Citigroup downgrades Union Pacific (UNP 85.02) to Sell from Hold and raises tgt to $80 from $70
Goldman Sachs upgrades United Microelectronics (UMC 3.14) to Outperform from In-Line
JMP downgrades F5 Networks (FFIV $59.51) to Mkt Perform from Outperform saying while F5’s Dec quarter results were above expectations and the co issued above consensus March quarter guidance, they believe the co’s Dec quarter results indicate that it is facing increased risk
JP Morgan upgrades Kerr-McGee (KMG 100.57) to Overweight from Neutral
Jefferies downgrades Pixar (PIXR $58.87) to Underperform from Hold as a result of recent movement in the stock tied to speculation that the co will be bought by Disney
CSFB downgrades Beazer Homes (BZH 78.69) to Underperform from Neutral
First Albany says they would be buyers of Multi-Fineline (MFLX 51.29) on any Motorola-related weakness
Rev Shark:
Even When Times Seem Tough, Opportunities Abound
1/20/2006 8:22 AM EST
"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."
-- Alfred D'Souza
The market has been struggling with the obstacle of poor earnings reports from some of the big-cap leaders. So far we have had less-than-stellar reports from Intel, Yahoo, Apple, Motorola and then this morning from General Electric and Citibank. These reports haven't been horrible but they have not lived up to expectations.
With so many big-cap "leadership" stocks being uncooperative, the inclination would be to step aside until the smoke clears. Once the market prices in these disappointments, then we can get busy and make some money.
That sounds like a plan but there is one big problem: We have had some excellent upside action in a variety of stocks even with the unimpressive earnings and if you have been aggressive, especially with some of the small-caps, you have had the opportunity to make some good money.
The lesson here is a simple one. There are always problems and difficulties and obstacles to deal with in the stock market, and waiting for them to go away won't save us because new ones will pop up to replace them. Our goal should be to incorporate those hurdles into our day and look for ways to deal with them as we strive to make some profits now.
There will be times the market will be so totally uncooperative that we should stand aside and wait for things to be more clear, but quite often when the obstacles seem high, there is still plenty of good trading to be found.
Yesterday there was some terrific momentum in a variety of small-cap and technology stocks. If you focused solely on the big earnings reports you would have easily missed that. There is clearly a lot of buying interest out there and because many of the big caps are not compelling, that money is flowing elsewhere.
I'm definitely encouraged by the aggressive buying I am seeing in certain segments of the market but we can't be too sanguine about the difficulties facing the market. Although the mediocre earnings reports we are seeing aren't killing the whole market, they are not a positive; they will affect sentiment and cause some buyers to stand aside. We also have the rebound in oil prices, difficulties with Iran and the new Bin Laden threats to contend with. This morning Iran states that it is pulling financial assets out of Europe and we'll need to watch how this develops.
Overnight, European markets did well but are fading now. Japan held on to most of the rebound it saw the day before but it is quiet out there. Oil remains strong and gold is steady.
Position: No positions in stocks mentioned
detsembris mõtlesin, et kas kordub aasta see või teine, ehk kas tipp tuleb enne jõule või jaanuari keskel, aga alla jooksevad nad kõik jaanuari lõpuks!