For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 4, 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: Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO), Exxon (XOM), ConocoPhillips (COP), Chevron (CVX) and Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD).

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 AnalystBlog:

Marathon Beats, Production Up

Marathon Oil Corporation’s (MRO) third-quarter 2009 results came in better-than-expected, helped by the contribution from increased oil and natural gas production. Earnings per share, excluding mark-to-market and divestment losses, came in at 61 cents, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 56 cents.

However, as

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Marathon Oil Corporation’s (MRO) third-quarter 2009 results came in better-than-expected, helped by the contribution from increased oil and natural gas production. Earnings per share, excluding mark-to-market and divestment losses, came in at 61 cents, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 56 cents. However, as has been the case with the other oil majors that have already reported -- Exxon (XOM), ConocoPhillips (COP) and Chevron (CVX) -- earnings and revenue comparisons with the year-earlier period were quite ugly, severely hampered by lower realized commodity prices and weak refining margins. Marathon’s adjusted earnings per share plunged 77.9%, while sales declined 37.9% to $14.5 billion. Lower Prices More Than Offset Increased Upstream Volumes Income from the upstream segment totaled $491 million during the quarter, down 43.5% from the year-ago level. The company reported production (available for sale) of 393,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day (BOE/d), ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 5, 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: Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO), Exxon (XOM), ConocoPhillips (COP), Chevron (CVX) and WellPoint Inc. (WLP).

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:

Marathon Misses on Lower Prices

Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO) second-quarter 2009 results came in sharply weaker-than-expected, with the contribution from increased oil and natural gas production and improved refining margins more than offset by lower realized commodity prices. Earnings per share, excluding mark-to-market and divestment gains, came in

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Marathon Oil Corporation’s (MRO) second-quarter 2009 results came in sharply weaker-than-expected, with the contribution from increased oil and natural gas production and improved refining margins more than offset by lower realized commodity prices. Earnings per share, excluding mark-to-market and divestment gains, came in at 35 cents, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 53 cents.   As has been the case with the other oil majors that have already reported -- Exxon (XOM), ConocoPhillips (COP) and Chevron (CVX) -- earnings and revenue comparisons with the year-earlier period were even worse. Marathon’s adjusted earnings per share plunged 71%, while sales declined 40% to $13 billion. Lower Prices More Than Offset Increased Upstream Volumes Income from the upstream segment totaled $220 million during the quarter, down more than 73% from the year-ago level.   The company reported production (available for sale) of 411,000 oil-equivalent barrels per ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 1, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research picks Cree Inc. (CREE) as Bull of the Day and Post Properties (PPS) as Bear of the Day. In addition, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research discuss the latest on Marathon Oil (MRO), ConocoPhillips (COP) and BP (BP).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678

Bull of the Day

Cree Inc. (CREE) is one of the leading producers of SiC and GaN-based LEDs. March quarter revenue was in-line with the consensus, while the EPS exceeded. Forward guidance is for a 5-9% revenue increase in the June quarter.

The global movement to energy-efficient lighting is prompting lighting companies and consumers to look at other options. Therefore, lighting will be the strongest end-market for Cree, likely followed by video displays and notebooks. Yield improvements, higher capacity utilization, larger wafers and offshore production will increasingly

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Highlights include Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), ConocoPhillips (COP), BP plc (BP) and Apache Corp. (APA).Marathon's (MRO) first-quarter 2009 results came in better than expected on the back of improved downstream margins and lower costs. As has been the case with the other oil majors that have already reported, Exxon (XOM), ConocoPhillips (COP) and BP (BP), earnings and cash flow comparisons with the year-earlier period were ugly. We continue to like Marathon for its revitalized upstream business, top-tier Midwest-centered refining business, and very cheap valuation.Marathon's recurring EPS of $0.34 was down from $1.07 in the year-earlier period, with the contribution from increased oil and natural gas production and improved refining margins offset by lower realized commodity prices. The company reported production (available for sale) of 429,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day (BOE/d), inline with its ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - April 29, 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: BP (BP), Exxon (XOM), Chevron (CVX), Ardea Biosciences, Inc. (RDEA) and Bayer HealthCare (BAYRY).

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 Tuesday's Analyst Blog:

BP Beats on Better Cost Controls

London-based BP's (BP) first-quarter results came in better than expected on the back of stronger cost controls. Compared to the year-earlier level, weak commodity prices offset the impact of increased oil and natural gas production and lower costs.

BP's

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Highlights include BP plc (BP), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX).London-based BP's (BP) first-quarter results came in better than expected on the back of stronger cost controls. Compared to the year-earlier level, weak commodity prices offset the impact of increased oil and natural gas production and lower costs.BP's strong performance sets the stage for earnings releases by Exxon (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), which are scheduled to report their results on Thursday and Friday this week, respectively.BP reiterated their 2% production growth guidance and lowered their capex budget to under $20 billion from around $22 billion. The company's attractive dividend (currently yielding around 7%) remains unchanged from the fourth-quarter level, but is up 3.5% from the year-earlier level. We believe that BP's dividend is safe as long as oil prices don not remain depressed (say, in the ...