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Boston Scientific to Pull Defibrillators

Boston Scientific (BSX) announced Monday it is recalling of all of its implantable heart defibrillators as it didn't notify regulators of manufacturing changes. The company stated that the safety of patients was never in question and it doesn't believe that doctors need to remove the defibrillators from patients.

The manufacturing changes are being described as a "documentation problem," and the company said it is working with the Food and Drug Administration to get the problem fixed. Following the news, the stock fell 12.6% to close at $6.80. According to the report, defibrillators made up 15% of BSX's U.S. revenue a year ago. Furthermore, the company stated that this news could have a "material impact" on 2010 earnings.

Continue reading Boston Scientific to Pull Defibrillators

Options Update: Alcoa Volatility Near 22-Month Lows

Alcoa (AA) closed at $13.51. AA is expected to report Q1 EPS in early April. April put option implied volatility is at 42, July is at 41, and October is at 43; below its 26-week average 46, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Citigroup (C) closed at $3.89. C overall option implied volatility of 46 is below its 26-week average of 53, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Three stocks with IV rise on March 15; Boston Scientific (BSX) +18%, Bidu (BIDU) +4%, Caterpillar (CAT) +2% according to IVolatility.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Closing Bell: The Return of Some Normalcy ... (AYE, FE, JASO, ALU, BSX, ATVI, ERTS)

Today was a snow-recovery day where most were at work, but many businesses in the Atlantic Seaboard are still partially staffed. The weekly jobless claims managed to come down significantly, and it appears as though the appetite for risk is coming back as the Greece and other "PIIGS" issues may be closer to resolving, or are not as dire as many fear.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,144.19 +105.81 (1.05%)
S&P 500 1,078.47 +10.34 (0.97%)
Nasdaq 2,177.41 +29.54 (1.38%)

Top Day Trader Alerts
Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

Continue reading Closing Bell: The Return of Some Normalcy ... (AYE, FE, JASO, ALU, BSX, ATVI, ERTS)

Boston Scientific to Pay Johnson & Johnson $1.7B Settlement

BSX logoBoston Scientific (BSX - option chain) stock is trading lower today the company reached an agreement with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) to settle three patent disputes. Under the deal, BSX will pay JNJ $1.725 billion. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on BSX.

This morning, BSX opened at $8.48. So far today the stock has hit a high of $8.83 and a low of $8.24. As of 11:50, BSX is trading at $8.47, down 16 cents (-1.8%). The chart for BSX looks bullish and S&P gives BSX a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

Continue reading Boston Scientific to Pay Johnson & Johnson $1.7B Settlement

Health Insurers Get Brief Relief on Proposed Tax

Insurance companies just bought themselves a year. Claiming that a proposed tax on health insurance would force them to charge higher premiums, carriers were able to convince senators to defer this particular measure for a year.

This comes as a benefit to UnitedHealth Group (UNH), WellPoint (WLP) and smaller companies writing health insurance policies. Manufacturers of medical devices have won some relief, as well, though the drug business didn't. An earlier plan to tax cosmetic medical procedures was also scrapped.

Continue reading Health Insurers Get Brief Relief on Proposed Tax

Closing Bell: Good news or bad news, the market was up for the day (AOL, SNSS, ENER, ALU, BSX, CIEN, F)

The markets just wanted to close higher today. A slight gain in the weekly jobless claims had no real impact and a really poor 30-Year Treasury auction that just hints at the demand for rates to rise had only a temporary effect against the stock market.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,406.66 +69.61 (0.67%)
S&P 500 1,102.35 +6.40 (0.58%)
Nasdaq 2,190.86 +7.13 (0.33%)

Top 10 Analyst Calls
Key Short Interest Changes

Continue reading Closing Bell: Good news or bad news, the market was up for the day (AOL, SNSS, ENER, ALU, BSX, CIEN, F)

Medtronic increases adjusted income, beats by a penny

Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), a manufacturer of a whole host of medical devices involved with the management of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, released its Q1 data on Tuesday. Revenues increased 6%, and adjusted earnings per share came in at 79 cents (some of the adjustments were related to restructuring and litigation issues).

The company was able to grow the adjusted-per-share bottom line by 10%. In addition, according to Reuters, Medtronic beat estimates by a penny. Shareholders should keep in mind, however, that the quarter benefited from an extra week.

Continue reading Medtronic increases adjusted income, beats by a penny

Earnings highlights: Caterpillar, DuPont, GE, Halliburton, Texas Instruments ...

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Caterpillar, DuPont, GE, Halliburton, Texas Instruments ...

Boston Scientific tops estimates and guides higher

Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX), an expert in medical devices and a colleague of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), reported earnings for the second quarter on Monday after the closing bell. Wall Street liked the results. Shares of the company were bid higher by 5.8% in the after-hours session.

Net sales increased 7%. On an adjusted basis, Boston Scientific made 20 cents per share. According to Earnings.com, the business was supposed to bring in only 13 cents per share. Thus, management did a superb job of beating the analysts at their precious game. Unfortunately, Boston Scientific made the same amount of adjusted profit in the year-ago period, so there wasn't any growth on the bottom line.

Continue reading Boston Scientific tops estimates and guides higher

Before the bell: Futures higher after earnings, Bernanke's op-ed

U.S. stock futures advanced slightly Tuesday morning after edging lower earlier, indicating investors await a clearer direction following some recent gains, early morning earnings report and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. Bernanke is also scheduled to give his semiannual monetary-policy testimony to Congress at 10:00 a.m.

[Update: stocks got a boost from Caterpillar's earnings.]

Bernanke said in his opinion piece that after a long period of central bank policies aimed at thawing out the credit market, the central bank will move to stem inflation, but only when the economy is moving quickly enough to warrant tighter policy. He is "confident" in the Fed's ability to curtail inflation.

Continue reading Before the bell: Futures higher after earnings, Bernanke's op-ed

Before the bell: Stock futures rise on CIT deal report

U.S. stock futures advanced Monday after it was reported Sunday CIT Group may get a private sector emergency financing. News about problems at CIT and its potential demise kept dominating the news last week, marring what a decent showing from companies reporting earnings. Investors await another week of heavy earnings results starting Monday with the likes of Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) and Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX).

According to the New York Times, CIT Group Inc.'s (NYSE: CIT) board approved a deal late Sunday with major bondholders -- including bond manager Pimco -- to keep the company out of bankruptcy with a $3 billion rescue loan. The deal will buy CIT some time to restructure and reduce its debt load, after it failed to get help from the federal government.

Continue reading Before the bell: Stock futures rise on CIT deal report

Closing Bell: Bernanke credibility helps run the bulls (BA, BSX, FSLR, NKE, SIRI, YHOO, INSM)

Today was not just a strange day in the market. It was nearly baffling. At least it was a strange day if you were looking for the pullbacks to continue. The market was looking lower as the double-dip jobless numbers got worse than expected again, despite final Q1 GDP revisions being less-bad. The quarter-end coming up and the Russell re-balance may have some impact here.

Most of the gains continued throughout the morning into the early afternoon as investors got more confident over Ben Bernanke's testimony strength. Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,475.57 +175.71 (2.12%)
S&P 500 920.28 +19.34 (2.15%)
Nasdaq 1,829.43 +37.09 (2.07%)

Top 10 Analyst Calls

Continue reading Closing Bell: Bernanke credibility helps run the bulls (BA, BSX, FSLR, NKE, SIRI, YHOO, INSM)

Closing Bell: They just don't stay down long (BA, BSX, COP, MOT, SIRI)

Equities stabilized today after two relatively large selling waves in equities. It even looks like we only had a 1% trading range in the DJIA from top to bottom today. The housing data might have helped marginally, but that was actually negative data if you dig down into the numbers.

The hope for a return to growth is starting to see a bit of what may be reality setting in now that even Mr. Obama expects double-digit unemployment to become a reality. It seems that the rise in oil actually helped to keep equities higher. Here are today's closing bell levels:

Dow 8,322.46 -16.55 (-0.20%)
S&P 500 894.99 +1.95 (0.22%)
Nasdaq 1,764.92 -1.27 (-0.07%)

Top upgrades and downgrades

Continue reading Closing Bell: They just don't stay down long (BA, BSX, COP, MOT, SIRI)

Closing Bell: When rising bond yields hurt stocks (BAC, BSX, GM, PG, SNDK)

Despite Moody's claiming the US's Triple-A rating was stable, the markets sold off today. The markets tried to hold up but the afternoon session was marked by selling as bond yields rose on the long-end of the curve. The 10-Year Treasury yield was up 20 basis points to 3.697% and the 30-Year Treasury yield was up 16 basis points to 4.60%.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,300.98 -172.51 (-2.04%)
S&P 500 893.13 -17.20 (-1.89%)
Nasdaq 1,731.08 -19.35 (-1.11%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

Continue reading Closing Bell: When rising bond yields hurt stocks (BAC, BSX, GM, PG, SNDK)

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ARUN, MOS, POT, AGU, EGLE, DO, MON, SWCEY, TDC and ABC

Analyst upgrades:
  • Jefferies upgraded Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q3 results to reflect improved visibility. The firm raised its target price to $6.50 from $3.
  • Citigroup upgraded Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) and Potash (NYSE: POT) to Buy from Hold and Agrium (NYSE: AGU) to Hold from Sell as it believes stronger grain fundamentals more than offset China contract risk. The firm raised its target on Mosaic to $72 from $48, on Potash to $145 from $83 and on Agrium to $55 from $36.
  • Fulton Financial (NASDAQ: FULT) Was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette.
  • Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  • Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE) was upgraded at Deutsche Bank to Buy from Hold.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ARUN, MOS, POT, AGU, EGLE, DO, MON, SWCEY, TDC and ABC

Next Page »

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-37.1910,741.98
NASDAQ-16.872,374.41
S&P 500-5.921,159.90

Last updated: March 21, 2010: 04:08 PM

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