Morning News Bulletin

Thursday ,July 3rd, 2008

Early Edition

8am

   

 

Economic Numbers

 

Date

ET

Release

For

Actual

Range

Consensus

Prior

Jul 03

08:30

Change in non farm payroll

Jun

 

 -130Kto-20K

 -60K

 49K-

Jul 03

08:30

Change in Manufacturing Payrolls

Jun

 

 -50o-15K

 -30K

 -26K

Jul 03

08:30

Initial jobless

06/28

 

370Kto395K

385K

384K

Jul 03

08:30

Average Hourly Earnings MoM

Jun

 

0.1%to0.4%

0.3%

0.3%

Jul 03

08:30

Average Hourly Earnings YoY

 

 

3.3%to3.4%

3.4%

3.5%

Jul 03

08:30

Average Weekly Hours

 

 

33.6to33.7

33.7

33.7

Jul 03

08:30

Continuing Claims

 

 

3082Kto3142K

3125K

3139K

Jul 03

08:30

Unemployment Rate

Jun

 

5.2%to5.6%

5.4%

5.5%

Jul 03

10:00

ISM Non-Manufacturing Composite

Jun

 

48.5to53.6

51.0

51.7

Jul 03

10:30

EIA Natural Gas Storage Change

 

 

73to93

88

90

 

 

Technical                    Moving Averages                                                             

                                50-Day                   200-Day                                                                

S&P                           1370                      1410           

Dow                           12437                     12841

NASDAQ                 2444                     2496

                                                               

Futures

S&P futures vs fair value: +0.6. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -8.0..

 

Pre-Market Movers

 

Thursday July 3rd, 2008

 

 Top News Stories

 

CC  NY Post reports a deal to rescue CC looks more difficult each day, but still isn't out of the question. BBI dropped its bid for the co this week, and insiders confirmed to The Post the troubled credit markets and its dismal quarterly results were the big obstacles. That's contrary to speculation that due diligence on Circuit City's nonpublic financials scared away Blockbuster and its high-profile shareholder Carl Icahn, or that Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes shied away amid pressure from skeptical investors. Blockbuster has "verified the long-term benefits of a deal," said one source, noting a "real opportunity" to cut costs in combining the two chains' operations. "Management didn't really put its case in front of shareholders yet," the source added. That suggests Blockbuster could be back, gunning for a deal. Meanwhile, BBY, citing antitrust concerns, isn't interested, sources said. It's also possible that one or more buyout cos will take control of the co, or at least give it an equity infusion. The co has been hemorrhaging cash, but it has little debt and its inventory could be used to finance a takeover.

 

Thursday July 3rd, 2008

 

Earnings/Guidance

 

CREL Corel Reports Q2 (May) earnings of $0.36 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.35; revenues rose 3.1% year/year to $67 mln vs the $66.9 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.30-0.36, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.32 consensus; sees Q3 revs of $63-65 mln vs. $63.03 mln consensus. Co reaffirms guidance for FY08, sees EPS of $1.50-1.70, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.54 consensus; sees FY08 revs of $263-275 mln vs. $269.08 mln consensus.

 

APKT Acme Packet Co issues downside guidance, sees Q2 EPS of $0.02-0.04, excluding non-recurring items, vs $0.09 consensus; sees revs of $24.5-25.5 mln vs $33.6 mln consensus.

 

Other Stock News

 

RTP Rio Tinto DJ reports BHP's bid for rival RTP moved a step closer to getting regulatory approval with U.S. authorities closing their review of the deal without raising any competition issues. BHP said the U.S. Department of Justice has "concluded its review without further action" and, together with the Federal Trade Commission, has granted early termination of the so-called Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period for the proposed deal.

 

VOD Vodafone DJ reports Vodafone said that it has agreed to acquire a 70% stake in Ghana Telecommunications from the Government of Ghana for $900 million. The transaction is on a debt-free, cash-free basis, implying a total enterprise value for Ghana Telecom of $1.3 bln. The Government of Ghana will retain a 30% stake in the company.

 

FRE Freddie Mac The Wall Street Journal reports Freddie's (FRE) delay of its $5.5 bln capital raise is causing concern among investors that the co is having trouble raising fresh money to strengthen its balance sheet, which lacks a strong cushion. And the longer Freddie waits, the more shares it might have to issue, causing even more pain for existing shareholders.

 

WMT Wal-Mart Citigroup believes WMT's U.S. business is regaining momentum, particularly in the current economic environment, driven by the co's strong value proposition, improved merchandising, and better in-store execution. Internationally, the co has streamlined its operations to create a more focused portfolio poised for higher growth. As International becomes a greater driver of overall earnings vs. the U.S., firm believes that investors will assign a higher valuation to WMT shares.

 

Wednesday July 2nd, 2008

 

Earnings/Guidance:

 

WDFC WD-40 Company  Reports Q3 (May) earnings of $0.49 per share, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.47; revenues rose 5.8% year/year to $82.1 mln vs the $83.1 mln consensus. Co issues  guidance for FY08, sees EPS of $1.78-1.85, compared to previous guidance of $1.80-1.90, vs. $1.86 consensus; sees FY08 revs of $320-332 mln vs. $325.09 mln consensus.

 

SPEC Spectrum Control  Co reported Q2 EPS of $0.16 vs $0.18 single analyst estimate; revs $32.6 mln vs $33.00 mln single analyst estimate. Co sees Q3 EPS of $0.16-0.19 vs $0.24 single analyst estimate; expect shipments of $32.5-34 mln vs $36.00 mln single analyst estimate.

 

NVDA NVIDIA lowers  Co sees Q2 revs $875-950 mln vs $1.10 bln First Call consensus. Second quarter revenue and gross margin are expected to be lower than guidance provided during its first quarter financial conference call held May 8, 2008. The estimated decrease in revenue and gross margin is due to several reasons: end-market weakness around the world, the delayed ramp of a next generation MCP, and price adjustments of our GPU products to respond to competitive products

 

TSON Trans1 pre-announces  Co pre-announces Q2 revs of $5.9-$6.0 mln vs. $6.45 consensus and vs. previous guidance of $6.3-$6.5 mln.

 

DMAN Demandtec reports Q1 EPS of $0.03, excluding non-recurring items, vs $0.02 consensus; reports revs up 36% yr/yr to $18.1 mln vs $17.6 mln consensus

 

Other Stock News.

 

ABT Abbott Labs Co announces that the U.S. FDA approved the XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System for the treatment of coronary artery disease. XIENCE V is the only drug eluting stent to have demonstrated superiority over Boston Scientific's TAXUS paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system in two randomized head-to-head clinical trials.

 

FTI FMC Tech receives $38 mln order from StatoilHydro for Troll B gas injection project

 

SNBC Sun Bancorp reports $6.5 mln loan loss provision in second quarter

 

Economic

 

As expected, the European Central Bank raises interest rates 25 bps to 4.25%

 

Secondary Offerings/IPO’s

 

. Filings: ICO Global Comm (ICOG) files for a $400 mln mixed shelf offering; concurrently files for a 7.57 mln share common stock offering by selling shareholders... LML Payment Systems (LMLP) files for a 4.4 mln share common stock offering by selling shareholders... OneBeacon (OB) files for a $1 bln mixed shelf offering; concurrently files for a 71.75 mln share class B common stock offering by selling shareholders.

 

 S&P Index Changes

 

Cramer’s “Mad Money” Recap

 

On Wednesday's edition, Jim recommends Pediatrix Medical (PDX), manager of the largest network of neonatal specialists, along with 22% of the 1078 Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the country. While Pediatrix itself will not receive any money from Medicare, Cramer noted it does rely on the Medicare pay rate set for physicians to determine the benchmark it will use to charge for theirs. With a 1.1% physician pay increase already in this year's Medicare bill, it only stands to reason that Pediatrix will earn more as well. His target is $62. Next, he suggests Spectra Energy (SE), a natural gas transmission co with over $3 bln worth of projects, and has a target of $32.84

 

Upgrades

 

Company

Ticker

Brokerage Firm

Ratings Change

Price Target

Arch Coal

ACI

Citigroup

Hold » Buy

 

Peabody Energy

BTU

Citigroup

Hold » Buy

 

SBA Comm

SBAC

RBC Capital Mkts

Sector Perform » Outperform

 

Crown Castle

CCI

RBC Capital Mkts

Sector Perform » Outperform

 

American Tower

AMT

RBC Capital Mkts

Sector Perform » Outperform

 

Alcoa

AA

Soleil

Sell » Hold

$40

 

Downgrades

 

Company

Ticker

Brokerage Firm

Ratings Change

Price Target

NVIDIA

NVDA

JP Morgan

Overweight » Neutral

 

UnitedHealth

UNH

UBS

Buy » Neutral

 

Dice Holdings

DHX

Wachovia

Outperform » Mkt Perform

 

 

 

 

8am

 

 

*The information contained herein has been compiled from various public news sources and from the public domain. Hold Brothers On-Line Investment Services LLC provides this information solely as a convenience to its traders. Neither Hold Brothers On-Line Investment Services LLC nor its data or content providers make any representation or recommendation as to the stocks identified herein, nor shall they shall be liable for any errors in the content, or for any damages as a result of actions taken in reliance on this information. This material does not constitute nor should be considered stock research on the part of Hold Brothers On-Line Investment Services LLC. Trade at your own risk.

 

For internal use only.