Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing

Piper Jaffray is downgrading shares of Green Plains Renewable (NASDAQ: GPRE) to Neutral, with an $11 price target, as the Minnesota-based investment bank believes ethanol prices are likely to remain high, and hurt margins. It has an $11 price target on shares. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray...

Genesis Energy LP (GEL) continues to pressure its multi-year high after reporting better than expected Q2 results in early August that included a 38% earnings surprise. With the next-year estimates projecting 25% growth, the longer term picture looks good too. Company Description Genesis ENergy...

• Toyota (NYSE: TM) announce recalls of over 1 million Corolla and Corolla Max vehicles due to engine problems • H-P (NYSE: HPQ) sweetened its 3Par (NYSE: PAR) bid, which was followed this morning with Dell's (NASDAQ: DELL) matching the $27 per share bid • Tiffany (NYSE: TIF) posted second-quarter...

The Greenbrier Companies (NYSE: GBX) was upgraded by Longbow from "neutral" to "buy." GBX’s shares gained 5.14% to $11.04 at 11:00 am. Greenbrier’s quarterly earnings surged 107.49% y/y. Maxim upgraded Met-Pro Corporation (NYSE: MPR) from "hold" to "buy." MPR’s shares rose 6.90% to $9.61. Met-Pro’s...

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets upgrade Tesoro Corporation (NYSE: TSO) from "sector perform" to "outperform." The target price for TSO has been raised from $13 to $15. TSO’s shares fell 1.09% to close at $10.91 yesterday. More Analyst Ratings here

Citi analysts met with Valero Energy Corp (NYSE: VLO) management last week. Citi analysts said, "VLO will defend its investment grade credit rating. With $2.2 billion in cash on hand (July), VLO has some dry powder for a moderate size acquisition. A large deal would require outside capital and the...

Options expiration week is usually notable, always volatile, and frequently very useful for a number of reasons. This is the week when small players, large funds, and market makers square up their positions and take a good, long, and hard look at the positions they have on their books. Those that...

Cusick’s Corner The market is really holding up well in the face of the poor economic data this week and the increasing uncertainty of future corporate guidance. As far as the impact of expiration today, while the option volume has been brisk, it is really split in down the middle. There may be a...

After the Jobless Claims report we made a new leg down and we are now below that 1080 level I was referring to earlier in the morning trading plan. I've got no reason at this point to shed my hedge position, as it is keeping me from some major headaches right now. Oh, and by the way, this is NOT a...

Late last month, independent refiner Tesoro Corporation (TSO) announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010.   Now that the Wall Street analysts have had some time to digest the quarterly performance of Tesoro, they are weighing in their estimate revisions. Below we...

For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – August 11, 2010 – Four free stock picks are being made available today on Zacks.com. The industry’s leading independent research firm highlights one Zacks #1 Rank Strong Buy or a Zacks #2 Rank Buy stock for each of the four main styles of investing: Aggressive...

World Fuel Services Corporation (INT) recently continued its earnings hot streak when it beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for an impressive 9th time in a row. World Fuel Services sells marine, aviation and land fuel products to clients at more than 6,000 locations in 200 countries. Customers...

Jefferies & Company is out with a research report this afternoon, wher it reiterates its Hold rating on Verenium Corp. (NASDAQ: VRNM); it has a $2.90 price target on the name. The Jefferies analyst cited the company’s recent earnings report, which beat estimates; product revenues in the...

Key Points: Second quarter earnings season shaping up as a very strong one. So far 86.6% of firms have reported (433). Surprise ratio 4.45 with a 6.19% median surprise. 75.1% of all firms beat expectations. Total net income grows 42.3%. Sales Surprise ratio at 1.71, median surprise 1.07%; 59.4% of...