For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 20, 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: Apple Inc. (AAPL), KT Corp. (KTC), SK Telecom (SKM), China Unicom (CHU) and American Express Company (AXP).

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:

South Korea Welcomes iPhone

Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone is finally reaching the hands of South Korean mobile users. The country’s telecom regulator Korea Communications Commission (“KCC") has granted Apple the license to sell the iconic handset in the domestic cell phone market. KCC has also lifted

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Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone is finally reaching the hands of South Korean mobile users. The country’s telecom regulator Korea Communications Commission (“KCC") has granted Apple the license to sell the iconic handset in the domestic cell phone market. KCC has also lifted the restrictions that prohibited location-based services on smartphone devices such as the Google Maps application on iPhone.    South Korea’s second-largest wireless carrier KT Corp. (KTC) will start booking Internet order for iPhone (3G & 3GS) soon and begin selling it from Nov 28, 2009. The company targets to initially sell 150,000 units priced between KRW250,000 and KRW300,000 (US$216 and US$260). KT’s peer SK Telecom (SKM), the largest mobile operator in the country, is still negotiating with Apple for securing distribution rights.     South Korean wireless market is technologically advanced and relatively mature with roughly 47 million total subscribers, representing 96% penetration of

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 13, 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: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Nokia (NOK), Research In Motion (RIMM), Motorola (MOT) and Palm (PALM).

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:

Apple Beats Nokia in Smartphones

According to a recent Strategy Analytics research report, Apple Inc. (AAPL) surpassed Nokia (NOK) by generating the highest total operating profit in the industry for the third quarter of 2009. The research firm estimated Apple's operating profit for iPhone handset units to

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According to a recent Strategy Analytics research report, Apple Inc. (AAPL) surpassed Nokia (NOK) by generating the highest total operating profit in the industry for the third quarter of 2009. The research firm estimated Apple's operating profit for iPhone handset units to be $1.6 billion, compared to Nokia's (the number 1 handset maker) just $1.1 billion, beating the latter for the first time.   Apple entered the mobile phone market with its iPhone in 2007. The company has experienced tremendous growth since then, driven by the success of its iPhone. This has resulted in Apple becoming one of the most profitable in the industry. Apple is running the highest margin phone business and thus has undergone a total turnaround from a loss of $0.07 per share in 2001 to a profit of $6.29 per share in fiscal year 2009.   Apple has sold over 20 million iPhone units ...

Even during the worldwide recession it seems consumers continue to abandon ‘dumb’ phones when, for just a little bit more money, they can get a pocket-sized computer – a smartphone – instead. According to research firm Gartner, overall handset sales are expected to shrink by 4 percent this year compared to last year. Meanwhile, smartphone sales are forecast to grow by more than 20 percent.

Smartphones account for only 14 percent of the mobile phone market today, but this segment has doubled its share of the global mobile phone business over the past three years. More than 500 million smartphones are expected to be sold in 2012 when they are forecasted to make up half the market. Revenues from smartphones are expected to double to half the industry total by 2014.

With the smartphone market being really the only game in town, the intensity of the battle for the smartphone market is

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Maxim Integrated Products Inc.’s (MXIM) first quarter earnings beat consensus estimates by a penny. Revenue was over the high-end of management’s guidance range of $415-445 million, or a sequential increase of 5-13%. Revenue Revenue of $449.2 million was up 13.9% sequentially and down 10.4% year over year. The sequential strength in demand was reflective of the rebound in the semiconductor sector and follows stronger results reported by other chip companies, such as Linear Technology (LLTC), Intel Corp. (INTC), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Texas Instruments (TXN). Revenue by End Market The computing market generated 25% of revenue, up 13.9% sequentially and down 20% year over year. Revenue benefited from sequential strength in the server, financial terminals and notebook segments. The consumer market generated 33% of revenue, up 17.4% sequentially and 5.6% year over year. ...

• Sony (NYSE:SNE) said weak cell phone sales and lower PlayStation III console prices resulted in another quarterly loss.  The firm also said full-year prospects improved from the company's aggressive cost-cutting measures

• Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU) reported its twelfth straight quarterly loss of $269 million. The firm said it expects operating results to break even by yearend

• Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) reported third quarter earnings one cent above Zacks estimates at 40 cents, as revenues of $3.4 billion were below Zacks estimates of $4.25 billion. The company noted, "Industry sales volumes continued to show signs of stabilization"

• ITT Industries (NYSE:ITT) reported third quarter beat Zacks estimates by 14 cents a share, coming in at $1.03 on inline revenues of $2.7 billion, down 6.3%

• Coventry Health Care (NYSE:CVH) reported its third quarter of 68 cents topped Zacks estimates by 14 cents, on inline revenues of $3.44 billion, up 17.7%

• Aon (NYSE:AOC), reported third quarter

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Sprint Nextel (S) reported third-quarter 2009 results with net loss per share of 17 cents, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 15 cents and the year-ago loss per share of 11 cents. The third-largest US wireless carrier posted a net loss of $478 million, 47% more than the net loss of $326 million reported a year ago. Sprint remains significantly challenged by the volatile economic backdrop, which has contributed to the sustained decline in the wireless subscriber base and associated revenues. Operating revenue fell 9% year over year to $8 billion due to lower contributions from its wireline and post-paid wireless businesses. The company reported adjusted OIBDA of $1.5 billion for the quarter, down 17% year over year, due to decreased operating revenue partly offset by lower SG&A expenses. Wireless Consolidated revenue from the wireless segment was $6.9 billion, down 8% year over year, ...

Xcellink International Inc. is a Las Vegas Company that has the potential to develop into a major player in the next generation of customer payment systems. In an industry that has the potential to be worth billions, Xcellink is becoming known for their state-of-the-art technology which is led by a patented system that has the potential and capabilities to replace all credit, debit, charge and smart cards.

Xcellink is poised for a global presence with the announcement that it will issue patents in Australia and New Zealand which will be entitled ‘Automated Electronic Funds Transfer System and Method’ and will cover the automated data interchange to achieve transactions between customers and merchants over local wired or wireless links.

These patents will provide Xcellink the opportunity to dominate in the 21st Century E-Commerce business structure and will give the young company uniform patent protection across the whole territory of Australasia.

A company spokesperson

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Taobao.com, the Internet shopping subsidiary of the Chinese B2B e-commerce group Alibaba, has announced that it will cooperate with China Mobile to launch a new mobile phone short message-based price comparison service. With this new service, mobile phone users will be able to inquire about the prices of goods sold on Taobao.com when they are shopping [...]