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

3M Co (MMM) Acadia Realty Trust (AKR) Actel Corp (ACTL) Amerigon Inc (ARGN) Avnet Inc (AVT) Santander BanCorp (SBP) Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp (BGFV) Briggs & Stratton Corp (BGG) Carrols Restaurant Group Inc (TAST) Cavco Industries Inc (CVCO) Connecticut Water Service Inc (CTWS) Crane Co (CR) Dow Chemical Co (DOW) Drew Industries Inc (DW) Enbridge Energy Management LLC (EEQ) Euronet Worldwide Inc (EEFT) GAMCO Investors Inc (...

SLM Corporation (SLM) or commonly know as Sallie Mae, reported third quarter core earnings of $164 million or 26 cents per share. Results were well ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 8 cents per share. The company had earned 19 cents in the year-ago period. Results reflected improvements in the credit market and an increase in loan originations. However, loan loss provisions remain high. Quarterly results included a gain of $74 million on the repurchase of debt and a $55 million accounting adjustment to reflect slower loan prepayments. Sallie Mae posted a net income attributable to common stock of $116.5 million, or 25 cents per share, compared with a loss of $186 million, or 40 cents, in the year-ago period. Core earnings return on assets was 0.31%, up 6 basis points (bps) year-over-year. Sallie Mae originated $6.9 billion in federal student loans in ...

The corporate ratings of student lender SLM Corp. or Sallie Mae (SLM) was downgraded by Fitch Ratings yesterday. The outlook assigned was negative. The ratings downgrade reflects the agency’s concern about the company’s business model. Fitch expects the company to continue to shift to a fee-for-service business model with its subsidiary Sallie Mae Bank originating higher-risk private education loans.   Fitch downgraded the long-term issuer default and senior debt ratings to "BBB-" from "BBB", while preferred stock was downgraded to "BB" from "BB+". The short-term issuer default rating and short-term debt ratings were affirmed at "F3". About $34.4 billion of debt and preferred stock is affected by these actions.   To restore the $92 billion student loan market, the House Education committee approved a legislation, which closes the Federal Family Education Loan Program and shifts most of the student lending into the Education Department's Direct Loan program. ...

Retailers will start to release second-quarter results this week, accounting for nearly 10% of the 246 scheduled reports. Dow component Wal-Mart (WMT) will be joined by 15 other members of the S&P 500, including J.C. Penney (JCP), Kohl's (KSS) and Macy's (M).

The Fed will hold a 2-day meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. No change in interest rates will be made, though the statement should acknowledge that the economy is nearing stabilization.

The bond markets could be volatile, not only because of the Fed meeting, but also because of quarterly refunding. The Treasury Department will auction 3-year, 10-year and 30-year bonds. The offerings should total $75 billion.

Most of the week's economic data will be released after the Fed's meeting, with the exception of the preliminary estimate of Q2 productivity. We'll see the latest industrial production and consumer sentiment numbers on Friday.

Tuesday: Q2 productivity Wednesday: June

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World Acceptance Corporation (WRLD) is up nearly 6% at the moment, which puts the small-loan consumer finance company on the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List for Thursday.

< ?DART(15);?> Last week, WRLD announced fiscal first-quarter earnings per share that beat the consensus, thanks in large part to increased loan demand. Other factors that contributed to the performance included expense control and close management of credit risks.

Volume is at approximately 181,000 shares currently, which is below the daily average of nearly 410,000.

WRLD is part of the finance-consumer loans industry. Nelnet, Inc. (NNI) is the only other company from this space on today's Zacks #1 Rank List, which includes 230 stocks.

Earnings Estimates Gain

All 4 covering analysts have boosted their earnings expectations for this fiscal year over the past month. As a result, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the

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

Advanced Energy Industries Inc (AEIS) American Medical Systems Holdings Inc (AMMD) BCE Inc (BCE) Bemis Company Inc (BMS) BG Group Plc (BRGYY) California Pizza Kitchen Inc (CPKI) CarMax Inc (KMX) Carter's Inc (CRI) Casual Male Retail Group Inc (CMRG) Encore Capital Group Inc (ECPG) Huaneng Power International Inc (HNP) Ingram Micro Inc (IM) Isle of Capri Casinos (ISLE) Jefferies Group Inc (JEF) LTC Properties Inc (LTC) Luxottica Group SpA (LUX) ...

Wal-Mart (

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Highlights include Citigroup Inc. (C), JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Capital One (COF), Sallie Mae (SLM) and Nelnet Inc. (NNI).U.S. consumer credit (outstanding) decreased at a rate of 3.5%, or $7.5 billion, to $2.5 trillion in February 2009, according to a report by the Federal Reserve, released today. The drop was much larger than expectations of a $1 billion decline. It was the fourth decline in six months.However, the growth in consumer credit for January 2009 was revised to $8.1 billion, up from the previous estimate of $1.8 billion. The decline in borrowing in December 2008 was also revised to $5.6 billion from the earlier estimate of $7.5 billion.As the economy continues to be in recession and job losses continue to rise sharply, consumers are cutting back on spending.Further, credit-card lines continue to be reduced ...

Nelnet, Inc. (NNI) is an educational finance company focused on providing quality student products and services. It offers a broad range of student loan and financial services and technology-based products, including student loan origination and lending, guarantee servicing, and a suite of software solutions.

< ?DART(15);?> NNI shares are trading higher by more than 12% today, which easily secures a spot on the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List for Thursday.

Over the past month, 4 out of 5 covering analysts have raised their 2009 expectations, sending the consensus higher by almost 7%.

Those raised earnings estimates were the result of a solid fourth-quarter performance. A month ago, the company announced earnings per share, excluding items, of 32 cents. Analysts were expecting only 19 cents, marking a positive surprise of more than 68%.

NNI was able to improve its liquidity

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

Acxiom Corp (ACXM) AeroVironment Inc (AVAV) Alliance One International Inc (AOI) Almost Family Inc (AFAM) AsiaInfo Holdings Inc (ASIA) BioScrip Inc (BIOS) Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc (BR) Bruker Corp (BRKR) CombinatoRx Inc (CRXX) The Cooper Companies Inc (COO) Cosan Ltd (CZZ) DRI Corp (TBUS) EnteroMedics Inc (ETRM) FPIC Insurance Group Inc (FPIC) Gander Mountain Co (GMTN) Global Crossing Ltd (GLBC) Magyar Telekom Plc (MTA) Maxcom Telecomunic SAB de CV (MXT) Mercer Insurance Group Inc (MIGP) Metavante Technologies Inc (MV) Nelnet Inc (NNI) Pennichuck Corp (PNNW) Rackspace Hosting Inc (RAX) Silgan Holdings Inc (SLGN) Stericycle Inc (SRCL) Stewart Enterprises Inc (STEI) SuperGen Inc (SUPG) Transition Therapeutics Inc (TTHI) ...