Well, the market was in the dumps yesterday and is even worse today. So this may be a good time to check on my list of stocks for those looking for equities that are stable enough to ride out this bearish storm.
The standard for comparison will be the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The following are the five stocks with closing prices from July 1.
1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) -- when recommended the stock closed at $64.34 and paid a 2.89% dividend yield. It finished at $71.70 -- up 11.44%
2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) -- when recommended the stock closed at $45.80 and paid a 1% dividend yield. It finished at $46.41-- up 1.3%.
3) Chubb Corp. (NYSE: CB) -- when recommended the stock closed at $49.01 and paid a 2.64% dividend yield. It finished at $48.39 -- down 1.26%.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Stanley Works, the Generic Drug sector, Fiserv and Fidelity National were today's noteworthy downgrades:
Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Stanley Works (NYSE: SWK) to Hold from Buy as they see risk to Q2 and FY08 earnings due to a slowdown in the European industrial and consumer categories. The firm lowered their target to $52 from $62.
Wachovia cut the Generic Drug sector to Market Weight from Overweight Wachovia sees near-term challenges for Teva Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: TEVA), Mylan (NYSE: MYL) and Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI). The firm thinks Teva will become a very strong company over the long-term, following its takeover of Barr (NYSE: BRL). However, the firm adds that Teva will need to integrate the acquisition nearly perfectly, and Mylan may feel compelled to make another acquisition, even as it is still integrating Merck Generics, while Watson's growth prospects are still uncertain.
Oppenheimer downgraded Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV) and Fidelity National (NYSE: FIS) to Perform from Outperform based on multiple pressure from the challenging banking environment and growth headwinds.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Satyam (NYSE: SAY) was downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at Credit Suisse and Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
UBS downgraded Textron (NYSE: TXT) to Neutral from Buy.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Teva Pharmaceutical, Blue Coat Systems and American International Group were today's noteworthy upgrades:
Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Teva Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: TEVA) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's greater growth prospects following the acquisition of Barr (NYSE: BRL). The firm raised the target to $56 from $47.
ThinkPanmure upgraded Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ: BCSI) to Buy from Source of Funds based on the company's growth prospects following positive channel checks.
American International Group (NYSE: AIG) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America on valuation, as they find the risk/reward attractive at current levels.
OTHER UPGRADES:
Goldman upgraded the Semiconductor Production Equipment sector to Neutral from Cautious and added Verigy (NASDAQ: VRGY) to its Conviction Buy List.
Morgan Stanley upgraded Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) and Cintas (NASDAQ: CTAS) to Equal Weight from Underweight.
For the phamra industry, the long-term trends look promising, especially in light of the aging population. While companies face lots of pressure to cut costs, this is a good thing for the generic drug industry. And, as should be no surprise, we are seeing some dealmaking.
Israeli generic-drug maker Teva is looking for opportunities to bolster its markets. Acquiring Barr would give it a nice platform in Europe (this was actually because of an acquisition of Pliva in 2006). What's more, the company has a nice offering of drugs such in the contraceptives category.
Teva, already the largest generic drug company in the world, has gotten even bigger with this deal. Taken together, the combined entity will have revenues of close to $12 billion.
With its resources, Teva can continue to snap up some pretty big deals. In the case with Barr, the premium was a whopping 42% (as of Wednesday's close).
So far in today's trading, Teva's shares are up 2.2% to $42.
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Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) stock is down 6.6% in premarket trading after the company posted its seventh consecutive quarterly loss of $1.19 billion, or $1.96 per share, missing Wall Street estimates. The operating loss would have been 60 cents a share, heftier than the loss of 52 cents a share from analysts polled by Reuters Estimates. Following the report, AMD also announced that CEO Hector Ruiz would be replaced by COO Dirk Meyer. Ruiz will stay on as executive chairman.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) is considering raising capital by selling as much as $10 billion in new shares to investors. FRE stock is down again this morning after the recent wild swings in share price. This morning FRE shares are trading over 5.7% lower in premarket action.
Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) shares rose nearly 4% in after-hours trading following second-quarter financial results. The toy maker's profit fell by nearly half, but results still beat Wall Street expectations. Global Barbie sales dropped off 6%.
Barr Pharm (NYSE: BRL) is recently trading at $54 in pre-open trading, above its close of $46.82.
The Israeli Globes online reported Teva Pharma (NASDAQ: TEVA) is in talks to purchase BRL.
BRL option volume was heavy on July 16, with 24,391 contracts trading. BRL August option implied volatility is at 56, November is at 43; above its 26-week average of 30 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.
Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com
The Wall Street Journal reported that it is the Bush Administration versus Democrats versus Republicans to decide the strategy to stabilize Federal National Mortgage Association (NYSE: FNM) -- Fannie Mae -- and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (NYSE: FRE) -- Freddie Mac. The Administration's plan would let the Treasury Department advance a credit line and the opportunity for the government to buy equity in either firm. A package is expected to pass but not before the political and economic ramifications are battled out. Democrats and Treasury want it to be a part of a housing rescue plan; Republications oppose it.
The Clinton Foundation, headed by former President Clinton, believes it has a pricing agreement in place that it expects will make malaria drugs affordable and available to millions of poor people worldwide, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Financial Times reported that UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) and Liechtenstein's LGT Group will today be accused by U.S. Congressional investigators of using the "cloak of bank secrecy laws" to help American clients evade billions of dollars in taxes.
Updating the story with the final numbers heading into the week end. The market looked sad again today, so I thought I would spot-check Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times, to see if my picks, (suggested watchlist considerations) were holding up...so far so good, sort of...
The standard for comparison will be the Standard & Poors 500 Index, which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. The following are the five stocks with closing prices from July 1.
1) Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) closed at $64.34 and pays a 2.89% dividend yield. (NOW $66.53 -- up 3.4%) finished at $66.26 -- up 2.98%.
2) Teva Pharmaceuticals ADR (NASDAQ: TEVA) closed at $45.80 and pays a 1% dividend yield.( NOW 42.58 -- down 7%) finished at $41.78 -- down 8.78%.
3) Chubb Corp (NYSE: CB) closed at $49.01 and pays a 2.64% dividend yield. (NOW $47.51 -- down 3%) finished at $47.56 -- down 2.96%.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: NCR Corp, Medivation and Teva Pharma were today's noteworthy upgrades:
Baird upgraded NCR Corp (NYSE: NCR) to Outperform from Neutral following its North American ATM managers survey that indicates a solid ATM environment and opportunity for margin improvement.
Rodman & Renshaw upgraded Medivation (NASDAQ: MDVN) to Outperform from Market Perform citing valuation of the firm's pipeline given recent catalyst of positive Phase II results in Huntington's disease with lead candidate, Dimebon.
Goldman added Teva Pharma (NASDAQ: TEVA) to its Conviction Buy List citing valuation, upcoming catalysts, and defensive characteristics.
OTHER UPGRADES:
Marsh & McLennan (NYSE: MMC) was raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
RBC lifted Bankrate (NASDAQ: RATE) to Outperform from Sector Perform.
Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) was upgraded at WestLB to Hold from Sell.
Teva Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: TEVA) is recently down $3.05 to $44.15 in pre-open trading after announcing that late-stage, top-line results showed the 40mg dose of its multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone was not more effective in reducing the relapse rate than the 20mg dose already approved.
TEVA overall option implied volatility of 25 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional movement.
Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com
After seeing the interest in yesterday's Serious Money: Five stable stocks for troubled times, I decided to track the stocks on a quarterly basis to see how they hold up over time (otherwise, what would be the purpose of discussing them in the first place?).
I said that all five have shrewd, conservative management teams and have been in the right place, at the right time -- and prepared. The standard for comparison will be the Standard & Poors 500 Index which closed on June 30, 2008 at 1,280.00. Although my original story was published yesterday, I will be using the second quarter end point for my five stocks as well.
Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) shares are trading 4.2% higher in premarket action after the bank, seeking to calm investors, said it expects a profit in its second quarter.
While AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) unveiled its pricing strategy for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s 3G iPhone to go on sale July 11 with a $199 and $299 (with contract) price points as expected, Canadians are outraged over Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE: RCI)'s 3G iPhone rates and have created an online petition that collected over 19,000 signatures already.
AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) rose in Europe and is rising over 2.7% in premarket trading after winning a court case against Teva Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: TEVA) and the Sandoz unit of Novartis (NYSE: NVS) over patents on its Seroquel schizophrenia drug.
Six months of 2008 are now behind us and the stock market has not been a friendly place to most investors. Stability that was once found in household names that were industry giants is gone, and they have now been brought to their knees.
Many of them were the stocks we might have looked to in the past for stability, so you can be sure I put forward my five candidates with a little trepidation, but forward I go anyway. First a little review is in order.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) dropped from around $53 per share last year to around $30 in January and we can buy it today for around $17. Even at that price Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) has downgraded it to a sell and thinks there is more bad news to come. Citigroup was the largest bank in the world. Not any more.
General Motors (NYSE: GM) was the largest car maker in the world. That was before the stock tumbled from $43 to its current $11 range. A crushing blow to long time investors hoping that someone in the company could stop the ship from sinking.
Well, the market was in the dumps yesterday and is even worse today. So this may be a good time to check on my list of stocks for those looking for equities that are stable enough to ride out this bearish storm. .gif){kind=logo}
For the phamra industry, the long-term trends look promising, especially in light of the aging population. While companies face lots of pressure to cut costs, this is a good thing for the generic drug industry. And, as should be no surprise, we are seeing some dealmaking.
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Barr Pharm
Updating the story with the final numbers heading into the week end. The market looked sad again today, so I thought I would spot-check 
Six months of 2008 are now behind us and the stock market has not been a friendly place to most investors. Stability that was once found in household names that were industry giants is gone, and they have now been brought to their knees. 
Does GM deserve a taxpayer bailout?
Boeing could lose $3.5 billion per month if machinists strike
Cramer on BloggingStocks: Dell loses its Street cred once again 
