US HOT STOCKS: Lincoln National, Marsh & McLennan, Helix Energy

14th Jun 2010 15:19

U.S. stocks traded higher Monday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 49 points to 10260, the Standard & Poor's 500 climbed 6 points to 1098 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 20 points to 2263. Among the companies whose shares are actively trading in the session are Lincoln National Corp. (LNC), Marsh & McLennan Cos. (MMC) and Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. (HLX). Lincoln National ($27.60, +$1.24, +4.70%), one of three insurers to get a U.S. bailout, said it will repay the government with a planned sale of $335 million in stock and $750 million in debt. That is ahead of the schedule Chief Executive Dennis Glass had first announced when he predicted Lincoln could repay by end of 2010. Lincoln lags Hartford Financial (HIG, $24.91, +$0.90, +3.75%), which paid back the U.S. in March, but will be out of the program ahead of American International Group Inc. (AIG, $35.96, +$0.88, +2.51%). Marsh & McLennan ($23.00, +$0.92, +4.17%) subsidiary Mercer Inc., a provider of consulting, outsourcing and investment services, said it has resolved litigation brought by the Alaska Retirement Management Board on behalf of two Alaska benefit plans, relating to work in the period 1992 to 2004. This settlement, in which Mercer denies liability, resolves all claims against Mercer by the ARMB and the State of Alaska related to this matter, Mercer said. Helix Energy Solutions ($11.52, +$0.98, +9.30%) said late Sunday that one of its three offshore oil and gas production facilities was contracted by BP to process and offload crude oil and associated gas. The move to lease the Helix Producer I comes after the U.S. demanded that BP act more quickly and aggressively to contain the oil flows. Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised its stock-investment rating on J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT, $35.06, +$1.32, +3.91%), a truckload and intermodal carrier, to buy from neutral. The firm said the stock has pulled back, while container demand is jumping this month and truck spot pricing is up significantly. Hudson Securities said American Airlines parent AMR Corp. (AMR, $8.53, +$0.27, +3.27%) stands to gain most from the pilots' strike at Sprit Airlines Inc., thanks to its flights out of Miami, and JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU, $6.87, +$0.37, +5.69%) is also looking like a top beneficiary. The firm upgraded JetBlue to neutral from sell. Meanwhile, Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised its rating on JetBlue to buy from neutral, based on the firm's more optimistic view of the airline's high-yield penetration. "In recent quarters, JBLU's yields have positively surprised during peak demand months when management can more easily get passengers to trade up fare classes," the firm wrote. Other Stocks In Focus Actel Corp. (ACTL, $13.32, -$0.78, -5.53%) said it expects its second-quarter revenue to come in at the low end of the system and power-management solution company's prior view. BP PLC (BP, $31.95, -$2.02, -5.94%) slumped again Monday, amid more concerns about the extent of its liabilities as it struggles to contain the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.K. oil major said Monday that the cost of its response to the spill so far amounts to $1.6 billion, and more than 51,000 damages claims have been submitted, but added it was too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the incident. Ceragon Networks Ltd. (CRNT, $8.32, +$1.07, +14.76%) announced Philippines mobile telecommunications provider Digitel Mobile Philippines will buy an additional $9 million of its mobile network backhaul equipment as Digitel continues its expansion. Keefe Bruyette & Woods raised its stock-investment rating on bank-holding company East West Bancorp Inc. (EWBC, $16.29, +$0.68, +4.36%) to outperform from market perform, saying the company's recent acquisition of Washington First International Bank demonstrates East West's ability to grow "despite a lackluster organic loan growth environment by targeting important Asian-American markets outside of L.A." Europe's efforts to rein in health spending are likely to slow investments in capital equipment, which could affect sales of medical-device company Intuitive Surgical Inc.'s (ISRG, $327.15, -$9.96, -2.95%) expensive "da Vinci" surgical robots, Brean Murray Carret & Co. said. It lowered Intuitive's rating to hold from buy, even though the typically high-flying stock is 13% off its mid-April high. It's "common knowledge" that Germany and UK are cutting back on health-care budget growth, said the firm, which said it wouldn't be surprised to see France and Italy join the fray. (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires June 14, 2010 10:19 ET (14:19 GMT)