Market Perform/Speculative - Price 4 on Oct. 7 by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Target: 2.50. AIG will retain its [property-and-casualty] businesses and a percentage of the foreign life operations, but all other assets are for sale. We are cutting our 2009 [earnings-per-share] estimate to 15 cents...But how much of the [Fed credit] facility will be utilized? What can operations be sold for when AIG is a distressed seller, selling into a weak financial marketplace?...if AIG must draw down the full $85 billion from the facility, current plans for asset sales may not be enough to fully repay the loan. Market cap: $9.7 billion.

Market Perform - Price 24.55 on Oct. 7 by Raymond James [Fiscal-fourth-quarter] 2008 EPS increased 46% to 38 cents, versus 26 cents -- [versus] our estimate of 35 cents and consensus 34 cents....new-store productivity for FDO is consistently running at 90%, [among] the highest in hard-line retail...Management is slow[ing] expense growth [to] flat...Our FY09 EPS estimate: $1.75. FDO's valuation metrics have rebounded and are no longer cheap. We're [looking for] a more timely buying opportunity. Market cap: $3.4 billion.

Outperform - Price 33.23 on Oct. 7 by Morgan Keegan The government renewed the short-line railroad tax-credit program as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which provides tax credits for...[some] infrastructure investments. We expect GWR to benefit...going forward. Based on our current pretax revenue of E$120.1 million for 2009, reducing our tax-rate assumptions from 38% to 30% would yield about 26 cents a share in earnings. Market cap: $1.2 billion.

Hold - Price 29.36 on Oct. 7 by Sterne Agee & Leach HIG preannounced 3Q08 net loss of $8.50 to $8.80 and net realized losses of $7.05 to $7.25. In our view, with roughly $11 to $14 per share in remaining net unrealized losses post the quarter and the capital raise, we believe there remains a risk that HIG could come back to the capital markets...[these] losses bode poorly for the whole group. Target: 53. Market cap: $25 billion.

Underperform - Price 26.10 on Oct. 7 by Baird Associates Downgrading this executive-search firm to Underperform. We like its long-term prospects, model, and management...but financial-services (HSII's largest practice area) and global-macro softening likely [will weigh]. HSII outperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 since mid-year, [which is] unlikely to continue, medium-term...Fundamentals [have been] solid, but tend to be a lagging indicator. Core organic revenue growth has been decelerating; new confirmations have been declining ...Financial- industry practice is 32% of revenue. Target: 23. Market cap: $505 million.

Buy - Price 29.65 on Oct. 7 by Needham & Co. HITT makes high-volume integrated-circuit products for high-speed voice/data transfer. We've reduced our '08E and '09E revenue and GAAP EPS to $178 million/$1.69 and $190 million/$1.75, from $180 million/$1.70 and $205 million/$1.90, respectively. Target drops to 39 (based on 22.5 times our '09 GAAP E-EPS), from 47.50 (25 times prior '09 GAAP E-EPS. With semiconductor multiples nearing trough levels [of the] '98 and '01 downturns, we hesitate to downgrade from Buy. Market cap: $930 million.

Outperform - Price 5.28 on Oct. 7 by Cowen & Co. Sprint launched its XOHM 4G WiMAX service in Baltimore, positioning [it] as an extension of home and office Internet, rather than a purely mobile service. We believe the low monthly price points and no-contract commitments will encourage consumers to try it as a DSL and cable-modem replacement...Sprint plans XOHM rollouts in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Boston, Providence, Philadelphia. Market cap: $15.1 billion.

Buy - Price 67.66 on Oct. 6 by Merriman Curhan Ford The 30% tax credit for solar-system owners, extended [in the new financial-bailout law] through 2016, should benefit solar-panel manufacturers, system integrators, utilities and financiers...SPWR should be [a beneficiary] of the...extension, as it's firmly entrenched in residential-solar, commercial-rooftop, and large utility-scale [markets]. SunPower said it's entered a utility-scale solar power project with PG&E for a 250 megawatt high-efficiency system in California. Market cap: $5.7 billion.