For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – January 13, 2010 – Zacks Equity Research highlights NTT DoCoMo (DCM) as the Bull of the Day and MBIA Inc. (MBI) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on China Mobile (CHL), EnCana (ECA) and Energy Transfer Partners (ETP).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
We maintain an Outperform rating for NTT DoCoMo (DCM), the largest mobile service provider in Japan. The company currently maintains a leading 50% share of the Japanese wireless market.
DCM upgraded 98% of its total coverage area with 3G-HSDPA, while emerging 4G LTE networks are planned for deployment through 2010. NTT DoCoMo’s decisions to focus on mobile content, along with a renewed geographic expansion drive outside Japan, are positive indicators.
Furthermore, the company is launching an innovative on-line money transfer service. We consider NTT DoCoMo an attractive long-term investment opportunity.
We are downgrading our recommendation on the shares of MBIA Inc. (MBI) to Underperform as macroeconomic conditions continue to contribute to losses on the company’s structured finance products.
MBIA’s third quarter results missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate abysmally. Results were dragged down by higher losses on MBI’s coverage of mortgage-related securities and complex investments, which weighed down income from investments and premiums.
With ratings cut to junk status, MBI has also lost major market share. However, the company’s long-tailed business model is generating scheduled premiums. Though MBIA has undertaken its business restructuring, the legal challenges are expected to act as an impediment to business prospects and capital-raising efforts.
Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:
Trade Deficit Deteriorates
For us to really make progress on curing the chronic trade deficit problem we have, 2 things need to happen: The first is that China needs to start letting its currency appreciate. This would actually be very good for the ordinary Chinese, who could afford many more foreign goods if it were to happen. It would also be great for investors who own Chinese stocks like China Mobile (CHL).
The second thing that needs to happen is that the U.S. has to cure its addition to foreign oil. While U.S. reserves of oil are mostly already depleted, we have lots and lots of natural gas from the shale plays. In the short term, it is hard to substitute natural gas for oil, particularly as a transportation fuel. The problem stems mostly from the lack of an installed infrastructure for refueling vehicles with natural gas, but that is certainly not an insurmountable problem (mostly adding compressors; we have natural gas pipelines running through most of the country).
Technically it is not hard to build a car that runs on natural gas. There would also be substantial environmental benefits from doing this, as gas produces fall less CO2 per amount of energy than does oil (and oil much less so than coal), not to mention being almost entirely free of other pollutants.
Efforts to improve overall energy efficiency are also vital to solving the trade deficit problem. Alternative energy sources also have a role, but in the intermediate term, use of natural gas and efficiency programs would have more impact. If we were to go down that path, the obvious beneficiaries would be natural gas producers like EnCana (ECA) and also pipeline firms like Energy Transfer Partners (ETP).
A weak dollar will help get the trade deficit under control, but it is not a silver bullet — given the China peg and how the price of oil is likely to increase in response to a weak dollar — but it will help. Even in China where the currency is pegged, if the dollar is weak, we can snag some orders that might otherwise go to Japan or Europe.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.
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Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.
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