Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: CDC Corporation, Overstock.com, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Valero

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 16, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights CDC Corporation (CHINA - Snapshot Report) as the Bull of the Day and Overstock.com (OSTK - Snapshot Report) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on ExxonMobil (XOM - Analyst Report), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A - Snapshot Report) and Valero (VLO - Analyst Report).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

With a strong track record in consolidation and organic growth of its software business, we believe CDC Corporation (CHINA - Snapshot Report) is poised for growth. The 1Q 2009 revenue was below expectations, due to the global economic recession as well as a negative impact from currency fluctuations.

With a continual focus on vertical industries, cost reduction initiatives in its software segment, new launches and upgrades in its product line as well as integration efforts, CDC should develop a significant competitive advantage in 2009 and beyond. Also, increase in license bookings and strong pipeline of sales opportunities at CDC Software should drive growth.

As such, we maintain our Buy rating on the shares of CDC with a six-month target price of $2.50.

Bear of the Day:

Overstock.com (OSTK - Snapshot Report) reported a first quarter net loss of $0.09 per share, which was narrower-than-expected. The company's sales declined 8% year-over-year.

Gross margin improved 280 basis points, which more than offset the 230 basis point increase in total operating expenses. Overstock.com reduced sales and marketing and technology expenses, but had a big increase in general and administrative expenses.

We think these results support our view that Overstock.com's cost structure is still too high relative to its gross profit margin. We reiterate our Sell rating and $5 target price.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

Exxon’s $600m Biofuel Deal

ExxonMobil (XOM - Analyst Report), the largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, has joined the race for making biofuel to help meet the world’s energy challenges. On Tuesday, the company inked a multi-year research and development agreement with La Jolla, California-based Synthetic Genomics Inc. for algae-based biofuels.

ExxonMobil will invest $600 million over the next 5 to 6 years for this project and hinted the final development could cost billions. It will be the world’s largest biofuel development project of its kind.

Under the terms of the agreement, Synthetic Genomics will try to find, optimize and engineer superior strains of algae as well as to detect and develop the best systems for large-scale cultivation of algae and conversion of their products into useful biofuels. ExxonMobil's engineering and scientific expertise will be utilized throughout the program.

We believe that this is a prudent step taken by ExxonMobil following the criticism levied against it that the company should hone its focus on renewable and cleaner-burning fuels. The company’s move follows those of its rivals such as Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A - Snapshot Report) and Valero (VLO - Analyst Report), who have both progressed into the biofuel arena, either by backing research programs, investing in small energy businesses or buying them outright.

Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

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