Chicago, IL – November 12, 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: Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), Telefonica (TEF), Deutsche Telekom (DT), France Telecom (FTE) and Verizon (VZ).

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Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Vodafone Profit Leaps, Lifts Savings

Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), the largest wireless carrier in the world by revenue, has announced interim results for fiscal year 2010 with adjusted net income of £4.58 billion (US$7.3 billion) increasing 15% year over year from £3.99 billion (US$6.4 billion) reported a year ago, driven by favorable exchange rate movements and reduced tax. Adjusted earnings exclude one-time items such as impairment losses.

The telecom giant reported consolidated revenues of £21.8 billion (US$34.8 billion) for the period, representing a 9.3% year over year growth. Favorable exchange rate (euro-sterling) swings and net impact of merger and acquisition initiatives contributed to this growth. Excluding these impacts (organic basis), revenue declined 3% year over year.

Group service revenue declined 2.6% year over year on an organic basis to £20.5 billion (US$32.7 billion), primarily due to weaker contributions from European markets as recessionary conditions curbed demand for wireless services. Adjusted EBITDA increased 2.9% year over year to £7.5 billion (US$12 billion) driven by cost control.

Revenues for the European segment increased 3% year over year (down 5.1% on organic basis) to £14.9 billion (US$23.8 billion). Service revenue in Europe declined 4.5% organically as growth in Italy and the Netherlands was more than offset by decreases across Spain, Germany and the UK due to a weaker economy, regulatory pressure and intense competition.

Decline in voice revenue continues to offset growth in data. Revenue in Germany and the UK remains under pressure due to mobile termination rate (inter-operator fees) cuts. Vodafone is also losing customers in the UK as subscribers switch to its major rival Telefonica’s (TEF) O2 which is marketing iPhone in the UK.

Moreover, Deutsche Telekom (DT) and France Telecom (FTE) have recently finalized an agreement to combine their UK units, which will create the largest mobile carrier in the UK.

This segment posted revenues of £3.7 billion (US$5.9 billion), up 36% year over year. Organically, service revenue fell 3.2% as consistent growth at Vodacom (South Africa) and increase in subscriber count were partly offset by weak contributions from Romania and Turkey. Service revenue at Vodacom increased 4.2% on an organic basis as a result of healthy subscriber accretion.

Asia Pacific & Middle East segment continues to perform in line with expectation. Revenue surged 15.9% year over year (11.3% organically) to £3.1 billion (US$4.9 billion), driven by continued strong growth in India , the single biggest contributor to organic revenue growth. Service revenue in India increased 20.5% organically boosted by roughly 55% growth in wireless customer base amid intense price competition.

During the six-month period, Vodafone registered roughly 20.6 million net new mobile connections across its operations, bringing the total subscriber base to 323.3 million (83.5% represented by prepaid). India continues to be a key driver for subscriber growth with a net addition of 14 million customers in the first six months of fiscal 2010.

In Europe, the company registered a net loss of 262,000 subscribers during the half-year period. Verizon’s (VZ) mobile unit, Verizon Wireless, in which Vodafone holds a 45% stake, however, posted a net addition of 1.1 million customers.

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Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

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About Zacks

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The company will test run its 4G LTE network in six countries across Europe and Latin America. The outcome of the trials will help Telefonica to chalk out its next phase of network deployment strategy.

Telefonica will conduct 4G LTE trials during the next six months in multiple European countries such as Czech Republic, Germany, Spain and the UK, while the Latin American trials will be staged in Brazil and Argentina. The company has already conducted its first LTE trial in Madrid in April 2009, which has demonstrated encouraging throughput levels.

Telefonica has also announced network infrastructure and equipment vendors to facilitate the field testing. It has reportedly selected six technology providers: Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), Ericsson (ERIC), Huawei, NEC, Nokia Siemens Networks and ZTE.

Leading carriers across the world have adopted LTE as the base technology standard for 4G network upgrade initiatives due to its fast data transfer capability. LTE offers rapid downlink and uplink speeds that averages 100 megabits per second (Mbps) and 50 Mbps, respectively, which is competitive or faster than other leading 4G standards, including WiMax.

Telefonica has recently expanded its strategic alliance with the second-largest Chinese carrier China Unicom (CHU). This extended collaboration is expected to offer significant technological and operational synergies. Additionally, the companies are likely to collaborate in future technology upgrades, such as the development of 4G LTE technology.

By moving to the 4G LTE network, Telefonica will offer its customers super-fast mobile broadband experience, representing an encouraging opportunity to improve customer retention. The company hopes to offer peak network speed of up to 340 Mbps in ideal conditions. Moreover, the ultra high-bandwidth multimedia data applications fostered by the 4G LTE network will boost revenue per user through increased minutes of use.

Suntech Power based from Wuxi, China, is a leading solar energy company in the world. The company designs, develops, manufactures and markets PV cells and modules. It also provides PV system integration services in China. Suntech caters to a worldwide customer base spread around Spain, Germany, the United States, China, South Korea, Italy, the Middle East, Australia and Japan.

For its multi-crystalline silicon modules, Suntech uses its patent-pending Pluto PV cells utilizing solar grade silicon. The Pluto technology for crystalline silicon solar cells improves power output by up to 12% compared to conventional production methods.

The company is well positioned to benefit from the Chinese solar subsidy program. China is aiming to increase its installed solar power capacity to 2GW by 2011 from 140MW at the end of fiscal 2008. We maintain our Neutral recommendation on the shares.

Air Products, which supplies oxygen and other gases to industrial and medical sectors, is also building two new air separation units for Shadeed Iron & Steel's production plant in the Sohar Industrial Port of Oman with Saudi firm Abdullah Hashim Group.

Eyes Emerging Market

India is an emerging photovoltaic (PV) market with strong support from the government. Earlier this month, Air Product’s joint venture in India, INOX Air Products Ltd., signed two new contracts with leading manufacturers for the company's SunSource Solutions gases and materials to support the growing Indian PV market.

INOX Air Products has signed a long-term gas supply deal to provide bulk and specialty gases to HHV Solar Technologies Pvt. Ltd and Jupiter Solar Power Ltd. Last year, it won more than 20 new contracts in Asia from both crystalline and thin-film PV markets. The company has also signed gas supply contracts with leading PV manufacturers including Best Solar and CHINT Solar in China, Green Energy Technology in Taiwan and Gadir Solar in Spain.

Separately, Air Products said that its consolidated sales in the current quarter-to-date fell 26% from the same period last year. The company blamed declining demand in most end markets, unfavorable currency and price weakness for the drop in July and August sales. Sales in the Tonnage Gases segment were down 43%, driven by pricing pressure while sales in the electronics and performance materials segment was down 28% due to lower industry utilization and capital spending. Merchant gases sales slipped 17% on weak volumes and unfavorable currency impact.

The company is scheduled to release its fourth quarter results before the market opens on Oct. 21. We maintain our Neutral recommendation on the stock.

Along with its exploration partner Italy's Eni SPA (E), Repsol estimates that the discovery could hold between 7 and 8 trillion cubic feet of gas. This equals to more than five years of gas consumption in Spain.

While the two companies will have a 32.5% interest each in all future productions, Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA would hold a 35% stake.

Repsol is targeting stable production growth driven by pipeline projects in Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Libya, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador. Long-term growth is expected to come from opportunities in Trinidad and Tobago, Algeria, the US Gulf of Mexico, Libya and Saudi Arabia.

However, a challenging operating and contractual environment in Venezuela may create obstacles for developing new gas reserves. The Venezuelan government also maintains that any new gas development should be directed to heavily subsidized prices in the domestic market. This could have a negative impact on Repsol’s earnings visibility.

Apart from this, we are also concerned about the company’s declining reserves, very low reserve lives and rising costs. Consequently, we maintain our Neutral recommendation.

Now, I wish that I could present PDFs of both reports here (i.e. the VP and Iberian Equity report), but I can't due to the fact that such reports are usually behind the firewall. However, this first note by FT's Alphaville on the VP report and the second note, just published, on the challenge by Iberian Equities are enough to get a sense of the argument.

I have seen VP's rebuttal and I still square with their side of the fence. Especially, Iberia Equities make the following point in their report;

"Variant claims Spanish banks are not marking their loan books to market. Non-performing loans in Spain (4.6% of the system’s loans by the end of Jun’09) are marked-down according to different provisioning calendars set by the Central Bank. For non-mortgage loans, NPLs are provisioned at the end of year 2. The majority of mortgage loans (40% of loans or two thirds of mortgage loans) have been – until the BoS made changed the interpretation of the rule - also 100% provisioned by year 2. Only a small fraction of
low –risk mortgages (20% of loans) are provisioned according to a long calendar (100% provision by year 6). By international standards, Spain’s provisioning calendars are quite strict especially considering >60% of loans have a mortgage collateral".

To which VP replies;

"Non-performing loans are being passed off as current, vacuumed up and rolled ito cedulas to deposit at the ECB's repo window.  (Incidentally, that is the only way many Spanish banks are finding any semblance of liquidity right now.  Without the ECB, some Spanish banks would have the same liquidity problems that subprime mortgage originators had.  The ECB is a mega warehouse, effectively, for the Spanish banking system.  This is intimately tied in to the question of funding excess consumption in Spain, which we discussed.)"

In my opinion and apart from the glaring neglect, in the Iberian Equity report, on the macroeconomics of the situation this is the most important omission. This is to say, that had it not been possible (which it still is) for Spanish banks to park many of their assets at the ECB as collateral for funding, they would have effectively needed to mark to a non-existing market (i.e. write off the whole thing in one swoop in which case it would have been bye bye Sandy). I mean, this was what happended with Bear Stearns and Lehmann and then only afterwards did the Fed (and the "appointed" buyers) wade in to scoop up these assets which are now sitting and waiting for better times (presumably, I mean, I don't know how quick they are ground down to reflect market fundamentals).

So, as you can see, I am still with VP here but not everyone may agree in which case it is naturally something which should be debated with facts and reason.

The world’s largest revenue-generating wireless carrier launched its 3G services in 13 countries in fiscal 2008. Vodafone’s 3G wireless broadband technology is based on High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and provides peak data rates of up to 7.2 Mbps. It spent over £14 billion ($28 billion) to obtain 3G wireless licenses in various countries, devoting nearly 40% of capital expenditure to expand its 3G network.

Vodafone continues to outpace major rivals such as Deutsche Telekom’s (DT) T-Mobile, France Telecom’s (FTE) Orange and Telefonica’s (TEF) O2 in the advancement of next-generation cellular deployments. The company is now the first and only operator in the UK to offer theoretical peak download speed of 14.4 Mbps. This compares to the average top speeds of 4.5 Mbps offered by T-Mobile and 3.6 Mbps offered by O2 and Orange. However, O2 and Orange are in the process of upgrading their networks to offer throughput up to 7.2 Mbps.

Vodafone is also upgrading its existing HSDPA based network to the HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access) 3G mobile broadband standard to offer a throughput of up to 42 Mbps coupled with more efficient data transport management. As a part of this effort, the company has successfully tested an HSPA+ mobile broadband service in Spain with peak downlink speed of up to 20 Mbps, representing one of the fastest 3G data connection speeds available today.

Increased penetration of 3G services remains the primary driver of data revenue growth in Vodafone’s European segment, which grew 37% year over year in fiscal 2009. This was backed by increased adoption of 3G devices (especially iPhone and BlackBerry Storm) and associated data services.

Ongoing efforts to upgrade the existing network infrastructure should result in higher ARPU (average revenue per user), higher minutes of use and improved operating margins through greater network efficiency. Moreover, it is expected to limit customer churn through sustained product differentiation. This represents an encouraging prospect as Vodafone deals with the challenges of stabilizing subscriber count in the highly mature, core European markets.

Although the virus lies dormant in the body throughout life, it has the potential to cause severe damage when the immunity system is weakened. For transplant patients, the virus can lead to loss of the transplanted organ and in severe cases may even be fatal.

The recent approval represents a label expansion for the drug, which is already approved for CMV disease in HIV patients. In July 2008, it received pediatric exclusivity from the FDA. Combined sales of Valcyte and Cymevene (ganciclovir) rose 10% to CHF 553 million in 2008, from the year-ago period primarily driven by demand in Europe, with strong gains recorded in Germany and Spain.

Separately, Roche’s subsidiary Genentech agreed to buy Singapore-based Lonza’s cell culture biologic manufacturing facility for $290 million upfront and potential of another $70 million in milestone payments. Roche will use this facility, with 80,000 liters of fermentation capacity, to produce the bulk drug substance of Avastin. The drug that targets lung, colon and breast cancers had annual global sales of $4.92 billion in 2008.

Although these were positive developments for Roche, it was in the news for wrong reasons in the last week. The FDA decided to review the safety features of its diet drug, Xenical, for possible links with liver failure. The agency has asked patients to continue taking the drug and report possible side effects. We would await the results of the study.

Chicago, IL – August 28, 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: JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBV), BB&T Corp. (BBT), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and AMR Corp. (AMR).

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Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Thrifts Defy Troubles

Thrifts are required to have at least 65% of their loans as mortgages and other consumer loans, which makes them particularly vulnerable to the housing downturn. But banks have no such compulsion. However, the banking industry is likely to face further special assessments as more institutions fail during the recession.

The OTS supervised 794 thrifts as well as 459 holding company enterprises at the end of the quarter. The agency said that three thrifts had failed during the second quarter.

A total of 81 federally insured banks have failed so far this year. This includes several large thrifts. The failure of Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc. last year was the biggest US bank failure ever. Washington Mutual, that involved thrifts, was acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM).

Among the others, recently, Guaranty Bank failed and was sold to BBVA Compass, the US arm of Spain’s second-largest bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBV). The banking operations of Colonial were sold to BB&T Corp. (BBT).

HP Gets American Airlines Deal

Good news continues for Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ). After delivering modest third quarter results, the company won a deal with American Airlines parent AMR Corp. (AMR). According to the agreement, Hewlett-Packard will be developing a system for AMR, which will take care of pricing, reservations, flight information and check-in.

We believe this will improve the overall travel experience of American Airlines customers. This will specifically help the company in efficient baggage transfer, which will ultimately lead to lesser lost baggage, passengers getting updated information about cancelled or rescheduled flights and user-friendly check in process. The process may take around 4 to 5 years to set up. The pricing of the deal was not declared.

We believe that if Hewlett-Packard can execute this project efficiently, this experience will take the company a long way in winning similar projects from other major players in the airlines industry. Although the airlines industry is going through the doldrums as a result of the global economic downturn, every other carrier is looking to streamline their operations and we believe Hewlett-Packard can cater to that need.

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Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

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Although results for the quarter showed some improvement, overall performance of the industry remained uneven. Troubled assets at thrifts accounted for 3.52% of the industry's assets, up from 3.35% in the previous quarter. However, total value of troubled assets fell to $38.6 billion from $41 billion in the earlier quarter.

"Problem thrifts" on the agency's list are those which have significantly low capital reserves and other deficiencies. Their number rose to 40 from 31 sequentially and from 17 in the year-ago quarter.

According to the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), the uneven financial picture reflects the nation's weak job market and a generally depressed economic environment. Thrifts continued to set aside large amounts of money to protect against deteriorating loans. Though loan loss provisions declined slightly to $4.7 billion during the second quarter, it was the sixth-highest on record. We expect provisions to remain elevated until the housing and job markets stabilize.

New mortgage loans by thrifts fell sharply to $70.5 billion from $96.1 billion in the prior quarter and $128.3 billion in the prior-year period.

Thrifts are required to have at least 65% of their loans as mortgages and other consumer loans, which makes them particularly vulnerable to the housing downturn. But banks have no such compulsion. However, the banking industry is likely to face further special assessments as more institutions fail during the recession.

The OTS supervised 794 thrifts as well as 459 holding company enterprises at the end of the quarter. The agency said that three thrifts had failed during the second quarter.

A total of 81 federally insured banks have failed so far this year. This includes several large thrifts. The failure of Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc. last year was the biggest US bank failure ever. Washington Mutual, that involved thrifts, was acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM).

Among the others, recently, Guaranty Bank failed and was sold to BBVA Compass, the US arm of Spain’s second-largest bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBV). The banking operations of Colonial were sold to BB&T Corp. (BBT).

In April, Kuwait floated a new tender for building turbines for a plant in the north of the country. At that time, the Ministry had expected costs for bringing the plant into effect by 2011 to be far less than 700 million dinars. Kuwait has one of the world’s highest per capita power consumption rates.

Apart from GE, other companies that initially qualified for the project included Germany's Siemens (SI), Japan's Mitsui & Co. (MITSY) and Marubeni Corp., Spain's Iberdrola Ingenieria Y Construccion and Canada's SNC-Lavalin Ltd.

General Electric has products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and industrial products. It serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide.

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on GE.

Chicago, IL – August 25, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Transcept Pharmaceuticals (TSPT) as the Bull of the Day and Nabors Industries (NBR) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Guaranty Financial Group Inc. (GFG), Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) and BB&T Corporation (BBT).

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 recently initiated coverage of Transcept Pharmaceuticals (TSPT) with an Outperform rating and $12 price target. We think Intermezzo is a product that can fill a much needed void for insomnia patients with chronic nocturnal awakenings.

An FDA decision on the pending new drug application is expected in late October 2009. We think approval is a high likelihood event at that time.

With the commercialization partner signed and the financial position solid (estimated $95 million on hand), the stock is significantly under-valued, in our view.

Bear of the Day:

Nabors Industries (NBR) second-quarter earnings of 32 cents per share topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 28 cents, buoyed by stronger margins associated with new rig deployments in its international operations and solid performance from the Alaska sub-segment.

However, results were significantly below year-earlier levels, reflecting a sustained slowdown in North American activity levels. We remain concerned about the North American land drilling scene and its impact on Nabors, the largest onshore driller.

This, coupled with the company's relatively weak balance sheet in an environment of continued credit market turmoil, accounts for our Underperform recommendation.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

2nd Largest Bank Failure in ‘09

U.S. regulators on Friday shuttered more four banks, including Guaranty. The shutdown of Guaranty, a unit of Guaranty Financial Group Inc. (GFG), is the second-largest U.S. bank failure this year after Colonial, and the 10th-largest in U.S. history. This takes the total number of failed federally insured banks this year to 81, compared to 25 in 2008 and 3 in 2007.

Texas-based lender Guaranty had assets of about $13 billion and deposits of $12 billion. Souring losses on loans to homebuilders and mortgage-backed securities were the primary reasons which caused Guaranty to fail. GFG affirmed last Monday in a regulatory filing that the company was critically short of capital and didn't believe it could stay in business. Finally, Guaranty joined the list of the 12 biggest U.S. bank failures of all time.

Guaranty had been trying to raise fresh capital with the help of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision, but the souring losses have muddied its plans.

The three other banks were ebank, with $143 million in assets and $130 million in deposits; First Coweta, with $167 million in assets and $155 million in deposits; and CapitalSouth Bank, with $617 million in assets and $546 million in deposits.

Failure of these banks represents another sizable hit to the FDIC’s fund for protecting customer accounts, as the FDIC has been appointed receiver of these banks. Guaranty alone is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund about $3 billion. Cost to the insurance fund is expected to be about $63 million for ebank, $48 million for First Coweta and $151 million for CapitalSouth.

In the first quarter of 2009, the number of banks on the FDIC's list of problem institutions jumped to 305. This is the highest number since the savings and loan crisis in 1994. The FDIC anticipates U.S. bank failures to cost $70 billion through 2013.

The FDIC sold all of Guaranty’s deposits and $12 billion of the assets to BBVA Compass. BBVA Compass is the U.S. division of Spain's second-largest bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA). The FDIC will share losses on Guaranty’s $11 billion assets with BBVA. The acquisition allows BBVA to expand its operation in the U.S. market. The acquisition was desirable for BBVA as it tries to extend its reach into the Spanish-speaking market of the U.S.

BBVA Compass has 600 branches from Florida to California. The takeover of Guaranty Bank, with 162 branches in Texas and California, will create the 15th-largest commercial bank in the U.S. with about $49 billion in deposits.

Earlier this month, Colonial BancGroup was seized by the FDIC. It is the biggest bank failure so far this year, and the sixth-largest in U.S. history. Colonial’s $20 billion in deposits, 346 branches and about $22 billion of assets were sold to BB&T Corporation (BBT). Guaranty was about half the size of Colonial Bank.

Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

About the Analyst Blog

Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous analyst coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today by visiting http://at.zacks.com/?id=5508.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5509.

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Contact:
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Visit: www.zacks.com

However on a GAAP basis, the company sank to a net loss of 87 cents per ADS due to large one-time charges. It lost 64 cents per ADS for a prepayment provision and another 31 cents for changes in fair value of conversion feature of convertible bonds.

Solarfun witnessed a 24.9% sequential rise to record net revenue in excess of $125 million. Photovoltaic (PV) module shipments rose to 64.3MW from 35.7MW in the first quarter. The spike in volumes came from higher PV module shipments and PV module processing services. Of this, Germany continued to account for the lion’s share, consuming 83% of the company's total PV module shipments during the quarter. Czech Republic, Australia, Korea and Spain accounted for 6%, 5%, 3% and 2%, respectively, of the module shipments during the same period.

The company had cash and cash equivalents of $72.4 million, working capital of $188.7 million and unutilized credit lines worth $84.9 million at the end of the second quarter. Solarfun continues with its capacity expansion programs. It plans to expand its current module capacity of 460MW to 510MW by the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2009. Over the long term, it plans to reach annualized module capacity of 700MW in fiscal 2010.

However, Solarfun saw lower average selling price during the quarter, which was down to $2.66 from $2.78 per watt in the first quarter on account of poorer market prices of PV products. The company sees the trend continuing for the rest of the year and warned that average selling prices could slide as low as $2 per watt. We maintain our market Neutral recommendation on the shares.

Chicago, IL – August 3, 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: China Unicom (CHU), Telefonica (TEF), Ericsson (ERIC), China Mobile (CHL) and China Telecom (CHA).

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:

CHU Expanding 3G Trials

China Unicom (CHU) has launched commercial trials of its 3G services in 56 cities (including Beijing and Shanghai) in May 2009 and recently extended that to 44 more cities. The company plans to spend RMB110 billion (US$15.9 billion) in 2009, with the significant increase (approximately 56% year over year) primarily attributable to 3G network related investments.

The company plans to cover 284 cities by the end of the current year with 74% penetration of Chinese population and aims to lure 30 million users within one year of launch. China Unicom is currently bidding for procuring WCDMA technology and equipment and has also collaborated with Spain’s Telefonica (TEF) for developing 3G services. Recently, the company has entered into a $700 million agreement with Ericsson (ERIC) which will provide the necessary network equipment to facilitate the deployment of the 3 WCDMA network in 15 provinces.

China Unicom contends with an increasingly competitive domestic wireless market. The company’s peers China Mobile (CHL) and China Telecom (CHA) are also aggressively preparing for nationwide commercial roll out of their respective 3G services.

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Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

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About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

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Chicago, IL – July 31, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Hanesbrands, Inc. (HBI) as the Bull of the Day and CEMEX, S.A. de C.V. (CX) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on ConocoPhillips (COP), ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX).

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:

Hanesbrands, Inc. (HBI) management's business model requires only modest sales growth to create substantial EPS growth. Earnings are being driven by brand-building and cost-reduction initiatives.

Since the spin-off in September 2006, the company has reduced debt by $511 million, lowering interest expense from the post spin-off financial structure. However, management is reporting non-GAAP EPS, which excludes unusual actions, which may be distorting perceived earnings.

The Buy rating is maintained due to valuation. Currently, our six-month target price is $20.50 per share.

Bear of the Day:

We are keeping our Sell rating on CEMEX, S.A. de C.V. (CX). The company posted weak results in the second quarter of 2009 with more than 50% decrease in net income year over year.

The continued weak cement volumes in Spain and the U.S. are problematic. The short-term outlook for the company remains highly uncertain based on the prolonged downturns in the residential sector and tight credit conditions coupled with fall in the real estate prices throughout the world.

Moreover, the continuous increase in net debt is extremely concerning. Our six-month target is $8 per share.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

Conoco Beats Despite Slump

ConocoPhillips (COP) reported second-quarter earnings of $0.87 per share, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.83 per share.

However, earnings per share were well below from the year-earlier figure of $3.50. This significant downfall was mainly due to significantly lower commodity prices and a steep decline in worldwide marketing margins, which more than offset production improvements and lower costs.

While turnaround in crude oil prices is beneficial to the entire sector, we are maintaining our Hold recommendation on ConocoPhillips shares given the company’s competitive disadvantages relative to its super major peers. These disadvantages include a high-cost OECD-centric asset base and heavy exposure to the relative tentative outlook for U.S. natural gas (more than a third of total volumes) and refining markets. Our preferred names in the integrated space remain ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX).

Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

About the Analyst Blog

Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous analyst coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

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About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5509.

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Chicago, IL – July 31, 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: Telefonica (TEF), Vodafone (VOD), Deutsche Telecom (DT), Palm, Inc. (PALM) and China Unicom (CHU).

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Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Telefonica Outpaces Forecast

Telefonica (TEF) continues to experience declines across its domestic and European markets due to recession and intense competition which offset growth in Latin America. The company’s Spanish revenue declined 6.9% to €4.8 billion ($6.6 billion) in the second quarter while revenue from Europe decreased by 5.9% to €3.3 billion ($4.5 billion) partly due to negative currency exchange rate movements.

The company’s UK wireless operation (O2 UK) continues to struggle, with declining revenues as the operator contends with a weak economic condition and intense competition, especially from Vodafone (VOD) and Deutsche Telecom (DT).

Telefonica is currently benefiting from strong demand for iPhones, which has strengthened its cellular revenue base. Moreover, the company has recently received the right to market Palm, Inc.’s (PALM) Pre smartphone in the UK, Spain, Ireland and Germany. The company is also aggressively pursuing expansion initiatives into other emerging markets as the company aims to increase its foothold in China through a stake holding in China Unicom (CHU).

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Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

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About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

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The continued weak cement volumes in Spain and the U.S. are problematic. The short-term outlook for the company remains highly uncertain based on the prolonged downturns in the residential sector and tight credit conditions coupled with fall in the real estate prices throughout the world.

Moreover, the continuous increase in net debt is extremely concerning. Our six-month target is $8 per share.Zacks Investment Research

Chicago, IL – July 30, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today’s outlook from Zacks Equity Research analyst Ann Heffron discusses the Non-U.S. Banks sector. Highlighted stocks include: Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (ITUB), Banco Santander Santiago (SAN) and HDFC Bank Limited (HDB).

Specific banks that we like include Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (ITUB) in Brazil, Banco Santander Santiago (SAN) in Chile and HDFC Bank Limited (HDB) in India.

ITUB is the largest bank in Brazil following the February 2009 merger of Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros S.A. and Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A., with R$575 billion (US$240 billion) in assets, 4,800 branches, and a 19% share of the Brazilian loan market.

SAN is the largest private bank in Chile (total assets of Ch$21,137 billion or US$33.6 billion at year-end 2008) and is 77% owned by Banco Santander Central Hispano, the largest bank in Spain and one of the largest in Europe.

HDB is now one of the largest banks in India, with Rs183,271 crores, or US $35.1 billion, and a retail network of 1,412 branches and 3,295 ATMs in 528 cities for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009.

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About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5511.

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That said, we believe that banks in stable emerging economies, such as Chile, Brazil or India, may be more attractive investments -- similar to what we expect for certain regional banks in the US. To be sure, banks in emerging economies will face asset quality issues; however, they are not confronted with other significant problems that many of the larger banks in Europe and the United Kingdom are, such as toxic securities, dilution from capital raising and dividend cuts/omissions. Moreover, these emerging market banks generally tend to be well capitalized, aren't as heavily exposed to the property markets, and have significant and generally growing sources of noninterest income.

In fact, Zacks-covered banks in Latin America and Asia have outperformed both the S&P 500 year to date, as well as Zacks-covered banks in Europe and the United Kingdom, increasing 40.1% and 27.7%, respectively, versus gains of 3.3% for the S&P 500 and 10.6% for banks in Europe and the United Kingdom.

There are several caveats one should consider when investing in these banks. First, investment in non-US ADR bank stocks entails foreign currency risk. Currently, the US$ is appreciating against many foreign currencies, which tends to depress US$ share performance. On the other hand, when this turns and the US$ starts falling against other foreign currencies, this will accelerate gains in US$. More importantly, we expect stock prices to continue volatile, reflecting economic uncertainty in the coming months and headline risk.

OPPORTUNITIES

Specific banks that we like include Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (ITUB) in Brazil, Banco Santander Santiago (SAN) in Chile and HDFC Bank Limited (HDB) in India.

ITUB is the largest bank in Brazil following the February 2009 merger of Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros S.A. and Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A., with R$575 billion (US$240 billion) in assets, 4,800 branches, and a 19% share of the Brazilian loan market.

SAN is the largest private bank in Chile (total assets of Ch$21,137 billion or US$33.6 billion at year-end 2008) and is 77% owned by Banco Santander Central Hispano, the largest bank in Spain and one of the largest in Europe.

HDB is now one of the largest banks in India, with Rs183,271 crores, or US $35.1 billion, and a retail network of 1,412 branches and 3,295 ATMs in 528 cities for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009.

There are currently three stocks in the Zacks covered non-US bank universe with a Zacks ranking of 1 (Strong Buy) -- Credit Suisse Group (CS), HDFC Bank Limited and ICICI Bank Limited (IBN) -- and three stocks that have a Zacks rank of 2 (Buy) -- Itau Unibanco Holding S.A., Banco Bradesco S.A. (BBD) and Deutsche Bank AG (DB).

WEAKNESSES

We would avoid the larger banks in the Great Britain and Ireland, particularly those that that have participated in government recapitalization programs, such as The Royal Bank of Scotland Bank plc (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group plc (LYG) in Britain and Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland (IRE). In return for the government capital and asset quality protection, these banks must submit to other government intervention, including limits on dividend payouts and nomination of board members. This will limit their financial flexibility for awhile and raise issues of complete nationalization, which could continue to hurt share price performance.

Current Sells include Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBV) and Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A. (STD), both headquartered in Spain. In Spain, the recent collapse in housing and construction, which propelled economic growth for the last decade, is expected to stall for the next few years. Moreover, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) believes that Spain will be harder-hit by the global economic downturn than other European countries. Indeed, Spain's unemployment rate was 17.4% at the end of March, more than double the level a year ago.

There is currently one stock in the Zacks covered non-US bank universe with a Zacks ranking of 5 (Strong Sell) -- Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. -- and one stock that has a Zacks rank of 4 (Sell)-- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MTU).Zacks Investment Research

That said, we believe that banks in stable emerging economies, such as Chile, Brazil or India, may be more attractive investments -- similar to what we expect for certain regional banks in the US. To be sure, banks in emerging economies will face asset quality issues; however, they are not confronted with other significant problems that many of the larger banks in Europe and the United Kingdom are, such as toxic securities, dilution from capital raising and dividend cuts/omissions. Moreover, these emerging market banks generally tend to be well capitalized, aren't as heavily exposed to the property markets, and have significant and generally growing sources of noninterest income.

In fact, Zacks-covered banks in Latin America and Asia have outperformed both the S&P 500 year to date, as well as Zacks-covered banks in Europe and the United Kingdom, increasing 40.1% and 27.7%, respectively, versus gains of 3.3% for the S&P 500 and 10.6% for banks in Europe and the United Kingdom.

There are several caveats one should consider when investing in these banks. First, investment in non-US ADR bank stocks entails foreign currency risk. Currently, the US$ is appreciating against many foreign currencies, which tends to depress US$ share performance. On the other hand, when this turns and the US$ starts falling against other foreign currencies, this will accelerate gains in US$. More importantly, we expect stock prices to continue volatile, reflecting economic uncertainty in the coming months and headline risk.

OPPORTUNITIES

Specific banks that we like include Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (ITUB) in Brazil, Banco Santander Santiago (SAN) in Chile and HDFC Bank Limited (HDB) in India.

ITUB is the largest bank in Brazil following the February 2009 merger of Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros S.A. and Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A., with R$575 billion (US$240 billion) in assets, 4,800 branches, and a 19% share of the Brazilian loan market.

SAN is the largest private bank in Chile (total assets of Ch$21,137 billion or US$33.6 billion at year-end 2008) and is 77% owned by Banco Santander Central Hispano, the largest bank in Spain and one of the largest in Europe.

HDB is now one of the largest banks in India, with Rs183,271 crores, or US $35.1 billion, and a retail network of 1,412 branches and 3,295 ATMs in 528 cities for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009.

There are currently three stocks in the Zacks covered non-US bank universe with a Zacks ranking of 1 (Strong Buy) -- Credit Suisse Group (CS), HDFC Bank Limited and ICICI Bank Limited (IBN) -- and three stocks that have a Zacks rank of 2 (Buy) -- Itau Unibanco Holding S.A., Banco Bradesco S.A. (BBD) and Deutsche Bank AG (DB).

WEAKNESSES

We would avoid the larger banks in the Great Britain and Ireland, particularly those that that have participated in government recapitalization programs, such as The Royal Bank of Scotland Bank plc (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group plc (LYG) in Britain and Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland (IRE). In return for the government capital and asset quality protection, these banks must submit to other government intervention, including limits on dividend payouts and nomination of board members. This will limit their financial flexibility for awhile and raise issues of complete nationalization, which could continue to hurt share price performance.

Current Sells include Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBV) and Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A. (STD), both headquartered in Spain. In Spain, the recent collapse in housing and construction, which propelled economic growth for the last decade, is expected to stall for the next few years. Moreover, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) believes that Spain will be harder-hit by the global economic downturn than other European countries. Indeed, Spain's unemployment rate was 17.4% at the end of March, more than double the level a year ago.

There is currently one stock in the Zacks covered non-US bank universe with a Zacks ranking of 5 (Strong Sell) -- Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. -- and one stock that has a Zacks rank of 4 (Sell)-- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MTU).Zacks Investment Research

Unit retail sales of lower horsepower tractors were down due to weakness in the landscaping, residential construction, and dairy sectors. This weakness is expected to continue for the remainder of the year.
 
In the EAME region, quarterly sales were down 28.0% due to lower volumes in Eastern and Central Europe, Russia, Scandinavia and Spain, partially offset by volume gains in Germany and France. The company experienced major demand weakness from the diary and livestock sectors.

For the remainder of the year, the company expects weak industry demand in Europe resulting from lower income across the entire farming sector. Demand weakness is expected to be severe in Eastern and Central Europe and Russia due to tighter credit markets.
 
Sales from the South American region were down 40.5% due to significant volume declines in Brazil and Argentina and a shift in sales mix towards lower horsepower tractors in Brazil. The company expects industry retail volumes to be significantly down in South America due to dry weather conditions and the impact of tightened credit on planted acreage and car production.
 
We concur with the company that the demand for farm equipment is not expected to recover in the next couple of quarters. As a result, AGCO lowered its full year revenue guidance marginally to $6.5–$6.8 billion from the previous guidance of $6.7–$7.0 billion.

In response to weak demand, the company is planning to cut its tractors and combines production by about 20 to 25% from the previous year’s levels. We expect the company to post full year sales at the low end of its guidance range.
 
Also, the company lowered the high end of its EPS guidance range. The company now forecasts EPS in the range of to $2.00–$2.25, compared to previous guidance of $2.00–$2.50.

Operating income decreased to $411 million in the second quarter of 2009 from $899 million in the year-ago quarter. This decline was due to the increase in costs and expenses on lower volumes both in the U.S. and Spain. Thus, net income stood at $187 million, versus $444 million in the second quarter of 2008.
 
Currently, the cement industry is suffering based on the probability of new rules to limit emissions from the energy-intensive kilns that are core to the business, and more so CEMEX, which is battling with leading cement maker in U.S. like France's Lafarge SA (LAFP) and Switzerland's Holcim Ltd (HOLN) in a difficult market. Moreover, the company lost its profitable Venezuelan operations in 2008, and needs to repay $4.1 billion of debt by the end of 2009 and the remaining in 2010 and 2011.
 
CEMEX has huge exposure to the U.S., Spanish and British construction businesses; countries that are experiencing a difficult moment in its real estate cycle at present. In fact, prolonged downturns in the residential sector and tight credit conditions have negatively affected all segments of the construction sector around the world. The private sector is shrinking and the U.S. and European housing sectors are facing a huge crisis.
 
Meanwhile, almost all major governments in the world, including the U.S., European Union, China and Brazil, have been trying to stimulate infrastructure investment in the coming quarters. We believe it is still too early to tell when these programs will provide immense demand to fuel growth for the company and generate cash flow to reduce its huge debt and return to normal profitability. Thus, we are keeping our Sell recommendation on CEMEX.

The company also decided to conduct additional trials of AZD3480 (another drug for neuroscience) by initiating phase IIb studies in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Last year, the evaluation of AZD3480 for the treatment of AD and Schizophrenia had been inconclusive.

But in May 2009, preliminary result of AZD3480 showed significant improvement in symptoms of ADHD. With the progress of this drug candidate, AstraZeneca has agreed to make a milestone payment of $10 million to its collaborating partner Targacept.

Many pharma players have been eyeing this segment as AD had been the third-leading cause of death in the recent past. More than 24 million people are already affected worldwide and the number could reach 40 million by 2020. The market potential of this disease is well understood. Revenue estimates for the only approved AD drugs across major markets (US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) were pegged at over $3 billion in 2006, and is expected to exceed $5 billion by 2012.

As both drug candidates are in early stage of development, it is difficult to estimate if they would be successful at all. But we are hopeful based on the strong R&D initiatives of the company and encouraging phase IIa data of AZD3480. As far as pipeline is concerned, the company currently has ten projects which are either in phase III trials or have filed for registration.

The company’s goal is to file up to three new license applications per year and bring at least two new drugs to market every year through 2010. We have a Hold rating on the stock as we see the current price as quite attractive given AstraZeneca’s long-term potential.

Chicago, IL – July 8, 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: Telefonica (TEF), Palm Inc (PALM), Apple Inc (AAPL), Sprint Nextel (S) and Vodafone (VOD).
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 Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Telefonica Wins Palm Pre

On July 7, 2009, top Spanish telecom operator Telefonica (TEF) announced that it has been awarded the exclusive right to distribute Palm Inc’s (PALM) recently released smartphone “Pre" in the selected European markets.

The company’s wireless arms O2 and Movistar will exclusively sell the premium handset when it becomes available in specified European countries during the holiday season in December 2009. O2 has received the right to market Pre in the UK, Ireland and Germany, while Movistar will have exclusivity in Spain.

Like Apple Inc’s (AAPL) iPhone 3G (and the latest 3GS version), Palm Pre is equipped with the most advanced cellular technology and embedded features available in the 3G handheld market today. The high profile handset was launched in the U.S. on June 6, 2009 with Sprint Nextel (S) being the exclusive dealer. Palm Pre has generated strong market response, having sold 90,000 to 100,000 units in the first week of the launch.

Telefonica’s Spanish and European wireless operations are currently struggling with declining revenues and lower subscriber growth levels reported in the most recent quarter as weak economic conditions across these key markets are affecting customer usage levels supported by intense competition. Additionally, reduced tariff rates imposed by Spanish and European regulations are tightening wireless revenue per user.

Palm Pre represents the second most significant handset deal for both O2 and Movistar as they are already the exclusive distributors of iPhones (including 3GS) in Britain and Spain, respectively. The ability to market two of the most sought after handset brands will strengthen O2’s competitive position over its biggest rival Vodafone (VOD).

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About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517

About Zacks
 
Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment
Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Follow us on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/ZacksInvestment

Join us on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

The Dallas-based chemical giant Celanese Corp. (CE) recently completed the sale of its polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) business to Japanese peers Sekisui Chemical Co. The company sold the business for $173 million following an agreement signed in April.

The PVOH business, a part of Celanese's Industrial Specialties segment, produces and sells a broad portfolio of performance chemicals engineered to meet specific customer requirements. The PVOH products are used in paints and coatings, adhesives, building and construction, glass fiber, textiles and paper.

The sale of the PVOH business includes its facilities in Calvert City, Kentucky, Pasadena, Texas, one unit within the complex at Tarragona, Spain, and resources from Celanese's Houston Technology Center. As many as 250 employees located at these operations will be transferred to Sekisui. There will also be long-term supply agreements between both the companies.

The downturn in the global economy and lower demand forced Celanese to reduce its capacities. This is expected to continue through the rest of 2009.

In the first quarter of 2009, Celanese reported a net loss from continuing operations of $20 million or $0.17 per diluted share. Net sales for the quarter declined 38% to $1.15 billion, driven by lower volumes on continued weak global demand and lower pricing for acetyl products.

In light of the above conditions, we continue to recommend CE as Sell with a target price of $16.00.

Chicago, IL - June 26, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research highlights Cirrus Logic, Inc. (CRUS) as the Bull of the Day and CEMEX, S.A. de C.V. (CX) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Mack-Cali (CLI), Liberty Properties (LRY) and Cousins Properties (CUZ).

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:

Cirrus Logic, Inc. (CRUS) is a fabless OEM of analog, mixed-signal and digital processing integrated circuits (ICs). The company's 4Q results were in line with our expectation.

On the positive side, CRUS reflects a strong balance sheet with no debt. The company has also provided decent 1Q 2010 guidance. Cirrus' new product offerings are expected to benefit end customers.

The seismic product line remains a strong growth area and should help increase revenue going forward. This group should maintain its growth even after factoring in the changes in oil price. Our recommendation remains a BUY with a price target of $5.50.

Bear of the Day:

We are keeping our Sell rating on CEMEX, S.A. de C.V. (CX). The company posted weak results in the first quarter of 2009 with net income of just US$3 million.

The continued weak cement volumes in Spain and U.S. are problematic. The short-term outlook for the company remains highly uncertain based on the downtrend in the residential, industrial/commercial and the infrastructure sectors as well as due to the fall in the real estate prices throughout the world. Moreover, the recent lawsuit filed against the company is problematic.

However, all efforts to reduce its costs and net debt in 2009 are encouraging. Nevertheless, the current credit crunch and the recession in the U.S. are matters of huge concern.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

Commercial Real Estate Plunging

The reason why the value of CRE is falling is not a mystery. If stores are closing, then they will not be paying rent, and landlords will not be in a position to get rent increases from the remaining stores. If a company is laying off lots of people it will have lots of empty cubicles and offices, and will be looking to sublet its existing space, competing directly with the landlords trying to rent out existing space.

In addition, as recently as the second half of last year, construction of new commercial real estate was still very robust, meaning that there is lots of new space that has recently come on line. Still, a 8.6% decline in a single month is startling and is very bad news for REITs like Mack-Cali (CLI), Liberty Properties (LRY) and Cousins Properties (CUZ).

We have already seen commercial delinquencies and foreclosures start to rise, and this will be a major headache for the banks going forward. Many small- and mid-sized banks ($1-10 billion in assets) are very heavily exposed to CRE. This could cause them to be the guest of honor at one of the Friday night pizza parties put on by the FDIC. However, individually these banks do not threaten the financial system the way the stress-tested 19 would if they failed.

Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.

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Bob Holderith is chief executive of Emerging Global Advisors. Richard Kang is chief investment officer for the New York-based company, which recently launched the first exchange-traded funds focused on specific sectors in emerging markets. (See related story here.)

EGA is expected to launch soon a third ETF that will act as a composite of the 10 underlying sectors in the Dow Jones emerging markets indexing series it’s using for current and upcoming funds.

The company says that nine more are in the works focusing on emerging markets sectors. Those will join the May launches of the EGS Emerging Markets Energy Fund (NYSE Arca: EEO) and the  EGS Emerging Markets Metals & Mining Fund (NYSE Arca: EMT).

IndexUniverse.com’s Murray Coleman caught up with Holderith and Kang late Thursday to discuss the future of sector investing in developing markets.

IU: What is available for U.S.-based investors in terms of foreign sector ETFs now?

Holderith: The family of Select Sector SPDRs is the dominant ETF line providing sector-based exposures.  They’ve got a long history. But those ETFs only focus on U.S. companies. For pure international exposure to foreign sectors, we’ve only seen two-  to three- years worth of actual performance history. And that’s through the iShares’ global sector family of funds as well as those of State Street Global Advisors. The SSgA  family is purely international sector ETFs.

IU: Then your firm’s line-up of international sector ETFs will compete most directly against those of SSgA?

Kang: No, since the SSgA ETFs are focused predominately on developed markets. For example, take the SPDR S&P International Financial Sector (NYSE: IPF). The top weighted countries are (in order): Japan, Canada, Australia, the U.K., Spain and Switzerland. The SSgA international sector ETFs do allow for some emerging markets exposure. But as cap-weighted indexes, they’re heavily skewed to developed countries.

IU: Why is your company going with pure emerging markets exposure rather than a mix of developed and emerging markets?

Holderith: There’s more than enough coverage of developed international markets now in the ETF marketplace. In terms of emerging markets, we’ve seen broad, regional and country specific funds. But we’re first to market with sector-specific ETFs for developing countries. The EMT and EEO ETFs are the first of a series we’re preparing to launch.

IU: What others are planned?

Holderith: We’ve got in the pipeline 10 ETFs still left to bring-to-market. Those will all use Dow Jones indexes, similar to those used by EMT and EEO. Dow Jones uses a classification system for sectors called the ICB (or industry classification benchmark) system. The other sector-specific ETFs in various stages of planning we’re working on launching cover: basic materials; consumer goods; consumer services; financials; health care; industrials; technology; telecom and utilities.

IU: You’ve also got a broader ETF that has received regulatory approval, don’t you?

Holderith: Yes, we’ve got a composite ETF that’s due to launch within the next few weeks.  That’s an ETF tracking a Dow Jones index that takes the top 10 names from each of the 10 major emerging markets sectors. (It won’t include metals and mining, which is a subsector of basic materials.)  So that will leave 100 names in the underlying composite index. And as in all of our ETFs, we have a rule that caps individual weightings at no more than 10%.

IU: In the composite index for such an emerging markets fund, what would the sector weightings look like then?

Holderith: Oil and gas along with financials are the dominant sectors in the composite index.

IU: What type of performance have you seen through back-tested data for emerging markets sector indexes compared to developed markets sector indexes?

Kang: We have data going back many years for the underlying benchmarks. The data for emerging markets, however, isn’t as robust as that for developed markets. So we really focus on data going back to December 2005 when comparing the Dow Jones composite benchmark we’re using for our emerging markets sector funds.

IU: What do those comparisons show?

Kang: Going back to 2005, returns were generally spectacular up through 2007 for emerging markets vs. developed markets. In the latter half of 2008, we saw greater volatility and bigger losses in emerging markets. As with any more volatile asset class, emerging markets offers the potential for greater long-term gains as a result. Clearly, some sectors performed better in relative terms during the periods when markets were going up versus others.  The same is true in the bear market of 2008.  That is the essence of the popularity of sector funds -- their selection during different stages of the market cycle.

IU: How correlated are emerging markets sectors to developed markets sectors?

Kang: That’s a tricky question. It depends on your timeframe. In statistical terms, there’s just not a lot of data. But you can draw some general conclusions. There are times, like in the bull market from 2005-2007, when many sectors in emerging markets and developed markets were highly correlated. Commodity stocks were highly correlated during the commodities boon regardless of location. On the other hand during the credit crisis, financials haven’t been as highly correlated because banks in the U.K, for example, have been exposed to more toxic assets than banks in places like China, Brazil and India.

IU: What do you see as the biggest benefits of breaking emerging markets into sectors?

Kang: A lot of investors managing their emerging markets exposures are doing so by allocating between countries. The question we asked at the very beginning of creating our ETFs is how much overlap there is between sectors and geography.

Let’s say you’re an American investor with heavy exposure to the S&P 500 index. Maybe you’ve tilted your  portfolio a little to commodities through funds such as the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) and the iPath Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index ETN (NYSE: DJP). If you’ve got that portfolio, you look more like a Canadian or an Aussie – both of those countries are heavily influenced by movements in natural resources prices.

IU: In other words, broader-based ETFs don’t add a lot in those situations?

Kang: The inclusion of broad emerging market ETFs as well as many of the country specific ETFs to this kind of portfolio would not provide diversification as correlations would be surprisingly high.  For true diversification, the inclusion of certain sectors would likely provide more optimal risk-return characteristics to the overall portfolio.

Furthermore, many investors who invest in emerging markets country ETFs do so based on a sector-type of rationale. For example, let’s say someone wants to invest in Russia. The question I would ask is: Do you want to invest in that country to be more richly compensated with some sort of political risk associated with that country? Or, are you investing in Russia to make an oil and gas bet? If that’s the case, do you want to put all your eggs in one basket – Russia. Or, would you prefer to invest in a basket focused on oil and gas but with companies from Russia, India, China, Brazil and several others?

IU: Those are the top countries in EEO, aren’t they?

Kang: Yes. Those four countries comprise roughly two-thirds of the fund. And with EMT, the top countries are: South Africa, Brazil, China and Russia. Those take up more than three-quarters of the fund.

Bob Holderith is chief executive of Emerging Global Advisors. Richard Kang is chief investment officer for the New York-based company, which recently launched the first exchange-traded funds focused on specific sectors in emerging markets. (See related story here.)