Upgrades and Downgrades 08-03-11

Today’s Analyst Actions

Listing for you here the stock opinion upgrades and downgrades for August 3, 2011

Upgrades and Downgrades 08-03-11

Upgrades:

COMPANY SYMBOL ANALYST FROM TO AeroVironment Nasdaq: AVAV FBR Capital Mkt Perform Outperform Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Nasdaq: MDRX Auriga Hold Buy American Ecology Corp. Nasdaq: ECOL Canaccord Genuity Hold Buy Big 5 Sports Nasdaq: BGFV Feltl & Co. Hold Buy Corp Exec Bd Nasdaq: EXBD Barclays Capital Equal Weight Overweight Corp Exec Bd Nasdaq: EXBD Deutsche Bank Hold Buy DineEquity NYSE: DIN Morgan Keegan Mkt Perform Outperform Fiserv Nasdaq: FISV Robert W. Baird Neutral Outperform Haemonetics NYSE: HAE Barrington Research Mkt Perform Outperform Leap Wireless Nasdaq: LEAP Barclays Capital Underweight Equal Weight Met-Pro Corp NYSE: MPR Brean Murray Hold Buy MetroPCS NYSE: PCS Barclays Capital Underweight Equal Weight Pinnacle West NYSE: PNW RBC Capital Mkts Sector Perform Outperform Trimble Navigation Nasdaq: TRMB Canaccord Genuity Hold Buy

Downgrades:

COMPANY	SYMBOL	ANALYST	FROM	TO
Analog Devices	NYSE: ADI	Sterne Agee	Buy	Neutral
BTU Int\'l	Nasdaq: BTUI	Feltl & Co.	Hold	Sell
Deltek	Nasdaq: PROJ	Barclays Capital	Overweight	Underweight
Diodes	Nasdaq: DIOD	Sterne Agee	Buy	Neutral
EXACT Sciences	Nasdaq: EXAS	Rodman & Renshaw	Mkt Outperform	Mkt Perform
Leap Wireless	Nasdaq: LEAP	Robert W. Baird	Outperform	Neutral
Liquidity Services	Nasdaq: LQDT	Oppenheimer	Outperform	Perform
MetroPCS	NYSE: PCS	Robert W. Baird	Outperform	Neutral
Overseas Shipholding	NYSE: OSG	Deutsche Bank	Hold	Sell
PF Chang\'s	Nasdaq: PFCB	Argus	Buy	Sell
RR Donnelley & Sons	NYSE: RRD	Robert W. Baird	Outperform	Neutral
Texas Instruments	NYSE: TXN	Sterne Agee	Buy	Neutral

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

July’s Layoff Spike - Economic Issue or Anomaly?

July job cuts surged 60%, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, but was the month’s deterioration due to resurgent illness within a sickly American economy or due to the isolated problems of a few large corporations. The issue is debatable, and so the report and topic garners a closer study this month.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Relative Tickers: NYSE: RHI, NYSE: KFY, NYSE: MAN, NYSE: MWW, Nasdaq: KELYA, Nasdaq: JOBS, NYSE: JOB, Nasdaq: CECO, Nasdaq: PAYX, NYSE: ASF, Nasdaq: KFRC, NYSE: TBI, NYSE: DHX, NYSE: SFN, NYSE: CDI, Nasdaq: CCRN, Nasdaq: ASGN, NYSE: AHS, Nasdaq: BBSI, Nasdaq: HHGP, NYSE: SRT, Nasdaq: RCMT, Nasdaq: VSCP, OTC: ASRG.OB, OTC: MCTH.OB, OTC: IGEN.OB, OTC: STJO.OB, OTC: TNUS.OB, Nasdaq: TSTF, OTC: STTH.OB, OTC: PSRU.OB, OTC: CRRS.OB, NYSE: BAC, NYSE: JPM, NYSE: GS, NYSE: C, NYSE: MS, NYSE: WFC, NYSE: TD, NYSE: PNC, NYSE: GE, NYSE: WMT, NYSE: MCD, NYSE: AA, NYSE: AXP, NYSE: BA, NYSE: CAT, Nasdaq: CSCO, NYSE: CVX, NYSE: DD, NYSE: DIS, NYSE: HD, NYSE: HPQ, NYSE: IBM, Nasdaq: INTC, NYSE: JNJ, NYSE: KFT, NYSE: KO, NYSE: MMM, NYSE: MRK, Nasdaq: MSFT, NYSE: PFE, NYSE: PG, NYSE: T, NYSE: TRV, NYSE: UTX, NYSE: VZ, NYSE: XOM, NYSE: DE, NYSE: TIF, NYSE: CO, NYSE: FRO, NYSE: DIA, NYSE: SPY, Nasdaq: QQQQ, NYSE: DOG, NYSE: SDS, NYSE: QLD, NYSE: NYX, NYSE: ICE, Nasdaq: NDAQ

July’s Layoff Spike - Economic Issue or Anomaly?

Challenger Gray & Christmas reported on Announced Corporate Layoffs for July Wednesday morning, and the news was not good. Layoffs declared publicly by corporations in July were 60% more than in June, numbering 66,414 last month. The monthly count marked the third consecutive increase, and the second in a row that surpassed the prior year period. Layoffs gained some ground against 2010 on a year-to-date basis as well, reaching 312,220, versus the 339,353 seen last year through July.

Still, July’s big difference against the prior year was surprising, as June’s measure was just 5.3% greater than its counterpart. In fact, before June, the data had been relatively mild, posting some of the lowest results since the late ‘90s.

Indeed, the July surprise can be traced back to just a handful of responsible companies. Borders’ bankruptcy drove the loss of 10,700 jobs in July, which accounted for a great portion of the 11,245 jobs shed in the retail sector. Merck (NYSE: MRK) announced a multi-year reduction of 10K jobs, accounting for a majority of the 13,493 declared for the Pharmaceutical industry in July. Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) declared a reduction of 6,500 employees last month, which accounted for most of the Computer Industry’s 7,970. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) announced a voluntary layoff program for 6,500 employees, which followed 2,700 traditional layoffs at the firm. Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) said it would look for savings through the firing of 1,400 employees. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) worried Wall Street when it declared it would be letting 1,000 employees go in July. After the dust settled, the top five job cutters in July accounted for 38,100 workers or 57% of the month’s total layoffs. This had many strategists allaying job market concerns Wednesday, but perhaps market fears were warranted nonetheless.

After all, recent revisions to GDP, decelerating manufacturing expansion, deflating consumer confidence and spending are all tangible evidence of a stumbling recovery. Perhaps these few firms responsible for job cuts in July are simply the first to move, with more to come in an intensely competitive global marketplace geared toward return optimization and EPS maximization. Already in August, HSBC (NYSE: HBC) said it would be letting 25,000 people go, matching a trend seen within many other global and international banks, including Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS), Barclays (NYSE: BCS), UBS (NYSE: UBS) and Lloyds (NYSE: LYG). Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) just reported earnings and said it would be cutting 5,530 employees away. Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) did more than show off new phones recently; it said it would fire 2K folks or 10% of its workforce. So, perhaps July is not an anomaly, but rather yet another sign of the beginning of new deterioration in the economy and the labor market.

The private sector has served to offset weakness in government over the last two years, with Challenger noting another 9,389 government jobs cut last month. This took the annual total for the leading layoff segment to 86,980 year-to-date, and things don’t look to improve any time soon with budget cuts at the core of DC’s focus today. Also on Wednesday, ADP offered its estimate for an increase of 114K net private sector jobs in July. However, ADP’s credibility was severely tested last month, when it failed to foresee the dramatically short number of new jobs reported by the Labor Department.

It would seem that if the employment situation did not deteriorate further in July, when reported on Friday by the Department of Labor, it should in August. As of today, Bloomberg has the consensus forecast for the Nonfarm Payroll figure at an increase of 75,000 jobs, which would beat June’s pitiful 18K result. The range of estimates spans 30K to 125K, but based on a mosaic of economic, industry and corporate data that’s come in through July, it would seem the low end of the range carries more weight, if it has not overshot even.

The stock market’s deep correction despite the DC debt deal and signing off of Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) and Standard & Poor’s (NYSE: MHP) on the U.S. sovereign rating, shows how surprised market gurus, money managers and individual investors have been to discover the obvious. My observations from the streets of New York have been of a still troubled economy, with small businessmen barely getting by. Yet, I’ve also noted some recent improvement in the mood, and so there remains the possibility of a short-term speed bump being surmounted in the months ahead.

The key difference between the dog days of 2009 and thereafter have been the return of the employed consumer to consumption, but July’s debt debacle and European erosion may well have driven those stalwart consumers into a hole.

With the global economy so vulnerable, we can ill afford government error, and what we’ve seen at the EU and IMF and in Washington D.C. over the last few months, was pure example of government getting in the way. Hopefully the damage to the global economy can be overcome now, but if not, then we only have those representatives of ours to blame.

Article should interest investors in Paychex (Nasdaq: PAYX), Manpower (NYSE: MAN), Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI), 51Job Inc. (Nasdaq: JOBS), Monster World Wide (NYSE: MWW), Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY), Administaff (NYSE: ASF), Kforce (Nasdaq: KFRC), TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI), Dice Holdings (NYSE: DHX), Kelly Services (Nasdaq: KELYA), SFN Group (NYSE: SFN), CDI Corp. (NYSE: CDI), Cross Country Healthcare (Nasdaq: CCRN), On Assignment (Nasdaq: ASGN), AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE: AHS), Barrett Business Services (Nasdaq: BBSI), Hudson Highland Group (Nasdaq: HHGP), StarTek (NYSE: SRT), RCM Technologies (Nasdaq: RCMT), VirtualScopics (Nasdaq: VSCP), American Surgical (OTC: ASRG.OB), Medical Connections (OTC: MCTH.OB), iGen Networks (OTC: IGEN.OB), St. Joseph (OTC: STJO.OB), General Employment Enterprises (NYSE: JOB), Total Neutraceutical (OTC: TNUS.OB), TeamStaff (Nasdaq: TSTF), Stratum (OTC: STTH.OB), Purespectrum (OTC: PSRU.OB), Corporate Resource Services (OTC: CRRS.OB), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), TD Bank (NYSE: TD), PNC Bank (NYSE: PNC), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Alcoa (NYSE: AA), American Express (NYSE: AXP), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), DuPont (NYSE: DD), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Kraft (NYSE: KFT), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), 3M (NYSE: MMM), Merck (NYSE: MRK), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), AT&T (NYSE: T), Travelers (NYSE: TRV), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

Manufacturing Sirens Sound Alert

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) today published its Manu- facturing Report on Business, with a disturbing trend only deter- iorating further in July. The manufacturing sector, that group of businesses that led the American economy out of the last recession thanks greatly to overseas demand for goods, moved dangerously close to economic contraction in July.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Relative tickers: NYSE: BA, NYSE: RTN, NYSE: DGI, NYSE: GY, NYSE: GD, NYSE: GR, NYSE: NOC, NYSE: HON, NYSE: LMT, NYSE: COL, NYSE: LLL, NYSE: ERJ, Nasdaq: FLIR, Nasdaq: BEAV, NYSE: TDG, NYSE: SPR, NYSE: CAE, NYSE: ATK, NYSE: HXL, NYSE: TGI, NYSE: ESL, NYSE: MOG-A, NYSE: HEI, NYSE: TDY, NYSE: CW, Nasdaq: CVCO, NYSE: SKY, Nasdaq: NOBH, Nasdaq: PHHM, NYSE: MHK, Nasdaq: IFSIA, NYSE: AIN, NYSE: UFI, NYSE: ITW, NYSE: TYC, NYSE: CMI, NYSE: KUB, NYSE: IR, NYSE: DOV, NYSE: ITT, NYSE: FLS, NYSE: PLL, NYSE: DRC, NYSE: SPW, NYSE: GDI, NYSE: IEX, Nasdaq: NDSN, NYSE: GGG, NYSE: ATU, Nasdaq: MIDD, NYSE: ABB, NYSE: ETN, NYSE: NJ, NYSE: ROK, NYSE: AME, NYSE: RBC, NYSE: TMB, Nasdaq: WGOV, NYSE: CAT, NYSE: DE, NYSE: CNH, Nasdaq: JOYG, Nasdaq: BUCY, Nasdaq: AGCO, NYSE: EMR, NYSE: PH, NYSE: ROP, NYSE: PNR, NYSE: WM, NYSE: RSG, Nasdaq: FAST, NYSE: VMC, NYSE: MDU, NYSE: MLM, NYSE: OC, NYSE: VAL, NYSE: PCP, NYSE: X, NYSE: RS, NYSE: NVR, NYSE: DHI, NYSE: PHM, NYSE: TOL, NYSE: HOV, NYSE: CRH, NYSE: CX, NYSE: EXP, NYSE: FLR, NYSE: MDR, Nasdaq: FWLT, NYSE: ICA, NYSE: SWK, NYSE: TKR, NYSE: KMT, NYSE: LUK, NYSE: MAS, NYSE: WY, NYSE: PWR, NYSE: CBI, NYSE: EME, NYSE: SNA, NYSE: TTC, NYSE: GM, NYSE: F.

Manufacturing Sirens Sound Alert

ISM published its Manufacturing Index for July this morning, and offered a disappointing result which continued an ugly trend. While the manufacturing sector continued to expand, a point that should be made and is lost through much of the reporting of the popular press, the pace of sector expansion slowed dramatically in July.

Where economists surveyed by Bloomberg were looking for a reading of 54.3 on ISM’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), we instead received a measure of 50.9. It was a disturbing decline from June’s healthier mark of 55.3. Keeping in mind that 50.0 marks the break between expansion and contraction, the news rang a loud alarm from Silicon Valley to Detroit to Wall Street.

President Obama has publicly hung his great hope for American economic growth partly on a manufacturing revival. Much of our shared vision is based on manufacturers’ sales into the hot emerging markets of India and China. Yet recent months’ data has only offered a decelerating rate of expansion that is now near stalling. In fact, that seemed to be the broad-bearing message throughout the report. While there was little change in the number of respondents reporting better conditions generally speaking, there were also few reporting worse conditions. However, there was a marked increase in the number of respondents reporting similar conditions to June. What’s important is that there clearly seems to be a slowing in the manufacturing sector that could lead to a downturn in the months ahead.

For many industries, the summer months produce a seasonal lull, and this is especially the case for those doing business with Europe. Respondents qualitative responses seemed to show European weakness and U.S. softness, but growth in demand from Asia continued. In fact, the President’s hopes seemed somewhat supported, as the weakness that took the index lower was mostly due to lighter domestic demand.

We can be certain that the uncertainty caused by Washington DC’s fumbling of the debt ceiling legislation, nearly pushing the nation into default (an issue not yet resolved as I publish), froze business activity within the U.S. in July. Indeed, the New Orders Index slipped short of 50.0, to 49.2, from 51.6 in June. This could play an important role in taking the broader PMI measure under 50 in August. Also, hiring understandably shut down, with the Employment Index falling to 53.5, from 59.9 in June. Neither of these data points offer prospect for third quarter economic expansion, just days after Q1 GDP growth was revised sharply lower, to +0.4% from 1.9%, and Q2 growth was reported only up 1.3% against economist expectations for 1.9%.

The data might have been more poorly received Monday if not for the sigh of relief taken by global markets, thanks to what appears to be an imminent resolution to the U.S. debt uncertainty. However, investors should not overlook the fact that the pace of manufacturing expansion had been decelerating over recent months, even before the clouds of uncertainty gathered over Washington. Unfortunately for many American factory line workers, growth in overseas demand for U.S. goods might not necessarily result in a proportional increase in U.S. based jobs. With the cost of transportation high, tax rates often less favorable, and a hungry workforce at the destination of demand, that overseas growth might just employ more foreigners in the end.

This article should interest investors in Boeing (NYSE: BA), Raytheon (NYSE: RTN), Digital Globe (NYSE: DGI), GenCorp (NYSE: GY), General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), Goodrich (NYSE: GR), Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), Honeywell (NYSE: HON), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL), L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL), EMBRAER (NYSE: ERJ), FLIR Systems (Nasdaq: FLIR), BE Aerospace (Nasdaq: BEAV), TransDigm (NYSE: TDG), Spirit Aerosystems (NYSE: SPR), CAE (NYSE: CAE), Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK), Hexcel (NYSE: HXL), Triumph Group (NYSE: TGI), Esterline Technologies (NYSE: ESL), Moog (NYSE: MOG-A), Heico (NYSE: HEI), Teledyne (NYSE: TDY), Curtiss-Wright (NYSE: CW), Cavco (Nasdaq: CVCO), Skyline (NYSE: SKY), Nobility Homes (Nasdaq: NOBH), Palm Harbor Homes (Nasdaq: PHHM), Mohawk Industries (NYSE: MHK), Interface (Nasdaq: IFSIA), Albany International (NYSE: AIN), Unifi (NYSE: UFI), Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW), Tyco International (NYSE: TYC), Cummins (NYSE: CMI), Kubota (NYSE: KUB), Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR), Dover (NYSE: DOV), ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT), Flowserve (NYSE: FLS), Pall (NYSE: PLL), Dresser-Rand (NYSE: DRC), SPX (NYSE: SPW), Gardner Denver (NYSE: GDI), IDEX (NYSE: IEX), Nordson (Nasdaq: NDSN), Graco (NYSE: GGG), Actuant (NYSE: ATU), Middleby (Nasdaq: MIDD), ABB (NYSE: ABB), Eaton (NYSE: ETN), Nidec (NYSE: NJ), Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK), Ametek (NYSE: AME), Regal Beloit (NYSE: RBC), Thomas & Betts (NYSE: TMB), Woodward Governor (Nasdaq: WGOV), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Deere (NYSE: DE), CNH (NYSE: CNH), Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG), Bucyrus (Nasdaq: BUCY), Agco (Nasdaq: AGCO), Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR), Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH), Roper Industries (NYSE: ROP), Pentair (NYSE: PNR), Waste Management (NYSE: WM), Republic Services (NYSE: RSG), Fastenal (Nasdaq: FAST), Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC), MDU Resources (NYSE: MDU), Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE: MLM), Owens Corning (NYSE: OC), Valspar (NYSE: VAL), Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP), United States Steel (NYSE: X), Reliance Steel (NYSE: RS), NVR (NYSE: NVR), DR Horton (NYSE: DHI), Pulte (NYSE: PHM), Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV), CRH (NYSE: CRH), CEMEX (NYSE: CX), Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP), Fluor (NYSE: FLR), McDermott International (NYSE: MDR), Foster Wheeler (Nasdaq: FWLT), Empresas ICA (NYSE: ICA), Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK), Timken (NYSE: TKR), Kennametal (NYSE: KMT), Leucadia National (NYSE: LUK), Masco (NYSE: MAS), Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY), Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR), Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI), EMCOR (NYSE: EME), Snap-on (NYSE: SNA), Toro (NYSE: TTC), GM (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.