Dr. Christopher Lee Joins Softscape in Executive Webinar on Effective Ways to Reinforce the Links between Performance and Learning

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by Ridgewater Equity.

Leading Construction Company Leveraging Single HR Platform to Streamline Learning and Performance Management

John C. Goff Appointed CEO

Barclays Capital (NYSE: BCS) is not entirely convinced by Novartis’ (NYSE: NVS) ASH data on its new drug Tasigna’s superiority over the traditional Leukemia drug Gleevec.

Moreover, Novartis has not demonstrated its ability to protect profits into patent expiries. The resulting earning-risk has prompted Barclays to set the target price below current trading levels.

Barclays (NYSE: BCS) examined through the third quarter earnings transcripts for roughly 20 banks to capture their views on the residential and commercial construction markets. Banks are primarily focusing on residential construction portfolios.

When commenting on the overall and residential credit trends, "stabilization" appeared to be the word of the quarter. Several banks are anticipating a further decline in home prices. Barclays forecasts the national pricing for most of the builders to be flat to slightly down in 2010.

REO cost assumptions and updated appraisal values will be ultimately positives for the builders. Barclays believes a higher focus on commercial properties could be mixed for the home-builders. They are concerned that the banks may desire to remove the residential land quickly from their books if reduced the focus on the residential portfolios slow asset valuation adjustments.

Though banks like Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY) and Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) are claiming to be aggressive, they are not yet willing to take significant price reduction steps.

Barclays (NYSE: BCS) has raised its target for Southwestern (NYSE: SWN) based on a potential 38% growth in 2010 production and continued strength in Fayetteville. AGCO’s (NYSE: AGCO) 2010E EPS has been slashed to $1.35 but sound fundamentals indicate bullish long-term prospects.

GE’s (NYSE: GE) U.S. consumer and U.K. mortgage segments have improved but credit losses can still peak. Analyst M. Zenker is bearish on natural gas and does not expect a price recovery in 2010.

Barclays (NYSE: BCS) has cut 2010E EPS forecasts for Kimberley-Clark (NYSE: KMB) based on the indicators that the top and bottom line growth will lag behind peers.

Warnaco (NYSE: WRC) has shown a healthy top line growth and the international expansion together with a direct-to-customer approach is expected to click.

Dr. Pepper Snapple’s (NYSE: DPS) distribution agreement with PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) will result in an upfront receipt of a $900 million for Dr. Pepper but increase PepsiCo’s costs beyond estimates.

Barclays (NYSE: BCS) investment summary notes that IT hardware and Semi Capital equipments are poised for a growth in 2010 based on views from IBM (NYSE: IBM), NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) and Lexmark (NYSE: LXK).

Video and virtualization continue to remain the key drivers and themes for Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO). Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) and eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY). Data points suggest inline 4Q performance.

Citigroup (C) raised 3M (MMM) to “buy” from “hold” Barclays (BCS) lowered Kimberly-Clark (KMB) to “equal weight” from “over weight” Wells Fargo (WFC) upgraded Cooper Industries (CBE) to “outperform” with a price target of $41-$43, up from $28-$30 Goldman Sachs (GS) initiated coverage of Martin Marietta (MLM) with a “buy” rating and a price ...

• Citigroup (NYSE:C) raised 3M (NYSE:MMM) to "buy" from "hold"

• Barclays (NYSE:BCS) lowered Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) to "equal weight" from "over weight"

• Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) upgraded Cooper Industries (NYSE:CBE) to "outperform" with a price target of $41-$43, up from $28-$30

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) initiated coverage of Martin Marietta (NYSE:MLM) with a "buy" rating and a price target of $111

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) started coverage of Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) with a "neutral" rating and a price target of $55

• General Electric (NYSE:GE) said it is likely to see flat 2010 results as credit losses peak

Zacks Investment Research

Solar stocks outperformed the market yesterday on some positive calls and in conjuction with the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. According to IBD:[More...]

Hedge fund adviser Hennessee Group LLC said that the Hennessee Hedge Fund Index advanced +1.70% in November (+22.40% YTD), while the S&P 500 rose +5.34% (+20.84% YTD), the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased +6.51% (+17.87% YTD), and the NASDAQ Composite Index advanced +4.86% (+35.99% YTD). The Barclays Aggregate Bond Index advanced +1.29% (+7.61% YTD).[More...]

Well, the market at first glance couldn’t find too much to complain about in Friday’s US payrolls report. Just 11k of job losses – and this after 159k of upward revisions to the prior two months – beat the most optimistic prediction of the 82 forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg, thus restoring an improving trend.[More...]

Companies featured in this segment: General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), Barclays plc (NYSE:BCS), Siemens AG (NYSE:SI), BP plc (NYSE:BP), BASF SE (OTC:BASFY), KIA Motors Corporation (SEO:000270), Gazprom OAO (MCX:GAZP)

Schaeffer's analyst Morgan Searcy takes a look at news on the Street before the market open.

Companies featured in this segment: ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) , Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO), Tenaga Nasional Bhd (MYX:5347), Alstom SA (EPA:ALO), The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES), Barclays (NYSE:BCS), Commerzbank (OTC:CRZBY), Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase & Company (NYSE:JPM), Societe General (OTC:SCGLY), Areva SA (EPA:CEI), Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RTP), Niger Uranium Limited (LSE:URU), Santos Limited (ASX:STO), Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA), and CITIC Pacific’s (OTC:CTPCY).

Colleen S. King takes a look at news on the Street before the market open.

Schaeffer's Colleen King takes a look at activity on the Street ahead of the market open