Higher Opening For Broader Markets
Stocks appeared set to open higher
Monday.
CIBC World Markets downgraded Williams
Companies
(
WMB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) from Buy to Hold due to sliding earnings visibility.
UBS Warburg downgraded Eastman Kodak
(
EK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
from Buy to Hold due to valuation.
Pitney Bowes
(
PBI |
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News |
PowerRating) was upgraded by
DeutscheBank from Market Perform to Buy based on valuation.
Hanover Compressor
(
HC |
Quote |
Chart |
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PowerRating) posted
earnings of 18 cents a share for Q1. Analysts surveyed by Multex were expecting
24 cents a share for the quarter.
Goldman Sachs upgraded UAL Corp
(
UAL |
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News |
PowerRating)
from Market Outperform to Trading Buy. The firm believes the company has shown
improved service and increased liquidity since Sept. 11. Goldman also put a price
target of $20 on the company.
Salomon Smith Barney downgraded
Allmerica
(
AFC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) from Buy to Outperform based on a story that AFC might sell
its prime variable annuity/life division.
Goldman Sachs upped its estimates on
Applied Materials
(
AMAT |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) for FY02 from 19 cents to 31 cents and FY03
estimates from 75 cents to 85 cents.
Credit Suisse First Boston downgraded
Reliant Resources
(
RRI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) from Buy to Hold, citing risk of increasing SEC
inquiries and the fact that refinancing has not been completed. The firm lowered
its price target for RRI from $19 to a range of $12-$13.
Sears
(
S |
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PowerRating) has entered a definitive
agreement to acquire Lands End
(
LE |
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News |
PowerRating) for $62 a share in a deal worth
approximately $1.9 billion.
UBS Warburg upgraded Qualcomm
(
QCOM |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
from Hold to Buy, citing an increased visibility in Korea.
ESS Technology
(
ESST |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said it had
record shipments for April. The firm reported over 2 million shipments of the
company’s advanced DVD decoder solutions.