From Barron's 4/23/07 ASE is the [No. 1] provider of semiconductor-manufacturing services in assembly and test. [It said] the Carlyle group bid was too low...[at] $5.98 per American depositary receipt, work[ing] out to 8.5 times enterprise value to trailing free cash flow, versus average of 19.5 times for group's other major players...fundamentals are getting better. ASE intends to pay 15% stock dividend and small cash dividend [pending approval].

From Barron's 4/23/07 JOSB reported Q4 results at $1.36, up 32.4%; our projection was $1.24, consensus, $1.25. The firm plans to open 50 stores this year. We are again raising our target price, from 40 to 46, implying the shares would trade at 15 times our forward estimate [versus last] four years' average, 14.9 to 16.4 times.

From Barron's 4/23/07 Increasing our '07 and '08 earning-per-share estimates by 6 cents and 5 cents, to $4.62 and $5.20, respectively, primarily reflect[ing] 1Q07 outperformance and formal recognition of [recent] better-than-expected cost reductions.

From Barron's 4/23/07 We are upgrading our ratings on DTV and DISH to Neutral, from Underperform. We believe that the competitive threats underlying our prior view of the stocks remain substantial. In fact, we expect telcos' penetration of the video market to increase substantially in 2007...However, we now believe the cash-flow-growth potential for DTV and DISH, combined with recapitalization possibilities, can offset the competitive risks in the near-term, supporting stocks near their current levels.

From Barron's 4/23/07 USBE, the second-largest U.S. ethanol producer, at 4% market share, [is] largest "pure-play," with capacity of 250 [million gallons per year and expects] to add 400 MMGY by 2008 at attractive $1.50/gallon [cost]. Asset base is founded upon large-scale plants...enabling strong operating efficiencies. USBE was recently trading at 5.2 times '09 estimated EV/earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization, below group's 5.8 times average, and 35%+ discount to closest peer, VeraSun. Target: 17

From Barron's 4/23/07 Wachovia reported core 1Q07 EPS of $1.20, 4 cents ahead of consensus and our estimate. Despite the earnings beat we are reducing our FY2007 EPS estimate by 10 cents to reflect a revised outlook for slower than originally anticipated net interest income growth...Despite 1Q07 EPS coming in ahead of our expectations, we are reducing our net interest-income growth assumption. The reduction primarily reflects the challenging interest-rate environment and volume growth pressures. Target: 64.