Upgrades & Downgrades: Travelers Is Going Places | Stocks ...

Mother Nature?helped the market yesterday, though the final word may yet belong to Father Time. Balmy March temperatures boosted retail sales and sent blue chips up but the age-old seasonal headwind known as ?sell in May and go away? will soon start to loom large. In a bifurcated trading session, the?Dow?(DJI) advanced impressively even as the Nasdaq?(IXIC) endured something of a tech wreck. Aiding the former was?JPMorgan (JPM), which finished in the green Monday after falling 3.64% on Friday following earnings that were immediately characterized as both?bad?and?good. (Mr. Morgan himself, who turned 75 on this day in 1912, knew better than most that initial headlines are often misleading. The newspaper he read a century ago this evening breezily assured the tycoon, scheduled to sail on a certain ship until a last minute schedule change, that "All Titanic Passengers Are Safe.")?Apple?(AAPL) meanwhile sank for a fifth straight session since hitting?$600 billion in market cap?only last week. That threshold proved Kryptonite for Microsoft?(MSFT), which was dead money for a decade after?standing atop a similar summit in late 1999. Is history about to eerily repeat for today?s tech titan, right down to its own Justice Department lawsuit?
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Stuffing money under the sofa, while not as sexy, may prove more profitable going forward, with?Mattress Firm Holding?(MFRM) advancing a further 1.82% to a post-IPO peak -- even if more of us opt to?freeze, rather than sleep on, our assets. In analyst action, an upgrade?of?Vornado Realty Trust?(VNO) sent it 2.76% higher to pace all S&P 500 (GSPC) gainers. This company owns Two Penn Plaza, which is?a stone?s throw?from Madison Square Garden (MSG), and owners of the latter may wish to take out their frustration by testing the distance literally after a ratings reduction sent it skidding 1.54%. Elsewhere Brent crude oil fell to $118.20 per barrel, an almost two-month low, after Iranian nuclear talks began auspiciously -- alas, not before the?Barbie-banning ayatollahs?extracted an horrific price on its parent?Mattel?(MAT), which nosedived 9.14% as the iconic doll posted its first sales decline in ten quarters. And on a day a?rapping medic with no prior experience on Wall Street?was elected the twelfth president of the World Bank, it was announced that there would be?no winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. With fact so endlessly fantastical, who needs fantasy? It?s a torrid Tuesday on the earnings front, with Coca-Cola (KO), Goldman Sachs (GS), Intel (INTC), International Business Machines (IBM), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and Yahoo (YHOO) among a multitude of companies due to report results.
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Initiations:
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Apple Inc. (AAPL): Can?t keep the company out of the news. Shares are rebounding in the pre-market on a Strong Buy coverage roll out at Raymond James, whose price objective is a relatively restrained $800.
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Tiffany & Co. (TIF): The luxury jeweler is a new Neutral at Macquarie.
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Investment banks: Susquehanna resumes?Raymond James Financial?(RJF) with a Positive. It has new Neutrals on?Jefferies?(JEF) and?Greenhill?(GHL), and launches LPL Investment?(LPLA) and?Lazard?(LAZ) with Negatives on each, assigning a $21 target price on the latter.
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Health care industry: Auriga establishes Buys on both?Sagent Pharmaceuticals (SGNT) and?Impax Labs?(IPXL), rolling out respective price objectives of $22 and $30. It has a Hold, and $16 target, on?Warner Chilcott?(WCRX).
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Biotechs:?Achillion Pharmaceuticals?(ACHN) and?Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) are each assumed with Outperforms at Credit Suisse.
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Cameco?(CCJ): JPMorgan has an Overweight on CCJ.
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Cerus Corp?(CERS): Cantor Fitzgerald begins Buy rated coverage of the small cap stock, assigning it a $5.50 price target. The broker believes that CERS?s pathogen inactivation technology will eventually become standard of care in this $6 billion global market.
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Fossil?(FOSL): Macquarie has a fresh Outperform on FOSL.
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Nationstar Mortgage?(NSM): Keefe Bruyette covers the company at Outperform.
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Laredo Petroleum?(LPI): BMO Capital launches Outperform coverage on LPI.
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Select Income REIT?(SIR): SIR is started at a Market Perform with Wells Fargo.
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Rollins Inc. (ROL): Shares are a Hold at KeyBanc Capital.
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Qualcomm?(QCOM): The tech company is picked up at Outperform with Raymond James.
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Upgrades:
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Travelers?(TRV): The property and casualty insurance outfit, yesterday?s top Dow stock, is today taken to Equal Weight from Underweight at Evercore.
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Trina Solar?(TSL): Auriga ups its rating to Buy from Hold, sending shares up sharply before the opening bell.
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Teekay Tankers?(TNK): Bank of America-Merrill Lynch lifts TNK to Neutral from Underperform.
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Terex?(TEX): TEX is moved to Outperform from Market Perform with Wells.
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SAP AG?(SAP): The German software giant, downgraded elsewhere this morning, is also boosted to Buy from Hold at Soci?t? G?n?rale.
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AutoNation?(AN): Wells Fargo raises AN to Market Perform from Underperform.
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Energy stocks:?Oasis Petroleum?(OAS) and?Newfield Exploration?(NFX) both get Buy-from-Hold boosts at Jefferies.
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Energy stocks:?GenOn Energy?(GEN) is hoisted to Hold from Sell by Deutsche Bank, where?NRG Energy?(NRG) is now Buy from Hold.
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ENI S.p.A.?(E): Jefferies juices the Italian oil and gas firm to Buy from Hold.
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ING Groep?(ING): ING is now Neutral from Underperform at Exane BNP Paribas.
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Downgrades:
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First Solar?(FSLR): With news just breaking that FSLR is to cut 30% of its workforce, the firm gets downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.
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Cabela?s?(CAB): The hunting and shooting retailer is cut to Hold from Buy with a $40 objective at Feltl & Co, which cites valuation issues.
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Celestica?(CLS): Shares are lower ahead of the open on a downgrade to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
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CSX Corp?(CSX): The railroad company gets cut to Hold from Buy at Argus, which believes the risk to profit growth over the near-term has increased due to continued weakness in its coal business.
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YPF Sociedad Anonima?(YPF): The just-nationalized Argentine energy behemoth, trading at a fresh trough, is lowered to Underperform from Neutral by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse. Speaking of which...
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Repsol SA?(REPYY): The Spanish firm, whose head has claimed Argentine President Cristina Fernandez ?carried out an unlawful act? in authorizing the YPF takeover, is itself cut to Hold from Buy by both Jefferies and Deutsche Bank. Shares are slumping in European trading this morning as a result.
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Remy Cointreau?(REMYF): France?s Cognac king is cut to Neutral from Outperform by BNP Paribas
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SAP AG?(SAP): The German software giant gets downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at HSBC Securities, whose concerns include execution issues in North America.
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Synaptics?(SYNA): Shares are now Neutral from Buy at Mizuho, which trims its target by $2 to $35.
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Progress Energy?(PGN): Barclays cuts the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight.
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Infosys?(INFY): Goldman gives the recently-slumping Indian outsourcer a Neutral-from-Buy ratings reduction.
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Insurance stocks: Evercore cuts?Chubb?(CB),?W.R. Berkley?(WRB), and?Arch Capital?(ACGL), all now Equal-Weight from Overweight.

No positions in stocks mentioned.

The information on this website solely reflects the analysis of or opinion about the performance of securities and financial markets by the writers whose articles appear on the site. The views expressed by the writers are not necessarily the views of Minyanville Media, Inc. or members of its management. Nothing contained on the website is intended to constitute a recommendation or advice addressed to an individual investor or category of investors to purchase, sell or hold any security, or to take any action with respect to the prospective movement of the securities markets or to solicit the purchase or sale of any security. Any investment decisions must be made by the reader either individually or in consultation with his or her investment professional. Minyanville writers and staff may trade or hold positions in securities that are discussed in articles appearing on the website. Writers of articles are required to disclose whether they have a position in any stock or fund discussed in an article, but are not permitted to disclose the size or direction of the position. Nothing on this website is intended to solicit business of any kind for a writer's business or fund. Minyanville management and staff as well as contributing writers will not respond to emails or other communications requesting investment advice.

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Medical Minute: Prostate Cancer : Sandra Rose

Monday, April 16, 2012

People magazine broke the news last week that veteran actor Ryan O?Neal was diagnosed with prostate cancer. O?Neal, 70, who battled leukemia in the 1990s, told the magazine that his prostate cancer was a stage 4 ? but that his doctor gave him a good prognosis.

Stage 4 cancer means the cancer has metastasized (or spread) elsewhere in the body. Stage 4 is the most difficult stage of cancer to treat, and the survival rate for Stage 4 cancer is usually very poor.

Anatomical position

The prostate makes up part of the male reproductive system. Anatomically, the prostate is a gland that sits directly below the bladder. The prostate secretes semen which neutralizes the acid in a woman?s vagina and prolongs the life of sperm (secreted from the testicles).

Female Prostate

Because all embryos (babies) start out as females ? women also have female prostate glands, formerly called Skene?s glands. The female prostate gland (which is now the uterus) sits in the same anatomical position as the male prostate. The opening of the female prostate (Skene?s gland) is near the urethra, which drains urine from the bladder. Like males, the female prostate gland also secretes an alkaline solution, which most women confuse for urine during orgasms.

Causes of prostate Cancer in males

The specific cause of prostate cancer in men is unknown. The average age at diagnosis is 70 (Ryan?s age). But males of any age (usually over 50) are diagnosed with prostate cancer. In the U.S. 30,000 men die of prostate cancer every year. Risk factors include black men, men over 60, diet (too much red meat, high fat diet and not enough fish and vegetables), alcohol, hereditary (a brother or father who was previously diagnosed), medications (steroid injections), and infections caused by STDs or a retrovirus can all increase the risk of prostate cancer.

Cancer begins when normal prostate cells transforms into cancer cells which rapidly multiply in the prostate. Eventually, the multiplying cancer cells enlarge the prostate gland and it begins to push against other organs, causing pain.

Signs (what you see) and Symptoms (what you feel):

Early prostate cancer usually has no signs or symptoms. Symptoms usually occur when the prostate has enlarged to the point that it invades other organs nearby. You might also experience difficulty obtaining an erection and difficulty ejaculating. If the tumor spreads to the bones or lymph glands, there will be pronounced pain at the sites where the cancer has spread.

Other signs and symptoms include:

Delayed or slowed start of urinary stream

Dribbling or leakage of urine, most often after urinating

Slow urinary stream

Straining when urinating, or not being able to empty out all of the urine

Blood in the urine or semen

Bone pain or tenderness, most often in the lower back and pelvic bones (only when the cancer has spread)

If you experience any of these signs and symptoms, consult your physician or health care professional. If you do not have a doctor, go to the emergency room.

Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer in males

A positive diagnosis is confirmed by performing a biopsy of the tumor.

Once the prostate has enlarged, it can be detected easily by a doctor or healthcare professional during a digital rectal examination. During the exam, the doctor will wash his hands and put on gloves. The doctor will insert a lubricated and gloved finger into your rectum and feel the inside.

If the doctor feels a tumor inside your rectum, or an uneven area, he will order tests such as a biopsy of the prostate tumor, and/ or urine tests and blood tests to look for the presence of antigens or proteins which indicates cancer. Your doctor might also order a CT Scan, Ultrasound or a MRI to visualize the tumor.

Treatment

Treatment includes surgery to remove part or all of the prostate, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or hormones. Depending on your age and the size of the tumor, the doctor might elect not to do anything except monitor your blood work to make sure the tumor does not spread.

This has been your Medical Minute.

More Info On the Web

Prostate Cancer ? Pubmed Health

Prostate Cancer ? MayoClinic

Prostate Cancer ? Wikipedia

DISCLAIMER

Any medical information published on this blog is for your general information only and is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice. You should not take any action before consulting with your personal physician or a health care provider. Sandrarose.com and its affiliates cannot be held liable for any damages incurred by following advice found on this blog.

Related posts:

1. Medical Minute: Throat Cancer
2. Medical Minute: Stomach Cancer
3. Medical Minute: Ovarian Cancer
4. Medical Minute: Oral cancer in men caused by HPV
5. Medical Minute: Light skinned blacks more prone to getting skin cancer

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88% Miss Bala

Miss Bala (Mexico's foreign film entry for 2011) is an unwavering, startling, and deeply tense movie about one woman's tragic and unwilling association with a powerful drug cartel. Laura (Stephanie Sigman) wants to be the next Miss Baja California, but she's unwittingly pulled into a life of crime after she witnesses a gang hit. The cartel ensures that Laura wins the beauty pageant and becomes a courier for them. The movie takes a Lars von Trier approach to storytelling, putting its heroine through a torture chamber of anxiety and terror. This woman only wants to escape the hell she has accidentally found herself a part of, but every attempt to escape, be it going to the police or confessing assassination plots to the intended targets, gets her corralled back into the fray. For Laura, there is no escape. The movie packs a near-constant surge of paranoia, as we fear that at any time something awful will happen. In fact it's usually only a matter of time. Laura is more a symbol of the collateral damage of Mexico's billion-dollar drug war than a character, and she kind of becomes a numb zombie by the movie's latter half, perhaps accepting her doomed fate. Director Gerado Naranjo favors long unwinding takes and handheld cameras, which add a gritty realism and sense of compounding dread to the picture. The movie has an unflinching level of realism to it that makes it all the more haunting, stripping the romanticism from a life of crime. Much like Italy's heralded crime film Gomorrah, this bleak but impassioned movie shows the inescapable tentacles of organized crime and gives a face to innocents caught in the middle. Miss Bala is a testament to the hidden toll of a nation at war with itself. Nate's Grade: B+

April 5, 2012

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Halle Berry?s Engagement Was Even A Shock To Her!

Halle Berry’s Engagement Was Even A Shock To Her!

Halle Berry admits she was even surprised by her own decision to marry again. The Oscar-winning actress confirmed her engagement to Olivier Martinez in March, [...]

Halle Berry’s Engagement Was Even A Shock To Her! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

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The teen birth rate in Texas (Offthekuff)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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Houston's death ruled an accident

Detectives made the decision after reviewing the coroner's report.

Police have closed their investigation into Whitney Houston's death without finding any evidence to suggest it was anything than an accidental drowning, investigators announced Wednesday.

Skip to next paragraph

The Beverly Hills Police Department did not release a detailed report on the case, but Lt. Mark Rosen said the conclusion came after detectives reviewed the complete findings of the coroner's office. Coroner's officials ruled Houston drowned accidentally at the Beverly Hilton on Feb. 11 and that heart disease and cocaine use contributed to her death.

IN PICTURES: Whitney Houston, in memoriam

Beverly Hills authorities also released a minute-long 911 call made by a hotel worker who summoned police and paramedics to Houston's suite at the hotel. The call revealed few details, other than that people in the Grammy-winning singer's room repeatedly hung up on hotel personnel after discovering Houston in a bathtub.

The dispatcher had asked to be patched into the room to deliver lifesaving instructions, but the security worker said that wasn't possible. He said a woman who notified the hotel that Houston was unresponsive was "irate" and didn't provide many details.

Rosen re-iterated condolences to Houston's family and friends in a brief statement.

Houston's death on the eve of the Grammy Awards stunned the world. The singer had been attempting a comeback and had finished work on a remake of the film "Sparkle" when she drowned.

IN PICTURES:?Whitney Houston, in memoriam

Toxicology results showed cocaine throughout her body, and coroner's officials said the results indicated chronic use. In the bathroom, investigators found a small spoon described by investigators as having a "crystal-like substance" in it, and they discovered a white powdery substance in a drawer, a coroner's report released last week showed.

Houston had a history of drug abuse which marred her career, robbing her of her voice and reputation, but family and friends described her as intent on returning to glory in the months before her death. Her unexpected death at age 48 sparked a renewed interest in her music and movies, sales of which will benefit her only daughter, Bobbi Kristina.

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A TSA Agent Has Been Stealing iPads from Passenger Luggage [Tsa]

Here's another awful thing to add to your oft updated list of why the TSA is terrible: a TSA baggage inspector has been charged with theft by a public servant for stealing eight iPads (on different occasions) from passenger luggage at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. More »

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Here's How Robots Will Save Our Lives in the Future [Video]

At the Navy's brand, new multi-million dollar LASR complex, researchers are creating problem-solving Siri times a million. It'll understand us! It'll be friendly! And it'll put out our fires by being just as smart as a human. We hope. More »

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Apps Have Got Your Back

Who needs governments? The ongoing trend toward mobile, social and crowdsourcing apps has led to a wealth of new community-based resources that support or supplant traditional civic and government services. Think Kickstarter instead of the NEA or Canada Council. Or consider the new Circle of 6 app, which is intended to help prevent violence before it happens, by letting users reach out to friends when dicey situations arise, instead of calling 911 after they get out of hand. Circle of 6 is the brainchild of health educator Deb Levine and anti-violence activist Nancy Schwartzman, who have found that it's often easier for people to reach out for help via a screen, and that it's important for groups of friends to offer concrete strategies for supporting each other. It's already won the White House's Apps Against Abuse challenge, and racked up tens of thousands of iPhone downloads. "We are working to get the app in the hands of Android users as soon as possible," says lead developer Christine Corbett Moran (an astrophysicist with a double-major Physics/CS degree from MIT, who develops apps in her copious spare time.) Apps like Circle of 6 are the thin edge of a really interesting wedge.

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Late-night poll: Do you use, or want to use, the FM radio feature?

Tonight's poll comes thanks to our lovable forums Admin Cory Streater, who brought up a great question on episode 93 of the Android Central podcast -- I wonder how many people really use the FM radio? None of us were any help (we can't ever agree on anything) but you guys sure can be. 

I get why people use it. It's subscription free, doesn't use data, and has a bigger selection of music that you could ever hope to have in your personal cloud or on the phone itself. Maybe the best reason I've ever heard is that it's great for listening to the news while on the treadmill at the gym. The other side of the coin -- wired headphones suck, radio stations suck, commercial music sucks, etc. People have just as many reasons why they don't use it as those who do use it.

I'm somewhere in the middle. I don't use it, but I do see the appeal. And not everything on the radio sucks. But asking you guys is a much better idea, so tell us all in the poll, and fire away in the comments to let us know why you voted the way you did.

 

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Switched On: When the smartphone giveth, Part 1

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Part II of this article will be coming next week -- stay tuned!

The rise of smartphones hasn't been kind to makers of devices such as digital cameras, digital music players and portable GPS devices. Handsets with a rich selection of apps have been increasingly cannibalizing sales of these products, leaving few ways for these once hot holiday gift items to compete. In some cases, though, they have enabled functionality that was once envisioned for standalone products that either failed in the market or never went much beyond a niche audience. Here are five examples of failed devices that never made much headway. The concepts behind them, though, ultimately found acceptance on smartphones.

Continue reading Switched On: When the smartphone giveth, Part 1

Switched On: When the smartphone giveth, Part 1 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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