Today there were a couple of posts about how tech stocks are currently especially attractive because they hold plenty of cash and tend to have little debt. Paul Kedrosky initially caught my eye with his post "Tech Cash is King" which in turn pointed me to a story on Bloomberg by Eric Martin. I ran a screen tonight that looked at both cash and debt. Specifically, I screened for a Price-to-Cash ratio under three, a Debt-to-Equity ratio under three and a Market Cap greater than $2.5 million. Based on these criteria, I obtained a list of 136 stocks. Judging from our list, it is absolutely true that many tech stocks do seem to have lots of cash and little debt. What also became apparent as I went through the list is that there[More...]

Futures are pointing to a significantly lower open this morning, so far. S&P futures... [More...]

UP
Power Integrations, Inc. (POWI)
Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IDIX)
Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM)
EnerSys (ENS)
MKS Instruments, Inc. (MKSI)
DOWN
Akeena Solar, Inc. (AKNS)
The Corporate Executive Board Company (EXBD)
Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. (JOSB)
Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (DO)
Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU)

UPGRADES

Western Refining WNR BMO Capital Markets Underperform » Market Perform
Merix MERX Jefferies & Co Underperform » Hold
ADVENTRX Pharma ANX Dawson James Sell » Speculative Buy
Nextest Systems NEXT Needham & Co Hold » Buy
MRV Comms MRVC Needham & Co Hold » Buy
MKS Instruments MKSI Banc of America Sec Sell » Neutral
Conexant CNXT Roth Capital Sell » Hold
UBS AG UBS JP Morgan Underweight » Neutral
Forest Labs FRX Citigroup Sell » Hold
The Medicines Co MDCO UBS Sell » Buy
Navteq NVT Deutsche Securities Sell » Hold
PDL BioPharma PDLI Wachovia Mkt Perform » Outperform
ProLogis PLD Banc of America Sec Neutral » Buy
AMB Property AMB Banc of America Sec Neutral » Buy

DOWNGRADES

Prospect Energy PSEC Ferris Baker Watts Neutral » Sell
Alon USA Energy ALJ BMO Capital Markets Outperform » Market Perform
ADVENTRX Pharma ANX Fortis Bank Buy » Hold
Navteq NVT JMP Securities Mkt Outperform » Mkt Perform
Navteq NVT AmTech Research Buy » Neutral
Onyx Pharma ONXX Bear Stearns Outperform » Peer Perform
Mobile TeleSystems MBT Bear Stearns Outperform » Peer Perform
Citigroup C Punk, Ziegel & Co Mkt Perform » Sell
FLIR Systems FLIR Needham & Co Buy » Hold
Wrigley WWY Stifel Nicolaus Buy » Hold
Axcan Pharma AXCA CIBC Wrld Mkts Sector Outperform » Sector Perform
Smith Intl SII Calyon Securities Add » Neutral
Natl Oilwell Varco NOV Calyon Securities Buy » Add
XL Capital XL Wachovia Outperform » Mkt Perform
ACE Limited ACE Wachovia Outperform » Mkt Perform
Everest Re RE Wachovia Outperform » Mkt Perform
IDM Pharma IDMI Cantor Fitzgerald Buy » Hold
Biogen Idec BIIB Credit Suisse Neutral » Underperform
Navteq NVT UBS Buy » Neutral
CBS Corp CBS Deutsche Securities Buy » Hold
Syntax-Brillian BRLC Robert W. Baird Outperform » Neutral

I’m one of those strange people who gets excited by big one day market declines.  To me, it’s a stock clearance sale.  I have been busy today buying stocks.  I added Mothers Work (MWRK) and I accumulated shares of an actual Graham net-net for the Fat Pitch Financials Port.  I also picked up shares of an odd [...]