• Potash (NYSE:POT) reported third-quarter earnings of 82 cents a share, versus Zacks estimates of 82 cents, as revenues fell 64% to $1.1 billion. Citing continued caution among fertilizer customers, the firm projected fourth quarter earnings of 65 to 85 cents a share

• Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) reported net profits of $2.33 billion on a surge in investment banking operations and strength in its private banking arm. Its tier one capital ratio rose to 16.4%, the highest of any of the world's major banks

• UPS (NYSE:UPS) reported third quarter results of 55 cents, three cents above Zacks estimates, on revenues of $11.15 billion, versus Zacks estimates of $11.17 billion. The company said it sees fourth quarter earnings of 58 cents to 65 cents a share

• Merck's (NYSE:MRK) third quarter results of 90 cents beat Zacks estimates by 8 cents on inline revenues of $6 billion. The firm set full year guidance

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Weak global economic conditions and a downgrade of Well Fargo by prominent banking analyst Richard Bove spooked investors even as Morgan Stanley and Yahoo reported better-than-expected earnings.  The Dow Jones industrial average slipped below the 10,000 level yesterday as markets pulled back in the final hour of trading.

Bove of Rochdale Securities said earnings at Well Fargo (NYSE:WFC) were helped by mortgage-servicing fees rather than improving business trends, and trimmed his rating on the bank to “sell" from “hold."  However, Well Fargo and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), which reported its first quarterly profit in a year, were behind the market’s strength earlier in the session.  Bove also cited accelerating loan losses at the firm for the downgrade.  After Bove’s cut, FBR slashed its rating on the firm to "underperform," questioning Well Fargo's earnings quality.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell below the psychologically important 10,000 level, declining 92.12 points, or

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Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: CHIP, ENZ, GERS, IWEB, OMCM, ONEZ, XSNX

Markets hit fresh highs for ‘09 yet again last week, as the first round of earnings helped to assuage investor concerns that operating results would underpin robust gains in equities this year. All told, the Dow gained 130 points to end the week at 9995 after briefly cracking the 10,000 mark, gaining 1.3% on the week and extending its gains to 13.9% on the year. The Nasdaq gained 0.8% on the week to close at 2156, up 36.8% on the year, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 gained 1.5% and 0.2% respectively, bringing their YTD totals to 20.4% and 23.4%.

Earnings stole the spotlight last week as things got off to a strong start early with JP Morgan handily beating expectations calling for $0.51 per share, reporting earnings of $0.82 per share. Citigroup

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• A JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) estimated the adverse impact of possible regulatory reform may lower investment banks' long-term profitability by almost one-third, resulting in further job eliminations and bonus cuts. Hardest hit will be Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), according to the report

• Talbots (NYSE:TLB) reported an adjusted fiscal second quarter loss of 33 cents a share, versus estimates of a 52 cents per share loss on revenues of $304.6 million, versus estimates of $309.34 million.  The firm said it sees third quarter losses of 24-30 cents a share, ex-items

• JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) upgraded UPS (NYSE:UPS) to "overweight" from "neutral" and raised the price target on the firm to $70 from $57

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) downgraded DuPont (NYSE:DD) on valuation concerns with a price target of $32

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) upped Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) and added the firm to its Conviction Buy List with a $55 price

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Bond bubble remerges… details behind the gov’s latest debt struggle… The slow demise of snail mail… USPS forecasts record losses… Customized drugs: Patrick Cox on a breakthrough set to revolutionize health care… Bill Jenkins with another sign the euro is overvalued… his price targets below…

Just when you thought the bond bubble was being saved for another day…

The government managed to auction $39 billion worth of 5-year debt yesterday… barely. Wednesday’s debt sale drew a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.92, the lowest investor demand since September 2008. Low demand forced Uncle Sam to jack up interest rates at the last minute in two separate bond auctions this week — yesterday’s sale and Tuesday’s $42 billion auction of 2-year notes.

So what’s an indebted government to do? Manipulate the market, of course. Bond yields have given back yesterday’s spike partly thanks to the Federal Reserve, which bought $3

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The U.S. Postal Service is on track for a record $7 billion deficit this year. That’s more than double last year’s loss.

Postmaster General John Potter bumped up his previous projection by a billion bucks yesterday, citing the growing expenses of six-day delivery and employee retirement/health care plans. Potter and his team are scrambling to cut costs left and right — from a yearlong hiring freeze to early retirement offers to branch closures. But we wonder… will it even matter?

The Government Accountability Office recently labeled the USPS a “high risk” federal program, and while we’re hard-pressed to think of any risk-free government program, we’re inclined to agree.

The Postal Service is facing a perfect storm of business risk: The business is already loaded up with debt. Minimum wage and benefit costs are rising while revenues are

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DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Tuesday July 28, 2009

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Michael Baker Jr., Inc., an engineering unit of Michael Baker Corporation (NYSE Amex:BKR), announced today that it has been selected by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, District 8-0, to provide construction management support and construction inspection services on 17 separate construction projects, under two separate agreements, with a total construction value of more than $77 million. Baker’s fee under the two-year agreements is $5 million.

PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) plans to release its consolidated second-quarter 2009 earnings results before the stock market opens Tuesday, Aug. 4. James H. Miller, PPL chairman, president and chief executive officer, and other members of PPL’s executive management team will

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SkyPostal Networks Incorporated, formerly known as Omega United Incorporated, is a large private mail network in some emerging areas of the world. SykPostal started off delivering exclusively to the Latin America – Caribbean region, but has expanded further into North America and Europe as well. Although it is still growing and developing as a company, it has some key distinctions and advantages over its established competitors such as UPS, Federal Express and DHL.

SkyPostal has found a niche in the market for delivery in often difficult locations that the larger companies consider undesirable areas. They feature the ability to deliver in areas that are hard to access, and in some cases not even addressable or on the map. In these situations, SkyPostal is the only reliable delivery option, and especially for the delivery of periodicals and advertisements, SkyPostal can truly take packages

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Well, it's always nice to get a little positive news in this market, and today drug store chain CVS delivered some. The company announced that it's boosting its quarterly dividend by 15%.It's interesting, and encouraging, to hear a retailer making this kind of announcement. It demonstrates, once again, that individual companies are able to continue delivering results no matter what's happening on a larger scale.

Vanda Pharma (VNDA) and Titan Pharma (TTP) are a pair of biotech blow-ups which investors should avoid ahead of a July 27, 2008, PDUFA decision date for anti-psychotic drug Fanapta (iloperidone). Both stocks have lost about two-thirds of their market value over the last year and are down sharply recently on pipeline clinical trial failures. I don’t think the FDA will approve Fanapta as the anti-psychotic space already has plenty of similar options and thec agency is cracking down on the widespread, off-label use of these drugs in elderly patients.