Neutral -- Price 25.73 on Oct. 21 by Baird Associates Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter of 67 cents missed our 70-cent estimate and consensus 71 cents ... . T reported consolidated Q3 revenue and adjusted operating margins of $31.3 billion and 21.4%; wireless and wireline margins were both below forecast ... . T activated 2.4 million iPhones during the quarter, with roughly 40% of those customers being new to T. It noted that iPhone ARPU [average monthly revenue per unit], at close to $95, is roughly 1.6 times the average postpay, and with churn much lower than average. Market cap: $154.1 billion.

Buy -- Price 20 on Oct. 21 by Signal Hill We believe BRO should trade in a range of 18 to 19 times our 4Q09E EPS of $1.30 ... or a fair-value range of 23 to 24 a share. BRO, in our opinion, has one of the best-managed insurance brokerage platforms. Its focus on smaller to midsize accounts eliminates need for expensive specialists. BRO tends to have the best margins among publicly traded brokers. Market cap: $2.8 billion.

Market Outperform -- Price 40.09 on Oct. 21 by Avondale Partners CAT reported 3Q08 EPS of $1.39 versus our $1.39/consensus $1.41 estimates. Sales and revenues grew to $12.981 billion versus our estimate of $12.138 billion (and consensus estimate of $12.429 billion). Net income was $868 million, down 6% from a year ago. Operating margin in machinery took full brunt of higher raw-material prices ... machinery operating margins contracted to 5.8%, from 9.6% a year ago. Market cap: $24.9 billion.

Buy -- Price 69 on Oct. 22 by Garp Research Covance, which runs drug trials for pharmaceutical and biotech firms -- has been a Garp favorite due to its extremely profitable toxicology unit ... . But CVD [has carried] a hefty premium for some time ... . With over $3 of net cash a share, it trades at 12 times our 2011 E-EPS of $5.60. Market cap: $4.5 billion.

Market Perform -- Price 360.32 on Oct. 21 by Raymond James The current share price reflects an appropriate multiple on our updated non-GAAP EPS estimate of $18.89 for "09.We're lowering our rating on CME from Outperform, but raising 3Q08 EPS estimate a penny ... . Volumes at CME and Nymex were within 3% of our expectations for the quarter ... . Our new 3Q08 EPS estimate is $4.04. Market cap: $19.46 billion.

Hold -- Price 25 on Oct. 21 by Jefferies & Co. Downgrading from Buy, following Exelon's proposal to acquire NRG ... [in] an all-stock offer at a fixed exchange ratio of 0.485 Exelon shares for each share of NRG common. Our lowered target, 26.50, reflects the [offer. Based on shares at 25], this represents 12-month price appreciation and total return potential of 6%. Risks: earnings are highly sensitive to long-term natural-gas prices; or a decline in demand ... or a decline in capacity revenues in the New York City and Texas markets. Market cap: $7 billion.

Sell -- Price 6.09 on Oct. 22 by Sandler O'Neill WB reported a 3Q08 loss per share of $11.18 ... . We estimate a core loss per share of $2.13 after excluding $18.8 billion (pretax) of goodwill impairment, $697 million of merger-related expenses, $371 million of securities losses, and adjusting for a more normalized tax rate. This falls meaningfully below consensus estimate, 2 cents, and our estimate of a [12-cent loss], although estimates were probably less meaningful in light of pending acquisition of WB [by Wells Fargo]. Market cap: $13.2 billion.

Market Perform -- Price 16.75 on Oct. 22 by Morgan Keegan Reported Q3 revenues of $1.38 billion were below our $1.40 billion estimate but roughly in line with Street consensus; operating EPS of 34 cents ... was below our 35-cent estimate and consensus 34 cents. Pricing pressure (primarily foreign exchange) reaccelerated ... . We're lowering our 2008 EPS estimate to $1.30 from $1.32, 2009 operating EPS to $1.45 from $1.55, and initiating 2010 EPS of $1.69. Market cap: $14.9 billion.