For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 28, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Acergy (ACGY) as the Bull of the Day and Loews Corporation (L) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Bank of America (BAC), Wal-Mart (WMT) and Macy's (M).

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:

Acergy (ACGY) posted better-than-expected second quarter 2009 results, though revenue and backlog slipped, reflecting the tentative operating environment stemming from commodity price and credit market overhang.

With a still healthy backlog, significant cash balances and no near-term refinancing requirements, Acergy remains comfortable to weather the challenging business environment.

Our continued Outperform recommendation on Acergy ADRs also reflects the company's strong leverage to the still very favorable outlook for deepwater oilfield activities

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Loews Corporation's (L) second-quarter income from continuing operations came in at 78 cents per share, substantially short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The lower-than-expected results primarily reflect higher net investment losses.

However, underwriting performance was impressive during the quarter. A strong rebound in investment income primarily from improved limited partnership results, were also impressive during the quarter.

While the spin-off of Lorillard in 2008 eliminated the company's overhang of tobacco litigation, we think that the continuation of a stressed economic environment will have a restrictive effect on the top-line growth of the company. As such, the shares carry an Underperform recommendation from us.Zacks Investment Research

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 11, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights tw telecom (TWTC) as the Bull of the Day and Loews Corporation (L) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), Verizon Communications (VZ) and AT&T (T).

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:

We maintain our Buy rating and the same valuation target for tw telecom (TWTC), a leading provider of managed voice & data networking solutions. TWTC continues to generate sustaining revenue from large business enterprises primarily through sales of Ethernet and IP-VPN services.

This has reduced the company's dependence on telecom carrier customers. Although the balance sheet remains considerably leveraged, we do not expect any immediate liquidity crisis since no significant

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Loews Corporation's (L) second-quarter income from continuing operations came in at $0.78 per share, substantially short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The lower-than-expected results primarily reflect higher net investment losses.

However, underwriting performance was impressive during the quarter. A strong rebound in investment income primarily from improved limited partnership results, were also impressive during the quarter. While the spin-off of Lorillard in 2008 eliminated the company's overhang of tobacco litigation, we think that the continuation of a stressed economic environment will have a restrictive effect on the top-line growth of the company.

As such, the shares carry an Underperform recommendation from us.Zacks Investment Research

Loews Corporation’s (L) second quarter income from continuing operations came in at $0.78 per share, substantially short of the Zacks consensus estimate of $1.09. This compares to net income of $1.00 in the year-ago quarter.   The lower-than-expected results primarily reflect higher net investment losses partially offset by an increase in net investment income at CNA Financial Corporation and strong results at Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. However, the underwriting performance was impressive during the quarter. Also, the results reflect a strong rebound in investment income, primarily from improved limited partnership results.   Net income from continuing operations decreased 33.3% year over year to $341 million.  This includes after tax net investment losses of $178 million, compared to $64 million in the prior year quarter. Net investment losses in the reported quarter primarily resulted from other-than-temporary impairment losses recognized in CNA’s available-for-sale portfolio.   CNA Financial Corporation’s operating income increased

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The first thing we did on our return to the world of markets and money this morning was to read “bond king” Bill Gross’s investment outlook for July. We consider this compulsory reading. Gross, the managing director of PIMCO, is one of the smartest underground investors out there. And his no BS approach to the financial markets is always refreshing.

Notes faithful will recall that last month Gross predicted that the economy is heading for what he calls the “new normal” – “higher savings, lower consumption, and an economic growth rate that staggers forward at a new normal closer to 2% as opposed to 3½%.” And we touched again on Gross’s advice for investors in our Friday issue.

The bottom line for Gross is that there can be no recovery to the “old normal” when one in ten Americans is officially unemployed and consumer spending is in the bin. (Gross points out

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Countless studies demonstrate that dividend-paying stocks outperform non-payers by a wide margin. From 1972 to 2006 dividend-paying stocks returned an average of 10% annually versus 4% for non-dividend payers, according to Ned Davis Research. Going back to 1926, other studies confirm almost half of the S&P 500’s return was due to the dividends paid by the companies in the index.

So, I’ll take Bill Gross’ recommendation one step further. Forget now. Dividend-paying stocks ALWAYS deserve a place in your portfolio.

Yet, in this market, it’s increasingly difficult to find reliable dividend stocks.

“This is going to be the worst [dividend-cutting year] in 50 years,” Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at Standard & Poor’s, predicted in January. So far he’s right with industry titans like General Electric and Dow Chemical announcing cuts.

Keep in mind, Dow Chemical maintained or increased its dividend every year since 1912. That means conditions this year are worse for the company

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div style=”text-align: justify;”Citigroup is out with a cautious call on span style=”font-weight: bold;”Lorillard (NYSE:LO)/span noting Rep. Waxman has said he will, in a few weeks, reintroduce a Bill to ensure the domestic tobacco industry is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Citi expects this Bill to be similar to the Bill he sponsored in the House last year. Given the Democratic control of Congress and White House, they expect the Bill to pass.br /br /span style=”font-weight: bold;”Most significant for LO /span— span style=”color: rgb(255, 0, 0);”The Bill is likely to leave open the possibility of a ban on menthol. Bearing in mind Lorillard (LO) makes more than 97% of its EBIT from menthol-flavored Newport, this is potentially a big issue and is certainly likely to create volatility/span. However, they don’t believe that it is practical to ban menthol, which currently makes up about 29% of the US cigarette market.br …

Steve McDonald looks ahead to the investment climate in the new year. He sees a bounce in the Dow reaching as high as 11,000. But an economic recovery will depend on whether the Obama administration can restore confidence in the public. For 2009’s top money-makers, Steve picks six high-dividend stocks and two corporate bond plays.

This from Investor’s Daily Edge:

So, for what it’s worth, here are my predictions for 2009, please adjust the time frame as necessary.

The bailouts will work. The banking/credit crisis will ease in early 2009, and with it businesses should be able to start borrowing again.  Once the money flows open up we should see some relief from the recession.

Ford (NYSE:F) will survive, I’m not sure about General Motors (NYSE:GM). Chrysler has been dead for a long time.

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