For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 18, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: American Express Co. (AXP), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup Inc. (C) and Capital One Financial Corp. (COF).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Mixed News for Credit Card Issuers

U.S. credit card issuers have reported a drop in the default rate for October, though delinquencies are rising as a result of continuing stress on consumers. While a decrease in the default rate reflects a decline

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Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

3D Systems Corp (TDSC) 3M Co (MMM) 8x8 Inc (EGHT) Agilent Technologies Inc (A) American Apparel Inc (APP) American Express Co (AXP) Amerco Inc (UHAL) Ameriprise Financial Inc (AMP) Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM) Atlantic Tele-Network Inc (ATNI) BT Group Plc (BT) Cavco Industries Inc (CVCO) Diamond Foods Inc (DMND) Expedia Inc (EXPE) HB Fuller Co (FUL) Gannett Co Inc (GCI) Genoptix Inc (GXDX) Green Mountain ...

U.S. credit card issuers have reported a drop in the default rate for October, though delinquencies are rising as a result of continuing stress on consumers. While a decrease in the default rate reflects a decline in late payments in the first half of the year, the increase in delinquencies is bad news for the sector as it implies that the companies could experience more charge-offs in the coming quarters.   Consumers remain under stress as a result of the weakness in the housing market, combined with job losses. Recently, Fitch has also expressed its concern about the credit card issuers in the U.S. Fitch expects U.S. credit card issuers’ earnings to remain challenged over the near term as a result of soaring unemployment, bankruptcies and losses.   The default rate (or charge-off rate) has improved in October from the prior month. For American Express Co. (AXP) it ...

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) said on Tuesday that it will not raise rates or change terms on consumer credit card accounts before the new law (CARD Act) intended to reform industry practices takes effect early next year. To manage costs in light of the sweeping new reforms to the credit card industry, in August 2009, BofA along with JPMorgan Chase & Company (JPM) switched most fixed-rate cards to variable rates. Discover Financial Services (DFS) moved some of its cardholders from fixed to variable rates in June. Since most of the cards of Bank of America carry a variable rate, customers could still see rising interest rates as the interest is tied to the rise and fall of the prime rate. BofA also said that it will continue to re-price customers who are late on two or more payments in a one-year period....

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Akzo Nobel NV (AKZOY) American Express Co (AXP) American Italian Pasta Co (AIPC) America's Car-Mart Inc (CRMT) AXA (AXA) Cabot Corp (CBT) Cabot Microelectronics Corp (CCMP) CGI Group Inc (GIB) Chordiant Software Inc (CHRD) Cimarex Energy Co (XEC) Computer Sciences Corp (CSC) Cytokinetics Inc (CYTK) DRI Corp (TBUS) Duncan Energy Partners LP (DEP) Fuel Systems Solutions Inc (FSYS) Gamco Investors Inc (GBL) Genoptix Inc (GXDX) ...

Visa Inc. (V) on Monday said it would prepay $682 million to complete a major legal settlement with US merchants in order to get a discount of more than $100 million. The company will make the transaction either on Sept. 30 or the business day after the court order, whichever is later.

The prepayment will wipe out the $800 million it still owes through 2012. In 2003, the settlement ended a class action lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard Inc. (MA) that accused them of conspiring to fix prices and restrict trade. Visa has agreed to pay $2 billion over a period of 10 years, in equal annual installments of $200 million.

Visa is the de facto leader in payments, facilitating one out of every two card-based payments globally. Though over half of personal consumer expenditures in the U.S. are still conducted in cash/checks, this trend is changing

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Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS) on Wednesday declared that it has completed the final step to free itself from the government bailout program. The Chicago-based custody bank paid $87 million to repurchase stock warrants issued to the federal government as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

With this repurchase, Northern Trust has paid a total of nearly $1.71 billion to the Treasury under TARP. This includes repurchase of preferred stock issued to the government and preferred dividends. According to the bank, the total payments represent a 14% annualized return on investment to the US taxpayers.

The $700 billion bailout program was launched by the federal government to help revive deteriorating credit markets during the height of the financial crisis. The government provided capital to institutions in exchange of preferred stock and warrants to purchase common shares.

Most banks still have short-term debt guaranteed by the government. However,

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The U.S. stock market has enjoyed a strong rally since the early spring, but while the economy has shown improvement, it still faces major headwinds. So it may be best to hedge against the U.S. dollar, which is likely to experience a significant decline over the next few months.

There are a lot of uncertainties permeating the market right now, not the least of which is healthcare reform. Will that reform entail a public option that could add $1 trillion to the deficit?  How is reform going to be financed?  And is it going to mean higher costs for employers across the board, or just the healthcare insurers?

Investing is made infinitely more difficult when 18% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) is hanging in the balance.

And you still have to consider:

That unemployment is likely to keep rising, perhaps over 10%. That the U.S. ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 21, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Citigroup (C), American Express Co. (AXP), Bank of America (BAC), Discover Financial Services (DFS) and JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Citi May Levy Annual Charges

In order to offset potential losses from new legislation signed by President Obama, rising credit card defaults and increasing unemployment, Citigroup (C) is considering charging its credit card customers an annual fee.

In May, the president

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In order to offset potential losses from new legislation signed by President Obama, rising credit card defaults and increasing unemployment, Citigroup (C) is considering charging its credit card customers an annual fee. In May, the president signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure -- Credit CARD Act -- of 2009 into law. The legislation will improve consumer disclosures and end some egregious practices in the credit card industry but stops short of capping interest rates and fees. Most of the provisions go into effect from Feb. 22, 2010, unless otherwise stated. Despite being touted as a victory for consumers, the bill could have unintended consequences as credit card companies look for ways to make up for potential lost revenue. Credit card companies have been gearing up for the new landscape for months, mailing consumers a spate of warnings about fee and interest rate changes. ...