Carnival (CCL) (VZ) (XLS) (ANSS) (CNC) (COLM) Get New Coverage

Carnival Co. (NYSE: CCL), Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Exelis Inc. (NYSE: XLS), ANSYS (NASDAQ: ANSS), Centene Co. (NYSE: CNC) and Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ: COLM) getting new coverage from analysts.

HSBC (NYSE:HBC) initiated coverage on Carnival Co. (CCL). They placed a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $34.00 on the company.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) initiated coverage on Verizon (VZ). They placed a “buy” rating on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) initiated coverage on Exelis Inc. (XLS). They placed a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) initiated coverage on ANSYS (ANSS). They placed a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $66.00 on the company.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) initiated coverage on Centene Co. (CNC). They placed an “Outperform” rating on the company.

Auriga initiated coverage on Columbia Sportswear (COLM). They placed a “Hold” rating on the company.

Petsmart (PETM) (SPB) (PGR) (PM) (PMTC) (RCL) (RMBS) Ratings, Price Targets

Petsmart Inc. (PETM), Spectrum Brands Inc. (SPB), Progressive (PGR), Philip Morris (PM), Parametric (PMTC), Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) and Rambus Inc. (RMBS) ratings and price targets.

RBC Capital raised its price target on Petsmart Inc. (PETM) from $50.00 to $53.00. They have an “Outperform” rating on the company.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) reiterated its “Buy” on Spectrum Brands Inc. (SPB). They have a price target of $40.00 on the company.

Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Progressive (PGR). They placed an “Outperform” rating on the company.

Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target on Philip Morris (PM) from $75.00 to $80.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) initiated coverage on Parametric (PMTC). They placed a “Neutral” rating on the company.

HSBC (NYSE:HBC) initiated coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL). They placed a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $30.00 on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) downgraded Rambus Inc. (RMBS) to a “Neutral” rating. They have a price target of $11.50 on the company.

Hollysys (HOLI) (HOTT) (TRP) (TRP) (HUM) (IFNNY) (IHG) Ratings, Price Targets

Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd (HOLI), Hot Topic Inc. (HOTT), TransCanada Co. (TRP), TransCanada Co. (TRP), Humana (HUM), Infineon Technologies AG (IFNNY) and Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) ratings and price targets.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) initiated coverage on Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd (HOLI). They placed an “Overweight” rating on the company.

Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) reiterated its “Neutral” on Hot Topic Inc (HOTT). They have a price target of $7.50 on the company.

Canaccord Genuity downgraded TransCanada Co. (TRP) from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) reiterated its “Buy” on Humana (HUM). They have a price target of $104.00 on the company.

Societe Generale downgraded Infineon Technologies AG (IFNNY) from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

HSBC (NYSE:HBC) initiated coverage on Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG). They placed a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Corinthian (COCO) (SOHU) (SRDX) (TNS) (CBL) (CHU) Upgraded

Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO), Sohu.Com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU), SurModics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRDX), TNS, Inc. (NYSE: TNS), CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (NYSE: CBL) and China Unicom Hong Kong (NYSE: CHU) were upgraded by analysts.

Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (COCO) was upgraded by Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) from an “Underweight” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They have a price target of $5.00 on the company.

Sohu.Com Inc. (SOHU) was upgraded by Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $82.00 on the company.

SurModics, Inc. (SRDX) was upgraded by Feltl & Co. from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $13.00 on the company.

TNS, Inc. (TNS) was upgraded by Barrington Research from a “Market Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (CBL) was upgraded by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from an “Underperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They have a price target of $15.00 on the company.

China Unicom Hong Kong (CHU) was upgraded by HSBC (NYSE:HBC) from an “Underweight” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

TiVo (TIVO) (AIXG) (TDG) (AMAT) (SEIC) (AMD) Downgraded

TiVo Inc (NASDAQ: TIVO), Aixtron AG (NASDAQ: AIXG), Transdigm Group (NYSE: TDG), Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), SEI Investments Company (NASDAQ: SEIC) and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) downgraded by analysts.

TiVo Inc. (TIVO) was downgraded by Caris & Company from an “Above Average” rating to an “Average” rating.

Aixtron AG (AIXG) was downgraded by HSBC (NYSE:HBC) from an “Overweight” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Transdigm Group (TDG) was downgraded by KeyBanc from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) was downgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Sell” rating. They have a price target of $10.50 on the company.

SEI Investments Company (SEIC) was downgraded by Oppenheimer from an “Outperform” rating to a “Perform” rating. They have a price target $26.00 on the company.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was downgraded by Nomura from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Eldorado (EGO) (YZC) (FXCB) (STL) (MSFT) (SSNC) (NWSA) (NWY) Downgraded

Eldorado Gold Co. (NYSE: EGO), Yanzhou Coal Mining (NYSE: YZC), Fox Chase Bancorp (NASDAQ: FXCB), Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT), SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSNC), News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) and New York & Company, Inc. (NYSE: NWY) downgraded by analysts.

Eldorado Gold (EGO) was downgraded by analysts at TD Newcrest to a “Buy” rating.

Yanzhou Coal Mining (YZC) was downgraded by HSBC (NYSE:HBC) from an “Overweight” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Fox Chase Bancorp (FXCB) was downgraded by Stifel Nicolaus from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Sterling Bancorp (STL) was downgraded by Stifel Nicolaus from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) was downgraded by Davenport from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (SSNC) was downgraded by William Blair from an “Outperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

News Corp. (NWSA) was downgraded by Needham & Company from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

New York & Company, Inc. (NWY) was downgraded by Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) from an “Overweight” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

SunPower Co. (NASDAQ: SPWRA), Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) Upgraded

The solar sector had a little positive news today, as SunPower Co. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) and Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) were upgraded by several analysts, with Yingli getting positive coverage from three separate companies.

Yingli is getting a boost from its second-quarter report Friday, which outperformed analysts' expectations. That resulted in Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC), Avian Securities and HSBC (NYSE:HBC) all upgrading the company.

Auriga Securities’s Hari Chandra Polavarapu boosted his rating on Sunpower (SPWRA) from "Hold" to "Sell," saying the plunge in share price of 40 percent since he began coverage in the latter part of July is overdone. He has a price target of $14 on Sunpower. Even so, Polavarapu won't raise his rating on Sunpower to a buy until the cost issues are resolved.

Yingli was trading at $5.56, up $0.30, or 5.70 percent, as of 1:43 PM EDT. SunPower was trading at $13.62, gaining $0.05, or 0.37 percent.

Gold Fields (GFI) Gets Bumped Up by HSBC

HSBC (NYSE:HBC) raised its price target on Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI) from $23.00 to $25.00, and have an "Overweight" rating on the gold miner.

In other GFI news, South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers announced Monday it is seeking a pay boost of 14 percent rise from mining companies in the country: both coal and gold miners.

Other miners in the country recently said wage increases above the inflation level aren't sustainable.

Platinum producer Impala Platinum (IMPJ.J) was also singled out as a company the union is attempting to extract a 14 percent increase in wages from.

Gold Fields closed Monday at $15.51, dropping 0.16, or 1.02 percent.

Ratings on (DKS) (GG) (ING) (KBH) (LNN) Upgraded

Ratings on shares of Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG), ING Groep (NYSE: ING), KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Lindsay Corp (NYSE: LNN) were Upgraded by analysts.

Susquehanna analysts upgraded Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating.

HSBC (NYSE:HBC) upgraded Goldcorp Inc. (GG) from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc upgraded ING Groep (ING) from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) upgraded KB Home (KBH) from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating. They have a price target of $11.00 on the company.

Wedbush upgraded Lindsay Corp (LNN) from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating. They have a price target of $65.00 on the company.

Ratings on (NTAP) (VTR) (ENS) (WLK) Upgraded

Ratings on NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP), Ventas (NYSE: VTR), EnerSys (NYSE: ENS) and Westlake Chemical Corp (NYSE: WLK) were upgraded by analysts.

Canaccord Genuity upgraded NetApp Inc. (NTAP) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.

HSBC (NYSE:HBC) upgraded Ventas (VTR) from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating. They have a price target of $50.00 on the company, up from $48.00.

Noble Financial upgraded EnerSys (ENS) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) upgraded Westlake Chemical Corp (WLK) from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating.

Ex-Dividend for (GFY) (GLAD) (GOOD) (HBC) (HCII) is May 18

The ex-dividend date for Western Asset Variable Rate Strategic Fund (NYSE:GFY), Gladstone Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:GLAD), Gladstone Commercial Corporation (NASDAQ:GOOD), HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE:HBC) and Homeowners Choice Inc. (NASDAQ:HCII) is May 18.

Western Asset Variable Rate Strategic Fund (GFY) pays a dividend of $0.06 with a yield of 4.00 percent.

Gladstone Capital Corporation (GLAD) pays a dividend of $0.07 with a yield of 7.52 percent.

Gladstone Commercial Corporation (GOOD) pays a dividend of $0.13 with a yield of 8.13 percent.

HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) pays a dividend of $0.45 with a yield of 3.49 percent.

Homeowners Choice Inc. (HCII) pays a dividend of $0.10 with a yield of 5.20 percent.

Ratings on (LPX) (MR) (ROSE) (SAM) Upgraded

Ratings on Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE: LPX), Mindray Medical International Limited (NYSE: MR), Rosetta Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: ROSE) and The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE: SAM) upgraded by analysts.

TD Newcrest upgraded Louisiana-Pacific Co. (LPX) from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating.

Oppenheimer upgraded Mindray Medical International Limited (MR) from a “perform” rating to an “outperform” rating. They have a price target of $32.00 on the company.

Wunderlich upgraded Rosetta Resources Inc. (ROSE) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a price target of $57.00 on the company, up from $47.00.

HSBC (NYSE:HBC) upgraded The Boston Beer Company, Inc. SAM) from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating.

Price Targets on (IMMR) (KFT) (LBTYA) (LXU) (MAC) Updated

Analysts updated their price targets on Immersion Corp (NASDAQ: IMMR), Kraft Foods (NASDAQ: KFT), Liberty Global Inc (NASDAQ: LBTYA), LSB Industries, Inc. (NYSE: LXU) and The Macerich Company (NYSE: MAC) today.

Dougherty & Co. raised their price target on Immersion Corp (IMMR) to $11.00.

Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Kraft Foods (KFT) from $35.00 to $37.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

HSBC (NYSE:HBC) raised their price target on Liberty Global Inc (LBTYA) from $44.00 to $51.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Northland Securities raised their price target on LSB Industries, Inc. (LXU) from $45.00 to $51.00. They have an “outperform” rating on the company.

Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on The Macerich Company (MAC) from $51.00 to $54.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Price Targets on (HK) (GOLD) (DTV) (FLO) (GGC) Updated

Analysts updated their price targets on Petrohawk Energy (NYSE: HK), Randgold Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ: GOLD), DirecTV (NYSE: DTV), Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) and Georgia Gulf (NYSE: GGC) today.

Kaufman Brothers raised their price target on DirecTV (DTV) from $55.00 to $57.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Longbow Research raised their price target on Flowers Foods, Inc. (FLO) from $30.00 to $35.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Dahlman Rose raised their price target on Georgia Gulf (GGC) from $38.00 to $40.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

HSBC (NYSE:HBC) raised their price target on shares of Randgold Resources Ltd. (GOLD) from $104.00 to $111.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

FBR Capital raised their price target on Petrohawk Energy (HK) from $24.00 to $32.00. They have an “outperform” rating on the company.

Wells (WFC) (BAC) (C) (JPM) Ordered to Reimburse Homeowners

Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) were among 15 banks ordered to reimburse homeowners who were wrongfully foreclosed upon. Two services were among those ordered to reimburse the victims.

The lenders were also ordered by the Federal Reserve, Office of Thrift Supervision and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to hire auditors to ensure other foreclosures in 2009 and 2010 were properly done.

Other lenders picked out by the agencies include , Ally Financial Inc., Aurora Bank, Citibank, EverBank, HSBC (NYSE:HBC), MetLife Bank, OneWest Bank, PNC (NYSE:PNC), Sovereign Bank, SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI) and U.S. Bank, and the service providers Lender Processing Services and MERSCORP.

JPMorgan (JPM), HSBC (HBC) Now Charging for ATM Use

With government interference wreaking havoc on the financial industry, banks are looking for alternative sources of revenue to that which has been regulated away, and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and HSBC (NYSE:HBC) are now charging non-customers for the use of their ATMS, at a rate of $3 to $5 a pop.

When you combine a bank fee for going out of network onto the non-customer fee, and you have a formidable charge if customers do this consistent basis.

JPMorgan is charging a $5 ATM fee in Illinois and $4 in Texas for use of the service by non-customers. If significant revenue is generated in these two states, they plan on rolling out the plan nationwide.

For HSBC, its now charging a $3 fee for all non-customer use of its ATMs. They had already charged that at about 60 percent of their ATMs, and have now rolled it out to their entire network.

Other giant banks like Citigroup (NYSE:C), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) are expected to roll out similar fees soon.

HSBC closed in New York Wednesday at $50.00, down $1.90, or 3.66 percent. JPMorgan closed at $43.81, down $0.80, or 1.79 percent.

JPMorgan (JPM), Citigroup (C), UBS (UBS) Fighting Madoff Trustee Over Disclosure

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), sued for $6.4 billion by the trustee for Bernard L. Madoff’s firm, said the trustee has no right to “abrogate” a yearlong agreement to protect trade secrets by revising his rules for handling confidential information.

The trustee, Irving H. Picard, seeking $100 billion for investors in Madoff’s Ponzi scheme in lawsuits, has asked a judge for more freedom to use information demanded for his investigations. JPMorgan’s objection is one of at least eight filed yesterday by banks and investment managers including UBS AG (NYSE:UBS), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) and HSBC Holdings Plc. (NYSE:HSB)

JPMorgan, based in New York, said it gave Picard documents 22 times in the past 15 months, relying on his agreement not to share the information with competitors or other parties.

“The proposed order would permit the trustee to disclose JPMorgan’s confidential and proprietary information to any party or its agent in any one of the more than one thousand adversary proceedings that have been commenced by the trustee,” the second-biggest U.S. bank said in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. “The trustee is not entitled to abrogate confidentiality arrangements that have been relied upon by JPMorgan and other parties.”





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Goldman (NYSE:GS) Brand Lags Behind JPMorgan (JPM), Deutsche (DB), HSBC Holdings (HBC)

The release of the Business Superbrands Top 500 survey of company brands reveals that some banking brands like JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Deutsche (NYSE:DB) and HSBC Holdings (NYSE:HBC) are improving, while others like Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) continue to struggle.

The Business Superbrands Top 500, which is released every February, ranks companies based on the opinions of 2,000 U.K. business professionals quizzed by YouGov.

HSBC was the highest-placed banking brand in this year’s rankings, rising six places to No. 35. But the most impressive comeback was by J.P. Morgan, which jumped to No. 94 from 244 last year. The New York bank, which bought Bear Stearns for a knock-down price in 2008, has emerged from the recession stronger than many of its rivals.

Deutsche Bank also broke into the top 100 this year, moving to No. 80 from No. 146.

But some of the gilt clearly has worn off the House of Goldman. Three years ago the New York investment bank was among the top 50 brands. It has now fallen for two successive years to No. 113 in the latest survey, just below engineering firm Massey Ferguson.

The lowest-placed large bank in the top 500–though several companies, including Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), did’t make the list–was Citigroup (C). The U.S. bank jumped 170 places but still only came in at No. 260.




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American Express (AXP), Bank of America (BAC), Capital One Financial (COF), JPMorgan (JPM) and Credit Card Risks

Consumers still have difficulty understanding the costs and risks of credit cards, despite some improvements made by issuers, a top regulator said Tuesday

“Our next challenge will be about further clarifying price and risk and making it easier for consumers to make direct product comparisons,” said Elizabeth Warren, Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, at the beginning of a credit card conference bringing together regulators, bankers, academics and market research groups.

The conference takes place roughly one year after many provisions of a new credit card law, the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act took effect.The consumer bureau will take responsibility for administering the statute later this summer.

In addition to raising concerns, Warren praised credit card companies for going above and beyond requirements of the statute. She cited data assembled by the consumer bureau and bank regulators that said card issuers have done better than the law requires of them when it comes to curbing opaque interest rate re-pricing and cutting over-limit fees. Read about the findings of credit card studies.

“A number of [credit card] issuers have eliminated some of the practices that can confuse customers and cost them money they reasonably did not expect to pay,” she said.

Research firm Nilson Report lists the top nine credit card issuers as American Express (NYSE:AXP), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS), HSBC (NYSE:HBC), U.S. Bancorp. (NYSE:USB) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC).

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Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Named Top Banking Brand

A survey by Brand Finance Plc. found Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to be the top banking brand in the world, surpassing HSBC (NYSE:HBC) for the No. 1 spot.

Jumping to the No. 2 spot was Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC). HSBC dropped to the third spot overall.

David Haigh, chief executive officer of Brand Finance, noted, “American banking is beginning to rebound. Bank of America and Wells Fargo did well because they have expanded through acquisitions, American growth expectations have improved and both have focused on promoting their roles as traditional main street lenders.”

Other American-based banks in the top ten were JPMorgan, which came in fifth in the survey, and Citigroup (NYSE:C), which came in ninth place. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) dropped from seventh place last year to sixteenth place this year.

Bank of America was trading at $14.29, gaining $0.56, or 4.08 percent, as of 1:09 PM EST. Wells Fargo was at $33.40, up 0.98, or 3.02 percent. JPMorgan was trading at $45.89, up $0.95, or 2.11 percent. Citigroup was as $4.885, up $0.065, or 1.35 percent. Goldman as up to $165.92, gaining $2.30, or 1.41 percent.