Underperform - Price 26.55 on Sept. 16 by Keefe Bruyette Woods The deal [to buy Merrill Lynch] appears light on due diligence [but] heavy on long-term potential....While significant moving parts exist, we believe the deal's dilutive to BAC's already thin 4.2% total tangible-equity ratio. Hence, capital raising and/or dividend cuts [look to be] on the table...as a way to finance the transaction. We were already expecting BAC to raise $10 billion in capital and believe the deal pushes the capital needed to...higher levels. BAC says the deal should be about 3% dilutive to 2009 and neutral in 2010....we're lowering our $3.15 '09 earnings-per-share estimate by 15 cents to $3. Target: 25. Market cap: $118 billion.

Outperform - Price 17.92 on Sept. 15 by Raymond James P/E: 14 times. Given [commodities risk manager] FCStone's commodities-based focus, we believe it may be less affected than other futures-related firms by...financial system turmoil and deleveraging. [Yet] FCStone also is less likely to pick up market share resulting from Lehman's exit from the futures-brokerage business...we believe Lehman's bankruptcy to be a relatively immaterial event for FCStone. Market cap: $520 million.

Hold - Price 24.60 on Sept. 16 by Sterne, Agee & Leach Target: 26. While turmoil in the financial-services sector could delay any sale of GE Capital's NA Private Label credit-[card] business...GE is under no obligation or financial need to sell it....GE Capital remains very well capitalized (at only 8:1 debt/equity)and faces no liquidity constraints, and thus any sale at a price that might be currently viewed as unfavorable could potentially create more questions than if GE were to retain the business and operate it pending return of more stable market conditions. Market cap: $276 billion.

Underperform - Price 38.62 on Sept. 15 by Jefferies & Co. Target: 32. Moody's says it has agreed to acquire {risk software maker] Fermat International for $189 million....Moody's currently trades at 10.5 times and 19.4 times our 2008 Ebitda [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] and EPS estimates, respectively. We are lowering 4Q08 and full-year 2008 EPS to 45 cents and $1.90, respectively. Market cap: $9.6 billion.

Sell - Price 3.41 on Sept. 16 by Zacks Research SCMR provides bandwidth solutions for fixed and mobile networks. Its fiscal 4Q08 ...total revenue of $15.1 million was down 60.3% from the year-ago quarter and down 24.9% sequentially. Gross margin was 28.7%, versus 46.5% in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted diluted EPS was a loss of 3 cents for 4Q08. We remain concerned that Sycamore may have difficulty generating sustainable business from carriers...as larger vendors address these markets ....Demand for optical-networking appears to be more favorable than past years', but Sycamore's financial reports suggest a year-over-year revenue decline in spite of the 2006 acquisition of Eastern Research. [Downgrading on concerns that] business will depend on a limited number of customers. Market cap: $960 million.

Outperform - Price 43.64 on Sept. 15 by Baird Securities An active hurricane season boosted demand for emergency-response equipment. Further improvement in topsoil conditions supported late-season sales of replacement parts (providing more profit than mowers). [We also see a] lift in demand for heating equipment. Our 49 target (raised from 43) is based on a target [near-term price/earnings ratio] of 16 times...[We] would be more aggressive buyers on pullbacks toward $40. Market cap: $1.6 billion.

Outperform - Price 52.77 on Sept. 15 by Morgan Keegan Wabtec announced the intended acquisition of Standard Car Truck for about $300 million. Standard Car Truck is a leading manufacturer of engineered components for locomotives and freight cars; annual sales are about $225 million...acquisition completion [expected] in 4Q....We expect the acquisition to be approximately 16-cents-per-share accretive to earnings in its first year...we've raised our '09 earnings estimate to $3.02 from $2.95 a share. Market cap: $2.6 billion.