier. The Bedford, Mass.-based company attributed the higher earnings to an increase in product sales of its Selenia full-field digital mammography systems.
Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:IR - News) said fourth-quarter net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 fell to $222 million, or 72 cents a share, from $291.6 million, or 87 cents a share in the year-ago period. Earnings from continuing operations in the latest quarter were 74 cents a share. Revenue increased by 7% to $2.89 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast earnings of 73 cents a share, on average. Full-year 2007 earnings from continuing operations are forecasted at $3.61 to $3.71 a share, compared to the Thomson Financial estimate of $3.55 a share.
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (NYSE:JLL - News) said fourth-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $80.9 million, or $2.37 a share, from $66.9 million, or $1.99 a share, during the same period in the prior year. Analysts were looking for per-share income of $2.26.
Kinetic Concepts (NYSE:KCI - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
Levitt Corp. (NYSE:LEV - News) agreed to be acquired by BFC Financial Corp. (NYSEArca:BFF - News) for $286 million in stock. In addition, Levitt said preliminary figures show its home building division generated fourth-quarter revenue of $143.6 million, with 426 homes delivered in the quarter at a margin of 19.6%. Backlog at Dec. 31 was 1,248 units with a sales value of $438.2 million. New home orders totaled 204, but were partly offset by 122 cancellations. The company said it has entered into sales contracts to dispose of certain properties and is expected to realize a pre-tax loss of $9.0 million upon disposition, and will write-off $1.4 million in pre-acquisition costs for properties which will not be acquired.
Lone Star Technologies (NYSE:LSS - News) said its fourth-quarter earnings fell to $18.1 million, or 58 cents a share, from $70.9 million, or $2.28 a share, a year earlier, hurt by an income-tax expense. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected, on average, quarterly earnings of 58 cents a share, before items. The Dallas oilfield pipe and tubing company's revenue for the quarter decreased to $334.8 million from $337.5 million a year ago. Wall Street expected quarterly revenue of $334 million.
New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT - News) swung to a fourth-quarter loss on an $814 million charge for the write-down of intangible assets at the New England Media Group, staff-reduction costs and accelerated depreciation of its Edison, N.J., printing plant. The New York media company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $648 million, or $4.50 a share, compared with earnings of $63.2 million, or 43 cents, a year earlier. Excluding the charges, the company earned $87.9 million, or 61 cents a share, in the latest quarter. The company said revenue for the three months ended Dec. 31 rose 4.3% to $931.5 million from $893.1 million a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected, on average, earnings of 46 cents a share on revenue of $904 million. Analyst earnings forecasts typically exclude unusual items. In addition, New York Times Co. said it expects to complete the sale of its Broadcast Media group for $575 million in the first half of 2007.
Published By MarketWatch

Labels: AVNR, BA, BFF, BMY, CGA, CHRW, CKFR, CPRX, DISH, EL, FTO, HOLX, HRS, HSTX, JLL, KCI, LEV, LSS, NYT, SNY