Author: ToddSullivan

Upgrades
CIGNA (CI)- FTN Midwest Neutral » Buy
Town Sports Intl (CLUB )- William Blair Mkt Perform » Outperform
MedAssets (MDAS)- Piper Jaffray Neutral » Buy
CBL & Assoc (CBL)- Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Patterson-UTI (PTEN)- Credit Suisse Underperform » Neutral
Nordstrom (JWN)- Credit Suisse Neutral » Outperform
Helmerich & Payne (HP)- CapitalOne southcoast Neutral » Add
Duke Realty (DRE)- Wachovia Mkt Perform » Outperform
Duke Realty (DRE)- Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Valassis (VCI)- Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
PGT Inc. (PGTI)- Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Pioneer Natural (PXD)- Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Embarq (EQ)- Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Morningstar (MORN)- Keefe Bruyette Mkt Perform » Outperform
RadioShack (RSH)- Banc of America Sec Neutral » Buy
Affiliated Computer (ACS)- Jefferies & Co Hold » Buy
Apria Healthcare (AHG)- Jefferies & Co Underperform » Hold
ComScore (SCOR)- Oppenheimer Perform » Outperform
Sun Healthcare (SUNH)- Friedman Billings Mkt Perform » Outperform

Downgrades
Investools (SWIM)- Kaufman Bros Buy » Hold
Palomar Medical (PMTI)- Lazard Capital Buy » Hold
Magma Design (LAVA)- Needham Buy » Hold
Bankrate (RATE)- Needham Buy » Hold
Millipore (MIL)- Leerink Swann Outperform » Mkt Perform
Investools (SWIM)- BMO Capital Markets Outperform » Market Perform
Silver State Bancorp (SSBX)- Sandler O’Neill Hold » Sell
St. Jude Medical (STJ)- Wachovia Outperform » Mkt Perform
ManTech (MANT)- Cowen & Co Outperform » Neutral
Equity Res (EQR)- Deutsche Securities Buy » Hold
Churchill Downs (CHDN)- Brean Murray Buy » Hold
Murphy Oil (MUR)- Bernstein Outperform » Mkt Perform
Cerus (CERS)- JMP Securities Mkt Outperform » Mkt Perform
Gap Inc (GPS)- Banc of America Sec Buy » Neutral
Monogram Biosciences (MGRM)- Piper Jaffray Buy »
Bankrate (RATE)- Roth Capital Buy » Hold
Endo Pharm (ENDP)- Roth Capital Buy » Hold
Essex Property (ESS)- Keefe Bruyette Outperform » Mkt Perform
Investment Tech (ITG)- Keefe Bruyette Outperform » Mkt Perform
Jones Soda (JSDA)- Piper Jaffray Neutral » Sell
Chunghwa Telecom (CHT)- Lehman Brothers Overweight » Equal-Weight
Idera Pharma (IDRA)- Susquehanna Financial Neutral » Negative $
Sun Microsystems (JAVA)- Bear Stearns Outperform » Peer Perform
Sepracor (SEPR)- Friedman Billings Mkt Perform » Underperform
Smith & Nephew (SNN)- Lehman Brothers Overweight » Equal-Weight
Dynamic Materials (BOOM)- JP Morgan Overweight » Neutral
Sunstone Hotel (SHO)- Bear Stearns Outperform » Peer Perform
priceline.com (PCLN)- Citigroup Buy » Hold

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Upgrades
CIGNA (CI)- FTN Midwest Neutral » Buy
Town Sports Intl (CLUB )- William Blair Mkt Perform » Outperform
MedAssets (MDAS)- Piper Jaffray Neutral » Buy
CBL & Assoc (CBL)- Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Patterson-UTI (PTEN)- Credit Suisse Underperform » Neutral
Nordstrom (JWN)- Credit Suisse Neutral » Outperform
Helmerich & Payne (HP)- CapitalOne southcoast Neutral » Add
Duke Realty (DRE)- Wachovia Mkt Perform » Outperform
Duke Realty (DRE)- Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Valassis (VCI)- Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
PGT Inc. (PGTI)- Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Pioneer Natural (PXD)- Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Embarq (EQ)- Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Morningstar (MORN)- Keefe Bruyette Mkt Perform » Outperform
RadioShack (RSH)- Banc of America Sec Neutral » Buy
Affiliated Computer (ACS)- Jefferies & Co Hold » Buy
Apria Healthcare (AHG)- Jefferies & Co Underperform » Hold
ComScore (SCOR)- Oppenheimer Perform » Outperform
Sun Healthcare (SUNH)- Friedman Billings Mkt Perform » Outperform

Downgrades
Investools (SWIM)- Kaufman Bros Buy » Hold
Palomar Medical (PMTI)- Lazard Capital Buy » Hold
Magma Design (LAVA)- Needham Buy » Hold
Bankrate (RATE)- Needham Buy » Hold
Millipore (MIL)- Leerink Swann Outperform » Mkt Perform
Investools (SWIM)- BMO Capital Markets Outperform » Market Perform
Silver State Bancorp (SSBX)- Sandler O’Neill Hold » Sell
St. Jude Medical (STJ)- Wachovia Outperform » Mkt Perform
ManTech (MANT)- Cowen & Co Outperform » Neutral
Equity Res (EQR)- Deutsche Securities Buy » Hold
Churchill Downs (CHDN)- Brean Murray Buy » Hold
Murphy Oil (MUR)- Bernstein Outperform » Mkt Perform
Cerus (CERS)- JMP Securities Mkt Outperform » Mkt Perform
Gap Inc (GPS)- Banc of America Sec Buy » Neutral
Monogram Biosciences (MGRM)- Piper Jaffray Buy »
Bankrate (RATE)- Roth Capital Buy » Hold
Endo Pharm (ENDP)- Roth Capital Buy » Hold
Essex Property (ESS)- Keefe Bruyette Outperform » Mkt Perform
Investment Tech (ITG)- Keefe Bruyette Outperform » Mkt Perform
Jones Soda (JSDA)- Piper Jaffray Neutral » Sell
Chunghwa Telecom (CHT)- Lehman Brothers Overweight » Equal-Weight
Idera Pharma (IDRA)- Susquehanna Financial Neutral » Negative $
Sun Microsystems (JAVA)- Bear Stearns Outperform » Peer Perform
Sepracor (SEPR)- Friedman Billings Mkt Perform » Underperform
Smith & Nephew (SNN)- Lehman Brothers Overweight » Equal-Weight
Dynamic Materials (BOOM)- JP Morgan Overweight » Neutral
Sunstone Hotel (SHO)- Bear Stearns Outperform » Peer Perform
priceline.com (PCLN)- Citigroup Buy » Hold

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Monday’s Picks
Jeff Macke likes Microsoft (MSFT) $29.24

Guy Adami prefers UPS (UPS) $73.28

Karen Finerman suggests Philip Morris International (PM) $51.02

Tim Seymour thinks Unibanco (UBB) $155.66 is a buy.

Friday’s Results
Guy Adami likes Cisco (CSCO) $26.67 Close $26.75 GAIN

Karen Finerman prefers Comverse Technology (CMVT) $17.56 Close $18.13 GAIN

Pete Najaraian recommends American Express (AXP) 51.33 on a pull back. Close $50.40 LOSS

Jeff Macke suggests shorting the Dow with Short Dow30 ProShares (DOG) $59.82 Close $59.44 LOSS

2008 Records:
Brian Schaeffer= 0-1
Carter Worth= 1-1
Jon Najarian= 4-3
Jeff Macke= 33-26-1
Tim Seymore= 16-12
Guy Adami= 34-29
Pete Najarian= 34-27
Karen Finerman= 27-28-1
Joe Terrenova= 1-1

2007 Results (Since 6/21):
Guy Adami= 58-46 = 56%
Jeff Macke= 60-40 = 60%
Pete Najarian= 49-41 = 54%

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Here are the top insider purchases by dollar amount.

Colonial Bancgroup Inc (CNB)= $8,050,397
Harrington West Financial Group Inc (HWFG)= $2,083,254
Schering Plough Corp (SGP)= $2,008,774
Mercer International Inc Wa (MERC)= $1,810,494
Valence Technology Inc (VLNC)= $1,370,000
Cathay General Bancorp (CATY)= $831,032
AP Pharma Inc (APPA)= $701,300
Northstar Neuroscience Inc (NSTR)= $683,323
National City Corp (NCC)= $619,000
Kimberly Clark Corp (KMB)= $576,745
MBIA Inc (MBI)= $529,933
Zenith National Insurance Corp (ZNT)= $474,524

Disclosure (“none” means no position):

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Here are the top insider purchases by dollar amount.

Colonial Bancgroup Inc (CNB)= $8,050,397
Harrington West Financial Group Inc (HWFG)= $2,083,254
Schering Plough Corp (SGP)= $2,008,774
Mercer International Inc Wa (MERC)= $1,810,494
Valence Technology Inc (VLNC)= $1,370,000
Cathay General Bancorp (CATY)= $831,032
AP Pharma Inc (APPA)= $701,300
Northstar Neuroscience Inc (NSTR)= $683,323
National City Corp (NCC)= $619,000
Kimberly Clark Corp (KMB)= $576,745
MBIA Inc (MBI)= $529,933
Zenith National Insurance Corp (ZNT)= $474,524

Disclosure (“none” means no position):

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The Fed proposed rule changes today that would aid consumers with some “iffy” practices by credit card companies.

The Proposals:
* Banks would be prohibited from increasing the rate on a pre-existing credit card balance (except under limited circumstances) and must allow the consumer to pay off that balance over a reasonable period of time.

* Banks would be prohibited from applying payments in excess of the minimum in a manner that maximizes interest charges.

* Banks would be required to give consumers the full benefit of discounted promotional rates on credit cards by applying payments in excess of the minimum to any higher-rate balances first, and by providing a grace period for purchases where the consumer is otherwise eligible.

* Banks would be prohibited from imposing interest charges using the “two-cycle” method, which computes interest on balances on days in billing cycles preceding the most recent billing cycle.

* Banks would be required to provide consumers a reasonable amount of time to make payments.

Here is the whole release:

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Here is an interesting video..

Can we be in a recession with the economy growing and historically low 5% unemployment? Maybe since we have the inexplicable need to label things we can call it a “sluggession”?

Just because it is not what we want does not mean it is bad….

Oh.. yea… removing the gas tax? Stupid…

Want to get off oil? Double it..

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I found this in my daily travels around the web and had to share it.

T. Boone is one of the best interviews out there as he pulls no punches, admits to being wrong (the few times he actually is) and explains his thoughts very clearly.

Mentioned was Canadian Oil Sands (CNQ), Suncor (SU), Chesapeake Energy (CHK) and SandRidge (SD)

The interview is 35 minutes long and you can hear it here.

Disclosure (“none” means no position):None

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Now, this is a long term perspective..

In an interview recently on Bloomberg TV, Lee Kuan Yew the head of the Government of Singapore Investment corp. (GIC) said “We are buying into something that we intend to keep for the next two or three decades and grow with them.” He was talking about his recent $18 billion worth of investments in both Citigroup (C) and UBS (UBS).

He continued, “If there are other banks of the quality of the two that we bought into, with the promise and the capabilities and inherent capabilities to recover, we have got the liquidity to meet it, to make such an investment,”

Yew currently has 6% of the $300 billion in assets he has on hand invested in the two banks.

Why? Yew says both banks have good franchises and brands and GIC has a performance benchmark of 5 to 10 years. “Will there be another Swiss bank like UBS for wealth management? I doubt it, we doubt it, that is why we invested in it,” he said.

5 years from now we will look back at the current financial situation much like folks did in the mid 90’s after the 1990-1991 recession and the mess financials were in at the time.

The large banks will get stronger as the weak get flushed and their will be score on investors kicking themselves for not pulling the trigger “back then”.

Disclosure (“none” means no position):Long C, None

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Now, this is a long term perspective..

In an interview recently on Bloomberg TV, Lee Kuan Yew the head of the Government of Singapore Investment corp. (GIC) said “We are buying into something that we intend to keep for the next two or three decades and grow with them.” He was talking about his recent $18 billion worth of investments in both Citigroup (C) and UBS (UBS).

He continued, “If there are other banks of the quality of the two that we bought into, with the promise and the capabilities and inherent capabilities to recover, we have got the liquidity to meet it, to make such an investment,”

Yew currently has 6% of the $300 billion in assets he has on hand invested in the two banks.

Why? Yew says both banks have good franchises and brands and GIC has a performance benchmark of 5 to 10 years. “Will there be another Swiss bank like UBS for wealth management? I doubt it, we doubt it, that is why we invested in it,” he said.

5 years from now we will look back at the current financial situation much like folks did in the mid 90’s after the 1990-1991 recession and the mess financials were in at the time.

The large banks will get stronger as the weak get flushed and their will be score on investors kicking themselves for not pulling the trigger “back then”.

Disclosure (“none” means no position):Long C, None

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Flip Blackberry, Icahn, Citigroup (C), $199

– Finally, this has been my only complaint with my Blackberry

– I can’t wait to read this

– People cannot get enough of these shares.

– Could it be?

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Flip Blackberry, Icahn, Citigroup (C), $199

– Finally, this has been my only complaint with my Blackberry

– I can’t wait to read this

– People cannot get enough of these shares.

– Could it be?

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