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Strategies & Market Trends : Can you beat 50% per month? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (12283)	11/1/2007 10:56:25 AM
From: Smiling Bob	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 19256

MasterCard cut at Bear Stearns on valuation By John Spence, MarketWatch Last Update: 9:08 AM ET Nov 1, 2007 BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Analysts at Bear Stearns cut their rating on shares of MasterCard Inc. to peer perform from outperform as a result of the sharp 21% rise in shares during Wednesday's session after MasterCard reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The analysts said the shares are now trading close to their year-end price target of $188 a share. MasterCard's (MA mastercard inc cl a MA) stock fell more than 1% to $186.70 in premarket trade Thursday. "Given the volatility of MasterCard shares, we expect a more attractive purchase opportunity soon," they wrote in a report to clients. Chart of MA On Wednesday, MasterCard said its third-quarter profit jumped 63% from a year earlier on a partial sale of its stake in RedeCard S.A. of Brazil, and improving consumer spending. See related story. Bear Stearns analysts noted that even without the gain from selling 25% of its stake in RedeCard, MasterCard's quarterly results would still have topped consensus estimates by a wide margin. "Third-quarter results were very reflective of the strengths of the company's business and the trends we expect the company to continue to benefit from: geographic diversification, very positive card spending growth trends, and operating leverage," the analysts wrote. "While we remain very positive about MasterCard's growth prospects and longer term appeal as an investment, we have decided to lower our rating to peer perform as a result of the 21% spike in MasterCard shares following the release of earnings," they said. Bear Stearns cut its fourth-quarter profit estimate for the credit card giant to 61 cents a share, from 80 cents. However, that's still above the consensus estimate of 57 cents a share according to Thomson Financial. For 2008, Bear Stearns raised its full-year earnings forecast to $6.84 from $6.45 a share. The consensus estimate is $6.13 a share. End of Story John Spence is a reporter for MarketWatch in Boston.

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (12283)	11/1/2007 3:33:51 PM
From: Smiling Bob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19256

MA -190.61 must be the only stock still green. Of course it's also the one I sunk a bunch of $$ into yesterday

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (12283)	11/12/2007 12:20:38 PM
From: Smiling Bob	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 19256

MA - 187+ another joke Stock down sharply(6+), and puts barely budged 3.70 x .80 MA Option \| Exchange: OPRA 3.20 +0.30 10.34% <3.50 3.70 3.80 3.50 3.20 17 Trade .MALXM DEC 22, 2007 $ 165.000 PUT Last Change / % Change Today´s Open Bid Ask Day High Day Low Volume