For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 16, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Semtech Corp. (SMTC) as the Bull of the Day and Washington Federal (WFSL) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Bank of America (BAC), Hasbro (HAS) and Peabody Energy (BTU).

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:

Semtech Corp. (SMTC) is a fabless supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor devices. Management has been diversifying the product portfolio, introducing new high-margin products and broadening the customer base.

July quarter results exceeded the consensus on both the top and bottom lines. Forward guidance is for 6-10% revenue increase in the October quarter.

Both revenue growth and margin expansion are expected to return in the second half of fiscal

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New claims for unemployment insurance fell by 10,000 to 514,000, the lowest level since January.  The four-week average of new claims fell by 9,000 to 531,500.  The four-week average is now 127,250 below the peak set back in April. Both the size of the decline and the time since the peak are powerful arguments that we have seen the high for the cycle. This is good news and more evidence that the recession is indeed over. However, the level is still very high and indicates that the economy is still, on balance, dropping jobs. We need to see the number fall well below the 400,000 level to indicate that job growth has turned positive, and far lower than that to meet the needs of a growing population. As the graph below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) shows in the last two recessions, new claims initally came well ...

Missouri-based Peabody Energy (BTU) is the world’s largest private sector coal mining company, owning majority interests in more than 30 mines in the U.S. and Australia. The company enjoys strong leverage to emerging Asian markets via its Australian operations. Of late, it has set up a new office in Singapore, which will serve as the hub for its trading and brokerage activities in Southeast Asia. This will further strengthen Peabody’s access to high-growth seaborne coal markets in the region, especially China and India, which are expected to be the demand drivers in both the near and long terms. Coal is assumed to be the fastest growing fuel over the next 20 years and China and India will constitute over 50% of that demand growth. Peabody intends to cash on the opportunity leveraging its global platform and low-cost operating base. The opening of a new trading office ...

China has an environmental problem which the government has been aware of for years. Polluters have been able to dump massive amounts of toxic wastes into China’s air and water for many years with no repercussions because the mandate from Beijing was for economic growth at all costs.

But that is all changing. China now has an environmental movement among its people which is in its infancy, but growing quickly. The interesting facet of China’s nascent environmental movement is that the central government in Beijing is actually listening to the environmentalists, at least to a certain extent. They are cracking down on some of the worst polluters and shutting them down.

Beginning in late 2008, Beijing began a crackdown on numerous illegal, dangerous coal mines which also happened to be the biggest polluting mines. Many of these operations have been shut down permanently.

Many investors may think to themselves – so what?

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The following is a list of the S&P 500 firms where the analysts have been cutting their expectations for the current fiscal year the most over the last month. Most likely these firms reported disappointing earnings or gave negative guidance on their conference calls.

Historically, you have not wanted to be invested in companies where the analysts who follow them most closely see the earnings prospects diminishing. Also, estimates in motion tend to remain in motion. The first bit of bad news is rarely the last (the cockroach theory). This means that the current expectations, even though down from last month, are probably still to high for these firms.

To weed out anomalies, only those firms that are currently expected to earn more than $0.50 in 2009 are included and only those firms where there are a minimum of three estimates in the system.

If you have these stocks in your portfolio,

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Our long-term recommendation for Peabody Energy (BTU) is Neutral, indicating that the stock will perform in line with the broader market. We like the company due to its leverage to emerging Asian markets (especially China and India) as these will be the drivers of demand-growth in both near and long term. Peabody’s Australian operations will allow the company to obtain higher prices and better margins, besides providing a diversified platform for long-term growth.

Peabody has sufficient liquidity with $446 million of cash in hand at the end of the second quarter of 2009. This will help the company to explore earnings accretive investment opportunities in high-growth markets, particularly at a time when valuations are depressed.

However, Peabody’s profitability in recent quarters got affected by lower demand of coal. Decreased demand for steel and electricity caused by a global slowdown has pushed coal prices down from its highs of 2008. The Energy

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Bankrate, Inc. (Nasdaq: RATE) announced today that it plans to hold a conference call on July 30, 2009 at 11:00 A.M. Eastern time to discuss the company’s second quarter 2009 financial results. The call will be led by Bankrate’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas R. Evans. Also participating in the call will be Edward J. DiMaria, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. A press release on the results for the quarter will be issued before the market opens on July 30th.

Iowa First Bancshares Corp. (OTCBB: IOFB) today reported net income of $650,000 for the quarter ended June

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Global economic downturn continued to have its toll on Peabody Energy (BTU). Earnings from continuing operations was $87.7 million or $0.31 per share in the second quarter – down 37.6% sequentially and 64.1% year-over-year. Revenues fell 12.2% year-over-year to $1.3 billion, though sales volume remained almost flat at 59.5 million tons. Operating profit per ton was $3.56 compared to $3.67 in the previous quarter and $ 5.79 in the year-ago quarter.

 

Revenues from U.S. Mining Operations (up 4.7% year-over-year) improved slightly, whereas Australian Mining Operations (down 40.9% year-over-year) and Trading & Brokerage Operations (down 21.0% year-over-year) remained under pressure. U.S. revenues per ton rose to $20.71 from $19.85 a year ago – because of higher priced Midwestern contracts signed last year and change of mix toward

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 17, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Biogen Idec (BIIB) as the Bull of the Day and Dell (DELL ) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Peabody Energy (BTU), Arch Coal (ACI) and CONSOL Energy (CNX).

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 second 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 improvement and we believe will resume their previous pace shortly. In the meantime, the name is significantly under-valued and would be a very

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Shares of Peabody Energy (BTU), Arch Coal (ACI) and CONSOL Energy (CNX) rallied more than 6% in Wednesday’s trading. These companies will start reporting their second quarter results as of next week. Peabody will report on 21st, followed by Arch on 24th and CONSOL on 30th. Patriot Coal (PCX), Natural Resource (NRP) and Walter Energy (WLT) also joined the race. Patriot rose nearly 6% and Natural and Walter went up more than 4%. Walter will report on 22nd of this month and Natural on 6th of August. Patriot is yet to confirm the date. Coal demand in the U.S. is expected to remain subdued this year due to low power consumption and weak industrial activity. However, demand is growing in Asia -- especially in India and China. As per China customs, China has imported 32.2 million ton of coal through May ...