utx

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the world's economies are getting too strong to obey these downgrades of Intel and TI.

When Wall Street starts looking at tech companies as they would industrials -- as they should be scrutinized -- then we will not get downgrades like Bank of America/Merrill's takedowns of Intel (INTC) (Cramer's Take) and Texas Instruments (TXN) (Cramer's Take).

The essence of these two downgrades is the looming inventory correction that everyone has feared from $14 a share onward for Intel and $18 for Texas Instruments at the start of the summer. At every step I have heard of this coming breakdown, the double ordering and the decline in demand as one analyst after another has warned us of the apocalypse around the corner.

While General Electric's (GE) fire alarm and security business is solid, it's simply not big enough to keep the company's interest. In such an industry, it's critical to be the industry leader.

So this week, GE agreed to sell the unit to United Technologies (UTX) for $1.82 billion. Rumors of the deal have been buzzing since the summer.

U.S. stock futures were lower Thursday morning after the Dow industrials hit yet another 13-month high on Wednesday, but the S&P 500 couldn't close above the 1,100 level. Even though Wal-Mart beat earnings and improved its outlook, futures declined as investors await weekly jobs data.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) posted third-quarter profit of 84 cents a share, above Bloomberg's analyst estimates for profit of 81 cents. Wal-Mart also upped its full-year profit above estimates, but fourth quarter guidance barely matched projections. Sales grew by just 1% in the quarter. WMT shares slid over 1% in pre-market trading.

The jet age is starting to re-assert itself, which is why I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), first recommended on February 13, 2009 at a price of $47.09. If you bought UTX in February, you're up about 35%.

The projected 3-4% FY2010 revenue growth for UTX is looking a tad low, due to large order backlogs for both Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Airbus. Wall Street had factored-in some order deferments/cancellations, and that did weigh on United Technologies shares this summer, but now it appears the D/Cs will not be as large, which removes a potential revenue cloud.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) shares rose after it reaffirmed its full-year earnings and sales outlook.
• Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) will have low double-digit EPS growth, predicts one analyst.
• AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) posted a decline in earnings but a small rise in sales, sending shares lower.
• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) posted better-than-expected Q2 earnings and higher revenue.
• CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) rallied to a new 52-week high after topping analysts' Q2 earnings expectations.
• Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised its full-year guidance.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the weak dollar is benefiting U.S. corporations and no longer going against them.

Why have the industrials been so red-hot? Why do they seem to levitate? One reason, of course, is that people think the economy's getting better. A second reason is that even if the economy stands still vs. last year the comparisons will be amazing and nothing gets the juices going more rapidly than easy comparisons.

Why will they be so glaring? First, the layoffs have been brutal, the cost-cutting immense and it hasn't hurt at all ... yet. It is totally and unequivocally positive.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the action that is linked to the futures markets, such as oil, is distorting rational analysis.

Maybe one day we can escape the commodity linkage and begin to trade on the fundamentals again, something that seems more distant now than any time I can recall. We are totally marching to gold, to oil, to copper, and not the fundamentals.

Throughout the era in which China has become a superpower and hedge funds have become the super arbiters or what goes up or down, we have been stuck with this fairly bogus linkage that corrupts trading and makes a mockery out of some of the most important financial analysis out there, the actual attempts to discover what's really happening at companies.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) provides technology products and services to the building systems and aerospace industries.

Its stock has built a strong base that began in October 2008. In early July, UTX flashed a bullish gold cross. Then, in mid-August, it broke out from a quadruple-top.

If you're looking for the most accurate way to predict the direction a stock or the market is headed, technical analysis is it.

Of course, no chart pattern is accurate all of the time (which is why technical analysis is more of an art than a science), but it's the closest you're going to get to a sure thing in the stock market.

So I'm offering up six technical trades today. Each of these stocks' charts are giving off extremely bullish signals and look ready to run higher.

Another Dow component, United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), beat its bottom-line forecasts, but like most of the companies we've seen, they did so as a result of cost-cutting.

Revenues of $13.2 billion were below the consensus forecast for revenue of $13.92 billion. The diversified manufacturer also cut its revenue guidance for the year, and lowered the high-end of its profit forecast range.

Although the headlines are screaming about how companies are beating their earnings estimates, little newsprint is being devoted to this quarter's real story.

That story is that revenues for many corporations are way down year over year, and more importantly, their top-line revenues are often coming in below Street estimates.

To be certain, there have been some real success stories so far in Q2, and we'll be talking about some of those in a moment. Moreover, it is always a good sign when companies beat their earnings estimates.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) posted a smaller-than-expected Q2 net loss as steel prices rise.
• Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) posted a better-than-expected Q2 profit on strong overseas sales.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) shares jumped after it beat earnings, missed revenues, and offered guidance.
• DuPont (NYSE: DD) shares declined after it posted a higher-than-expected profit but lower revenue.
• Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) disappointing results were a sign that the bulls are in charge, said Jim Cramer.
• General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Q2 earnings and sales declined, dragged down by finance and NBC units.

Amid a budget process in which every dollar counts, and while Congress determines the most suitable revenue options for universal health care, legislators have weeded-out one wasteful government program: the F-22 fighter jet program.

The Senate voted 58-40 Tuesday to block expansion of the expensive and controversial new jet, CNN reported, and in the process $1.75 billion will be saved.

Today's news boiled down to two issues. First was that five DJIA components reporting earnings this morning, with details on three components. The second issue was Ben Bernanke testifying that inflation was not a huge concern because the economy is likely to stay frail for some time. The markets were mixed to down most of the day until a late day rally saved shares.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,911.71 +63.56 (0.72%)
S&P 500 954.10 +2.97 (0.31%)
Nasdaq 1,914.13 +4.84 (0.25%)

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

U.S. stock futures advanced slightly Tuesday morning after edging lower earlier, indicating investors await a clearer direction following some recent gains, early morning earnings report and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. Bernanke is also scheduled to give his semiannual monetary-policy testimony to Congress at 10:00 a.m.

[Update: stocks got a boost from Caterpillar's earnings.]

Bernanke said in his opinion piece that after a long period of central bank policies aimed at thawing out the credit market, the central bank will move to stem inflation, but only when the economy is moving quickly enough to warrant tighter policy. He is "confident" in the Fed's ability to curtail inflation.