For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 12, 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: Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc. (HGR), Orthofix International NV (OFIX), Conmed Corporation (CNMD), Exactech Inc. (EXAC) and Owens & Minor Inc. (OMI).

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 Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Hanger on Acquisition Spree

Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc. (HGR) recently made three acquisitions totaling $10.7 million in annual net revenues. These acquisitions are: Creative Orthotics & Prosthetics, Inc.; Custom Orthopedics of Wyoming; and certain orthotics and prosthetics assets from the Hospital of

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Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc. (HGR) recently made three acquisitions totaling $10.7 million in annual net revenues. These acquisitions are: Creative Orthotics & Prosthetics, Inc.; Custom Orthopedics of Wyoming; and certain orthotics and prosthetics assets from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. These acquisitions will enable Hanger to add patient care centers to its existing markets in New York, Wyoming and Pennsylvania. Hanger will fund these acquisitions from internally generated cash flows. It is estimated that the acquisitions will be accretive to Hanger’s earnings once the integration process is over. The acquisitions strengthen Hanger’s leadership position in the orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) market and bolster its top-line. Hanger Orthopedic Group, based in Bethesda, MD, provides orthotic and prosthetic patient care services through its 671 patient care centers in the U.S. The company operates through four business units: patient care, distribution, Linkia and Innovative Neurotronics....

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The first aluminum diesel piston rolled off the line today at Federal-Mogul Corporation’s (Nasdaq: FDML) joint venture with KAMAZ, the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks in Russia. The 50/50 JV, called Federal-Mogul Naberezhnye Chelny, located in Tatarstan, Russia, will produce pistons, piston rings and cylinder liners for KAMAZ’s OE and OES products, and serve the Russian and global automotive and aftermarket industries.

Further addressing consumer expectations for mobile phones that deliver performance equivalent to stand-alone consumer devices,

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Yesterday, Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc. (HGR) reported results for its second quarter of fiscal 2009. Net sales were in line with our estimates and increased roughly 7% year over year to $193.5 million. GAAP EPS was $0.31, compared to $0.11 in the year-ago quarter and exceeded our estimates of $0.27.   Growth in net sales can be attributed to higher same-center sales of patient care services, higher sales of distribution segment, and acquisition. Same-center and distribution segment sales increased roughly 4.4% and 4.2% year over year, respectively. Excluding acquisition, net sales growth was roughly 4.4% year over year.   Gross margin increased 10 basis points year over year to 69.6% in the quarter due to top-line growth. The company witnessed significant operating expense leverage that helped improve operating margin by 70 basis points year over year to 12.5%. Higher gross and operating margin led to an increase in ...

Highlights include Gilead Sciences (GILD), AstraZeneca (AZN), Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) and Genzyme (GENZ).Last week, President Obama nominated Margaret "Peggy" Hamburg, a former New York City Health Commissioner, to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Hamburg's appointment must be confirmed by Congress. The president also named Baltimore Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein as FDA deputy commissioner.Hamburg earned her M.D. from Harvard Medical School and completed her training at the New York Hospital/Cornell University Medical Center. She did research in neuroscience at Rockefeller University in New York from 1985 to 1986, and in neuropharmacology at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland.From 1986 to 1988, she served in the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, and from 1989 to 1990 she was assistant director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, where her ...

AT&T Disconnecting 12,000 Jobs; Credit Suisse Announces 5,300; Capital One Puts Chevy Chase in Its Wallet; Argentina Announces $3.9 Billion Stimulus, Jobless Benefits at 26-year High; Dupont Cuts 2,500 Employees; Williams-Sonoma Beats Estimates; Oil Falls 5%

AT&T Inc. (T) said it would scale back 12,000 jobs, about 4% of its workforce, between now and the end of 2009 to fight “economic pressures, a changing business mix and a more streamlined organizational structure.” It will also take a severance charge of nearly $600 million for the fourth quarter, Reuters reported. Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR: CS) will scale back its workforce, eliminating 5,300 workers, or about 11% of its workforce. Switzerland’s ...

A must read article on Minyanville.com puts the smack down on General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares, and another one from Bloomberg.com isn't going to help shareholders come tomorrow or the foreseeable future.  GE shares get ready to battle the media. Let's face it, when fear is driven into the hearts of investors, no matter how it gets there, word of mouth, CNBC, your baby's momma -- it's fear none the less. When that happens, investors bail, and the selling could jump start now that the media is tearing GE a new one. General Electric (NYSE:GE) appears to be a "cheap stock" when you consider traditional investing measures: P/E now under 10, at 7.67. Shares are of GE are now $16 down 58% in the last year. It's a company we have all grown up with, same ...

There's a lot of commentary -- more comprehensive and up to date than I can provide -- on the crisis and the attempts to resolve the logjam in the financial markets.[0], [1] But I stilll have a couple of thoughts about the causes, and the implications, of the process that has resulted in so much turmoil this week.

First, what is the source of the crisis? Is it as is asserted here in this statement from John McCain today?

....

There are certainly plenty of places to point fingers, and it may be hard to pinpoint the original event that set it all in motion. But let me give you an educated guess. The financial crisis we're living through today started with the corruption and manipulation of our home mortgage system. At the center of the problem were the lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats who succeeded in persuading Congress and the

...

There's a lot of commentary -- more comprehensive and up to date than I can provide -- on the crisis and the attempts to resolve the logjam in the financial markets.[0], [1] But I stilll have a couple of thoughts about the causes, and the implications, of the process that has resulted in so much turmoil this week.

First, what is the source of the crisis? Is it as is asserted here in this statement from John McCain today?

....

There are certainly plenty of places to point fingers, and it may be hard to pinpoint the original event that set it all in motion. But let me give you an educated guess. The financial crisis we're living through today started with the corruption and manipulation of our home mortgage system. At the center of the problem were the lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats who succeeded in persuading Congress and the

...

ProShares AnnouncementFriday September 19, 11:25 am ETBETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Due to the emergency action announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 18, 2008, temporarily prohibiting short sales of shares of certain financial companies, Short Financials ProShares (SEF) and UltraShort Financials ProShares (SKF) are not expected to accept orders from Authorized Participants to create shares until further notice. Unless notified otherwise, shares will be available for redemption by Authorized Participants as normal. The shares of these ProShares are expected to trade in the financial markets today, but may trade at prices that are not in line with their intraday indicative values.