Railroads struggle to meet coal demand - päris huvitav artikkel, mis puudutab raudteid, kivisöefirmasid (ACI, BTU, MEE, JRCC) ning tähelepanu alla võib sattuda RAIL, mis toodab vaguneid ka kivisöe vedamiseks.
AP reports the nation's two largest railroads have hauled record amounts of coal from the mines in northeast Wyoming and southeast Montana this year, but Union Pacific (UNP) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI) still struggle to keep up with utility demand and existing contracts. If utilities run low on coal during the high demand of winter, they might be forced to buy fuel on the open market at higher prices that could be passed on to customers, said Jim Owen, with the utility trade group Edison Electric Institute. ''It's been a fairly contentious issue in the last 18 months,'' said Owen, whose group represents nearly three-quarters of all U.S. utilities. ''Utilities have made no secret of the fact that deliveries have been a problem,'' Owen said. Some utilities last winter even imported coal from overseas to help make up for the Wyoming delivery problems. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said 30.5 mln tons of coal was imported in 2005, and that was up 11.7% over the previous year. The problems have eased somewhat this year, but Owen said utilities were still not getting all the coal they want and contracted for. A mild winter this year could ease concerns, he said.
Wachovia initiates Cash America International (CSH 45.54) with an Outperform, as they assume CSH will continue to leverage its profitable, steady growth pawn business and drive accelerating growth through its payday lending business, producing EPS growth of 20% during the next three to five years
Wachovia initiates EZCORP (EZPW 50.49) with a Market Perform, saying difficult gold price comparisons next year, an unfavorable ownership structure, a rich valuation, and a concentrated regulatory risk as the primary reasons that preclude them from recommending shares
Goldman Sachs reinitiates Alcatel Lucent (ALU 13.27) with a Buy and adds it to their Conviction Buy List
Oppenheimer initiates Activision (ATVI 17.53) with a Buy and $21 tgt, saying Q3 is trending ahead of guidance due to strength in Guitar Hero 2 and Call of Duty 3
Oppenheimer initiates Electronic Arts (ERTS 54.12) with a Neutral and $60 tgt, based on limited near term upside to price target and PS3 exposure...
Oppenheimer initiates THQ (THQI 33.15) with a Buy and $38 tgt, based on ongoing strength in Saints Row and a solid Holiday lineup and believe THQI is tracking in Q3 due to solid PS2 and DS sales with no exposure to the PS3
RBC downgrades Research in Motion (RIMM 135.44) to Sector Perform from Outperform based on valuation
RBC downgrades YUM! Brands (YUM 62.28) to Sector Perform from Outperform
J.P Morgan initiates Select Comfort (SCSS 18.01) and Tempur Pedic (TPX 20.85) with Neutrals
RBC downgrades Digital River (DRIV 58.76) to Sector Perform from Outperform
Credit Suisse downgrades the Homebuilding Sector to Underweight from Market Weight saying the group is currently trading at 16.2x forward earnings. Historically, there are eight distinct instances when the stocks have exceeded 14 times forward earnings ranging from 14.0-19.2 times. In those eight occurrences, the firm says the stocks underperformed the broader market for the immediate next 3-12 months every time with a median annualized underperformance of 45%. The firm says the market is assuming that book, as reported, is worth what the builders paid for it. The firm says combining prices that have retreated to at least 2004 levels with still falling absorptions would suggest a recurrence of large impairments witnessed during prior cycles. Including their estimate for impairments, the firm believes the stocks are trading at 10.6x normalized earnings, or a 30% premium to the historical trading level. The firm also says record new inventory could get worse. The firm upgrades KB Home (KBH) to Neutral from Underperform and raises their tgt to $47 from $41. The firm also downgrades TODCO (THE) to Neutral from Outperform, tgt $46 and downgrades Ryland Group (RYL) to Underperform from Neutral, tgt raised to $44 from $40