Whirlpool (WHR) was downgraded today by analysts at Longbow and the stock is now at $68.09, down $2.01 (-2.87%) on volume of 1,806,451 shares traded. The analyst downgraded WHR to "Neutral" from Buy." Over the last 52 weeks the stock has ranged from a low of $58.22 to a high of $98.00. Whirlpool stock has been showing support around $64.07 and resistanc...(Click the story link or go to http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com for the full story)

The market’s recent extreme volatility has compelled us to downgrade a large number of stocks today. We believe a shift in the market is occurring, in which the relatively high valuations of many companies will come under scrutiny. Only companies with extremely strong fundamentals, reasonable valuations, and perhaps most importantly, above average dividend yields will be [...]

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Whirlpool To Lay Off About 700 Workers In Fort Smith, Ark.

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Filed under: Walt Disney (DIS), Options

Disney (NYSE: DIS) closed at $28.26 Monday. DIS is expected to report Q4 EPS in early November. DIS November option implied volatility of 54 is above it 26-week average of 31 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.

Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) closed at $70.10 Monday. WHR is scheduled to report Q3 EPS in late October. WHR overall option implied volatility of 83 is above its 26-week average of 44 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) closed at $34.20 Monday. Crude oil futures are recently up 3.89% to $91.23 according to Bloomberg. PBR October option implied volatility is at 167; November is at 127; above its 26-week average of 48 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

 

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Filed under: Walt Disney (DIS), Options

Disney (NYSE: DIS) closed at $28.26 Monday. DIS is expected to report Q4 EPS in early November. DIS November option implied volatility of 54 is above it 26-week average of 31 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.

Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) closed at $70.10 Monday. WHR is scheduled to report Q3 EPS in late October. WHR overall option implied volatility of 83 is above its 26-week average of 44 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) closed at $34.20 Monday. Crude oil futures are recently up 3.89% to $91.23 according to Bloomberg. PBR October option implied volatility is at 167; November is at 127; above its 26-week average of 48 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

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Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), D.R.Horton (DHI), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Lowe's Cos (LOW), AMR Corp (AMR), Contl Airlines'B' (CAL), Analyst initiations, JetBlue Airways (JBLU), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT)

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS believes US airlines estimates are too low and will move higher. The firm upgraded AirTran (NYSE: AAI), AMR Corp (NYSE: AMR), Continental (NYSE: CAL), Delta (NYSE: DAL) and Northwest (NYSE: NWA) to Buy from Neutral and JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) to Neutral from Sell.
  
• JMP Securities upgraded DealerTrack (NASDAQ: TRAK) to OUtperform from Market Perform as they believe 2H08 guidance represents a floor and that 2009 estimates are achievable, among other reasons.
• Potash (NYSE: POT) and Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) were raised to Buy from Hold at Soleil.
  
• Argus upgraded Seagate (NYSE: STX) to Buy from Hold on Friday.

Analyst downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) to Underperform from Hold as they do not see a catalyst for the company to grow into 2009 consensus estimates. The firm lowered their target price to $25 from $32.
  
• Citigroup said following Lehman's (NYSE: LEH) bankruptcy, they expect a distressed-sale of American International's (NYSE: AIG) MBS portfolio, resulting in the worst quarter yet for the company. Shares were cut to Hold from Buy.
• D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) was downgraded to Sell from Hold and Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) was downgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
  
• Merrill downgraded Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to Neutral from Buy and JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) to Underperform from Neutral.

• Baird cut estimates and price targets for Professional Staffing and Recruiting companies due to FX rates and global macro weakness. The firm downgraded Hudson Highland (NASDAQ: HHGP), Kforce (NASDAQ: KFRC), Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY) and MPS Group (NYSE: MPS) to Neutral from Outperform.

Analyst initiations:

• Mattson Technology (NASDAQ: MTSN) was initiated with a Hold rating at Needham. The firm believes Mattson is stretched too thin with too many products and platforms to support and that consensus estimates for 2009 are too high.
  
• Cowen initiated Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) and Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ: RCII) with Outperform ratings and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) and Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) with Underperform ratings. The analyst is positive on WHR's and RCII's market share positions while negative on LOW's and WSM's outsized expansion in industries with overcapacity.
  
• Morgan Stanley assumed WuXi PharmaTech (NYSE: WX) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Network Engines (NASDAQ: NENG) was reinstated with a Hold rating at Needham.

 

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Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), D.R.Horton (DHI), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Lowe's Cos (LOW), AMR Corp (AMR), Contl Airlines'B' (CAL), Analyst initiations, JetBlue Airways (JBLU), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT)

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS believes US airlines estimates are too low and will move higher. The firm upgraded AirTran (NYSE: AAI), AMR Corp (NYSE: AMR), Continental (NYSE: CAL), Delta (NYSE: DAL) and Northwest (NYSE: NWA) to Buy from Neutral and JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) to Neutral from Sell.
  
• JMP Securities upgraded DealerTrack (NASDAQ: TRAK) to OUtperform from Market Perform as they believe 2H08 guidance represents a floor and that 2009 estimates are achievable, among other reasons.
• Potash (NYSE: POT) and Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) were raised to Buy from Hold at Soleil.
  
• Argus upgraded Seagate (NYSE: STX) to Buy from Hold on Friday.

Analyst downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) to Underperform from Hold as they do not see a catalyst for the company to grow into 2009 consensus estimates. The firm lowered their target price to $25 from $32.
  
• Citigroup said following Lehman's (NYSE: LEH) bankruptcy, they expect a distressed-sale of American International's (NYSE: AIG) MBS portfolio, resulting in the worst quarter yet for the company. Shares were cut to Hold from Buy.
• D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) was downgraded to Sell from Hold and Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) was downgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
  
• Merrill downgraded Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to Neutral from Buy and JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) to Underperform from Neutral.

Continue reading Analyst calls: AAI, AMR, CAL, POT, AIG, DHI, PHM, GS, JPM, LOW ...

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We've been talking about the strength in homebuilders of late ... but I wanted to point out the divergence between recent data for another group of stocks and their charts. The data points say "no recovery" and the executives in many cases say "no recover[More...]

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