STOCKS NEWS US-Goldman raises price targets on oil companies

Stocks on the move [HOT-RTRS] Real-Time Equity news [U E]
U.S. stock market report [.N]

1158 ET 09Feb2009-Goldman raises price targets on oil companies
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Goldman Sachs on Monday raised its price target on a number of oil
companies, saying the group was near the bottom of its cycle. It said it has
confidence in a recovery improving in the second half of the year.
"With industry capital spending on track to decline sharply in 2009, we
believe the supply picture looks bullish ... especially as we get closer to the
second half of the year," it wrote. "Demand data is more mixed, but the second
derivative is showing signs of turning."
The firm raised its target on ExxonMobil , a Dow component, to $80
from $70, on ConocoPhillips to $60 from $45 and on Frontier Oil
to $17 from $12.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net

1152 ET 09Feb2009-Rio Tinto ADRs fall, Leng won't become chairman
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U.S.-listed shares of Rio Tinto fell on Monday, dropping
after it said that director Jim Leng had quit, and that he wouldn't become the
miner's chairman. The news came after Leng objected to a potential deal with
Chinalco, the company's top shareholder. Leng was named as Rio Tinto's next
chairman about three weeks ago. [nSYD422381]
The stock slid 5.9 percent to $114.17 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net

1131 ET-09Feb2009 A bearish bet on Wells Fargo with big ratio put spread
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At least one option investor is betting that shares of Wells Fargo
will move beneath its current share price of $19.02 by March options
expiration. Earlier in the session, the equity's March $20 and March $10 puts
turned busy after a strategist bought a substantial 1x2 March $20/$10 ratio put
spread for $2.60. Volume of the trade was significant as the the March $20 puts
traded 20,000 times and the March $10 puts traded 40,000 times. It appeared to
be a new position since volume exceeded open interest. "If so, it represents a
very bearish bet on the bank, with profits starting to accumulate (at March
expiration) at $17.40 and the maximum profits at $10," said WhatsTrading.com
option strategist Frederic Ruffy.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net

1115 ET 09Feb2009-Insight Enterprises tumbles on outlook
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Shares of Insight Enterprises tumbled over 47 percent to $3.11 on
Monday after the company forecast fourth-quarter earnings below Wall Street
estimates and said it will restate earnings for prior years. [nBNG334856]
Fourth-quarter earnings of 11 cents a share on revenue of $1.16 billion are
expected, below analysts' estimates of 27 cents a share and revenue of $1.26
billion.
The company said the restatement stems from historical accounting treatment
of certain aged trade credits since 1996 and expects to have a cumulative
restatement effect on earnings of $50 to $70 million.
Reuters Messaging:rm://Charles.mikolajczak.reuters.com@reuters.net

1107 ET 09Feb2009-ViroPharma plunges after drug trial results
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Shares of ViroPharma Inc plummeted on Monday, losing nearly half
their value after the company's antiviral compound miribavir failed to meet the
main goal of a late-stage study. In the study, which examined patients who have
had bone marrow transplants, the drug failed to reduce the incidence of
cytomegalovirus disease when compared to a placebo. [nBNG415239]
The stock shed 44.5 percent to $6.78.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net

1101 ET-09Feb2009 Motorola puts draw interest after execs boost shareholdings
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Shares of cellphone maker Motorola Inc rose 5.93 percent to $4.11
and in the options market, about 28,000 of the equity's put options have traded
vs. 2,515 call options, Trade Alert data showed. The activity is scattered in
the March, April, and July puts at the $4 and $5 strikes and has been in fewer
than 600 contracts at a time. It looks like a mix of buying and selling follows
news that the company's top executives bought 725,000 shares last week for
between $3.67 and $3.83 per share, said WhatsTrading.com option strategist
Frederic Ruffy.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net

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