It’s Wednesday May 3, 2006, and crude oil expenses begin to surge because it works its manner to $80 a barrel as it sits near the $75 mark.

On a sad observe, after a while of fighting most cancers, the face of “Wall Street Week” and the daddy of financial journalism, Louis Rukeyser, has surpassed away at the age of 73. We on the NAMC Newswire and Wall Street to Main Street ship our condolences to his circle of relatives.

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Political Front

The United States just showed that during a raid returned in November of 2005 they captured a pinnacle Al Qaeda strategist and he is currently under interrogation.
At some point today a Federal fowl flu plan is supposed to be launched, because the increased worry of a hen flu pandemic nevertheless looms.
The United States, the United Kingdom and France are sitting all the way down to discern out what they’re going to do approximately Iran, as Iran continues to play poker with the arena.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, the Mayor has initiated an evacuation plan that could pressure residents to leave the town and they will be banned from using the Convention Center or Super Dome as safe haven.

Movers and Shakers

Some essential movers in the day gone by’s trading consultation covered TXU Corp (NYSE: TXU) which traded up $7.Fifty nine to shut at $57.50, General Cable Corp (NYSE: BGC) which traded up $.26 to shut at $36.24, Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) which traded up $2.73 to close at $27.20, First Oak Brook Bancshares (NASDAQ: FOBB) which traded up $eight.55 to close at $35.58 due to acquisition information, Vical Inc (NASDAQ: VICL) which traded up $1.Sixty nine to close at $7.19 a 30% pass, MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ: MGPI) which traded up $3.58 to close at $29.48, Cyberonics, Inc (NASDAQ: CYBX) which traded up $2.86 to close at $25.24 and Metalico Inc (AMEX: MEA) which traded up $1.Sixty seven to shut at $five.Eighty four.

Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

Recent Analyst enhancements consist of Hartford Financial Services (NYSE: HIG) which turned into upgraded to a Buy from a Hold via Citigroup Investment Research, Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) which was upgraded to an Overweight from a Neutral by JP Morgan, Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK) which become upgraded to an Overweight from a Neutral by using JP Morgan, Alcatel (NYSE: ALA) which changed into upgraded to a Buy from a Neutral by way of UBS and Sigmatel, Inc (NASDAQ: SGTL) which become upgraded to a Neutral from a Sell via Janney Bernard Law Montgomery Scott.

Recent Analyst downgrades include Aviall Inc (NYSE: AVL) which was downgraded to a Neutral from a Buy through Sidoti & Co, Aramark Corp (NYSE: RMK) which became downgraded to a Hold from a Buy by way of Deutsche Bank Securities, Frontier Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ: FRNT) which changed into downgraded to an Underweight from a Neutral by using JP Morgan, Jetblue Airlines (NASDAQ: JBLU) which become downgraded to an Underweight from an Overweight and Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) which changed into downgraded to an Average from an Above Average by means of Carris & Co.

Recent Analyst Coverage Initiations consist of Youbet.Com Inc (NASDAQ: UBET) become initiated with a Buy rating and a $8 price goal by means of Sidoti & Co, Sima Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: RNAI) turned into initiated with an Above Average rating through Carris & Co and Teton Energy Corp (AMEX: TEC) changed into initiated with a Buy rating an a $10 fee goal by AG Edwards.

Prudential Equity bumped their target price for Emerson (NYSE: EMR) to $103 from $89 and AG Edwards bumped their target rate for Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) to $a hundred from $eighty two.

Tid Bits

Verizon’s (NYSE: VZ) first quarter profits dropped 7.1% because of special gadgets as the international locations largest Telco Company races to attach homes with fiber-optic traces to offset a decline in its conventional cellphone business. The business enterprise is also handling the executive pay scenario as different agencies have ben feeling the ache of that trend as of overdue.

Dreamworks Animation (NYSE: DWA) hits a major snag as their profits sank 73% with their movie Madagascar, this changed into one of the agency’s largest earners. Net earnings fell to $12.3 million, or 12 cents a percentage, from a 12 months-earlier income of $forty five.7 million, or forty four cents a percentage. The corporation’s today’s film “Over the Hedge” need to close that hole inside the subsequent area.

We mentioned this state of affairs a few instances on Wall Street to Main Street as we see Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) likely making a bid for Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) as Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) maintains to take on line marketplace percentage from both organizations. The present day word on the road is that Microsoft and Yahoo can also join forces to combat the robust Google. Microsoft is running on an Advertising System that they wish will compete with Google however that may be a pipe dream at this point as internet site visitors dictates the fee to advertisers, so we nevertheless see a higher state of affairs being a Microsoft Yahoo blend.

On the UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) the front, shareholders are on the warpath as the media keeps their UNH bashing parade, at their trendy shareholders assembly approximately 28% of the votes have been held again for the re-election of two board individuals. All the scrutiny that CEO’s face in modern market could be a prime deterrent for best CEO’s to guide publicly traded entities. Now the SEC’s Cox is searching out Mutual Fund Managers to disclose their government repayment, this is for you to boost self assurance within the U.S. Markets however at what price?
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