Trefis: The Week in Review, 31 December 2011

by Trefis Staff

Below is a summary of the activity on Trefis during the past week that we thought you would find interesting. Trefis is a financial community structuredaround trends, forecasts and insights related to some of the most popular stocks in the US. It provides the unique feature of allowing the user to model future valuation based upon projected changes in components of each business. It also provides communication capabilities among members, including consensus of member analysis compared toTrefis staff analysis and blogging opportunities for members.

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Insights from the Week

Tech, Media, Telecom

The Best Dividend Stocks for 2012 – Information Technology on December 30th

S&P recommends overweighting the S&P Information Technology sector. Year to date through November 18, the S&P Information Technology…

Cisco Update: Trades Ex-Dividend Today on December 30th

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Cisco’s Internet Protocol-based networking solutions are …

Leap or MetroPCS Could Be Consolation Prize for AT&T on December 30th

With T-Mobile out of the picture, AT&T (NYSE:T) may go after prepaid carriers Leap or MetroPCS to quench its thirst …

Juniper Worth $28 Despite Near-Term Market Jitters on December 30th

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) is trading below $20 as lower capital spending in Q4’11 from both service providers as well as enterprise –…

Nokia Looks to US Market as Bet on Windows Phone Goes Bust In Europe on December 30th

Last month when Nokia (NYSE:NOK) launched its Lumia smartphones in Europe, some optimism returned for Nokia investors on the hopes of a …

Dish Network Continues To Fight Programming Blackouts on December 29th

Given all the recent news about the customer satisfaction survey concerning internet retailers, it is worthwhile to examine where Dish Network (NASDAQ:DISH) …

iPhone 5 Rumored for Fall 2012 on December 29th

Although Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4S was released less than 3 months ago, rumors are already circulating surrounding the next iteration …

SAP and Google Team Integrate Google Apps with SAP’s Business ByDesign ERP Suite on December 29th

SAP (NYSE:SAP) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) have announced a partnership, through which they will integrate their on-demand offerings – SAP&…

Zoho’s Upgraded CRM Offering Poses Threat to Salesforce.com on December 29th

Zoho has launched a significant upgrade to its on-demand CRM suite, with a revamped user interface and LinkedIn integration. It also announced that it…

AT&T Dividend Capture Strategy on December 29th

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunication services to consumers, businesses, and other service providers worldwide. …

Verizon Communications Inc. Dividend Capture on December 29th

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) provides communication services. The company operates through two segments, Domestic Wireless and Wireline. The company was founded…

Groupon Acquires Pre-Launch Startup Campfire Labs on December 29th

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) has reportedly made yet another acquisition, this one a pre-launch startup called Campfire Labs, a 7-person firm working on…

Asian Chip Manufacturers Team Up to Take on Qualcomm on December 29th

It seems that Qualcomm’s (NASDAQ:QCOM) competition is growing by the day as new players have started to take the company on…

Google’s Nexus Tablet Sounds Good, Too Early to Compare to iPad on December 29th

“iPad killer” has become a term that is abused more than being aptly used. It was used generously with Amazon’…

Samsung Looks to Overtake Nokia in 2012 on December 29th

After overtaking Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) for the top spot in the smartphone market, Samsung is looking to overtake Nokia (NYSE:NOK) in …

Chinese Crackdown on Microblog Users Could Slow Sina’s Growth on December 28th

The Chinese government announced new rules last week that will force microblog users in the Chinese mainland to verify their real identities. According to …

Adobe Launches EchoSign App for Apple’s iOS on December 28th

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) has launched a new EchoSign app for devices powered by Apple ‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS platform, like the…

Google+ Resorts to Ads to Gain Traction on December 28th

As TechCrunch first reported, Google+ is the next product after Chrome that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has chosen to advertise on electronic media. …

Sprint Still Worth $4.25 Despite iPhone Deal, Debt Concerns on December 28th

Sprint’s (NYSE:S) stock has been under a lot of pressure recently after the company announced plans to sell the hugely-subsidized iPhone…

Mobile Gaming: The Next Frontier for Zynga on December 28th

Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is the world’s largest social gaming company, with more than 220 million active users, and is on track for…

Google Continues Partnership with Firefox to Retain Search Dominance on December 28th

Firefox has a reason to smile. The open-source web browser managed a hefty $300 million-a-year deal from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), which ensures that…

Travelzoo Headed to $30 on for Growth in Asia, Luxury Spending on December 28th

Travelzoo Asia Pacific, an independently owned licensee of Travelzoo Inc. (NASDAQ:TZOO), recently released findings of its subscriber survey focusing on leisure …

Apple and Google See Record Holiday Smartphone Sales on December 28th

In each of the past few years the holiday season has given a huge boost to smartphone sales. However, this year’s Christmas…

Netflix’s Customer Satisfaction Drops, No Surprise But There’s a Silver Lining on December 28th

As the internet is abuzz with a new customer satisfaction report from customer analytics company ForeSee, we think that many might be missing the …

December Auto Sales Up, Good News For Sirius XM? on December 28th

December unit sales for light vehicles in the U.S. will amount to more than 1.2 million, registering growth of nearly 25% over November sales…

Time Warner Cable Sued For Patent Infringement, Should Investors Be Concerned? on December 28th

Sprint (NYSE:S) has filed a lawsuit against Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC), Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Cable One and Cox Communications…

Shutterfly Lowers Q4 Guidance, Stock Dips on December 28th

Shutterfly’s (NASDAQ:SFLY) stock is down almost 20% this month, and that weakness will likely be exacerbated after management revised its …

ESPN’s Monday Night Football Ratings Drop, Should Disney Be Worried? on December 27th

As Disney’s (NYSE:DIS) ESPN renews its deal with the National Football League for a 73% higher fee, in-line with deals …

Microsoft’s Profit Margins, $32 Fair Value Under Pressure from Cloud on December 27th

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the largest enterprise software companies in the world, which competes with other biggies like Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL…

Perfect World’s a Value Pick for 2012, $21 Fair Value on December 27th

Perfect World (NASDAQ:PWRD) is one of the top online gaming companies in China where it competes with the likes of NetEase (NASDAQ:…

Google Flexing Muscles in Travel, Is FTC Watching? on December 27th

Travel sites like Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) and Orbitz are seeing red over what they perceive as a clear monopolistic advantage for Google (NASDAQ:…

Chinese Telcos Look to Boost Margins With Cheaper Smartphones on December 27th

The Chinese telecom industry appears to be trending toward selling cheaper smartphones and actively promoting sales, as opposed to higher-priced phones from Apple (NASDAQ…

Facebook Dresses up for IPO by Rolling Out More Ads on December 26th

The decision by Facebook to put up advertisements on the news feed may act as a further deterrent to the social network’s users…

Netflix Updates: U.K. Expansion Will Bring Challenges, $125 Fair Value on December 26th

Netflix’s (NASDAQ:NFLX) stock has gained slightly over the course of last week as the company continued signing content deals for its…

CNN’s Digital Acquisitions Don’t Move the Needle for Time Warner Stock on December 26th

Time Warner’s (NYSE:TWX) CNN is looking to make some digital acquisition in order to expand its programming reach to connected devices…

eBay Headed to $39, Beefs up Payments Segment with BillSAFE on December 26th

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) strengthened PayPal further through another technology purchase. With the acquisition of BillSAFE, the company will now incorporate the “…

Anobit Purchase Gives Future Apple Devices More Horsepower at a Lower Cost on December 26th

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has made use of its enormous pile of cash of around $80 billion to purchase Israel based Anobit for around $500…

Zynga Made Four of the Top 10 Facebook Games in 2011 on December 26th

Facebook has released a list of the top 10 social games in 2011 and, as expected, Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is featured prominently in…

SAP Owned SuccessFactors Acquires Jobs2Web, Cloud-based Recruiting Platform on December 26th

SAP (NYSE:SAP) recently acquired SuccessFactors, a leading provider of cloud based HR (human resource management) solutions. It plans to integrate SuccessFactor…

Paychex Looks Fully Valued at $30 on December 26th

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) reported revenues of $545.7 million growth in the second quarter of fiscal 2012, a 7% increase over the same period …

Apple Loses Market Share in Europe as Cash Strapped Buyers Pass on iPhones on December 26th

It seems the Euro crises could be causing Europeans to look beyond expensive iPhones, and opt for cheaper alternatives powered by Google’s (NASDAQ…

Micron Jumps on DRAM Prices, Growth in NAND Storage on December 26th

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) reported its 1Q12 earnings on Wednesday, reporting a net operating loss of $82 million on net revenues close to …

Android Partners Learn that Free Cost More Than Expected on December 26th

Android being “free” may turn out to be true after all. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has seen two major setbacks recently:…

Hungry Broadcom Looks to Snatch Smarthphone Share from Qualcomm on December 26th

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), the market leader in mobile chipsets, could see a formidable competitor emerge in Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCM), which is …

Dell Adds Salesforce Service Cloud to its CRM Offering on December 26th

Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) announced that it is adding Salesforce Service Cloud, a leading customer service application by Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) to its …

Can Groupon Continue Strong Fourth Quarter Start? on December 25th

Earlier this month, Groupon (Nasdaq:GRPN) reported a very strong start to the fourth quarter with gross billings totaling $176 million in October,…

Financial Services

Nasdaq Buys RapiData to Get Data to Customers Faster on December 30th

Nasdaq OMX (NASDAQ:NDAQ) recently announced that it has acquired RapiData LLC, a leading provider of machine-readable economic news to trading firms and …

Ameritrade Headed to $22 as Individual Investors Go Global on December 30th

Ameritrade (NYSE:AMTD) has announced the addition of new features to its trading platform, Trade Architect. These enhancements are directed towards improving customer…

Morgan Stanley To Take $1.8 Billion Charge From MBIA Settlement on December 30th

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) settled its differences with insurer MBIA over credit default swaps linked to mortgage securities earlier this month. The investment …

SEC Sides With Lehman in $3 Billion Barclays Lawsuit on December 30th

Barclays’ (NYSE:BCS) legal battle with Lehman Holdings is not showing any signs of coming to an end, as the U.S. …

Citigroup To Exit Belgian Retail Banking Business on December 30th

Citigroup (NYSE:C) is continuing its organization-wide cost-cutting measures, with the recent announcement of the sale of its Belgian consumer banking operations coming …

NYSE, Deutsche Boerse’s Concessions Fail to Appease Regulator Concerns on December 29th

In a last effort to save their $9 billion merger, NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) and Deutsche Boerse have offered to cap fees on …

American Express Dividend Capture on December 29th

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), together with its subsidiaries, provides charge and credit payment card products, and travel-related services worldwide. The company…

E-Mini S&P 500: Euro Fears Trump Holiday Cheer on December 29th

The E-Mini S&P 500 seems to be taking one step forward and two steps backward. While the US economic data has been …

Credit Suisse Fined By FINRA, Regulatory Issues Continue on December 28th

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) has been fined $1.75 million by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for alleged violations related to the short-selling…

Goldman Under Pressure to Scale Back Trading Operations on December 28th

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has been forced to rethink its business model, with the investment bank coming under fire from regulators of late….

Barclays Worth $14, U.K. Bank Stocks Oversold on December 27th

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) will no doubt see a substantial impact on its business from the British government’s ratification of the ICB’…

RBS: New $9 Price Estimate, Eurozone and ICB Concerns Overdone on December 27th

It has been a rough year for the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group’s (NYSE:RBS) shares, which are currently …

Despite Mortgage Woes, E*TRADE Still Positioned For Growth on December 27th

Some bad investments made before the subprime market took a turn for the worse in 2007 continue to cause trouble for E*TRADE Financial (…

MasterCard & Microsoft Offer Discounts to Small Businesses for Cloud Services on December 26th

In an effort to increase technology and payment services to small businesses, MasterCard (NYSE:MA) has taken a new strategic initiative by partnering …

Consumer

Jones Update: Large Markdowns During Holidays Could Hit Results on December 30th

The Jones Group (NYSE:JNY) provided huge markdowns prior to Christmas to overcome what looked to be a lackluster holiday season for the company…

Wal-Mart Throws Weight Behind Online Sales with @WalmartLabs on December 29th

Wal-Mart’s (NYSE:WMT) recent thrust has been towards enhancing and developing its e-commerce platform. According to reports, Wal-Mart is aggressively hiring…

American Eagle Expands in the Middle East & Africa to Tap Demand for Western Brands on December 29th

Teen apparel retailer American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) has announced the opening of stores in three new international markets – Morocco, Jordan …

Altria Launches New Website, Hoping to Improve Image on December 29th

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) is stepping up efforts to build healthy public relations by launching a website called Citizens For Tobacco Rights, which …

Apparel Companies’ Heavy Discounts Could Signal Inventory Hangover in 2012 on December 28th

With the holiday season nearing its end, the U.S. apparel market is seeing large discounts across the board. Be it aspirational luxury retailers …

EA’s ‘The Sims Social’ is Second Most Popular Game on Facebook on December 26th

Electronic Arts’ (NASDAQ:EA) The Sims Social is now officially the second most popular game of 2011 on Facebook. In a list…

Uncertainty Looms Over Starbucks’ Expansion and Diversification Plans on December 26th

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) has diversified to more than just coffee with the recent acquisition of Evolution Fresh Juice and the introduction of wine and…

Asian Expansion Helps McDonald’s Stock Reach New Highs on December 26th

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) shares continue to move higher as the stock touched $100 for the first time on Friday. The company&…

Frito-Lay’s All Natural Image Comes Under Fire, $71 Fair Value on December 26th

Frito-Lay was sued by Milberg LLP over claims that its brands Tostitos and Sun Chips are made completely out of natural ingredients. Milberg LLP …

Toyota’s New Years Resolutions Include Shiping More US Made Cars Abroad on December 26th

Toyota Motors (NYSE: TM) announced earlier this month that it would export it’s signature Camry from its U.S. production plant in Georgetown…

Energy

Anadarko Receives Extra $419 Million From 2008 Sale On Higher Oil Prices on December 30th

Independent exploration and production (E&P) player Anadarko Corp. (NYSE:APC) will be receiving an additional $419 million related to the …

Chesapeake Selling Assets to Pay Down Debt on December 30th

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) has decided to sell close to $865 million worth of assets in Pennsylvania to a subsidiary in order to generate…

Prosecutors Prepare Criminal Charges in BP Gulf of Mexico Spill on December 29th

Federal prosecutors are said to be preparing criminal charges against BP (NYSE:BP) employees for the 2010 U.S. Gulf of Mexico spill. According…

Solar Market in India Booms with a Drop in Panel Prices on December 29th

First Solar ‘s (NASDAQ:FSLR) thin cell technology-based PV panels are gaining prominence in the Indian market. While demand from the traditional…

Court Ends BP’s Drilling Probation in Alaska on December 28th

Oil major BP (NYSE:BP) won a significant legal battle yesterday when a federal judge ended the probation on the company’s drilling…

Chesapeake Investing In Pipeline Expansion to Spur Natural Gas Demand on December 28th

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), American Electric Power Co. (NYSE:AEP) and Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE:SE) have signed an agreement …

India Downplays Fears of Anti-Dumping Probe Against Chinese Solar Firms on December 28th

The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency downplayed fears raised by China’s Commerce Ministry that the country may begin an anti-dumping probe against low-cost…

LDK Solar Should Survive Downturn With Government Help on December 28th

LDK Solar’s (NYSE:LDK) stock seems to be on the road to recovery after having fallen to a low of $2.70 in…

Foxconn Entrance Into Solar Could Pressure Solar Margins Further on December 27th

Trina Solar (NYSE:TSL) and its competitors such as Suntech Power (NYSE:STP) could see margins eroding further with the planned entrance of…

Unrest in Kazakhstan Could Cause Spike in Oil Prices on December 27th

Civil unrest in Kazakhstan could have a significant impact on crude oil prices in 2012, according to analysts. Kazakhstan, which produced 100,000 more …

Industrials & Transportation

The Best Dividend Stocks for 2012 – Industrial Sector on December 30th

S&P recommends marketweighting the S&P 500 Industrials sector. Year to date through November 18, the S&P Industrials Index…

Corning Worth $16.50 Despite U.S.-China Trade Spats, Euro Mess on December 30th

Dow Corning manufactures silicon products worldwide and is the majority owner of Hemlock Semiconductor, a market leader in the production of polysilicon and other …

Baker Hughes Primed for $71 as Oil Demand Stretches Production on December 28th

A lack of capacity and equipment among oilfield services players like Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) is hampering exploration of new oil reserves according to…

Kinder Morgan Looks to Cash in on Trans Mountain Pipeline Demand on December 26th

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE:KMP) has made significant investments in projects that extend the functionality of its premier 715 mile long Trans Mountain…

Union Pacific $114 Value: Railroads Will Maintain Growth in 2012 on December 26th

The latest jobless claims report saw the lowest number of claims in more than three and a half years. The claims dropped by 4,000 …

RIG’s Deepwater Woes Weigh on Stock, Large Upside Still Remains on December 26th

Governments across the world are putting deepwater exploration under increased scrutiny since the Gulf of Mexico spill and the recent spill of the coasts of…

Boeing’s Fighter Jet Poised for Rebound After Japan’s Disappointment on December 26th

Boeing ‘s (NYSE:BA) F-18 recently lost a lucrative Japan’s fighter planes contract to Lockheed Martin’s (NYSE…

Pentagon Spending Cuts and Lockheed Martin’s Future on December 26th

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) prepares for challenging times. The congressional supercommittee failed to agree on a plan to reduce the federal deficit,…

Basic Materials

Cliffs Natural Increases Australian Presence With Acquisition on December 30th

Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF) recently bought a magnetite ore project in Western Australia, Yerecoin, from Atlas Iron for close to $18 million…

Freeport Not Out of the Woods Yet at Grasberg on December 29th

Last week Freeport McMoran (NYSE:FCX) began to ramp up milling operations at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia after a three month long strike…

U.S. Steel Counting on Domestic Automotive Growth on December 27th

We have written a lot about U.S. Steel’s (NYSE:X) losses at its steel mills in Europe and America. However, …

Alcoa Readies for Future Auto Demand for High Tech Aluminum on December 26th

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) recently awarded a $4 million grant to Ohio State University and University of Michigan via the Alcoa Foundation to design lighter…

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