For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 23, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Caterpillar (CAT) as the Bull of the Day and Cost Plus, Inc. (CPWM) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Gap Inc.(GPS), J.M. Smucker Company (SJM) and Stone Energy Corporation (SGY).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Caterpillar (CAT) is a market leader in construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines. With its strong brand name, pricing power and global dealer network, we believe Caterpillar is well positioned to take advantage of the growing need for infrastructure development globally.

Though the company expects 2009 sales to decline more than 35% year-over-year, it anticipates an improvement in its top-line in

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ProLogis (PLD), a leading global provider of distribution facilities, recently leased about 188,000 square feet of its development portfolio in Japan to global customers, thereby strengthening its position in the market.   About 95,000 square feet were leased to Caterpillar Logistics Services Inc., the logistics division of Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. The lessee will occupy space at ProLogis Parc Narita III near Tokyo, Japan.   The company has also leased 93,000 square feet at ProLogis Parc Ichikawa I, a distribution facility near Tokyo, to an unnamed global supplier of office products. This is the sixth such leasing agreement with the lessee, who now occupies approximately 1.2 million square feet across the U.S., Mexico and Japan.   ProLogis owns and manages interests in over 2,500 distribution facilities, service offices and properties ...

Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney said it plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs in Connecticut by 2011, transferring engine repair work to the Southeastern state of Georgia and Asia in a cost-cutting initiative.

This subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (UTX) will close down its Cheshire, Connecticut, plant by early 2011. From the second quarter of 2010, it will begin shifting some operations from the East Hartford facility to Columbus, Georgia, Singapore and Japan. Pratt & Whitney, which is suffering due to sagging demand from airlines, employs 35,000 workers worldwide, with 11,000 in Connecticut.

The company rejected an offer that the Machinists union valued at more than $80 million in wage and other concessions and a state plan proposing $100 million in economic assistance over five years. Pratt & Whitney has vastly scaled back operations in the state since the 1960s, when more than 20,000 workers were employed.

Pratt

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Three Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) successfully powered the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on Mission STS-128 to deliver extra supplies and equipment to support a six-person crew onboard the International Space Station. The SSME is the world's only fully reusable high performance rocket engine rated for human space flight. Discovery was launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on 30th August. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a unit of United Technologies Corp. (UTX).

Discovery's main payload is the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, which is carrying extra supplies and equipment to help establish a six-astronaut crew capacity on the space station. The payload includes science and storage racks, a treadmill and a crew quarter.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Inc., a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovative system solutions used in a wide variety of government

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Precision Castparts Corp. (PCP) had a pretty darn good Fiscal `09 Fourth Quarter, especially in light of what's coming down these days. While Net Sales of $1.6 billion were off by 9.2%, Gross Profit rose by 0.8% to $498.9 million, and the Gross Margin improved from 28.0% to 31.1%.S,G&A Expense rose by 24.6% to $99.7 million; as a percent of Sales, it went from 4.5% to 6.2%. Although Operating Income declined by 3.8%, the Operating Margin rose from 23.5% to 24.9%. There were no Restructuring/Impairment Costs in Q4-09 as opposed to $6.1 million last year. Net Interest Expense declined by 43.3% to $3.4 million. The Income Tax Rate went from 34.4% down to 33.6%. Net Income from Continuing Operations was off by just 0.4% to $263.0 million and the associated Net Margin climbed from 15.0% to 16.4%.The bottom line of all this is that ...

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) is the market leader in construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines. Caterpillar is also a leading U.S exporter, with more than half of its sales coming from outside the United States. The company organizes its operations in three principle lines of business, which includes machinery, engines, and financial products.CAT reported fourth quarter EPS of $1.08, well below our expectations of $1.36, due to sharply higher machinery and engine costs, sluggish machines revenue growth, and an unfavorable currency movement. Essentially, the company was not able to reduce operating costs quickly enough to adjust for the lower level of output. Also, SG&A and R&D costs were higher by $279 million to support new product programs and growth initiatives.Fourth quarter revenue increased 6% to $12.923 billion from $12.144 billion in the same period a year ago. When …