Net losses for Nucor Corporation (NUE), the largest recycler of steel scrap in the US, narrowed to $29.5 million, or 10 cents per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2009. The result was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate for a loss of 14 cents.

In the second quarter, NUE announced a net loss of $133.3 million, or 43 cents per diluted share. However, the performance is dismal compared to a net income of $734.6 million, or $2.31 per share, in the third quarter of 2008.

Losses in the quarter were driven by the negative impact of high-cost pig iron inventories of about $180 million, or 37 cents per share. However, the company claims that the consumption of the high-cost pig iron inventories was completed by the close of the quarter. Additionally, pre-operating and start-up costs of the new facilities increased 58% year over year to $47.1 million in

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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).

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:

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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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 above its guidance of 30 cents to 45 cents as well as the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 43 cents per share. The company reported earnings of $1.23 per share in the year-ago quarter. The Memphis, TN-based company also stated that fiscal second-quarter earnings is expected to range between 65 cents and 95 cents per share, which is in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 71 cents per share derived from 15 covering analysts. The guidance is still well below the year-ago earnings of $1.58 per share. FedEx attributed the better-than-expected first quarter earnings to improved International Priority (IP) shipping volumes and management’s ...

Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. (MAA), a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), recently announced the retirement of its CFO Simon Wadsworth as part of the long-term succession-planning program.

The company’s Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Director of Financial Planning Albert Campbell will replace Simon Wadsworth. Campbell joined Mid-America Apartment in 1998 as Vice President of Financial Planning and was later promoted to Senior Vice President and Treasurer of the company in 2003.

Mid-America Apartment owns and manages apartments in the Sunbelt region of the U.S. The company defines its portfolio in two tiers– primary markets and secondary markets. Having a diversified presence in diverse markets helps mitigate risk and decreases volatility in the event of a slowdown in any one product type.

Primary markets are relatively larger in size compared to secondary markets. On the other hand, secondary markets often have stable fundamentals due to limited

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ProLogis (PLD), one of the leading global providers of distribution facilities, recently declared a third-quarter dividend of $0.15 per share.

The company had previously reduced its annual dividend payout to $0.70 per share from $1.00 declared earlier, significantly down from $2.07 in 2008. The move is aimed at conserving liquidity in the current credit-constrained market.

In response to the continued economic downturn and rapidly deteriorating industrial real-estate fundamentals, ProLogis had already stopped all new initiatives and early-stage developments. The company is currently concentrating on increasing its liquidity and deleveraging its balance sheet through asset sale.

ProLogis owns and manages interests in over 2,500 distribution facilities, service offices, and properties spanning 475 million square feet (including properties under development) of space. During the first quarter of 2009, the company sold its operations in China and Japan to affiliates of GIC Real Estate, the real-estate investment arm of the Government

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Risk aversion has left the building…  CIT survives without Fed help…  SNB tries to fight the markets…  Light week for US data… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… We had just an amazing weekend of weather here in St. Louis, and this morning is shaping up to be another beautiful day. Friday turned out to be a beautiful day for those who have taken our advice and diversified their holdings out of the dollar. Risk aversion was placed on the back burner again, and investors moved money back out of the dollar into higher yielding currencies. The dollar and yen got sold but all other currencies rallied, and investors also turned back toward gold pushing the metal above $950 for the first time in over a month.

So what caused all of this confidence? First, the housing data released Friday morning in the US showed a slight pick up in both building permits and housing starts.

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ProLogis Inc. (PLD), a publicly traded real investment trust (REIT), has recently sold most of its industrial buildings in North America for $561 million. The company had been marketing most of these assets for sale since late 2008 and expects to realize $200 million in net proceeds from the disposal. ProLogis further expects to sell an additional $96 million worth of properties in North America in the second half of 2009.

In response to the economic realities of constrained credit and rapidly deteriorating industrial real estate fundamentals, ProLogis had earlier stalled all new ventures and early-stage developments. The company is currently concentrating on increasing its liquidity and de-leveraging its balance sheet through sale of assets.

ProLogis is currently selling about 136 properties with an average age of 20 years. Spanning across 14.2 million square feet of space, the properties are located in various markets such as Chicago,

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Auto and mortgage lender GMAC LLC (NYSE: GKM) reported a first-quarter loss of $675 million and now faces further pressure from bank “stress tests” and freefalling sales volumes that may push its former parent General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) into bankruptcy.

GMAC is one of the 19 lenders waiting for results of the government’s “stress test,” designed to determine which firms need additional capital to weather a deep recession. Results are due Thursday, and some analysts believe GMAC will be one of the banks ordered to find more capital within six months.

Despite receiving a $6 billion government bailout in December, GMAC reported net losses increased to $675 million from $589 million a year earlier, as the Detroit-based company set aside 78% more for loan losses than a year earlier. “The effects of a soft economy and weaker credit performance on legacy assets continued to put

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The Fed’s first credit crisis lawsuit… who’s suing and why, AmEx, Fannie Mae unload more financial follies… government “fixes” problem with more taxpayer dollars, Chris Mayer with a credit crisis byproduct (and opportunity) that could affect the entire world, China announces big stimulus plan… so why did commodities fall? A hefty chink in Dubai’s armor, Plus, Dan Amoss with a once-favored investment theme due to be back in the spotlight soon

Here’s a curious development that may be worth watching: Bloomberg is suing the Federal Reserve.

Last week, we took a look at the Fed’s bulging $2 trillion balance sheet. And if you’re a long-suffering 5 Min. reader, you know our futile recounting of the weekly Fed lending programs… all the abbreviations and acronyms: TAF, TSLF, PDCF, CPFF, TARP, etc.

Well, the folks at

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