News - US Sector Recaps October 6th.

Automotive:

• Harley-Davidson (HOG) rallied, after analysts at RBC Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock to $36 from $33, saying Harley’s retail sales increased in September, after falling for the previous four months.
• Navistar International (NAV) jumped, after it won a $18.9M US Navy contract to supply heavy truck tractors.
• Lubrizol (LZ) rose, after the company said it will achieve its 2012 EPS target of $10, ahead of schedule, citing favorable results to date. 

Alternative Energy:

• Covanta Holding (CVA) dropped, after analysts at Bank of America cut their recommendation to Underperform from Neutral.
• MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) rose, after SunEdison, a subsidiary of the company, announced a sale of a 70 megawatt photovoltaic power plant in Italy. 

Energy:

• Chevron (CVX) rose, after the company said it will begin buying its common stock this quarter, under a previously announced repurchase program.
• Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) climbed, after the company signed an agreement with Pilot Travel Centers to build, own and operate compressed and liquefied natural gas fueling stations at some of tis travel centers.
• Plains Exploration & Production (PXP) climbed, as it said it will acquire interests in about 60,000 acres in South Texas for $578M in cash.
• Crude Oil for November delivery rose 1% to $82.27 a barrel, on speculation that central banks will keep pushing economic growth as the Bank of Japan pledged asset purchases. 

Financials:

• American Express (AXP) dropped, after an analyst at FBR said the company will keep its rules in place as it challenges the Justice Department’s antitrust complaint. 

Construction:

• MasTec (MTZ) climbed, after the company signed a $296M engineering, procurement and construction contract for Bluefire Ethanol Fuels (BFRE). 

Consumer Goods:

• Coach (COH) rose, after the company signed a licensing agreement with Luxottica for the design, manufacturing and global distribution of sun and prescription eyewear under the Coach, Coach Poppy and Reed Krakoff brands, starting in January 2012.
• Talbots (TLB) plunged, after the company said in the Q3 it had a top-line sales decrease of approximately low-dingle digits, down from a previously provided outlook of a top-line increase of low-single digits.
• Electronic Arts (ERTS) climbed, after it has sold 2.6M copies of its FIFA 11 game in Europe and North America through October 2.
• Colgate-Palmolive (CL) dropped, after Barclays Capital cut its rating to Underweight from Equalweight and put a 12-month price estimate at $68. 

Media:

• CBS (CBS)  rose, after analysts at Nomura Holdings started coverage of the company with a Buy rating.
• Google (GOOG) rose, after analysts at Nielsen said Android software has become the most popular operating system in the US among new smartphone users, topping Apple’s iPhone and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry platforms. 

Travel & Entertainment:

• Las Vegas Sands (LVS) climbed, after analysts at Sterne Agee raised their price estimate on the stock to $45 from $35. 

Healthcare:

• Illumina (ILMN) rose, after analysts at Goldman Sachs started coverage of the stock with a Buy rating and a 12-month price estimate of $62.

Technology:

• Autodesk (ADSK) rallied, after analysts at Canaccord started coverage wiith a Buy rating and a 12-month $38 price target.
• MaxLinear (MXL) plunged,  after the company cut its fiscal Q3 sales forecast to no more than $18.6M, versus the average analysts’ expectation of $20.3M.
• Syniverse Holdings (SVR) rose, after analysts at Royal Bank of Canada raised their recommendation to Outperform from Sector Perform.
• Iron Mountain (IRM) dropped, after forecasting adjusted 2011 earnings of $1.26 a share at most, below analysts’ average $1.31 a share. 

Rating Changes: 

• Ternium (TX) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman
• Affiliated Managers (AMG) was raised to Buy at Goldman
• MaxLinear (MXL) was cut to Buy from Strong Buy at Needham
• Barnes & Noble (BKS) was cut to Sell at Goldman
• Home Depot (HD) was cut to Neutral at Goldman
• Motorola (MOT) was started at Hold at Jefferies
• Parametric (PMTC) was started at Buy at Canaccord
• Ultimate Software (ULTI) was started at Buy at Canaccord