Today’s Stock Alerts include: Pall Corp. (NYSE: PLL), Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN), Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT), Seagate Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: STX), Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) and Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM).

Pall Corp. (NYSE: PLL) Stock Alert – Pall Corporation Secures Water Filtration Project in Philippines, the Largest in Philippines Ever

Pall Corp (NYSE: PLL) shares slipped .19% this morning, trading at $26.55. The global leader in water filtration and purification systems recently announced it has been awarded a $14.7 million contract to design and install a Pall Aria (TM) microfiltration/reverse osmosis membrane water treatment in the Philippines capital of Manila.  The Manila project represents the largest filtration project ever undertaken in the Philippines, and establishes the East Hills, NY-based Pall as the leading filtration company in Southeast Asia, said Pall in a news release.

One of the two privatized water suppliers in Manila Metro area, Maynilad Water Services Inc., awarded the contract aimed at servicing an area population of 8 million to 9 million people in parts of Cavite province and western Metro Manila.

Pall’s low maintenance desalination system utilizes microfiltration/reverse osmosis membrane technology, and meets water regulatory standards applying to new water filtration sytems in 2010.

Brackish water from Laguna de Bay Lake will be processed through the Pall Aria system, filtering out algal blooms and turbidity caused from tropical storm patterns.  The present intake system will be re-enginneered to divert water from Laguan de Bay Lake through the Pall Aria system.

“The Maynilad water project will be the first world-class membrane plant in the Philippines, with the potential to expand capacity in the future,” said Francis McKeever, vice president of Pall Water Processing Asia/Pacific. “This installation will combine Pall’s membrane systems and expertise with low-cost engineering and execution from an indigenous partner, to affordably deliver membrane technology to this burgeoning area.”
“The Maynilad plant will establish a model for the large-scale application of membrane filtration technology in Southeast Asia. Increased migration to cities places enormous stress on municipal water systems throughout the region, and creates an opportunity for Pall to provide systems that can be upgraded as the population increases,” said Jeff Seibert, president of Pall Water Processing.
Pall and its subsidiaries is a filtration, separation and purification company. The company is a supplier of filtration, separation and purification technologies, principally made by the company using its engineering capability and fluid management expertise, filter media, and other fluid clarification and separations equipment for the removal of solid, liquid and gaseous contaminants from a range of liquids and gases.

The company serves customers through two business groups globally: Life Sciences and Industrial. The Life Sciences business group is focused on developing, manufacturing and selling products to customers in the medical and biopharmaceuticals marketplaces. The Industrial business group is focused on developing, manufacturing and selling products to customers in the aerospace and transportation, microelectronics and energy, and water and process technologies markets.

In its recent chart, PLL is trading at its higher Bollinger Bands range, a bullish condition signaling that the stock is strong relative to the recent price action. MACD reflects a bullish signal, with the indicator trending above its 9-day moving average signal line, indicating upwardly trending moving averages.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) Stock Alert – Global Chip Sales to Fall 21.3 Percent Year-over-Year, Says Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)

Shares of Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) dropped .15% to $19.65 this morning as investors respond to a recent Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) report stating it expects sales of chips to fall 21.3%, globally.
However, investors ignored the forecast by the SIA which also includes a rebound in sales beginning 2010 of 6.5% to $208.3 billion, and for sales of 2011 to increase another 6.5% to $221.9 billion.  SIA president George Scalise expects a rebound in 2010, citing economic stimulous programs instituted by the United States and other countries should increase demand for semiconductors, reported Reuters on Friday.
Texas Instruments (TI) is engaged in designing and producing semiconductors that it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers. The company is organized in four segments: Analog, Embedded Processing, Wireless and Other.

TI sells two general categories of semiconductor products: custom and standard. A custom product is designed for a specific customer for a specific application, is sold only to that customer and is typically sold directly to the customer. A standard product is designed for use by many customers and/or many applications and is generally sold through both distribution and direct channels.

In May 2008, the company acquired Commergy Technologies Ltd., an Ireland-based power supply reference design provider that specializes in energy efficient and compact architectures. In June 2008, the company acquired Innovative Design Solutions (IDS), which develops analog chips and integrated solutions.

In its recent chart, TXN is trading at its higher Bollinger Bands range, a bullish condition signaling that the stock is strong relative to the recent price action. MACD reflects a bullish signal, with the indicator trending above its 9-day moving average signal line, indicating upwardly trending moving averages.

Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) Stock Alert – Mattel Fined $2.3 Million for Selling Dangerous Toys Made in China

Shares of Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) fell 1.83% to $16.05 this morning. The company was recently fined $2.3 million by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) stemming from a recall of 95 types of toys and approximately 2 million units for excessive levels of lead in the toy’s paint.  The toys were manufactured in China, the CPSC said to Reuters.
The fine resulted from a settlement between the CPSC and Mattel and its subsidiary Fisher-Price for violating a 1978 consumer protection law regarding children’s products sold with unsafe levels, above 0.06%, of lead-containing paint. The government claims the defendants knowingly imported in 2007 unsafe toys containing dangerous levels of lead.
The toys cited by the CPSC incude the “Sarge” toy car and Barbie brand accessories.
Mattel designs, manufactures and markets toy products worldwide through sales to customers and directly to consumers. Mattel’s portfolio of brands and products are grouped in categories, such as Mattel Girls & Boys brands, including Barbie fashion dolls and accessories, Polly Pocket!, Little Mommy, Disney Classics, Pixel Chix, and High School Musical, Hot Wheels, Matchbox and Tyco R/C vehicles and playsets, and CARS, Radica, Speed Racer, Batman and Kung Fu Panda products, as well as games and puzzles.

Fisher-Price brands, including Fisher-Price, Little People, BabyGear and View-Master, Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, Winnie the Pooh, Go-Diego-Go!, and See ‘N Say and Power Wheels, and American Girl brands, including Just Like You, the historical collection and Bitty Baby.

In its recent chart, MAT is trading at its higher Bollinger Bands range, a bullish condition signaling that the stock is strong relative to the recent price action. MACD reflects a bullish signal, with the indicator trending above its 9-day moving average signal line, indicating upwardly trending moving averages.

Seagate Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: STX) Stock Alert – Seagate Introduces the Savvio Enterprise Hard Drive

Seagate Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: STX) shares fell 2.61% to $8.58 despite the company’s recently announced new hard drive, the Savvio(R) 10K.3, which achieved superior results in the Storage Performance Council’s new benchmark extensions, SPC Benchmark 1C/Energy.

According to the press release, the 24-drive array hard drive has more than 7 Terabytes of storage, reported an outstanding Annual Energy Use of 1,765.41 kWh and projected Annual Energy Cost of $211.85 at $0.12/kWh [1].

“The SPC congratulates Seagate on its Savvio benchmark results using SPC-1C/E,” said Walter E. Baker, administrator for the Storage Performance Council. “The new SPC-1C/E Reported Data is a refinement for the storage industry which demands ever-increasing performance along with system power savings that can be measured in real-world environments.”
Seagate is engaged in the design, manufacture and marketing of hard disc drives. Hard disc drives, which are referred to as disc drives or hard drives, are used as the primary medium for storing electronic information in systems ranging from desktop and notebook computers, and consumer electronics devices to data centers delivering information over corporate networks and the Internet.
The company produces a range of disc drive products addressing enterprise applications, where its products are used in enterprise servers, mainframes and workstations; desktop applications, where its products are used in desktop computers; mobile computing applications, where its products are used in notebook computers, and consumer electronics applications, where its products are used in a variety of devices, such as digital video recorders, gaming devices and other consumer electronic devices that require storage. It also sells its branded storage solutions under the Seagate and Maxtor brands.
In its recent chart, STX is trading at its higher Bollinger Bands range, a bullish condition signaling that the stock is strong relative to the recent price action. MACD reflects a bearish signal, with the indicator trending below its 9-day moving average signal line, indicating downwardly trending moving averages.

Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) Stock Alert – Rite Aid Shares Jump on Prospects of Refinacing September 2010 Debt

Shares of Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) fell 3.45% this morning, trading at $1.68, retracting from last week’s gain as investors gained confidence that the company will be able to refinance its debt maturing in September 2010.  The company’s next significant debt volume won’t mature until 2013.

“At this point we see the stock as an option, and a successful debt refinancing effectively pushes out the expiration date, giving the company more time to implement key operational initiatives that should improve EBITDA and lower working capital,” Barclays Capital analyst Meredith Adler said.

Rite Aid is a retail drugstore chain in the United States. The company operates its drugstores in 31 states across the country and in the District of Columbia.
As of February 28, 2009, it operated 4,901 stores. In its stores, the company sells prescription drugs and an assortment of other merchandise, which it calls front-end products. During the fiscal year ended February 28, 2009, prescription drug sales accounted for 67.2% of its total sales.
The company offers approximately 28,000 front-end products, which accounted for the remaining 32.8% of its total sales during fiscal 2009. Front-end products include over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aids, personal care items, cosmetics, household items, beverages, convenience foods, greeting cards, seasonal merchandise, and other everyday and convenience products, as well as photo processing. It offers approximately 3,300 products under the Rite Aid private brand.
In its recent chart, RAD is trading above its higher Bollinger Bands range, a bullish condition signaling that the stock is strong relative to the recent price action. MACD reflects a bullish signal, with the indicator trending above its 9-day moving average signal line, indicating upwardly trending moving averages.

Palm Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM) Stock Alert – Palm Launches ‘Pre’, Taking on iPhone and Blackberry in Smartphone Struggle

Shares of Palm Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM) dropped 8.85% in today’s morning session, trading at $11.87. Reuters reported small crowds at Sprint stores across the United States, as consumers queued to purchase Palm’s new smartphone, Pre, the company’s latest product launch aimed at cutting into Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s Blackberry toeholds.
Palm’s attempt to re-establish its share of the lucrative high-end phone market with the Pre has so far garnered stellar reviews, though the lines formed at Apple stores for its competitor’s new iPhone two years ago were longer, but consumers eager for the Pre were just as enthusiastic, said Reuters.
“I wanted their iPhone killer. I’ve been anticipating this for a while,” Peter Lewis, who bought two phones at a Sprint store in Chicago, told Reuters.
“This is my birthday present to myself,” said Wilma Rivera, who brought her teenage daughter a Pre from Sprint’s flagship store in Manhattan. Rivera told Reuters she was tempted to crossover to the Apple iPhone, but “never wanted to leave Sprint.”
The Pre is hoped to win back customers from AT&T and Verizon Wireless while retain existing customers at Sprint, the No.3 U.S. Mobile phone telephone service.
The company said a number of Sprint locations sold out of the Pre, and restocking efforts are now underway.
Palm Inc. is a provider of mobile products. It offers Treo and Centro smartphones, handheld computers and accessories through a network of wireless carriers, as well as retail and business outlets worldwide. The company sells mobile products in two product lines: smartphones and handheld computers.
The company’s product lines provide a range of business productivity tools, and personal and entertainment applications designed for mobile professionals and business customers, as well as entry-level consumers. Its products run on the Palm systems platform or Windows Mobile operating system (OS) platform. All of its products incorporate instant-on, one-touch access to frequently used applications and non-volatile flash memory that protects stored data even if the charge and power run out.
Other features found in some of its products include wireless communication capabilities, such as Bluetooth and wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi); multimedia features, and a slot for stamp-sized expansion cards.
In its recent chart, PALM is trading at its higher Bollinger Bands range, a bullish condition signaling that the stock is strong relative to the recent price action. MACD reflects a bullish signal, with the indicator trending above its 9-day moving average signal line, indicating upwardly trending moving averages.

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