Specialty Chemicals

Expeditors International of Washington Inc (NASDAQ: EXPD) was downgraded by RBC Capital from "outperform" to "sector perform." EXPD's shares closed at $48.33 yesterday. EXPD's PEG ratio is 1.76. Morgan Stanley downgraded Valspar Corporation (The) (NYSE: VAL) from “overweight” to “underweight.” VAL...

A manic, merger Monday is in effect again. Yesterday we saw the announcement of AT&T (NYSE: T) and T-Mobile merger for $39 billion in cash. This morning we just saw the merger of Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) going after OptionsXpress (NASDAQ: OPXS) for 1.02 shares of Schwab. The deal values...

Grace Davison, an operating segment of W. R. Grace & Co. (NYSE: GRA), has announced that effective April 1, 2011, it is implementing price increases of up to 20% across its Darex packaging business within the Materials Technologies product line. The products include can sealants, can coatings...

Below are the top mid-cap synthetics stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of revenue. The trailing-twelve-month revenue at Nalco Holding Company (NYSE: NLC) is $4.25 billion. NLC's PEG ratio is 0.80. The trailing-twelve-month revenue at Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is $2.36 billion....

Jefferies has issued a report detailing expectations for the effect of the new mercury regulations on the Albemarle (NYSE: ALB). According to Jefferies, "We estimate that new mercury removal regulations in the U.S. should support an incremental 2-4% increase in annual global bromine demand by 2015...

J.P. Morgan has issued a report rating Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) as Overweight. In the report J.P. Morgan writes, "We rate Ecolab shares Overweight. Investors have well understood the cyclical trade in commodity chemicals and in agriculture but have yet to recognize the earnings power of the later...

Below are the top mid-cap specialty chemicals stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of earnings estimate for the next quarter. The earnings estimate for Lubrizol Corporation (The) (NYSE: LZ) for the June quarter is $3.08 per share. LZ's PEG ratio is 0.79. Kronos Worldwide Inc (NYSE: KRO) is...

Shares of Flotek Industries, Inc. (NYSE: FTK) are higher on the session by 26.57%, currently trading at $6.67. The stock has been moving largely higher over the past six months and is currently trading above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Options traders are buying calls on the name today...

United Community Banks Inc (NASDAQ: UCBI) shares surged 30.72% to $2.00 at 9:52 am. UCBI announced its plans to raise $380 million in capital and offload $435 million in bad assets. Maxygen Inc (NASDAQ: MAXY) shares advanced 26.76% to $5.21. Astellas Pharma Inc announced its plans to purchase...

BGB Securities is out with its report on International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE: IFF), maintaining Buy. In a note to clients, BGB Securities writes, "After concluding an in-depth strategic review of its business, management has essentially reiterated its key financial targets. Of most...

Gabelli & Company reports that Ferro Corp. (NYSE: FOE) 4Q revenues grew 17.1% to $537 million as overall volume increased 14%, price/mix contributed 5%, and currency had a negative impact of 2%. “Excluding the higher price of precious metals (mainly silver), revenues increased 10%,” Gabelli...

In a report published by Jefferies, W.R. Grace (NYSE: GRA) operational levers are intact. Jefferies said that it recently hosted meetings with W.R. Grace CFO Hudson LaForce. “Key topics discussed included key operating levers, raw materials, competitive dynamics and long-term targets. Overall, the...

Cusick's Corner Crisis, big volume, and the market finished right off the lows as we enter into Expiration. This is going to add some fuel (as I noted in the Midday) because there are a lot of strategists who were short puts (long delta & short gamma), who are now selling the underlying to...

Flotek Industries, Inc. (NYSE: FTK) today announced results for the quarterly results. For the three months ended December 31, 2010, Flotek posted revenue of $47.5 million, compared to $24.6 million in the same period a year ago and $40.0 million in the third quarter of 2010. Revenue in all three...

Cusick's Corner If you are a Bear then you have come out of hibernation. The data, PPI and Housing, were worse than expected. Earlier today an EU atomic expert made a statement that the situation in Japan is “out of control”. The headlines and data put this market on alert and rightfully so. This...