MERCURY GENL CP MCY

Apr 12, 2011

Since inception in 1988, the S&P 500 has outperformed the Zacks #5 Rank List - Stocks to Sell Now by 80% annually (+2% versus +10%). While the rest of Wall Street continued to tout stocks during the market declines of the last few years, Zacks told investors which stocks to sell or avoid.

Here is a synopsis of why PTP and MCY have a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) and should most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #5 Strong Sell rating is applied to 5% of all the stocks in the Zacks Rank universe:

Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. (PTP) announced fourth-quarter loss of 46 cents per share on Feb 8, that lagged analysts? expectations by nearly 167%. This was 99 cents lower than the earnings of December 2009. Total revenue decreased 26% to $212.69 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year slipped 48 cents to a loss of $1.28 per share in the last 7 days as all the 5 covering analysts reduced estimates. Next year?s estimate dipped 22 cents to 31 cents per share in a span of 30 days.

Mercury General Corporation (MCY Here is a synopsis of why OI and GRM have a Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) and should also most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #4 Sell rating is applied to 15% of all the stocks ranked by Zacks;

Owens-Illinois, Inc.?s (OI) fourth-quarter earnings of 45 cents per share, announced on Jan 27, missed analysts? expectations by 4%. Revenues for the fourth quarter fell by nearly 50%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2011 dipped 18 cents to $2.87 per share over the past couple of months. The same period has seen a decline of 23 cents in the forecast for 2012, which now stands at $3.47 per share.

Graham Packaging Company Inc (GRM) reported a fourth-quarter loss of 58 cents per share on Feb 10 that fell nearly 469% short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The full-year average forecast is currently $1.75 per share, compared with last week?s projection for a profit of $1.73. During that time, 2 analysts out of 6 revised downward. Next year?s forecast dropped 2 cents to $2.07 per share in the same period.

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