Wall to Wall Street Coverage: Upgrades and Downgrades

• By Justin Sharon
• On 9:00 am EDT, Friday October 30, 2009

Absent an eve of Halloween horror show, stocks will avoid a red October after snapping a recent slide in emphatic fashion on GDP figures which showed the worst recession since the Second World War is over. The Dow's biggest daily point and percentage gain since July lifted lots of boats elsewhere. See also GDP Chases Clouds Away. Encore Capital (ECPG) hopes for a repeat performance after surging 27.12% to top Nasdaq gainers. O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY) rose 11.91% on a third quarter profit increase in a performance that must particularly please Bill O'Reilly, who remains number one with a bullet in the ratings. (Rival Lou Dobbs meanwhile recently came rather too close to a bullet for comfort.)

Harley-Davidson (HOG) ended 5.22% higher, scant consolation for shareholders on the day arguably its most celebrated Rider received a dread diagnosis. Corinthian Colleges (COCO) fell 4.31% even as it was revealed colleges have never been more crowded; go figure. Maybe it had something to do with absent Indians. Stay in school kids, at least if you want to be a Millionaire. Certainly baseball was all about the Benjamins as pinstripes' pricey payroll prevailed over Ben Franklin's boys. It's a busy morning in economics with flat September personal income and spending (-0.5%) each in line at 8:30AM Eastern. October Chicago PMI at 9:45AM and this month's University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey at 9:55 AM. Calgon Carbon Corporation (CCC) takes us away with earnings along with Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), Aon Corp (AOC), Arch Coal (ACI), Calpine (CPN), Chevron (CVX), Duke Energy (DUK), Estee Lauder (EL), ITT Corp (ITT), MetLife (MET), NYSE Euronext (NYX), Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), Sony (SNE), and Weyerhaueser (WY).

Initiations

J.Crew (JCG): The retailer is initiated at Buy ($50 target price) at Pali Research on a belief it is well-positioned to increase market share.

Bunge (BG): The stock could jump around after Calyon Securities starts at Underperform.

NuStar Energy (NS): Stifel Nicolaus assumes coverage of NuStar Energy at Buy ($58.50 price objective), saying its footprint in refined product transportation is substantial.

Upgrades

Kellogg (K): Citigroup upgrades Kellogg to Buy from Hold and raises its target to $63 from $50.

Time Warner (TWX): The media giant is taken to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Dish Network (DISH): Deutsche Bank upgrades Dish Network to Buy from Hold and raises its target to $21 from $17 on easing competition and improved execution.

Lloyds Banking Group (LYG): Credit Suisse lifts Lloyds Banking Group to Neutral from Underperform. While issues remain with the bank's liability structure, yesterday's announcement about the impact of potential asset sales was reassuring.

Barnes & Noble (BKS): Bank of America/Merrill Lynch boosts Barnes & Noble to Neutral from Underperform.

Coach (COH): Jefferies raises its Coach rating (Buy from Hold) and increases its objective to $40 from $38. The firm notes improving mall traffic and an upcoming end of the department store inventory destocking cycle. For a few companies struggling in this sector, see Three Retailers to Short.

McAfee (MFE): Robert Baird raises McAfee to Outperform from Neutral with the target now $50 from $45 after its earnings exceeded estimates.

SunTrust Banks (STI): The stock is increased to Equal-Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley. Target is $30, up from $26.

Automatic Data Processing (ADP): Sanford Bernstein upgrades Automatic Data Processing to Outperform from Market Perform.

Downgrades

Monsanto (MON): The ag company gets a Hold-from-Buy cut at Soleil Securities. The objective is taken down $20 to $70 after earnings which indicate the agriculture inflation tailwind is abating.

Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM): The stock is downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at GC Research, which clips its target to $18 from $21.

99 Cents Only Stores (NDN): Bank of America/Merrill Lynch lowers 99 Cents Only Stores to Underperform from Neutral while reducing its price objective $6 to $10.

Boyd Gaming (BYD): No fun and games for Boyd Gaming, which gets a 180 degree (Sell from Buy) downgrade at Argus after earnings.

Nothing contained in this article is intended as a solicitation for business of any kind or for investment in the firm.

Buzz up!