For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 14, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: American International Group (AIG), Morgan Stanley (MS), Elan Corporation (ELN), Biogen Idec (BIIB) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).

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Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

AIG to Sell Taiwan Life Unit

American International Group (AIG) said on Monday that it has decided to sell its stake of almost 98% in Taiwan life insurance unit Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. for about $2.2 billion to a group led by Hong Kong-based

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Elan Corporation (ELN) recently received a subpoena from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the company’s disclosure of two brain disorder cases (in July 2008), often fatal, tied to the use of its drug Tysabri for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Elan has a marketing agreement with Biogen Idec (BIIB) for Tysabri. In addition, the subpoena asked for detailed information regarding clinical trial data on bapineuzumab, a drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Recently, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) paid $885 million for an 18.4% stake in Elan in addition to $500 million for a majority stake in the company’s Alzheimer's disease pipeline. As a reminder, in July last year, both Elan and Biogen announced the occurrence of two cases of brain infection, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), in patients taking the drug. Meanwhile, 11 such cases have been reported by the companies ...

By Shah Gilani
Contributing Editor
Money Morning

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To read a related story on how the long-term dismantling of U.S. banking regulations set …

ETF Securities is pushing for the creation of the first-ever US exchange-traded platinum and palladium funds, Reuters reports today (27th May).

A recent report by Johnson Matthey revealed that platinum demand declined by five per cent to 6.35 million ounces last year, representing the first decline since 1999.

However, the study also showed that platinum investment almost doubled to 425,000 oz, a trend many commentators expect to continue this year as economic conditions begin to recover.

With that in mind, ETF Securities has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in order to establish the US’ first platinum and palladium trusts.

According to the Reuters report, the company’s plans are likely to be met with resistance from industrial users and may also face a number of regulatory challenges.

Full Story:  http://www.platinum.matthey.com/media_room/etf_securities_application_for_us_platinum_and_palladium_funds_faces_stiff_opposition_19192213.html

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed two new rules on Wednesday that would give shareholders more say in the matter of director elections at the biggest firms in the country.

The development comes after investor complaints regarding executive compensation at large corporations, especially American International Group (AIG), leading the SEC to consider an overhaul of its policies to empower investors in choosing directors for public companies.

"This day has been a long time coming," SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said. "The time has come to resolve this debate."

SEC commissioners split along party lines and voted 3-2 to seek public comment on the proposal of shareholder rights in companies with market values exceeding $700 million. Investors owning at least a 1% stake in these companies will now be allowed to nominate up to a quarter of the company's board of directors in corporate proxy statements.

Billionaire investors

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The fund filings are out. If you're wondering, these are the funds I like to track, and sometimes follow by buying the same stocks:br /br /-George Soros (Soros Fund Management)br /-Seth Klarman (Baupost Group)br /-John Paulson (Paulson amp; CO.)br /-Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)br /-David Einhorn (Greenlight Capital)br /-Bill Ackman (Pershing Square Capital Management)br /-Steve Cohen (SAC Capital Advisors)br /br /Today, I'm going toa href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchiveamp;sid=a_RT.rEuHt4M" take a quick look at Soros' holdings/a.br /br /blockquoteSoros Fund Management LLC, the investor’s hedge-fund firm, sold 5 million U.S. shares of Petrobras, as the Brazilian company is known, according to a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The New York-based firm’s remaining 32 million shares of the state-controlled oil company were valued at $963 million at the end of the quarter.br /br /The hedge fund also held 5.6 million shares of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Potash at the end of the quarter, compared ...

In an odd bit of capitalist irony, the U.S. banking crisis could end up as the catalyst that finally jump-starts the long-moribund market for initial public stock offerings (IPOs). In fact, it already appears to be happening. U.S. banks - under government order to raise capital as a result of the recently completed bank stress tests, and desperate to shed the onerous shackles of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) - have been announcing billions in secondary stock offerings in recent days, and experts say many more such deals can be expected. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) yesterday (Tuesday) became the latest U.S. companies to pursue new sources of capital, announcing deals that involved offerings of stock or debt, or outright asset sales. Those announcements ...

At a roundtable discussion tomorrow (Tuesday), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will talk about restoring a rule that some believe could have mitigated the bear market in U.S stocks.

Tomorrow’s meeting, which will focus largely on short-selling, follows recent internal discussions in which SEC officials have talked about restoring the so-called “uptick rule,” a fairly straightforward securities regulation that many experts say could have blunted the steep stock-market sell-off that U.S. stocks experienced in late 2008 and early 2009. The uptick rule was abolished in 2007. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is a proponent of the uptick rule’s restoration.

“If the rule is to be restored, it should apply to all equally, including market makers as well as professional traders and individual investors,” Bernanke said if during a question and answer session with

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Home Depot Inc. (HD) Chief Executive Frank Blake took home a slightly higher annual pay in 2008 even as the retailer braces itself for a drop in per-share profit for the third consecutive year amid slumping sales.

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Blake's total 2008 compensation was about $8.6 million including stock and option awards. This compares with an all-inclusive $8.3 million he earned in 2007. The home-improvement company said Blake declined a performance bonus of $1.2 million.

For the fiscal year Feb. 1, Home Depot's profit fell 49% to $2.26 billion, or $1.34 a share. The company said it froze 2009 salaries for all executives at year-ago levels even after laying off 7,000 workers. It also purged life insurance program and tax reimbursements for executives.

Home Depot shares fell nearly 4% to $22.66 in New York trading on

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Shares of Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) plummeted as much as 38% today as the Radnor-based insurer withdrew its application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to issue debt.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday, Lincoln said it no longer believed that it would qualify under the provisions of the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program to issue up to $793 million in FDIC-guaranteed debt.

LNC is currently a Zacks #4 Rank ("Sell") stock, but that could change in the coming months.

"LNC" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research