PowerRatings Weekly Outlook: KO, COHR, MMM, UTX, BPL

This week's PowerRatings Weekly Outlook takes a look at some of the stocks we highlighted for investors and subscribers over the past few days. An oil and gas pipeline stock that made both our Top Upgrades and Most Requested PowerRatings lists this week, a pair of blue chip conglomerates, and a unique name for our Featured Stock Spotlight that is among the top stocks in the Scientific and Technical Instruments industry group.

Coca Cola, Buckeye Partners Among Week's Top Upgrades

Our PowerRatings analysis of stocks that earned upgrades to their Long Term PowerRatings included names both new and familiar in the form of both Coca Cola (KO@KO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and Buckeye Partners (BPL@BPL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating). Both stocks had their Long Term PowerRatings upgraded from 8 to 9 as of the open on Monday.

The difference between an 8-rated stock and a 9-rated stock is not overwhelming, but it is worth noting. 9-rated stocks have been higher one year later more often than 8-rated stocks (79% compared to 74%), and 9-rated stocks have also tended to be better performers than 8-rated stocks. Our research indicates that 9-rated stocks have returned more than 18% after one year, while 8-rated stocks have gained a little over 17% after a year.

To read our analysis of selected PowerRatings stocks that have experienced upgrades in the past week, click here.

Most investors are familiar with Coca Cola, the soft-drink beverage giant. Fewer investors, however, know about Buckeye Partners, which is in the business of transporting and storing petroleum products for the major integrated oil corporations. Buckeye Partners, it should be pointed out, is also part of the 10-rated Oil & Gas Pipelines industry group, along with a wealth of other high PowerRatings stocks including another four with Long Term PowerRatings of 9.

Conglomerates: Stocks of All Trades

Turning to look at sectors in which investors are likely to find high Long Term PowerRating stocks, we found a pair of well-known stocks in the Conglomerate industry group that investors might want to know more about: 3M (MMM@MMM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and United Technologies (UTX@UTX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating)

Both stocks had Long Term PowerRatings of 8 when we introduced them earlier in the week. Since then, however, we have seen shares of UTX lose a point on their Long Term PowerRatings after the stock gapped up on Thursday, taking the stock up by more than three and a half points overnight. United Technologies has a Long Term PowerRating of 7 as of Friday morning.

On the other hand, 3M has maintained the Long Term PowerRating of 8 that the stock had when we discussed it on Tuesday.

Click here to learn more about the Conglomerate industry group's top two stocks.

United Technologies is involved in a wide number of businesses – from air conditioners and elevators to aircraft engines and power fuel cells. 3M, for its part, has interests in a diverse array of industries from graphics and healthcare to security and communications services. Other companies of note in this industry include General Electric (GE@GE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and Cooper Industries (COO@COO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating). GE has a Long Term PowerRating of 7, while Cooper Industries has a Long Term PowerRating of 6.

This Week's Featured Stock: Coherent

We moved away from the familiar territory of utilities and healthcare-related stocks this week in our Stock Spotlight to bring attention to a relatively obscure high Long Term PowerRating stock, Coherent, Inc. (COHR@COHR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating).

Coherent Inc. is the top-rated member of the Scientific & Technical Instruments industry, an industry group which, like Coherent, has a PowerRating of 9. Know that our research into industry group behavior between 1995 and 2007 indicates that 9-rated industries have produced average annualized returns of more than 24%. Compare this to the performance of the average industry group over the same period, which was 14.61%.

Coherent is in the business of photonics, using lasers and precision optics in a variety of applications for clients in different scientific and research capacities. The stock has been moving aggressively higher in recent days, rallying from a low of $29 to a high of nearly $33 over the past eight or nine days. The company blew away earnings estimates in April and investors will no doubt be looking for similarly impressive results when the company reports again next week.

To read our Featured Stock Spotlight of Coherent Inc., click here.

Stocks in the News

Headlines this week included a mix of disappointing earnings from some otherwise stalwart earnings performers, as well as a few companies whose earnings underperformance is like clockwork.

Microsoft (MSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported earnings Thursday after the closing bell, announcing EPS of $0.46 and missing estimates by a penny. The stock was down by more than 6% by mid-day on Friday.

IBM (IBM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) blew away earnings estimates Thursday evening after the bell, beating the number by 16 cents. Shares of IBM have moved higher on Friday by more than 2%.

Merrill Lynch (MER | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) missed analyst earnings estimates by a wide margin late in the week, reporting a loss of $4.97 when a loss of $1.91 was expected. After bidding shares dramatically higher in advance of the earnings announcement on Thursday, traders were in more of a selling mood on Friday.

The SEC announced that it will place restrictions on short selling in both Fannie Mae (FNM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and Freddie Mac (FRE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating). Both stocks have made three consecutive higher highs since making a low on Tuesday.

General Motors (GM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) will suspend its dividend as part of an effort to raise $15 billion by the end of 2009. General Motors has been up for four days in a row since Tuesday.

Republic Services (RSG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced that it was rejecting Waste Management's (WMI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) bid in favor of its continued efforts to acquire Allied Waste Industries (AW | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating).

Anheuser-Busch (BUD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) agreed to be acquired by InBev in a deal worth $52 billion or $70 a share. The acquisition creates the world's largest beermaker.

Long lines, excited shoppers and a few technical glitches at activation time characterized the launch of the new G3 iPhone from Apple (AAPL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating). Shares of the company's stock gapped lower on Friday, and were down by more than 3% by mid-day Friday.

Google (GOOG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) surprised traders, investors and analysts alike by missing second quarter earnings estimates on Thursday. The stock was moving aggressively lower on Friday, with GOOG down more than 9% with two hours left in the trading session.

Finishing on a positive note, Citigroup (C | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) impressed the markets Friday morning with a second quarter earnings loss that was much less than feared. Citigroup shares were higher by more than 8% late in trading on Friday.

What To Look For Next Week

Monday: Leading Indicators
Tuesday: Chain Store Sales / Manufacturing Index
Wednesday: Beige Book
Thursday: Jobless Claims / Existing Home Sales
Friday: Durable Goods Orders / New Home Sales

Best Performing Stocks (PR 8-10) of the Last Five Days:

Here are some of the best performing, high Long Term PowerRatings stocks of the past five days. This week, all of the listed stocks have PowerRatings of 8, 9 or 10

Coherent Inc. (COHR@COHR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Long Term PowerRating 9
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT@KFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Long Term PowerRating 9
Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (PBG@PBG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Long Term PowerRating 9
Pfizer Inc. (PFE@PFE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Long Term PowerRating 9
Coca Cola Enterprises (CCE@CCE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Long Term PowerRating 9

Worst Performing Stocks (PR 1-3) of the Last Five Days:

Here are some of the worst performing, low Long Term PowerRatings stocks of the past five days. This week, all of the listed stocks have PowerRatings of 1 or 2.

Talbots Inc. (TLB@TLB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Long Term PowerRating 2
Usana Health Sciences (USNA@USNA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Long Term PowerRating 2
Clearwire Corporation (CLWR@CLWR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Long Term PowerRating 1
Proshares Ultra Short Real Estate ETF (SRS@SRS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Long Term PowerRating 1
Stillwater Mining Company (SWC@SWC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Long Term PowerRating 1

David Penn is Senior Editor at PowerRatings.net.