We are upgrading our recommendation on the shares of Loews Corp. (L) to Neutral. The company’s third-quarter earnings of $1.08 per share was well ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 87 cents a share. Loews reported a loss of 33 cents a share in the year-ago quarter.   The improved earnings were driven by increased investment income and a considerable reduction in investment losses at CNA Financial Corp. (CNA), besides strong results at Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO).    While the spin-off of Lorillard in 2008 eliminated the company’s overhang of tobacco litigation and the strong rebound in investment income is impressive, we think that the continuation of a stressed economic environment will have a restrictive effect on the top-line growth of the company.   The recent financial market appreciation bodes well for Loews. Both the holding company as well as the subsidiary, CNA, has experienced

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Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

ATC Technology Corp (ATAC) Autoliv Inc (ALV) The Boston Beer Company Inc (SAM) Brigham Exploration Co (BEXP) Cymer Inc (CYMI) Deutsche Bank AG (DB) Expedia Inc (EXPE) Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc (HGR) Inergy Holdings LP (NRGP) ITT Corp (ITT) Joy Global Inc (JOYG) Limited Brands Inc (LTD) Lincoln Educational Services Corp (LINC) Lithia Motors Inc (LAD) Lorillard Inc (LO) Maidenform Brands Inc (MFB) Methode Electronics Inc (MEI) ...

Lorillard Inc.’s (LO) share price has entered into oversold territory with a stochastic value of 2.24. The Zacks #1 Rank (“Strong Buy") stock has surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in 3 of last 4 quarters with an average surprise of 7.07%, or 10 cents per share. Moreover, the full-year Zacks Consensus Estimate has surged by 38 cents over the past 2 months to $5.83 per share."LO" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research

Right now investors are fleeing safe-haven assets like U.S. Treasuries and the dollar. And they’re putting the capital back to work in the riskiest of investments - emerging markets and IPOs.

Hard to believe. But here’s the proof…

In the first week of May, $4 billion found its way back into emerging markets funds - the eighth-largest weekly inflow on record, according to Merrill Lynch. And year-to-date the FTSE Renaissance IPO Composite Index is up 17.5%, torching the impressive 7.3% run-up by the Nasdaq.

If you ask me, that’s pretty convincing: Our appetite for risk is back. And the current rally could very well continue.

Of course, I know some of you feel otherwise. You’re afraid of a George Costanza shrinkage incident and would rather tiptoe back into equities. If that’s the case, let me share some information about the stock Lorillard, Inc. (NYSE: LO), because I’m convinced it will head

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Lorillard, Inc. (NYSE: LO): Five Reasons This Stock Will Smoke The Markets

by Louis Basenese, Advisory Panelist Senior Analyst, The Oxford Club

Right now investors are fleeing safe-haven assets like U.S. Treasuries and the dollar. And they’re putting the capital back to work in the riskiest of investments - emerging markets and IPOs.

Hard to believe. But here’s the proof…

In the first week of May, $4 billion found its way back into emerging markets funds - the eighth-largest weekly inflow on record, according to Merrill Lynch. And year-to-date the FTSE Renaissance IPO Composite Index is up 17.5%, torching the impressive 7.3% run-up by the Nasdaq.

If you ask me, that’s pretty convincing: Our appetite for risk is back. And the current rally could very well continue.

Of course, I know some of you feel otherwise. You’re afraid of a George Costanza shrinkage incident and would rather tiptoe back into equities.

...

Lorillard Inc. (LO) shares rose slightly on heavy volume to trade near their 200-day moving average of $63.49 at noon. The consensus estimate on the company's full-year earnings has gone up by a penny to $5.50 per share in the last month. Lorillard is a Zacks#2 ("Buy") stock.

Zacks Investment Research

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T9VXVyuEITg/SUNq1diWT3I/AAAAAAAAAmk/bSjmELRaRnY/s1600-h/Cigarette.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 231px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T9VXVyuEITg/SUNq1diWT3I/AAAAAAAAAmk/bSjmELRaRnY/s320/Cigarette.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279180654902660978" //abr /Now that Barrack Obama is the president-elect, the United Stated will have the first smoking president in many years. Although he has made plans to quit smoking, he admits that he still hasn't yet stopped entirely. Will this have an effect on the consumption of cigarettes and tobacco? If you think so, and you have no objection to investing in cigarette stocks, you may want to consider the tobacco companies, especially because of their extremely high yields.br /br /Vector Group Ltd. (VGR) is a Florida based company that has numerous brands of cigarettes including Liggett, Grand Prix, Eve, Pyramid, USA and nicotine-free Quest. The stock has a PE of 15 a PEG of 1.25, and pays a yield of 11.7%.br /br /Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) makes and markets cigarettes and other ...

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