Strong Buy - Price 26.91 on May 27 by Wedbush Morgan Total Q1 sales were up 2.1%, to $1.14 billion. Our 31 target assumes BIG should trade at 17 times our 2008 EPS estimate of $1.84, or at a discount of 15% to our projected longer-term earnings-growth rate of 20%. We assign a discount to our growth assumption based on solid execution and outlook, but acknowledge that uncertainty remains surrounding the macroenvironment and the company's real-estate plans. Market cap: $2.5 billion.

Buy - Price 27.47 on May 27 by Sandler O'Neill We're establishing an '08 operating earnings estimate of $2.98 a share and $3.80 a share for '09, versus consensus $3.07 and $3.74...respectively. We don't believe the net-investment-income shortfall [seen] in 1Q08 -- due to underperformance of limited-investment partnerships -- is likely to repeat. And the shares look inexpensive. Our Buy rating is principally a valuation call; DFG's trading at 9.2 times our '08 earnings estimate of $2.98, compared with their five-year average multiple of 12.1 times. Target: 34. Market cap: $1.3 billion

Outperform/Speculative - Price 55.43 on May 27 by Morgan Keegan PDX announced that [neonatal-intensive-care unit] volumes through the first half of 2Q were down 2% on a same-store basis. As a result, PDX cut 2Q earnings-per-share guidance from [a range of] 85 cents to 87 cents [down to] to 77 cents to 80 cents....PDX announced a new $100 million share-repurchase authorization. ...Our view remains that...NICU volumes...will turn up later in the year, but we've lowered our '08 EPS estimate from $3.30 to $3.20 and '09E from $3.79 to $3.69. Market cap: $2.6 billion.

Sell - Price 12.89 on May 27 by Standard & Poor's Downgrading from Buy to Sell: We foresee intensifying competition for servers as spending on information-technology goods decelerates over the next 12 months. Adding uncertainty to near-term results are the ongoing integration of the MySQL acquisition and a restructuring plan. Transitioning to EPS estimates that exclude charges for acquisitions and restructuring, we forecast EPS of 78 cents for fiscal-year '08 (June), and $1 for FY09. Applying a P/E of 12 times (below peers), to reflect the higher risk that we see to our 12-month forward EPS estimate of 89 cents, we're lowering our target to 11 from 16. Market cap: $10.2 billion.

Buy - Price 44.95 on May 27 by Jesup & Lamont Suntech's leading position in Chinese solar manufacturing combined with estimated top- and bottom-line growth of 45%-plus for the next two years offer investors seeking exposure to the global solar-power industry an attractive opportunity...at 19 times our '09 revised EPS estimate of $2.33. Target: 64. Market cap: $7 billion.

Buy - Price 71.84 on May 27 by Sterne Agee & Leach Sikorsky [a UTX business that makes advanced helicopters for military use] has estimated 15-to-20-year first-mover advantage over competition [on new X2 aircraft innovation], and autonomous-flight program development, including "fly-by-wire" and "sandblaster" programs....UTX benefits from buildout in emerging markets [Carrier, Fire & Security, and Otis], and from participation in green infrastructure in developed countries. We're reiterating 6-to-12-month target of 90, based on 2008E EPS of $4.90 that assum[es] UTX trades at a 20% premium to the market. Market cap: $70.8 billion.

Strong Buy - Price 93.96 on May 27 by Raymond James Wells at Whiting's core Bakken property, Sanish Field, N.D....have flowed at impressive initial production rates of 1,000-2,000 Boe/d [barrels of oil-equivalent per day], some of the best-performing oil wells in onshore U.S....Whiting's 95 net locations in this play have the potential to add $32-plus a share to our proved net-asset-value estimate...Whiting has several other near-term bullish catalysts, [including] an increase in takeaway capacity at Piceance Basin, Colo....to come online June 1...[and] Robinson Lake gas-processing plant in Bakken, [which is to] begin gas and natural-gas liquid sales by June 30. [Hence,] we believe Whiting has ample room to increase '08 production guidance. With its oil-weighted asset base, it stands to benefit from current bullish oil fundamentals...[and] we're raising target from 100 to 110, based on a 7 times multiple to our 2009 [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] estimate. Market cap: $3.7 billion.