Entergy Corp.’s (ETR) proposed spin-off of its Non-utility Nuclear power business has been relegated to fiscal 2010. Recently, the New York Public Service Commission’s two administrative law judges in a ruling stated their apprehension regarding the new company having the financial viability to operate three units located in the state of New York. Of this, two units are located in the Indian Point Energy Center in Westchester County and a reactor at the James A. Fitzpatrick station in Oswego County. The New York Public Service Commission expressed its apprehension that the $3.5 billion worth of long-term unsecured bonds that Entergy plans to issue for the spin-off will drag down the bond rating of the new company, affecting its financial capacity. The Commission has also relegated its next hearing to December 2009 followed by a final decision on the spin-off in January 2010. Entergy has been ...

The fund filings are out. If you're wondering, these are the funds I like to track, and sometimes follow by buying the same stocks:br /br /-George Soros (Soros Fund Management)br /-Seth Klarman (Baupost Group)br /-John Paulson (Paulson amp; CO.)br /-Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)br /-David Einhorn (Greenlight Capital)br /-Bill Ackman (Pershing Square Capital Management)br /-Steve Cohen (SAC Capital Advisors)br /br /Today, I'm going toa href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchiveamp;sid=a_RT.rEuHt4M" take a quick look at Soros' holdings/a.br /br /blockquoteSoros Fund Management LLC, the investor’s hedge-fund firm, sold 5 million U.S. shares of Petrobras, as the Brazilian company is known, according to a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The New York-based firm’s remaining 32 million shares of the state-controlled oil company were valued at $963 million at the end of the quarter.br /br /The hedge fund also held 5.6 million shares of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Potash at the end of the quarter, compared ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 14, 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: Intel Corp. (INTC), Applied Materials (AMAT), Entergy Corp. (ETR), Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (ANR) and Foundation Coal Holdings, Inc. (FCL).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579.

Here are highlights from Wednesday's Analyst Blog:

Big Day for Semiconductors

Intel Corp. (INTC) has been fined 1.06 billion Euros by the European Commission (EC) for anti-competitive business practices. We have blogged about the suit in the past, and short of the amount (which is historic), it

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Entergy Generates Disappointing Q1'09 ResultsEntergy Corp. (ETR) released financial results for the 1st quarter of 2009 in which the company reported a 23.8% decrease in earnings of $235.3 million, or $1.20 per diluted share ($1.22 basic), compared to $308.7 million, or $1.56 per diluted share ($1.60 basic), in the year-ago quarter.Ongoing operating earnings were reported at $252.6 million, or $1.29 per share, compared with $308.7 million, or $1.56 per share, in the comparable prior-year quarter.Operating revenues in the reported quarter decreased 2.6% to $2.79 billion from $2.86 billion in the prior-year quarter.Cash flow provided by operating activities decreased in the 1st quarter of 2009 as compared to the year-ago period due to lower net income, and changes in other regulatory assets.Outlook: Entergy reaffirmed its fiscal 2009 outlook and expects EPS in the range of $6.70 - $7.30. As-reported ...

Today we are featuring top-performing "Utilities" equity mutual funds, which primarily invest in equity securities of utility companies, including telephone and cable-television firms.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Utilities Equity Funds.3 Powerful Picks

Fidelity Select Utilities Portfolio (FSUTX) was incepted in December 1981 and seeks capital appreciation. It is non-diversified.

The fund invests primarily in common stocks of companies in the utilities industry and companies that derive a bulk of their revenue from utility operations. Douglas Simmons has managed this Zacks#1 Rank ("Strong Buy") fund since October 2006. It has an expense ratio of 0.88%.

The fund's top holdings include Exelon Corp. (EXC), Sempra Energy (SRE) and Entergy Corp. (ETR).

American Century Utilities Inv (BULIX) is designed for investors

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Shares of Entergy Corp. (ETR) has advanced more than 4% today after the company affirmed full-year earnings outlook despite facing economic headwinds.

The energy producer said it continues to expect full-year earnings of $6.70 to $7.30 per share, excluding items.

Entergy's guidance is in-line with the consensus estimate of $6.84 per share, which has moved lower by 10 cents over the past month as 6 out of 15 covering analysts reduced estimates.

Meanwhile, first-quarter earnings came in at $1.29 per share, excluding items, which missed the lowered consensus by 6 cents.

Revenues declined 2.6% year over year to $2.8 billion, as Entergy witnessed sluggish performance across all segments.

ETR, a Zacks #3 Rank ("Hold") stock, is trading on higher-than-usual volume of approximately 3 million, compared to average volume of about 1.8 million.

"ETR" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research

Entergy Corp. (ETR) is shifting towards becoming a fundamentally strong electric energy utility with the separation of its nuclear business. Higher nuclear power prices, lower taxes, ongoing share repurchases, improving credit markets, a reasonable valuation, and steady recovery from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike damage will continue to deliver strong earnings and cash flow growth.However, pending regulatory approvals in New York and Vermont for the proposed spin-off of its nuclear business is likely to relegate the spin-off transaction. Therefore, we reiterate our BUY recommendation on ETR with a six-month target price of $75.00.Price appreciation to our near-term valuation target, coupled with a quarterly cash dividend of $0.75 per share which appears sustainable and secure represents annualized total return potential of 19.5%.Read the full analyst report on ETR "ETR" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?...

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T9VXVyuEITg/STtlkEBkX0I/AAAAAAAAAmM/1FYndgjniZU/s1600-h/oilderrick.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T9VXVyuEITg/STtlkEBkX0I/AAAAAAAAAmM/1FYndgjniZU/s320/oilderrick.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276923058624683842" //abr /Oil may break through $40 a barrel, since it is skirting very close to that price and has traded as low as $40.81. Recently, I wrote about the trucking and package delivery a href="http://stockerblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/stocks-which-benefit-from-low-oil.html"stocks which could benefit from lower gasoline prices/a.br /br /With the price of oil and natural gas tanking, investors are now looking closely at the utility stocks that use oil and gas as a major fuel source of their electrical generation. Hopefully, the cost savings for these companies will pass through to the bottom line long before the Utilities Commissions implement rate reductions. br /br /Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (PNW) has one of the heaviest exposures, with 24% of their electric energy coming from oil and natural gas. About 35% comes from coal and 21.5% from nuclear. This ...

Lone Pine CapitalLone Pine Capital & Stephen Mendel - HoldingsThis post is being written as part of HedgeFundBlogger.com's Investment Securities Tool which analyzes the holdings of hedge fund managers.Lone Pine Capital, managed by Stephen Mandel Jr. Lone Pine is an $8 Billion fund that has returned over 25% annually ever since its inception in 1997. Why is Mandel worth following you might ask? Well, he served as a consumer/retail analyst for Tiger Management back in the day for legendary investor Julian Robertson. Robertson's proteges/right-hand men have been nicknamed the "Tiger Cubs" and many have started their own funds. So, not only has Mandel learned from one of the best, but he has put up some very solid returns himself. Mandel is well versed in the ...

Entergy Corp. (ETR) is shifting towards becoming a fundamentally strong electric energy utility with the separation of its nuclear business. Its core business shows strong earnings growth and cash flow generation by higher production with fewer outage days and higher power prices.

Favorable regulatory rate hikes, higher contract and market energy pricing, increased generation from the Palisades nuclear plant acquisition, a reasonable valuation and steady recovery from the hurricane damage of September 2007 will continue to deliver strong earnings and cash flow growth.

Furthermore, the company’s share-repurchase program continues to boost EPS. Therefore, we reiterate our Buy recommendation on ETR with a six-month target price of $117. Price appreciation to our near-term valuation target, coupled with a quarterly cash dividend of $0.75 per share which appears sustainable and secure represents annualized total return potential of 24.7%.

Anticipated rate increases, a relatively strong balance sheet and decent earnings visibility at the

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