McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP) recently reported third quarter 2009 results. Quarterly earnings of $1.12 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.06, but fell 8.9% from the $1.23 delivered in the prior-year quarter. On a reported basis, including one-time items, earnings fell 13% to $1.07 per share. The decline in the top line, partially offset by stringent cost controls, resulted in the fall to the bottom line. Due to effective cost management, the company now expects to achieve the high end of earnings guidance range of $2.20 to $2.25 per share for fiscal 2009. Revenue for the quarter slipped 8.4% to $1,875.9 million due to a fall in revenue in its three segments -- Education, Financial Services and Information & Media. Given the turbulent economy and softness in the elementary-high school market and advertising, management now expects revenue to decline by 7% in 2009 -- worse ...

Moody’s allegedly hastened the credit crisis earlier in the decade by assigning top ratings to mortgage-backed securities that deteriorated later. Moreover, it is being probed by regulators worldwide, with several ongoing reviews in Europe for rating a European debt product, constant proportion debt obligations (CPDOs), at a higher-than-merited AAA.   According to the Wall Street Journal, Eric Kolchinsky a former analyst with Moody's Corp. (MCO) has accused Moody's Investor Service of issuing inflated ratings and will make the matter public by taking it to U.S. congressional investigators. Moody’s issued a high rating to a debt security, although it was planning to downgrade assets backing the securities. The Journal said that Moody's declined to make any comment but has suspended Mr. Kolchinsky, as he refused to cooperate with the investigation into the issues raised. Kolchinsky is scheduled to testify on the ratings firm reform before the House Committee ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 14, 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: FedEx Corp. (FDX), United Parcel Service Inc. (SNDA), UBS AG (UBS), Moody’s Corp. (MCO) and McGraw-Hill (MHP).

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Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

FedEx Preannouncement Beats

Shares of FedEx Corp. (FDX) have jumped more than 5% so far today after the company preannounced fiscal first-quarter earnings, which topped Wall Street expectations.

The package-delivery major said that it expects to post earnings of 58 cents per share, which is well

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The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said yesterday (Thursday) that it would keep production quotas at 24.845 million bpd and urge members to adhere to targets, as global demand has yet to return in full.

However, a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicated that demand is recovering more quickly than previously thought, and that OPEC may be playing catch-up as the global recovery gathers steam.

The IEA increased its outlook for global oil demand by nearly 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) for 2009 and 2010, to 84.4 million and 85.7 million bpd respectively.

Perhaps the biggest reason for the increase was surging demand in China, where the Red Dragon’s $587 billion (4 trillion yuan) stimulus plan has resuscitated manufacturing and helped China grow into the world’s largest auto market.

China’s imports of oil hit a record high in July, soaring 18% from the month prior to 19.63 million metric

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Negative news flow continues for the U.S credit rating agencies, as a U.S. federal judge rejected the appeal by Morgan Stanley (MS), Moody’s Corporation (MCO) and McGraw-Hill's (MHP) Standard & Poor’s to dismiss the fraud charges brought against them for not disclosing the risks associated with an investment related to subprime mortgages. This fraud claim was brought against the defendants by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and King County in Washington State. However, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin dismissed all claims brought against a fourth defendant, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. We believe this ruling could adversely affect the prospects of these credit rating agencies as it might strengthen other pending cases against them. Recently, the rating agencies have been in the news for providing inaccurate information about some securities to certain clients. After that, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), the market watchdog, ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 25, 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: News Corp. (NWS), McGraw-Hill (MHP), NYSE Euronext (NYX), Thomson Reuters (TRIN) and Novartis (NVS).

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:

Dow Jones to Change Hands

Dow Jones & Co., owned by News Corp. (NWS), has started seeking potential buyers for its stock market index business, including the renowned benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Goldman Sachs has been appointed to explore strategic options for the business. News Corp. bought

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Dow Jones & Co., owned by News Corp. (NWS), has started seeking potential buyers for its stock market index business, including the renowned benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Goldman Sachs has been appointed to explore strategic options for the business. News Corp. bought Dow Jones & Co. in 2007 for $5.7 billion, and has never released any financials for the unit since its acquisition. As an independent company, Dow Jones last reported results for the first nine months of 2007, when its revenue increased 18% year over year to $101.3 million.

Market analysts believe that competitors, like McGraw-Hill’s (MHP) Standard & Poor’s, FTSE, a joint venture between the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange, MSCI Barra, Russell Indexes, NYSE Euronext (NYX), Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters (TRIN), will be interested in Dow’s index business.

The company’s stock market index business consists of 130,000 equity indices

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McGraw-Hill’s EPS Plummets, Lowers Guidance McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP) recently reported dismal second quarter 2009 results. The company’s results have been hit hard by falling demand for new textbooks due to budgetary constraints on schools in California and Florida, decline in magazine advertising and lower demand for S&P credit ratings. The benefits from the Federal stimulus education package have also been slower than anticipated. To combat the downtrend, the company has put BusinessWeek magazine up for sale, which has been feeling the brunt of plunging advertising demand (advertising pages fell 34.3% in the quarter), and trimmed 550 jobs as part of its cost control initiatives amid the economic downturn. EPS for the reported quarter was off 18.3% year over year at $0.58. On a reported basis, EPS tumbled 21.2% to $0.52. For 2009, EPS is now expected to be in the range of $2.20 to $2.25 down from $2.20 ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 3, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research highlights Biogen Idec (BIIB) as the Bull of the Day and Eastman Chemical Company (EMN) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on DeVry Inc. (DV), General Motors (GM) and McGraw-Hill (MHP).

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:

Biogen Idec (BIIB) posted solid results in the first quarter of 2009, despite the slowdown in Tysabri sales due to fears of PML. We think the Biogen core business will remain strong over the next several quarters. Tysabri prescriptions are showing an improvement and we believe will resume their previous pace shortly.

In the meantime, the name is significantly under-valued

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Standard & Poor's announced yesterday that DeVry Inc. (DV) will replace General Motors (GM) in the S&P 500 stock index after the close today. Obviously, the bankruptcy filing motivated the Committee to remove GM from the index, but the decision to add DeVry has many implications.First, the S&P 500 index is owned and maintained by Standard & Poor's, which is a division of McGraw-Hill (MHP). A Committee selects new companies for inclusion in the S&P 500 when there is a vacancy. The Committee seeks stocks that will provide fair representation of the many diverse industries in the U.S economy. The stocks should also meet the criteria of being large capitalization and having sufficient liquidity.The addition of DeVry should not come as a surprise. The stock was in the S&P MidCap 400, a fertile ground from which the Committee chooses new additions to ...