Month: March 2014

On Mar 26, Zacks Investment Research downgraded Louisiana-Pacific Corporation ( LPX ) to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). Why the Downgrade? Estimates have been moving downwards ever since Louisiana-Pacific reported disappointing fourth quarter 2013 results on Feb 13. […]

United States Steel Corp. ’s ( X ) President and CEO Mario Longhi has joined forces with fellow steel industry executives and United Steelworkers’ international president in pressing Congress to stop unfair trade practices and enforce America’s trade laws so as to maintain the country’s economic and national security. […]

The independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) has recommended the continuation of Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. ’s ( CPRX ) phase III study (n=36) on Firdapse. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, discontinuation study is evaluating Firdapse for the treatment of patients suffering from Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS). […]

Camelot Information Systems Inc. ( CIS ) announced a favorable verdict with regard to its planned merger with Camelot Employee Scheme Inc. […]

The metal and mining sector is highly dependent on China’s — the largest consumer of steel — economic growth. Reportedly, China’s steel industry has overcapacity of 300 million tons, which may pose a great threat to the global steel industry. Recently, a private survey by HSBC Holdings plc ( HSBC ) quantified a lower-than-expected Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for China in March 2014 […]

Pipeline updates are highly awaited events in the pharma/biotech sector as they play an important role in deciding whether or not to invest in a particular company. These updates provide information on experimental drugs and at times give an insight into the commercial potential of the candidate once it is successfully developed and commercialized. […]

In order to address safety concerns, leading Canadian freight railroad company, Canadian National Railway Company ( CNI ), announced its decision to remove its fleet of 183 older DOT-111 tank rail cars over the upcoming 4 years. The company also mentioned that it will invest nearly $7 million by 2014 end to replace 40 of these tank cars to provide diesel fuel transportation. We believe the replacement of old tank cars will not only address the safety issues but provide greater operational efficiency to Canadian National’s network […]

UCB ( UCBJF ) has several late stage candidates including romosozumab in osteoporosis in post-menopausal women, brivaracetam as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of partial onset seizures in adults with epilepsy, and epratuzumab in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Vimpat (marketed product) as monotherapy was submitted as part of the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which was accepted in Oct 2013. […]

The Blackstone Group L.P. ( BX ) is set to close a deal with equity investment firms, namely Onex Corp and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) to acquire Gates Global Inc. Though the deal is expected to be completed by next week, nothing has been confirmed officially as the companies are yet to sign a legal agreement. […]

On March 26, 2014, we issued an updated research report on Chubb Corp. ( CB ). The company expects cat loss in first quarter 2014 to be in the range of $150-$200 million […]

Electronics and electrical engineering company Siemens AG ( SI ) recently disclosed its plans to invest $264 million (£160 million) to develop facilities for offshore wind turbines on U.K.’s east coast. Siemens’ infrastructure development project will be supported by its local partner and port operator Associated British Ports, which is owned by a group of investors including The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( GS ). […]

On Mar 26, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. ( AHL ) to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) owing to its rising earnings estimates following solid fourth-quarter 2013 results. Why the Upgrade? […]

Orange Spain, a division of Orange ( ORAN ), has announced its successful trial of LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation (CA) technology in eastern city of Valencia. As per reports, Orange Spain is one of the major companies in trialling LTE-Advanced CA technology. The company expects to set up LTE network involving six nodes in Valencia following the trial completion […]

SunPower Corp. ( SPWR ) has plans to supply 70 megawatts (MW) of cell packages comprising C7 solar concentrator photovoltaic technology to a Chinese consortium, the Huaxia Concentrated Photovoltaic Power Co., Ltd., a joint venture (JV) in Inner Mongolia, China. […]

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has deferred the hearing on Comcast Corporation ’s ( CMCSA ), proposal to acquire Time Warner Cable Inc. ( TWC ), the two major cable MSOs (multi-service operator) in the U.S […]

Actavis ( ACT ) and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. ( VRX ) announced that the U.S. […]

Carbonite, Inc. ( CARB ), a dominant provider of online backup and recovery solutions, was selected by Rose City Urgent Care and Family Practice in Portland, OR, to facilitate security and confidentiality of its stored data as mandated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Rose City permits practitioners to use their own methodology for treating patients; hence provider-specific forms, charts and documents clutter on practitioners' computers […]

In previous articles I’ve covered some of the basics of technical analysis as well as given an extended metaphor for the difference between technical and fundamental analysis. Often times I throw out the term “risk management” without giving a real clear cut definition of exactly what I mean. Here we’ll explore an essential part of risk management, the stop loss […]

The largest U.S. defense operator, Lockheed Martin Corp. […]