MBIA Incorporated’s (MBI) third quarter operating loss of $3.50 per share substantially missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 99 cents per share. Last year, the company had reported a loss of $3.42 per share. Results were negatively affected by a continued deterioration in the performance of the company’s insured second-lien residential mortgage loan securitization exposures and increase in case loss reserves reflecting expectations for additional claim payments to policyholders.  Net loss was $727.8 million during the quarter, compared to $806.5 million in the prior-year quarter. Premiums earned during the quarter totaled $181.2 million, down 23% from $234.7 million in the third quarter of last year. Net investment income dropped 56% to $156.8 million. During the quarter, the company recorded a $238.8 million pretax loss related to its insurance of mortgage-backed securities.  It also posted an $810.2 million pretax unrealized loss on its insurance ...

• China Unicom also advised iPhones will be sold in China beginning in October.  Meanwhile, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) said iTunes' application downloads exceeded the 2 billion mark

• MBIA's (NYSE:MBI) main bond insurance unit was downgraded by S&P to non-investment grade status

• Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) revealed a new, high-end, ultra thin PC

• Cameron International (NYSE:CAM) reported a $500 million subsea equipment deal with Petrobras

• Howard Shultz, CEO of Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), offered high hopes for its Via Ready Brew instant coffee product, claiming it "perhaps the biggest opportunity" in the company's history, amid today's North American launch

• Walgreens' (NYSE:WAG) reported fiscal fourth quarter results of 47 cents ex-items, topping estimates of 39 cents, on sales of $15.7 billion

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) lifted price targets on several retailers, including conviction buys on Target (NYSE:TGT) and Macy's (NYSE:M)

• Citigroup (NYSE:C) started coverage of Dr. Pepper Snapple (NYSE:DPS) and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) with "buy" recommendations

• Bank of America

...

MBIA Inc.’s (MBI) second quarter operating earnings came in at $4.30 per share compared to $7.14 in the year-ago quarter. Results were substantially ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of negative 51 cents. The company reported a net income of $894.7 million or $4.30 per share during the quarter compared to $1.7 billion or $7.14 per share in the prior-year quarter.   The upside was mainly attributable to strong performance in the Advisory Services business and a net decrease in loss reserves, as a $353.7 million increase to incurred losses on insured second-lien residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) was more than offset by $1.1 billion in estimated recoveries recorded in certain second-lien residential mortgage loan securitizations. The company also recorded $423.8 million in unrealized gains on insured credit derivatives and $116.3 million in gains on the extinguishment of debt, offset by $113.7 million in pre-tax other-than-temporary ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 13, 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: Broadcom Corp. (BRCM), Emulex Corp. (ELX), Primus Guaranty, Ltd. (PRS), Ambac Financial (ABK) and MBIA (MBI).

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:

Broadcom Stops Pursuing Emulex

Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) yesterday dropped all efforts to acquire Emulex Corp. (ELX) after the latter rejected its revised acquisition offer. Broadcom had earlier raised its hostile bid to acquire all outstanding shares of rival Emulex from $9.25 per share to $11.00 per

...

Primus gains scale through CypressTree acquisition Primus Asset Management, Inc. (PAM), a wholly owned subsidiary of Primus Guaranty, Ltd. (PRS), announced the closure of the acquisition of CypressTree Investment Management, LLP on July 9, 2009. We view this acquisition as positive for PRS as it will gain more scale with a leveraged platform. With approximately $2.4 billion of assets under management, CypressTree will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of PAM. The nature of CypressTree’s business is managing leveraged loans and high yield bonds among various other investment products, including collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), collateralized swap obligations (CSOs), off-shore funds and separately managed accounts. Following the acquisition, PAM now has over $25 billion in assets under management in structured credit vehicles. Focusing on the single niche area of credit swaps, Primus is able to maintain lean operations and leverage its employee base while growing its business. ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - July 6, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research highlights Alvarion Ltd (ALVR) as the Bull of the Day and MBIA (MBI) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Elan (ELN) and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (WYE).

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 upgrade our rating to Buy for Alvarion Ltd (ALVR), a pure-play wireless solutions provider. This follows a series of impressive contract awards to deploy several large-scale wireless systems. The value of one of these contracts was the largest ever attained by the company.

Alvarion has more than 250 WiMAX deployments in diversified geographic regions. According to our assessment, higher

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MBIA (MBI) reported net income of $3.34 per share in 1Q09 compared to a net loss of $12.92 per share in 1Q08. However, results benefited primarily from the mark-to-market adjustments in the insured portfolio, which is not expected to continue. We have yet to see any real positive fundamental improvement, and don't expect any to occur in the near term.

Rating issuers further downgraded MBIA and its subsidiaries, and a group of financial institutions are challenging the company's recent restructuring efforts. All these points complicate and add to the uncertainties.

The deteriorating insured portfolio and turbulent financial market only magnifies the threat. We maintain our Sell recommendation for MBIA, seeing no signs of relief over the medium term.Zacks Investment Research

MBIA's rating slashed to deep junk status, litigation worries continuesOn Thursday, June 25, bond insurer MBIA's (MBI) senior debt rating was lowered by Moody's Investors Service to Ba3 -- three levels below investment grade -- from Ba1. The downgrade cited expectations of further portfolio deterioration due to its exposure to risky mortgage-backed securities coupled with the uncertainties associated with the ongoing litigation over the company's restructuring that happened last February.Moody's also changed the rating outlook of MBIA Insurance Corp. to negative. Additionally, Moody's affirmed the investment-grade Baa1 rating of National Public Finance Guarantee Corp., MBIA's dedicated municipal-bond insurance company.Investors and world's 18 largest banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) have sued MBIA, claiming a fraudulent restructuring in February this ...

* MBIA (NYSE:MBI) reported first quarter earnings of $3.34 per share, on revenues of $195 million, helped by a $1.6 billion gain from insured derivatives

* Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE:ANR) announced plans to purchase Foundation Coal Holdings (NYSE:FCL) for $1.5 billion in stock

Zacks Investment Research

Highlights include MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG), Ambac Financial (ABK), MBIA (MBI) and PMI Group (PMI).MGIC Investment Corp.'s (MTG) recent announcement resulted in more than a 40% inter-day decline in the shares -- now more than 95% lower than when we placed our Sell recommendation on the shares on December 21, 2007.The mortgage insurance business remains under pressure as fewer financial institutions are unwilling to make or refinance loans not under government programs without requiring the borrowers to have a "reasonable amount of skin in the game." This is a trend that may not change quickly, as valuation for securities remains significantly curtailed. Therefore, we would expect additional pressure on the shares of companies such as Ambac Financial (ABK), MBIA (MBI) and PMI Group (PMI).On Wednesday, MTG sent notice to the undisclosed holder of its 9.0% ...