OVERVIEW Inherently, big defense contractors are expected to eliminate jobs as the Pentagon has lowered spending on traditional weapon systems, while smaller, niche companies may accelerate hiring as the United States garners resources to protect ground troops and strategic computer networks. Industry pioneer Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) aims to reduce 600 jobs as a result of the US Defense Department's decision to terminate the VH-71 presidential helicopter program. The Boeing Company (BA) hinted that Pentagon cuts would claim 1,000 jobs in its defense business, affecting staffing at various work sites in the United States in missile defense and in the Army's Future Combat Systems modernization program, which is now being opened to more competition. The large commercial aircraft sector is expected to generate most of its revenue from Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) and the Middle East, relying less on U.S. orders because of the ...

BA does almost nothing right. So why is the stock up 52%? We have all heard the old saw as to how “the market climbs a wall of worry.” There is, of course, an inherent truth in this. Investors always take on a bit of risk in exchange for their gains. One might imagine that this is a well-reasoned and well-researched risk. Yeah, well, you’d probably be wrong about that. For most of the past eight months, most investors haven’t even shown the common rules of life we try to teach grade school kids, like “look both ways before you cross the street,” or “don’t trust that weird guy in the rusty old Buick ...

Moody’s Investor Services (MCO) has downgraded Boeing Co.’s (BA) rating outlook to "negative" from "stable". The major reason for the downgrade was the delay in the airplane maker's new 787 series, besides other setbacks that had hurt its financial flexibility.   Pitted against Airbus’s A319 aircraft, Boeing’s 787 series is plagued by delays. The inaugural test flight at the end of fiscal 2009 is more than two years behind the original delivery schedule. The company has already deferred the inaugural delivery of the 787 series aircraft five times.   Boeing has witnessed falling orders in the recent times for its commercial planes on account of tepid demand for air travel and cargo services. Already, a slew of commercial airlines have cancelled or deferred their fleet additions. Boeing has cut costs and announced reduction in its workforce along with scaling back production of some aircrafts. Moody's estimates a 20%

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The Boeing Company (BA) yesterday announced that it will record a $1 billion charge in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. The company attributed the charge from a delay in producing a new version of the 747-8 series freighter jet, leading to slow sales and late design changes. The aircraft competes with Airbus' A380 series aircraft. The goliath of commercial aerospace, Boeing has witnessed falling orders for its commercial planes in the recent times on account of tepid demand for air travel and cargo services. Already, a slew of commercial airlines have cancelled or deferred their fleet additions. Boeing has cut costs, reduced workforce and scaled back production of some aircrafts to cope with the changing market dynamics.   The $1 billion charge includes $640 million for higher estimated production costs consisting of late engineering design changes. This is besides the $360 million stemming from Boeing's decision ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 3, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights ITT Corporation (ITT) as the Bull of the Day and Cost Plus, Inc. (CPWM) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Ford (F), Paccar (PCAR) and General Mills (GIS).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

We are initiating coverage on ITT Corporation (ITT) with an Outperform rating and $57 target price. The company exceeded its second quarter earnings guidance due to strong results overall.

Total defense organic orders improved 29% year over year on strong product activities. OEM pressures in the aerospace market including the Boeing-787 delay have resulted in downward forecast for motion and flow control business.

Finally, ITT was able to place $1

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We are initiating coverage on ITT Corporation (ITT) with an Outperform rating and $57 target price. The company exceeded its second quarter earnings guidance due to strong results overall.

Total defense organic orders improved 29% year over year on strong product activities. OEM pressures in the aerospace market including the Boeing-787 delay have resulted in downward forecast for motion and flow control business.

Finally, ITT was able to place $1 billion in senior debt at a very attractive blended rate of 5.5% per annum which reflects on the confidence reposed on the company by participants in the financial markets.Zacks Investment Research

Standard & Poor's said on Friday that it is apprehensive about The Boeing Company’s (BA) risk in terms of order cancellations and deferrals for its commercial aircrafts. Pitted against Airbus’s A319 aircraft, Boeing’s 787 series is plagued by delays. The inaugural test flight at the end of fiscal 2009 is more than two years behind the original delivery schedule. The company has already deferred the inaugural delivery of the 787 series aircraft five times. Standard & Poor's is apprehensive this may force Boeing to scale back production of models 737, 747, 767 and 777 -- virtually everything other than its new 787 series in fiscal 2010. This viewpoint is shared by Fitch Ratings as well. As of now, Standard & Poor's has a Buy rating on Boeing’s shares while Fitch has an "A+" rating. The goliath of the commercial aerospace, Boeing has witnessed falling orders in ...

Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) yesterday (Thursday) announced it would test-fly its 787 Dreamliner later this year but disappointed customers by delaying delivery of the plane until the fourth quarter of 2010.

Wall Street cheered the announcement as Boeing’s stock soared more than 6% in New York trading after the company said it still expects the 787 to be profitable.

The rally came despite news that costs for the first three test planes would be charged-off as having no commercial value, resulting in an estimated pretax charge of $2.5 billion, or $2.21 a share, in the third quarter. Boeing said the charge wouldn’t affect its cash flows.

“This new schedule provides us the time needed to complete the remaining work necessary to put the 787’s game-changing capability in the hands of our customers,” said Boeing Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney.

The 787, already two years behind its original schedule, was scheduled for its

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Boeing Company (BA) yesterday bagged an order for fourteen 737-700 series aircrafts from Canadian airliner WestJet. This took WestJet’s pending deliveries for 737-700 series aircraft from Boeing to 54. With this order, Boeing has been able to maintain its position as the sole supplier to WestJet. As of now, WestJet’s fleet consists of an all-Boeing squad of eighty-one 737 aircrafts. Boeing’s 737-700 aircraft is pitted against Airbus’s A319 aircraft. To date, Boeing has booked more than 5,000 orders from around 120 customers spread around the globe. Of this, more than 2,100 deliveries worth more than $158 billion are pending. Boeing’s focus on 737-700 is evident with its earlier revelation of 2% improvement on fuel consumption by 2011, through a combination of airframe and engine improvements. Headquartered in Chicago, Boeing is the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial jet liners and military aerospace products (based on total ...

After sliding 11 cents in today’s early session, shares of Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) climbed 20 cents mid-day after the company announced that its second-quarter earnings rose 17 percent over its 2008 second-quarter results, beating Wall Street expectations.

Boeing posted earnings of $998 million, or $1.41 per share, for the period ended June 30, up from $852 million, or $1.16 per share, for the second quarter of 2008. Earnings for the second-largest commercial plane maker include a charge of 22 cents per share for a late delivery of military aircraft.

Revenue increased 1 percent to $17.15 billion, up from $16.96 for the second quarter last year. Sales for its defense unit, which represents about half of Boeing’s overall revenue, rose 9 percent to $8.7 billion, while commercial plane revenue slipped 2 percent to $8.4 billion.

Boeing also said it will announce a revised schedule for its 787 jetliner in the third

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