NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by The Bellwether Report.

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Market-trouncing returns could be written in the stars.

The following companies announced a change in their dividend payouts today:ALNC, HRB, EVBN, PXD, MTEX.

In May 2008, as oil traded at $129, billionaire Richard Rainwater sold all of the energy stocks he owned. And to many, it was probably one of the worst moves he could’ve made, as oil would soon skyrocket well above $147 a barrel. But what traders didn’t know was that they should’ve followed the [...]

Energy Group Sentiment Watch: Negative. Yesterday’s little bounce was weak, especially in oil service. Stocks are trying to find a bottom but could easily go lower with fresh 3 month lows on crude. From my perspective, I saw fine, go ahead, find a bottom[More...]

I don’t know about you, but yesterdays market seemed like a blessing. Sure we bad news thrown at us left and right, and 2nd quarter earnings are only going to hurt us more, but the best thing of all was the drop in oil price.Lets not kid ourselves. Oil is not on a downward movement, so, whenever its breaths downward, we should definitely capitalize on it. There are numerous stocks in the oil and energy sectors that were unfairly hit yesterday.Most people get scared of investing into a stock that has been on the rise for some time, and so they should [More...]

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst initiations

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Telefonica, Affymax and Hatteras Financial were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Deutsche Bank initiated Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) with a Buy rating and believes concerns of an economic slowdown in Spain are overdone and that company is on track to make 2008 guidance.
  
• Baird assumed coverage of Affymax (NADAQ: AFFY) with an Outperform rating and $25 target. The firm believes the market has discounted the regulatory and commercial prospects of lead compound Hematide, which they believe is a $800M revenue opportunity, and recommends buying shares aggressively in the mid-$20s.
  
• Shares of Hatteras Financial (NYSE: HTS) were started with an Outperform rating and $35 target at Friedman Billings. The firm believes management has the opportunity to stabilize its agency portfolio and generate a return on invested capital of about 20%.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Caris assumed OmniVision (NASDAQ: OVTI) with a Buy rating and $15 target.
  
• Pioneer Natural (NYSE: PXD) was initiated at UBS with a Buy rating and $110 target.
  
• UBS also initiated CME Group (NYSE: CME) with a Neutral rating and $430 target.
  
• Allied Capital (NYSE: ALD) was assumed with a Buy rating and $14.40 target at Merrill Lynch.

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Submitted By Optiondragon [More...]

Tom Dorsey, Watson Wright, and Tammy DeRosier have Fun with Politics

Investtalk Talking Points: "Special Guest: MarketWatch writer, John Shinal".
~ Today's Stocks & Topics: Location, IRAs, Buyout Target, (PXD) Pioneer Nat Res Co., (SBUX) Starbucks Corp.

Tom Dorsey and Tammy Derosier talk about sector rotation and stock reviews.

Microsoft, Verizon, Nokia, Ericsson, Pioneer Natural Resources, Orthovita, Neurocrine, Polo Ralph Lauren, JC Penney