The markets only gathered steam in the afternoon after the Fed released minutes from its latest meeting.  While pledging to keep interest rates at record low levels, the Fed policymakers, however, noted record low interest rates could lead to excessive risk-taking in financials markets.  Nevertheless, the Fed raised its outlook for economic growth during the second half of this year, but said unemployment levels will remain high.  The Fed lowered its unemployment estimates to 9.3%-9.7% in 2010 from 9.5%-9.8%, noting the economy continues to improve.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 17.24 points, or 0.2%, to 10,433.71.  The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 0.59 points, or 0.1%, to 1,105.65, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 6.83 points, or 0.3%, to 2,169.18.  The CBOE Vix index dropped to its lowest in fourteen months, off 3.3% to 20.47.  On the NYSE volume dropped to 0.952 billion shares, with declining issues ahead of advancing shares by an eight to seven margin.

Tuesday saw volatile and a low volume trading, a trend that is likely to continue through the holiday-shortened week.  All financial markets are closed Thursday for Thanksgiving.

On Tuesday, healthcare companies helped offset drops in financial and industrial shares.  Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) jumped more than 7% after the medical device maker reported a surprise 59% increase in its quarterly profit and raised its full-year outlook.  Shares in the company rose $2.94, or 7.3%, to $43.25.

Among financial companies, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) led the declining issues in the Dow average, falling 1.9% to $42.48.  Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) fell 1.2% to $16.10, while Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) dropped 1.5% to $32.12. Fifth Third Bancorp (NYSE:FITB) fell 1.6% to $10.01.

Safe-haven assets such as Treasuries and gold prices rose.  Treasuries performed well after the $42 billion auction in 5-year notes received a strong response.  Gold prices hit a fresh record close for the eighth consecutive day, closing up $1.90 at $1165.50 per ounce. 

Chicago, IL – November 23, 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: Dell Inc. (DELL), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNI), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC).

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:

Dell Falls Short of Expectations

Dell Inc. (DELL) reported third quarter 2010 EPS of 23 cents, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 27 cents.

Revenue for the quarter was $10.75 billion, down 17.0% from $12.97 billion reported in the year-ago quarter and up 1.0% from $10.62 billion reported in the previous quarter. The company’s third quarter reported revenue was adversely affected by the timing of the Windows 7 launch and due to backlog buildup in the company’s SMB and consumer businesses.

Large Enterprise posted revenue of $3.4 billion, an increase of 4.0% sequentially and decline of 23.0% year-over-year. In the last quarter, the company expended its networking partnership with Brocade and Juniper, and introduced products like PowerEdge 11g servers and expanded PowerVault storage systems.

Public revenue for the quarter was $3.7 billion, down 3.0% on sequentially and 7.0% from the year-ago quarter. Shipments were down 12.0% on a sequential basis, due to seasonality in the U.S. public sector business.

Small and Medium Business revenue for the quarter was $3.0 billion, up 5.0% sequentially and down 19.0% from the year-ago quarter. Shipments increased 9% sequentially. The segment benefited from steadily improving demand in both the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as better performance in EMEA during the second half.

Revenues for Consumer Business were down 10.0% year-over-year, but flat sequentially to $2.8 billion with shipments growing 4% sequentially.

Dell’s total sales in China, India, Brazil and Russia increased 18.0% sequentially and 5.0% over last year. China, the second-largest revenue generating country for Dell, reported revenue increase of 20.0% sequentially and 8.0% from the year-ago quarter.

Buffett Borrows for Rail Acquisition

Warren Buffett, the CEO and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) announced on Thursday to borrow $8 billion of loan for the acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNI). Berkshire Hathaway, which already owns a 22% stake in Burlington Northern, announced earlier this month it would acquire the rest for a total value of $34 billion. Buffet agreed to pay $100 a share in cash and stock to buy the rest of the company.

The $8 billion loan that will be provided by JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) is intended to be paid back in three years’ time.

For Berkshire, the acquisition of Burlington Northern, or BNSF, the second largest railroad, will be its biggest to date. With it, Berkshire is adding a railroad transportation business with its already diverse range of businesses including retail, manufacturing and insurance, as well as several regional electric and gas utilities.

The acquisition is expected to close in early 2010 and is subject to Burlington Northern’s shareholder approval. Post acquisition, Burlington Northern will operate from its headquarters as a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5515.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

Chicago, IL – November 18, 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: PNC Financial Services (PNC), Bank of America (BAC), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK), MasterCard (MA) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM).

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:

BofA Continues CEO Hunt

Recently, William Demchak of the PNC Financial Services (PNC) was offered the position of the next CEO of the Bank of America (BAC). However, the offer was turned down by Demchak.

We suspect Demchak declined the offer as the pay package is likely to be among the least competitive in the industry, especially since the Obama administration's pay czar took the axe to seven institutions' pay plans, chopping the average high-end salary by 50%. Moreover, the bank is also operating under a memorandum of understanding with regulators, who are scrutinizing the top gun's every decision.

The present CEO of the Bank of America, Mr. Ken Lewis, is set to leave the position, stepping down at the end of the year. It may be noted that he succumbed to the pressure to resign after his company’s Merrill Lynch acquisition.

Earlier this month, Robert Kelly of the Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK) was offered the role of CEO by the bank. Former Bear Stearns CEO Alan Schwartz is among those reportedly approached who turned down the CEO job offer, as did MasterCard (MA) President Ajay Banga. Others may include Moffett and Charlie Scharf, who runs JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM) retail operations, among others.

Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5515.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

Chicago, IL – November 17, 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: JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Zions Bancorp (ZION), SunTrust Banks (STI) and PNC Financial (PNC).

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 Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Bank Failures Rise to 123

The failed banks were -- Century Bank, FSB of Sarasota, Florida with $728 million in assets and $631 million in deposits, Orion Bank of Naples, Florida with about $2.7 billion in assets and $2.1 billion in deposits and Pacific Coast National Bank of San Clemente, California with $134.4 million in assets and $130.9 million in deposits.

These bank failures represent another sizable impact on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) fund for protecting customer accounts, as it has been appointed receiver for these banks. The failure of Century Bank is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund about $344 million, Orion Bank’s failure will cost about $615 million and the failure of Pacific Coast National Bank is expected to cost about $27.4 million.

The FDIC insures deposits at 8,195 institutions with roughly $13.5 trillion in assets. When a bank fails, it reimburses customers for deposits of up to $250,000 per account. The outbreak of bank failures has significantly stretched the regulator’s deposit insurance fund. At Jun 30, 2009, the fund corpus fell to $10.4 billion, the lowest since 1993, from $13.0 billion in the prior quarter.

IberiaBank, based in Lafayette, Louisiana will assume both Florida-based banks' $2.731 billion in deposits. Iberiabank also entered into a loss-share agreement with the FDIC on $656 million of Century Bank's assets and on $1.9 billion of Orion Bank's assets.

Tustin, California-based Sunwest Bank will assume all of Pacific Coast National Bank's deposits and essentially all of its assets.

In the second quarter of 2009, the number of banks on the FDIC's list of problem institutions grew to 416 from 305 in the first quarter. This is the highest since the savings and loan crisis in 1994. 

Increasing loan losses on commercial real estate are expected to cause hundreds more bank failures in the next few years. The FDIC anticipates the bank failures to cost about $100 billion over the next four years.

In order to replenish the declining fund, the FDIC board recently mandated the U.S. banks to pay fees for three years in advance. Also, the regulators are considering requesting the healthy banks to bail out the government soon as it is necessary to replenish the deposit insurance fund, which has slipped to 0.22% of insured deposits, below the mandated minimum of 1.15%. The FDIC also has access to the Treasury Department credit line of up to $500 billion.

The failure of Washington Mutual last year was the largest in U.S. banking history. It was acquired by JPMorgan Chase (JPM). The other major acquirers of failed institutions since 2008 include Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Zions Bancorp (ZION), SunTrust Banks (STI) and PNC Financial (PNC).

Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5515.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

The strength in US dollar, based upon its safe-haven appeal, undermined investors' appetites for riskier, high-yielding assets such as equities as upside guidance from DJIA components Wal-Mart and Hewlett-Packard failed to stem the retreat.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 94 points, or 0.9%, to close at 10,197.47.  The S&P 500 retreated 11 points, or 1%, to close at 1,087.24, after climbing to an intraday high of 1,101.97.  The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index retreated 18 points, or 0.8%, to settle at 2,149.02.  On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outpaced those that advanced in price by a four-to-one margin as volume slowed to 828 million shares.

Twenty-six of the thirty Dow average components ended lower, with energy and financial shares leading the decliners.  The CBOE Vix volatility gauge jumped 5.21% to 24.24.  Gold prices fell $8 to $1106.60. 

On the S&P 500, shares of financial companies were the second-steepest decliners among the 10 industry groups, falling 1.8%.  Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) dropped 2.3% to $16.06 and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) fell 2.3% to $43.30.  Energy shares slumped 2% and led the decliners among 10 groups.  The falling shares wiped off an earlier advance in tech shares that was fueled by Hewlett-Packard Co.’s (NYSE:HPQ) takeover of 3Com Corp. (NASDAQ:COMS).

Meanwhile, the US Treasury said budget deficit widened to $176.4 billion in October, the largest October shortfall on record and the fifth largest monthly deficit ever.  Economists had expected a $150 billion shortfall.

The net proceeds from the offer came to $159,788,000. All of the 2010 notes that were tendered have been guaranteed for payment by Willis. The holders of the 2010 notes will be entitled to receive tender offer consideration of $1,027.50 per $1,000 principal amount of the 2010 notes, plus any accrued and unpaid interest.

The notes, which are guaranteed by Willis Group Holdings, carry ratings of Baa3 by Moody's and BBB- by S&P.

Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) were the joint book running managers for the sale.

Willis intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to purchase any and all of Willis North America's outstanding 5.125% senior notes due 2010 that are tendered and accepted in a separate offering. Any remaining proceeds will then be used for general corporate purposes.

Willis Group Holdings' second-quarter profit of 52 cents per share was just a penny ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Results reflected growth in Global operations (7% organic growth) and International (5%), partly offset by a fall in organic commissions and fees in North America (down 8%). Weak insurance markets coupled with the deepening U.S. economic crisis led to a decline in the North American segment's commissions and fees.

However, the company is experiencing strong organic growth in revenues from its International business and Global segments, with steady client retention levels and momentum from the "Shaping Our Future" growth initiatives contributing to the organic growth.

While we expect Willis to benefit from the rate stabilization in the reinsurance segment, we anticipate top-line growth to be curtailed as a result of the overall less-than-robust economic environment. Nevertheless, the company's cost-saving initiatives and capital-bolstering moves bode well. Hence we have a Neutral recommendation on the shares of Willis.

The benchmark S&P 500 index closed up 1% at 989.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9% to 9,217.94 and the Nasdaq Composite index gained 1.3% to 1,955.92.  About four stocks advanced for every one that declined.  Volume was light with only 991 million shares exchanging hands.  With investors back among equities, Treasuries declined, as the 2-year fell 1/32 and its yield rose to 1.028%, and the price of the 10-year eased 12/32 in price and its yield increased to 3.517%. The measure of market volatility, the CBOE Vix, reversed Tuesday's near-15% jump, retreating 6.1% to 26.18.

With no clear sings of a near-future rebound, and a shaky U.S. consumer continuing to hold dollars, investors appear nervous about the next leg of a rally that many feel has gone too far too fast.  This morning’s U.S. stock futures indicate shares are set to fall at the opening.  Technology stocks are expected to remain under pressure following last night’s cautious projections from Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ).    

On Tuesday, financial, industrial and technology stocks showed strength.  Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 2.8%.  Among financial issues, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) added 2.1%, while JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) rose 2.4%.  Key stocks yesterday fueled stock market gains.  The retail sector got a boost as Target (NYSE:TGT) reported better-than-expected results, helped by cost-cutting measures and lower inventories.  Home Depot (NYSE:HD) also beat expectations due to its lowered costs, and also raised its full-year guidance.

A number of shares also benefited from analyst upgrades, including American Express (NYSE:AXP), which was the leading gainer on the DJIA with its 4.3% advance.  The firm received a KBW upgrade to "outperform", citing "improving trends in credit."  Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) raised its rating of HSBC (NYSE:HBC) to "buy," noting its loan loss provisions may decline.  Broadpoint AmTech raised Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to "buy."

Gains were broad-based with nine of the ten S&P500 industry sectors recording gains.  Leading the gainers were basic materials (+1.8%), financials (+1.7%), industrials and technology shares (+1.5%) and oil and gas (+1.0%).  Only health care, a defensive sector, eased with a modest, 0.1% drop.

Meanwhile, Warren Buffett warned in a New York Times article that "Enormous dosages of monetary medicine continue to be administered and, before long, we will need to deal with their side effects."

Among the corporate results, Deere (NYSE:DE) and BJ Wholesale (NYSE:BJ) have reported their earnings. Limited (NYSE:LTD), Network Appliance (NASDAQ:NTAP), and Petsmart (NASDAQ:PETM) are also scheduled to report.

To make the list, a company had to have a current mean (average) estimate of over 50 cents, be a member of the S&P 500 and have at least three estimates for this year. The 50-cent restriction was put in to prevent small dollar changes that are huge percentage moves from dominating the list (going from a penny expected to a nickel). Having 3 or more estimates also helps insure it was not a fluke. The S&P 500 restriction was put in to make sure we are dealing with substantial companies.

Most likely these firms either reported much better than expected earnings, or communicated better times coming in their conference calls to the analysts after earnings were announced. Notice that there are companies from a wide variety of industries on this list. Often the best strategy is to pick stocks where the overall level of expectations is low -- for example, where the expected earnings level for this year is well below last year’s level, but where the analysts are starting to think that things might just be bad, not a disaster. The low level of earnings causes the stock price to be depressed, and when the worst does not happen, the stock rebounds.

Also, a consensus estimate in motion tends to remain in motion (notice how for most of the firms the 12-week change is larger than the 4-week change). If the analysts have been raising their estimates, they are far more likely to continue raising them than turn the other direction and start cutting them. Having a large number of estimates moving in the same direction has also been useful in predicting which direction a stock is likely to go in the near future.

This list is a good starting point to investigate companies that might be worth investing in.

I will post a second list with the stocks with the biggest estimate cuts shortly, which if they are in your portfolio should be candidates for culling from the herd.

Company	Ticker	2009 Zacks Consensus	4-Week % Change	Positive Revisions	Negative Revisions	EPS Growth	P/E
Intl Paper	IP	$0.60	400.00%	12	0	-70.30%	33.63
Fifth Third Bk	FITB	$0.77	201.85%	14	0	135.12%	12.57
Hess Corp	HES	$1.10	116.78%	7	1	-84.98%	49.8
Freept Mc Cop-B	FCX	$2.59	69.00%	10	1	-62.19%	24.45
Western Digital	WDC	$3.04	43.58%	11	0	19.56%	10.53
Caterpillar Inc	CAT	$1.49	32.59%	14	1	-73.67%	32.07
Avery Dennison	AVY	$1.78	27.18%	8	0	-41.76%	15.47
Franklin Resour	BEN	$3.34	21.46%	13	1	-49.95%	28.23
Cameron Intl	CAM	$2.22	19.04%	13	0	-17.01%	15.37
Apache Corp	APA	$4.86	18.07%	14	1	-58.18%	17.93
Noble Energy	NBL	$2.82	17.90%	12	1	-60.04%	21.44
Whirlpool Corp	WHR	$3.89	17.30%	5	0	-29.24%	15.87
Texas Instrs	TXN	$0.84	17.21%	25	1	-44.67%	28.66
Goldman Sachs	GS	$15.25	16.74%	16	1	241.21%	10.73
Gannett Inc	GCI	$1.53	15.69%	5	0	-57.54%	5.05
Wells Fargo-New	WFC	$1.66	15.18%	17	2	120.93%	17.36
Expedia Inc	EXPE	$1.13	14.97%	10	0	-1.67%	19.92
Jpmorgan Chase	JPM	$1.61	14.76%	10	3	93.75%	26.34
Eastman Chem Co	EMN	$2.89	14.07%	7	0	-35.83%	18.26
Coca-Cola Entrp	CCE	$1.50	14.00%	7	0	13.26%	12.99
Intuitive Surg	ISRG	$5.27	13.46%	12	0	2.95%	43.66
Black & Decker	BDK	$1.78	13.37%	9	0	-63.57%	23.25
Corning Inc	GLW	$1.17	12.08%	13	0	-25.76%	14.54
Autonation Inc	AN	$1.03	11.00%	6	1	2.73%	19.45
Whole Foods Mkt	WFMI	$0.85	10.93%	7	0	-19.98%	33.51
Radioshack Corp	RSH	$1.53	10.41%	15	0	0.54%	10.6
Newell Rubbermd	NWL	$1.26	10.23%	10	0	3.07%	11.02
Devon Energy	DVN	$2.99	10.12%	10	2	-69.78%	21.31
T Rowe Price	TROW	$1.42	9.91%	15	2	-22.13%	34.36
Pactiv Corp	PTV	$2.40	9.86%	8	0	37.20%	10.82
Iron Mountain	IRM	$0.94	9.75%	6	0	25.04%	31.46
3M Co	MMM	$4.19	9.32%	16	0	-18.74%	17.39
Fmc Tech Inc	FTI	$2.60	9.23%	10	0	-4.26%	16.76
Invesco Ltd	IVZ	$0.70	8.84%	13	2	-46.52%	29.51
Cf Indus Hldgs	CF	$7.60	8.75%	4	1	-47.29%	10.98
Amerisourcebrgn	ABC	$1.77	8.47%	13	1	22.54%	11.49
Tjx Cos Inc New	TJX	$2.36	8.29%	14	0	17.45%	15.03
Mylan Inc	MYL	$1.16	8.05%	14	0	45.00%	11.37

Chicago, IL – August 11, 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: JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo & Company (WFC), Zions Bancorp (ZION), BB&T Corp. (BBT) and Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB).

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 Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Bank Shutdowns Continue

In the first quarter of 2009, the number of banks on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) list of problem institutions jumped to 305. This is the maximum number since the savings and loan crisis in 1994.

Out of the 3 banks, 2 were Florida based and the other one was Oregon based. The FDIC has appointed receivers of the banks. According to the FDIC, the cost to the deposit insurance fund from the failure of the three banks will be around $185 million.

The First State Bank, of Sarasota, Fla. and the Community National Bank of Sarasota County of Venice, Fla. were sold to Stearns Bank of St. Cloud, Minnesota. The Community First Bank of Prineville, Oregon was sold to Home Federal Bancorp of Nampa, Idaho.

Total assets and deposits of First State Bank, Community National Bank and Community First Bank were $463 million and $387 million, $97 million and $93 million, and $209 million and $182 million, respectively.

The largest acquirers of failed U.S. banks during 2008 and 2009 include JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo & Company (WFC), Zions Bancorp (ZION), BB&T Corp. (BBT) and Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB).

Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5515.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

Regions Financial Corp. (RF), Comerica Inc. (CMA) and ZION Bancorporation (ZION) reported losses in the quarter primarily due to continued strain in their loan portfolios, as the commercial sector continues to droop in the prolonged recession.

Along with continued losses in their residential mortgage, home equity and consumer loan portfolios, these banks are also showing continued distress in their residential and commercial development loans, as well as commercial real estate loans.

Large-cap center banks and brokerage firms like Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) were able to somewhat offset weak credit metrics by strong results in their investment banking and mortgage refinancing divisions.

Regional banks, however, are much more directly connected to the state of the economy and the interest rate spreads. Weak demand for lending as a result of a shaky economy can severely affect their profitability as borrowers, thereby increasing nonperforming assets.

The mounting credit concerns suggest that a majority of the regional banks reporting their earnings in the coming week will report losses. Banks reporting this week are Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Huntington Bancshares Inc. (HBAN), PNC Financial Services Inc. (PNC), SunTrust Banks, Inc. (STI), KeyCorp (KEY) and US Bancorp (USB).

Though commercial loan losses are seen as the final stage of a downtrend in a credit cycle, it still remains to be seen just how severe it turns out to be.

If you are anything like me you have spent more than a year avoiding anything with "bank", "financial", or "investments" in the company's name. However, over the past week some of Wall Street's giants have exceeded expectations and have a brighter outlook on the future.

Equity markets have been on a tear since early March, rising roughly 40% in just a few months. Prior to several key bank announcements the indices have leveled off as investors began to seek validation for the sharp rise and it looks like they have found it.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) reported a 36% rise in net income as earnings per share of 28 cents easily beat the consensus of 4 cents. Goldman Sachs Group (GS) also topped forecasts. On July 14 the investment bank announced second-quarter results that included earnings per share of $4.93, well above the consensus of $3.52. Earnings were up 35 cents year-over-year.

So...Rush Back to Financials?

Not so fast. After you look deeper into the numbers you will see that these record revenues stem from a favorable trading environment, which is not always the case. Not to mention the life line thrown to banks by the government in an effort to prevent an, arguably, inevitable financial collapse.

Also, JPMorgan's earnings are still down from last year.

And don't forget about the turmoil surrounding commercial lender CIT Group (CIT) which is facing a possible bankruptcy and/or a government bail out.

What's Your Point?

What I am trying to say is that while the financial industry is no longer the investment quick sand it used to be, but as with any area due diligence and common sense is still king. Smaller banks remain volatile as the titans of the industry soak up marketshare and government funding.

I screened for a few companies in the sector that hold a Zacks rank of #1 or #2, price-to-book ratio of between 0.5 and 2.0, and upward movement in the full-year consensus estimate for this year.

Some of the companies I currently like are:

Goldman Sachs Group (GS) in addition to the brief earnings info I mentioned before, I also like Goldman because of favorable upgrades from analysts, including Meredith Whitney. The consensus estimate for 2009 is up $3.59, to $13.61, over the past 3 months, including 54 cents since the announcement. Estimates for next year are averaging $14.50, up from $12.08 over the same time period.

Deutsche Bank (DB) is trading at a good value and has massive upward revisions. The consensus for this year is pegged at $6.36, up from $3.78 over the past 3 months. Compared to the $11 loss from last year and you have solid growth. Not only that, but shares will cost you just 7.5 times earnings.

Piper Jaffray (PJC) is another investment bank that is turning the corner and emerging from the abyss. Estimates for this year are now averaging a $0.25, up from a 17 cent loss after all 4 covering analysts have raised forecasts. The consensus estimate for next year is $1.40, up 45 cents after 6 revisions amongst the analysts. Compare this to the $2.35 loss last year, and you have triple-digit growth for the next 2 years.

In Closing

Like I said earlier, it is time to pull our heads out of the sand and start considering financials again. Now, more aggressive investors probably did this a while ago, so this is geared toward those of us burned by financial institutions in the recent past.

However, don't just dump it into a diversified fund that contains those banks still suffering. Pick a handful of solid financials and beef up the once neglected segment of your portfolio.

Additional Resources

Research Wizard Trial Offer - Screen for you own stocks for FREE, with a 2-week trial offer. Zacks Investment Research

Chicago, IL – July 10, 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: Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and US Bancorp (USB).

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:

CRE Mauling to Continue

Clearly, as more companies downsize and retailers close their doors, small and regional banks may experience substantial risk of severe losses from commercial real estate loans. The pressures are not expected to improve until economic improvements are experienced -- specifically, when consumers and businesses start spending money again.

With unemployment hitting 9.5% in June 2009, new construction projects have come to a virtual standstill, which moderates the number of construction jobs that are being worked on and moderates tax revenue for local governments. Currently, the national commercial real estate market is not expected to hit bottom for at least three years.

Recently it was noted that the Federal Reserve has been focusing commercial real estate loans banks' books as losses from the sector continue to expand. As such, the Fed has expanded its training of its bank examiners in order to be prepared to deal with rising losses from the commercial real estate industry.

While small and regional banks would experience hits, institutions such as (but not limited to) Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and US Bancorp (USB) as well.

Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5515.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ZacksInvestment

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

Joining them will be 25 other members of the S&P 500, including Goldman Sachs (GS) and Google (GOOG). Overall, 83 companies are scheduled to report. Though the total size of the calendar is not large, its composition could significantly influence market direction.

Minutes from the June Fed meeting will be released on Wednesday afternoon and could lead to volatility in the bond markets.

• Monday: June Treasury Budget
• Tuesday: June Producer Price Index (PPI), June retail sales, May business inventories
• Wednesday: June Consumer Price Index (CPI), July Empire State (NY) Index, June industrial production and capacity utilization, Fed minutes, weekly crude inventories
• Thursday: July Phili Fed survey, July National Association of Homebuilders Index, weekly initial jobless claims
• Friday: June housing starts and building permits

No Fed officials are currently scheduled to speak.

July stock options expire on Friday.

Wednesday could be the most volatile day, given the large amount of earnings and economic news. Overall, we'll be looking for positive earnings surprises, confirmation that the second half will be better than the first half and buying in reaction to good news.

Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises

Four of 15 covering brokerage analysts have increased their second-quarter profit projections on W.W. Grainger (GWW) over the past few weeks. As a result, the consensus estimate now calls for per share earnings of $1.15 per share. The most accurate estimate is 2 cents higher at $1.17 per share. GWW has topped expectations for 5 consecutive quarters.

Recent revisions by 3 brokerage analysts have pushed the second-quarter consensus estimate for Google (GOOG) up 4 cents to $4.35 per share. The most accurate estimate is even more bullish at $4.40 per share. GOOG has topped expectations for 3 consecutive quarters. Google is scheduled to report on Thursday, Jul 16, after the close of trading.

Five analysts raised their second-quarter estimates on Intel (INTC) within the past 30 days. Though the changes were not enough to budge the consensus estimate from its current level of 7 cents per share, the revisions suggest there could be upside. Both Micron (MU) and National Semiconductor (NSM) have already topped expectations and Texas Instruments (TXN) raised its second-quarter guidance. Plus, INTC has topped estimates during 4 out of the last 5 quarters. Intel is scheduled to report on Tuesday, Jul 14, after the close.

One analyst just raised his second-quarter profit forecast on Wolverine World Wide (WWW). The revision pushed the consensus estimate a penny higher to 26 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is 3 cents higher at 29 cents per share. WWW has topped expectations during 3 out of the last 4 quarters. Wolverine Worldwide is scheduled to report on Wednesday, Jul 15, before the start of trading.

Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises

The ongoing recession is having an impact on Harley-Davidson (HOG). The motorcycle manufacturer has missed expectations for 3 consecutive quarters and analysts are bracing for more bad news. During the past 30 days, the second-quarter consensus estimate has declined 2 cents to 26 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is even more bearish at 24 cents per share. Harley-Davidson is scheduled to report on Thursday, Jul 16, before the start of trading.

Charles Rotblut, CFA is the senior market analyst for Zacks.com.

Earnings Calendar

Here is a list of companies that we have confirmed will report during the week of Jun 13 - Jul 17¹. Prices are as of Thursday's, Jul 9, market close.

Company	Stock	Zacks Estimate	Year Ago EPS	Last Qtr Surprise	Date	Time	Price
Csx Corp	CSX	$0.63	$0.89	14.8%	7/13	AMC	$31.84
Fastenal	FAST	$0.33	$0.51	(2.9%)	7/13	BTO	$30.64
Gsc Investment	GNV	$0.38	$0.39	11.9%	7/13	AMC	$2.53
Merix Corp	MERX	($0.39)	($0.17)	(71.4%)	7/13	N/A	$0.75
Novellus Sys	NVLS	($0.38)	$0.06	7.8%	7/13	AMC	$17.77
Bank Ozarks	OZRK	$0.53	$0.51	5.8%	7/13	AMC	$22.11
Aar Corp	AIR	$0.47	$0.51	(6.5%)	7/14	AMC	$14.44
Altera Corp	ALTR	$0.16	$0.32	6.3%	7/14	AMC	$15.86
Goldman Sachs	GS	$3.24	$4.58	N/A	7/14	BTO	$143.21
Intel Corp	INTC	$0.07	$0.29	266.7%	7/14	AMC	$16.02
Johnson & Johns	JNJ	$1.11	$1.18	4.1%	7/14	BTO	$56.69
Ocean Power Tec	OPTT	($0.46)	N/A	34.0%	7/14	N/A	$5.29
Palm Harbor Hms	PHHM	($0.30)	($0.05)	20.7%	7/14	AMC	$2.03
Xoma Ltd	XOMA	($0.08)	($0.16)	500.0%	7/14	AMC	$0.75
Yum! Brands Inc	YUM	$0.43	$0.45	20.00%	7/14	AMC	$35.00
Abbott Labs	ABT	$0.88	$0.84	4.3%	7/15	BTO	$45.93
Acergy Sa	ACGY	$0.16	$0.35	25.0%	7/15	DMT	$9.40
Adtran Inc	ADTN	$0.28	$0.34	4.3%	7/15	BTO	$20.74
Asml Holding Nv	ASML	($0.33)	$0.44	(16.1%)	7/15	BTO	$21.67
Commerce Bancsh	CBSH	$0.39	$0.73	(15.7%)	7/15	BTO	$31.72
Crown Hldgs Inc	CCK	$0.66	$0.61	33.3%	7/15	AMC	$23.60
Cintas Corp	CTAS	$0.36	$0.58	(2.1%)	7/15	AMC	$21.73
Gannett Inc	GCI	$0.37	$1.02	8.7%	7/15	BTO	$3.19
Grainger W W	GWW	$1.15	$1.48	16.8%	7/15	BTO	$78.31
Kinder Morg Eng	KMP	$0.28	$0.64	(57.1%)	7/15	N/A	$51.16
Landstar System	LSTR	$0.40	$0.56	(6.9%)	7/15	AMC	$34.45
Lufkin Inds	LUFK	$0.42	$1.36	(47.9%)	7/15	BTO	$38.95
Medtox Scientif	MTOX	$0.10	$0.22	(28.6%)	7/15	BTO	$8.95
Knight Cap Gp	NITE	$0.36	$0.32	6.4%	7/15	BTO	$16.71
Polycom Inc	PLCM	$0.22	$0.24	(35.0%)	7/15	AMC	$20.07
Resources Cnctn	RECN	$0.04	$0.35	(28.6%)	7/15	AMC	$16.55
Stanley Furn Co	STLY	($0.20)	($0.01)	(340.0%)	7/15	AMC	$10.82
Texas Inds	TXI	($0.04)	$0.49	1350.0%	7/15	BTO	$29.84
Univl Fst Prods	UFPI	$0.43	$0.61	71.4%	7/15	AMC	$32.24
Worthington Ind	WOR	($0.01)	$0.72	500.0%	7/15	BTO	$11.19
Wolverine World	WWW	$0.26	$0.33	36.7%	7/15	BTO	$21.16
Xilinx Inc	XLNX	$0.20	$0.36	11.1%	7/15	AMC	$19.46
Angiodynamics	ANGO	$0.15	$0.20	25.0%	7/16	AMC	$12.34
Amphenol Corp-A	APH	$0.42	$0.61	2.5%	7/16	BTO	$31.54
Aracruz Cel-Adr	ARA	($1.19)	$0.69	N/A	7/16	BTO	$14.82
Assoc Banc Corp	ASBC	($0.16)	$0.37	12.0%	7/16	DMT	$12.18
Aptargroup Inc	ATR	$0.40	$0.64	2.7%	7/16	AMC	$32.42
Baxter Intl	BAX	$0.94	$0.85	2.5%	7/16	BTO	$52.64
Biogen Idec Inc	BIIB	$0.97	$0.91	5.0%	7/16	BTO	$45.43
Badger Meter	BMI	$0.54	$0.48	23.7%	7/16	AMC	$38.26
Cubist Pharm	CBST	$0.28	$0.34	(7.1%)	7/16	AMC	$16.79
Courier Corp	CRRC	$0.23	$0.25	(37.5%)	7/16	BTO	$14.50
Cypress Semicon	CY	($0.39)	$0.17	(26.1%)	7/16	BTO	$8.77
Cytec Inds Inc	CYT	$0.01	$1.20	(80.7%)	7/16	AMC	$18.28
Datalink Corp	DTLK	$0.02	$0.08	16.7%	7/16	AMC	$4.21
Fairchild Semi	FCS	($0.12)	$0.17	3.0%	7/16	BTO	$7.06
Google Inc-Cl A	GOOG	$4.35	$3.92	22.6%	7/16	AMC	$410.39
Genuine Parts	GPC	$0.62	$0.81	14.3%	7/16	BTO	$32.56
Harley-Davidson	HOG	$0.27	$0.95	(3.9%)	7/16	BTO	$15.67
Home Bancshares	HOMB	$0.20	$0.28	16.7%	7/16	BTO	$18.99
Intl Bus Mach	IBM	$2.03	$1.98	1.8%	7/16	N/A	$102.08
Insteel Inds	IIIN	($0.04)	$0.97	(2250.0%)	7/16	BTO	$7.83
Jpmorgan Chase	JPM	$0.18	$0.57	29.0%	7/16	BTO	$33.62
Knoll Inc	KNL	$0.21	$0.49	52.6%	7/16	BTO	$7.19
Marriott Intl-A	MAR	$0.21	$0.51	71.4%	7/16	BTO	$19.72
Mb Financl Inc	MBFI	($0.31)	$0.42	(3033.3%)	7/16	BTO	$11.08
Mission West	MSW	$0.14	$0.12	7.7%	7/16	N/A	$6.40
Nokia Cp-Adr A	NOK	$0.17	$0.56	(7.1%)	7/16	BTO	$14.28
Novartis Ag-Adr	NVS	$0.86	$0.99	0.0%	7/16	N/A	$40.05
Nexen Inc	NXY	$0.30	$0.70	766.7%	7/16	BTO	$19.82
Peoples Utd Fin	PBCT	$0.07	$0.13	(20.0%)	7/16	AMC	$15.12
Polaris Indus	PII	$0.48	$0.72	30.0%	7/16	BTO	$31.07
Ppg Inds Inc	PPG	$0.76	$1.62	53.8%	7/16	BTO	$42.11
Renaissnce Lrng	RLRN	$0.11	$0.12	44.4%	7/16	AMC	$8.94
Simmons First A	SFNC	$0.31	$0.42	8.8%	7/16	BTO	$26.28
Sonoco Products	SON	$0.36	$0.62	(3.3%)	7/16	BTO	$23.16
Umpqua Hldgs Cp	UMPQ	($0.07)	$0.17	(2400.0%)	7/16	BTO	$7.62
Usa Truck Inc	USAK	$0.03	$0.21	(200.0%)	7/16	BTO	$13.59
Smith (Ao) Corp	AOS	$0.54	$1.03	(29.3%)	7/17	BTO	$31.87
Bank Of Amer Cp	BAC	$0.17	$0.72	940.0%	7/17	BTO	$11.97
Bb&T Corp	BBT	$0.22	$0.69	45.5%	7/17	BTO	$20.86
Citigroup Inc	C	($0.05)	($0.49)	25.0%	7/17	BTO	$2.69
First Hrzn Natl	FHN	($0.32)	($0.10)	(62.5%)	7/17	BTO	$11.38
Genl Electric	GE	$0.24	$0.54	13.0%	7/17	BTO	$10.86
Mattel Inc	MAT	$0.02	$0.03	0.0%	7/17	BTO	$15.45
Marshall&Ilsley	MI	($0.68)	($1.52)	(37.5%)	7/17	BTO	$4.50
Prosperity Bcsh	PRSP	$0.50	$0.52	1.9%	7/17	BTO	$28.94
Webster Finl Cp	WBS	($0.43)	$0.42	(112.0%)	7/17	BTO	$7.86

BTO = Before The Market Open, AMC = After The Market Close

¹Some of the companies listed in the earnings calendar may not be in the Zacks Rank universe.

Zacks Investment Research

Chicago, IL – July 9, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights MIPS Technologies (MIPS) as the Bull of the Day and Altria Group (MO) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

MIPS Technologies (MIPS) develops embedded processors and intellectual property for use in performance-oriented markets such as digital entertainment, wired and wireless communications (including broadband access), office automation, security and automotive markets.

The firm continues to drive bottom-line margins higher in a very difficult environment. The valuation on MIPS has become very compelling as the stock has shed significant value from its 52-week high and the new acquisition has the potential to drive margin expansion.

Further, MIPS recently sold its analog business, which is highly accretive. We would be buyers of the stock at these levels.

Bear of the Day:

Altria Group (MO) is the leading domestic tobacco company, which generates significant cash flow and the stock has a high dividend yield. In an effort to expand into adjacent categories, Altria acquired UST, the world's leading moist smokeless tobacco manufacturer.

However, the company is engaged in numerous tobacco liability suits. Several large punitive damage awards have been upheld, most recently the $79.5 million judgment in the Williams case in 2009.

In addition, the 150+% federal excise tax increase should dramatically reduce cigarette volume. A Sell rating is recommended.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

Even Landlords May Be Hurting

2Q09 asking rent fell 0.7% year-over-year to $1,040 a month, and down 0.6% from on a linked quarter basis. In the U.S.’s largest U.S.’s apartment market, New York, vacancies fell 0.5% on a linked quarter basis and a 4.0% declined year-over-yearto 2.9%, despite a 1.7% decrease in rent to the $2,680 level. In addition, other areas of the country (such as Las Vegas, San Francisco and San Jose, California) had effective rents that dropped more than 2.0% year-over-year.

Nationally the picture may grow worse, with approximately 45% of the more than 100,000 units from new construction for 2009 already on the market. As unemployment has continued to mount, the largest tenant group -- 18-24-year-olds -- has been hardest hit.

With general expectations of an economic recovery pushed back to early 2010, lower rents and higher vacancies should be expected to continue over the near term.

With the apartment buildings sector typically the leader for all commercial real estate categories with respect to defaults, it is extremely probable that financial institutions such as (but not limited to) Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) will continue to experience negative commercial real estate credit quality trends during the coming quarters.

Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

About the Analyst Blog

Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous analyst coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today by visiting http://at.zacks.com/?id=5508.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5509.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ZacksInvestment

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

Chicago, IL – July 9, 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: Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), US Bancorp (USB) and Wells Fargo (WFC).

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 Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Mortgage Fraud on the Rise

There typically two types of mortgage fraud. The first, fraud for property focuses on applicants making misstatements to obtain a loan (embellishing income and concealing debt), and the second fraud for profit focuses on elaborate schemes to focus on falsifying appraisals and loan documents, which include identity theft and shell companies.

Reports of fraud have not moderated during the 1H09 as losses are $208 million higher compared to the year ago level. The FBI believes attempts have the potential to spread as expectations for the current economic downward trend is expected to continue into 2009 and perhaps into 2010.

The top 10 mortgage fraud states were California, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Colorado, Maryland, Florida, Missouri and New York. Therefore it its extremely probable that financial institutions such as but not limited to Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), US Bancorp (USB) and Wells Fargo (WFC) will continue to experience negative credit quality trends during the coming quarters.

Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5515.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ZacksInvestment

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

Chicago, IL - July 7, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research highlights Sohu.com, Inc. (SOHU) as the Bull of the Day and Cousins Properties (CUZ) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) and Zions Bancorporation Pharmaceuticals (ZION).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Sohu.com, Inc. (SOHU) is the second-largest Internet portal and one of the most well-known online brands in China. Sohu's pipeline for its new online games remains strong and is expected to drive meaningful growth in late 2009 and 2010.

The company spun-off part of its gaming division Changyou.com via an ADS offering, which is expected to increase user base and help gain shares in the MMORPG market. We are also encouraged by the company's growing cash balance as well as its debt free balance sheet.

We believe that the current stock price does not fully reflect the company's intrinsic value. Concerns are related to online ad spending, as consumers remain cautious in their spending. We maintain our Buy rating on the shares of SOHU with a six-month target price of $75.00.

Bear of the Day:

Cousins Properties (CUZ) reported 1Q FFO of $0.15 per share, $0.10 lower than our estimates due to higher expenses and lower top line revenue. CUZ has a concentration of assets in Atlanta and Dallas, two markets with increasing downtown and suburban office vacancies.

In addition, the company s retail portfolio continues to struggle. While the company's office portfolio performed relatively well in the 1st quarter, we think operations will deteriorate.

The dividend was cut 32% in an effort to conserve cash. Another cut could be coming in 2009 if conditions do not improve.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

Yet More Banks Recession Victims

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) was appointed receiver of the following 7 failed banks: The John Warner Bank of Clinton, First State Bank of Winchester, Rock River Bank of Oregon, Elizabeth State Bank, Founders Bank, First National Bank of Danville and Millennium State Bank of Texas. FDIC arranged for other institutions to assume all the deposits and branches of the failed banks.

The FDIC estimates total cost to the deposit insurance fund from the failure of these banks to be approximately $314 million. The deposit insurance fund now stands at its lowest level since 1993 - $13 billion as of the end of March 31, 2009.

The largest acquirers of U.S. bank failures during 2008 and 2009 include JPMorgan Chase (JPM) (acquired Washington Mutual), Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) (acquired Wachovia Bank) and Zions Bancorporation Pharmaceuticals (ZION) (acquired Alliance Bank).

Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

About the Analyst Blog

Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous analyst coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today by visiting http://at.zacks.com/?id=5508.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5509.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ZacksInvestment

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

Mr. Dimon is in favor of strengthening existing regulators versus the creation of new ones. The regulatory revamping should result in efficient government oversight.

Even though the U.S. financial industry does require reform, we must also remember that the regulators have played a key role in the tightness of credit within the last year. Too soon we forget that the regulators were questioning financial institutions - such as but not limited to Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC) and U.S. Bancorp (USB) - about why they were writing certain types of loans, while the legislative branch of our government was asking why aren't they writing certain types of loans. Clearly we cannot have it both ways, without causing the system to completely freeze up.

Yesterday, Wall Street responded with a yawn to Obama Administration's announcement that 10 of the largest banks could repay $68 billion of government bailout cash.  Although Treasury Secretary Geithner, appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, noted the repayment of the bailout money was a sign of "financial repair," stocks swung back and forth in a narrow range, signaling the much-expected announcement from the Treasury packed few surprises.  Technology stocks, buoyed by Texas Instruments' (NYSE:TXN) better-than-expected earnings and sales outlook, pushed Nasdaq higher while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and broad based S&P 500 index ended the day mixed.  The Tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 17.73 points, or 0.96%, to close at 1860.13.  The DJIA slipped about 0.1% to close at 8,763.06.  The S&P added 0.4% to close at 942.43. 

Some big financial institutions have been eager to escape increased federal involvement and the restrictions that come with being part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.  Although the Treasury did not name the banks cleared to pay back the TARP funds, the ten institutions quickly confirmed they have been allowed to exit the government's financial assistance program.  Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), American Express (NYSE:AXP), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK), BB&T (NYSE:BBT), Capital One (NYSE:COF), Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS), State Street (NYSE:STT) and US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) were cleared to pay back the rescue funds.  Commenting on the move, JP Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon noted, "Paying back TARP at this time is the right thing for JPMorgan Chase, and it's the right thing for our country."  Financial sector shares edged up 0.4%, with American Express (NYSE:AXP) topping the list of gainers on the DJIA with a 5% jump, as traders were relieved that the industry's rising rates of card delinquencies and the potential for increased attendant loan losses had not prevented government approval of its repayments.

Following Texas Instruments' (NYSE:TXN) improved guidance, semiconductor shares rallied with Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) closing up 3.1%, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) rising 3.4%, and National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM) closing up 4.4%. According to a Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) analyst note, Microchip Tech (NASDAQ:MCHP) has been witnessing improved China orders.  BofA raised its price target on the company to $23.

Crude prices went beyond $70 per barrel on hopes a stronger economy will lift demand.  Dollar prices continued to remain under pressure.  Although concerns linger over the state of the world economy, commodities have recorded sharp gains recently as investors have increasingly turned towards crude to hedge against a weak dollar.  Yesterday's $35 billion auction of 3-year Treasuries met with strong demand, however, as a yield of 1.96% topped expectations, and the bid-to-cover ratio equaled 2.8%. Today's calendar is for $19 billion in 10-year notes, with $11 billion 30-years slated for tomorrow.  However, investors remain concerned that rising short-term interest rates will squeeze banking industry's net interest margins, in a sector that has already seen a 73% price run-up over the past three months.

Meanwhile, late Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal from three Indiana state funds, consumer groups and others, clearing the way for the sale of most of Chrysler's assets to Italy's Fiat Group SpA. 

Afternoon sentiment will reflect release of the Fed's latest take on regional economic conditions, revealed in its Beige Book at 2:00 AM ET. The report is likely to recount the well-aired areas of economic weakness, namely, depressed housing markets, soft consumer demand, deteriorating employment opportunities, and downward price pressures. Indications of an economic recovery's "green shoots" of growth may help boost sentiment.

The Treasury Department cleared the way for as many as ten large banks to return $68 billion in bailout funds on Tuesday in a move that will ease rising concern among these companies regarding federal interference in matters of corporate governance.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), American Express Co. (AXP), U.S. Bancorp (USB), Capital One Financial Corp. (COF), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) and BB&T Corp. (BBT) are among the banks that have confirmed receiving permission from regulators to refund Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money.

Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said, "These repayments are an encouraging sign of financial repair, but we still have work to do." Congress had created the $700 billion TARP fund last October to rescue beleaguered banks that threatened to capsize as the financial crisis deepened.

The Treasury had initially estimated about $25 billion of taxpayers' money to be returned this year. However, as banks scurried to ward off government checks on executive payment, so far 22 small community banks have already repaid $1.9 billion of those funds. With larger banks now lining up to return their share, the government might be able to help other struggling financial organizations.

These large banks will remain under pressure, however, at least until they are able to rid themselves of preferred shares they issued to the government under terms of the bailout program. Moreover, with the Obama administration chalking basic guidelines on executive compensation at large corporations, including those that have repaid TARP funds, these banks have more to worry about than just the state of the economy.

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:

The Commercial Loan Disconnect

In what appears to be a significant number of cases after about a year of negotiations, the crevasse between buyer and seller has yet to be crossed. We agree that many of these loans are not worth 100% of the face amount, and most will not sell for 30% of the face amount either. Unfortunately, we suspect that in the financial institutions were to sell these loans at what could be fetched current in the market; in many cases, the losses that would need to be recorded could ultimately become basically insolvent overnight.

The answer for many institutions -- put some money into the project and become landlord. As such, many of these properties are performing "satisfactorily" now as income properties, but are willing to be sold at a "reasonable" price (whatever that many be).

However, the next big unknown is what the future will hold for commercial property valuation. Currently, commercial property valuations are down 25-30% nationwide. As such, the commercial markets nationally are not expected to recover until mid-2010. This would lead us to believe there will be continued earnings uncertainty over the near-term for institutions such as, but not limited to, Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Corus Bankshares (CORS).

Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2677

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=4580.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

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:

Banks Seek Cash to Avoid TARP

The Fed is expected to announce repayment approvals for some of the banks during the next week, and periodically thereafter.

In addition to other criteria laid down earlier, like demonstrating an ability to access the debt markets without reliance on the FDIC's Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP) and maintaining an extra capital cushion to protect against a worsening economy, the banks now must also demonstrate an ability to successfully access the public equity markets.

As a result, some of the big banks (including those which were not required to do so by the regulators after the stress tests) have announced additional capital-raising plans to demonstrate their ability to access the public equity markets. Yesterday, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) announced its plans to raise $5 billion in common equity and it hopes to repay TARP before the end of this month. American Express (AXP) also announced a $500 million offering of its common stock, saying it may use the funds to repay TARP.

This morning, Morgan Stanley (MS) also joined the bandwagon with the plans to raise $2.2 billion in common equity. At the same time, Bank of America (BAC) said that it had raised almost $33 billion of the $33.9 billion required by regulators after the stress tests.

As the credit markets have improved a lot now, the stronger banks are issuing debt without guarantee from the FDIC. And as the hopes for the recovery of the economy are getting stronger, the banks are having no problem raising the equity.

Cautious on The Medicines Company

Management at The Medicines Co. (MDCO) has notified all clinical investigators to halt future testing of Cangrelor in the CHAMPION setting. Discontinuing CHAMPION will save The Medicines Company approximately $5 million in R&D costs during the second half of the year.

But the failure is significant to our forward-looking income statement. We had previously believed that Cangrelor would be on the market and posting sales of $125 million in 2012, growing to $185 million in 2013. The removal of all Cangrelor sales drops our 2012 EPS estimate from $1.02 to $0.53, and our 2013 estimate from $1.24 to $0.44.

Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2677

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=4580.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

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 Monday's Analyst Blog:

Citigroup Moves Up Morgan JV

It would seem that Citigroup (C) is far from just taking it on the chin [after being dropped from the Dow components this morning]. To that end, both Morgan Stanley (MS) and Citigroup today announced that they have closed their previously announced wealth management joint venture ahead of schedule. The joint venture was targeted for completion during 3Q09. The joint venture will operate under the banner Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

The entity combines Morgan Stanley's Global Wealth Management Group with Citi's Smith Barney in the U.S., Quilter in the UK, and Smith Barney Australia retail units. This newly combined global new wealth management firm currently has 18,500 financial advisers in 1,000 brokerage locations.

With Citigroup's removal from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, that just leaves two traditional banks remaining within the index -- Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM). The inclusion of Travelers (TRV) could be viewed as an attempt to restore some of the financial industry's representation in the Dow.

Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2677

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=4580.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

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 Friday's Analyst Blog:

Investors Seek to Make Owners Rent

In some select markets, even with foreclosures still looming, bidding wars are actually occurring.

In Phoenix for example, a large supply of foreclosed families who can no longer qualify for a loan has spurred investor interest to turn as many of these families as possible into rent-paying tenants in the very homes they used to own. The bidding war is generally from absentee buyers (investor or vacation properties), which currently represents 4 out of 10 homes sold in the Phoenix metropolitan area as of April. This is about double the level experienced for 2007.

Homes that sold originally for $225,000, now have been sold for $80,000-110,000. Great news for the investor, unless the population contracts.

Similar antidotal data appears to be occurring in the California markets of such as Carlsbad, Oceanside and Vista, but only at much higher prices in the $350,000-400,000 range.

For the banks such as (but not limited to) Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), US Bancorp (USB), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), their respective Other Real Estate Owned (OREO) levels may not expand as these homes sell, but we would expect the need for additional substantial write-offs and provisions from the valuation of these sold homes has been cut more than in half.

Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2677

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=4580.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Balanced Funds.

3 Solid Picks

Fidelity Advisor Freedom Inc A (FAFAX) seeks high total return with a secondary objective of principal preservation. It invests in a combination of underlying Fidelity equity, fixed-income, and short-term funds using a moderate asset allocation strategy designed for investors already in retirement.

Jonathan Shelon has been the lead manager at the fund since July 2003. The fund has an expense ratio of 0.25%.

Unit holders have to make a minimum initial investment of $2,500 to enter FAFAX. The fund distributes dividends monthly and capital gains semi-annually.

Schwab Retirement Income (SWARX) was incepted in June 2005. It seeks current income with capital appreciation as a secondary consideration.

The fund invests in a combination of Schwab funds and Laudus funds in accordance with the target portfolio allocation. The target asset allocation is adjusted annually based on the adviser's strategy.

The fund's total returns have outperformed its benchmark index in the last 1-and 3-year periods. Its expense ratio is 0.10%.

MFS Lifetime Retirement Income (MLLAX) seeks total return through a combination of current income and capital appreciation.

The fund is primarily focused on bond funds for income potential with a portion allocated to stock funds for continued growth. As of January 2009, its portfolio return was 26%.

Apple Inc. (AAPL), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Danaher Corp. (DHR) are among the top stock holdings at the fund.

Discover Many More Funds

Learn more about the new Zacks Mutual Fund Rank and discover some of the best market-beating mutual funds by browsing our new mutual funds section. This part of Zacks.com offers a variety of tools, including mutual fund research, a new mutual fund screener, helpful answers to frequently asked questions and quick access to prospectuses and other information.

By applying the Zacks Rank to mutual funds, investors can find funds that not only outpaced the market in the past but are also expected to outperform going forward.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) reportedly sold $1 billion of bonds on Friday that will be backed by credit cards loans amid strong demand from investors.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the size of the sale increased from an initial target of $700 million and was not eligible from funding under the Federal Reserve's Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF).

The top-rated securities with a maturity of 2.067 years sold at 115 basis points over the benchmark swap rate. This is the first credit-card bond sale so far into 2009 that is not backed by the TALF.

Earlier on Friday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that in spite of a slow start in March, investors were finally warming up to the TALF program that was launched with the aim of sparking consumer and business lending.

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

Bull of the Day

Transocean Ltd. (RIG) reported strong first-quarter 2009 results driven by solid contribution from the high-specification floaters and significant cost control measures. Transocean continues to generate significant cash flows supported by a $36 billion backlog, which is of a very high credit quality.

The company is deploying its ample cash flows to strengthen its balance sheet and invest in its newbuild program.

Our Buy recommendation remains unchanged, though we have lowered our estimates to reflect a relatively softer outlook for the mid-water and jack-up fleet. Our new 2009 and 2010 EPS estimates are $13.10 and $12.85, down from $14.26 and $14.95, respectively.

Bear of the Day

We are maintaining our Sell recommendation on Gerdau S.A. (GGB) based on poor first quarter results and a huge decrease in demand for steel worldwide.

The huge decline in steel prices and the international economic slowdown creates a more challenging business environment for the steel industry. The company's strategy to grow through acquisitions based on debt is contributing to the negative news.

Moreover, huge exposure to the U.S. market during a recession is a major concern. Our target price is $5.75 per share.

Recent Analysis from the Analyst Blog

New Financial Sector Pay Rules

New compensation rules are likely to be issued as a part of broader financial-markets regulation reforms that the Treasury is currently working on. Earlier this year, the government had issued guidelines limiting salaries for top executives at firms that received bailout funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

Currently many banks, including Goldman Sachs (GS), JP Morgan Chase (JPM) and US Bancorp (USB) are preparing to repay TARP funds mainly to escape the government restriction and oversight on compensation. New rules would bring back these companies under government oversight on compensation.

An era of deregulation and a compensation structure that rewarded excessive risk-taking created the financial mess that we are in. While micromanagement of the financial sector by the government is undesirable, we certainly need to prevent any excessive risk taking behavior in the future, as also ensure that incentives are tied to long-term performance.

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

About the Analyst Blog

Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today by visiting http://at.zacks.com/?id=2677.

About Zacks 

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks InvestmentResearch is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=4582.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:Mark VickeryWeb Content Editor312-265-9380Visit: www.zacks.com

The Dow Jones Industrial Average witnessed its steepest fall in three weeks, shedding 156 points, or 1.8% and the broader S&P 500 index declined 20 points, or 2.1%.  Volume on the NYSE was a moderate 1.49 billion shares.  Sentiment was negative as declining stocks beat advancing issues by a seven-to-three margin.

On Monday, U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF), KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY), Principal Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:PFG) and BB&T Corp. (NYSE:BBT) announced plans to sell stock. BB&T (NYSE:BBT) also announced plans to reduce its dividend.  Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had also announced Friday to sell 1.25 billion shares. 

American Express (NYSE:AXP) declined 8.3% to $26.04 and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), which does not need fresh capital infusion, dropped 8% to $35.83.  Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) and American Express (NYSE:AXP) announced plans to repay TARP funds through new share issuances. The firms, though, do not need to address stress-test needs with additional capital cushions.  Capital One (NYSE:COF) declined 14% to $27.10 and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) lost 9.9% to $18.50.  BB&T (NYSE:BBT) dropped 7.6% to $24.34.

Nevertheless, financial firms were not the only ones needing to raise cash.  Automaker Ford (NYSE:F) announced its intent to offer 300 million common shares in a public offering due to price after today's close.  The company hopes to raise $1.7 billion to $2 billion through the offering.  Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC) also announced plans to sell 30 million new shares while Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), for the first time in its history, sold $3.75 billion in bonds Monday, proceeds from which will be used to buy back its shares. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) said it will sell its China Construction stake for $7.3 billion.  CEO Lewis also cited "business is really good" at its Merrill Lynch unit, adding the company would like to repay the US government's investment in the firm in "months, not years."

General Motors (NYSE:GM) declined 11% after CEO Fritz Henderson said a bankruptcy filing is probable.  Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), for the first time in its history, announced plans to sell $3.75 billion of bonds.

Among DJIA's thirty components, only five moved higher yesterday: International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) rose 1.4%, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) added 1.0% each, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) edged up 0.5%, and AT&T (NYSE:T) added 0.4%.  Positive comments from German software maker SAP and a ratings upgrade from a Citigroup (NYSE:C) analyst helped technology stocks buck the trend of decliners, with a 0.1% gain.  Citigroup (NYSE:C) upgraded the software and services sector to "overweight" from "market weight," but cut chips and chip equipment stocks to "market weight" from "overweight."

Fed Chairman Bernanke's comments last night at the annual Fed conference were notably optimistic.  Bernanke noted banks are "well ahead" on feathering their capital nests with private sector funding. On the stress tests, he noted, "If it helps reduce uncertainty among investors regarding future losses and capital needs, and thereby improves the banking system's access to private capital, one of the key objectives of the program will have been achieved."  Bernanke noted risks of deflation are "receding," an inflation rate at 1.5-2% is "appropriate," and said he remains "certain" the greenback will remain the world's reserve currency.

March trade balance figures are expected to post at a negative $29.2 billion, up from a negative $26.0 billion prior. The Treasury budget for April is expected to swing from $159.3 billion to a negative $63.0 billion. Among key speeches are the Fed's Rosengren on risk management, and Treasury Secretary Geithner at a Social Security news conference.

Following the federal government's directive of plugging capital holes at large banks, Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and Morgan Stanley (MS) raised $15 billion in stock and bond sales on Friday.

In the results of its stress tests revealed late on Thursday, the Federal Reserve concluded that 10 of the largest financial institutions in the country would have to raise $74.6 billion to ensure solid capital cushioning against future losses. While some like JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS) managed to pass muster, Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley were among the prominent ones found to be in urgent need of capital.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner also showed confidence in the ability of banks to tap capital from private sources and without further support from the government. Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley demonstrated today that his faith was grounded in reality, with both the companies managing to price offerings at the top of their expected range on heavy oversubscription by large institutional investors.

Wells Fargo sold shares worth $7.5 billion, about 25% more than its original expectation, while Morgan Stanley raised $7.5 billion from stocks and bonds, more than $2 billion of its initial plan. Old ally Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU) agreed to help New York-based Morgan Stanley once more by purchasing 25 million shares at $24 each.

The government has given banks a deadline of six months to cover their capital shortfalls or accept federal intervention that could even prompt management changes. While Bank of America is selling 1.25 billion shares and some assets, Citigroup (C) will convert $5.5 billion of preferred stock into common equity to meet the challenge. Other banks that do not need additional capital are now planning to repay funds received from the Troubled Asset Relief Program as soon as possible.

"Looking forward, I believe a more macroprudential approach to supervision--one that supplements the supervision of individual institutions to address risks to the financial system as a whole--could help to enhance overall financial stability. Our regulatory system must include the capacity to monitor, assess, and, if necessary, address potential systemic risks within the financial system. Elements of a macroprudential agenda include:   

• "monitoring large or rapidly increasing exposures--such as to subprime mortgages--across firms and markets, rather than only at the level of individual firms or sectors;"

• "assessing the potential systemic risks implied by evolving risk-management practices, broad-based increases in financial leverage, or changes in financial markets or products;"

• "assessing the potential systemic risks implied by evolving risk-management practices, broad-based increases in financial leverage, or changes in financial markets or products;"

• "ensuring that each systemically important firm receives oversight commensurate with the risks that its failure would pose to the financial system;"

The solution to that is to make sure that no bank gets big enough to pose such a risk. It is time to break them up, both by function (i.e. reimpose a modern equivalent of Glass-Steagall) and perhaps by region. Ten mini Citigroups (C) would each would not pose an overall risk to the system if one of them were to fail.

Of course you would want to keep an eye on them, just as the military keeps an eye on its 1,000 lb conventional bombs. However, the consequences of one of those going missing is much less profound than a missing nuke warhead.

Unfortunately, in the largely ad-hoc response to the crisis, we have been moving in exactly the wrong direction. JP Morgan (JPM) swallows up Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo (WFC) takes over Wachovia, and Bank of America (BAC) now owns Countrywide and Merrill Lynch. All of them were too big to fail before this started, and now they are way too big to fail. Either we regulate them extremely closely -- to the point where they will be complaining that every credit card being issued has to be first cleared with the Federal Reserve Board of N.Y. (OK, I'm exaggerating for effect here) -- or we break them up.   

• "providing a resolution mechanism to safely wind down failing, systemically important institutions;"

Without being in bankruptcy, we had to honor the CDS contracts at 100 cents on the dollar. The result was a huge backdoor handout to the banks (a much bigger scandal than the bonuses, IMHO). This would have provided an intermediate step where the new 80% owners of AIG (aka the taxpayers) could have just returned the premiums on the CDS's and rewritten the bonus contracts when we came in.

We can do this with smaller banks, but not with big bank holding companies or huge non-bank financial firms. We need this, and we need it right away.   

• "ensuring that the critical financial infrastructure, including the institutions that support trading, payments, clearing, and settlement, is robust;"

• "working to mitigate procyclical features of capital regulation and other rules and standards;"

However, somehow I suspect that as soon as good times come back, the banks will flex all their political influence (they have a lot, as Sen. Durbin (D-Il) said of the bankers and the Senate, "they own this place") so the cushion is never built up in the good times. After all requiring more equity will result in a lower ROE, and that might result in bonuses that are only in the seven figures rather than in the eight figures. The horror, the horror!   

• "and identifying possible regulatory gaps, including gaps in the protection of consumers and investors, that pose risks for the system as a whole."

The OTS actively went looking for more institutions to fall under its supervision, and its key marketing policy was that it would be the most toothless and ineffective of regulators. It was the most gung-ho on deregulation, and many of the biggest failures were firms that it was the primary regulator for, including Washington Mutual, Indymac and of course AIG.

We have to find ways to stop shopping around for your regulator and regulatory capture. The Fed would be a very good place to start. It is not comforting that the head of the New York Fed comes from Goldman, and still holds over ten figures worth of Goldman stock when he is now the primary regulator of the firm. That is more than just an appearance of a conflict of interest.

The board of directors of each of the regional Federal Reserve Banks are all made up of bankers. That is because the Federal Reserve is not owned by the government, rather it is owned (literally, not just figuratively) by the banks. Perhaps it is time we reconsider that arrangement. 

The speech is a good start, but it does not go far enough. We need to return to the principals that were behind the financial regulatory reforms of the 1930's. The three-legged stool of good solid accurate information, including of potential conflicts of interest (the SEC), making it safe to keep your money in the bank (the FDIC) and making sure the bank does not take your money and use it to play the tables in Vegas (Glass-Steagall). The precise form will be different than the old regulations, but the new order should embody the same spirit.