STOCKS NEWS US-Goldman upgrades Dick's Sporting to 'buy'

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0828 EST 3Feb2010
Goldman upgrades Dick's Sporting to 'buy'

Goldman Sachs upgraded Dick's Sporting Goods Inc to 'buy' from 'neutral,' saying the retailer offers good unit growth prospects and the stock's valuation provides an attractive entry point.

Dick's Sporting has solid free cash flow for a growth retailer and is effectively reducing its net debt balance, a move that will position it to fund store build-outs as landlord financing remains tight, Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Fassler wrote in a note to clients.

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Shares of Dick's closed Tuesday at $22.77.

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0824 EST 3Feb2010
Private sector loses 22,000 jobs in Jan: report

U.S. private employers cut 22,000 jobs in January, less than the 61,000 jobs lost in December, a report by a private employment service said on Wednesday.

The December decline was originally reported at 84,000.

The median of estimates among economists surveyed by Reuters for the ADP Employer Services report, jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, was for a fall of 30,000 private-sector jobs last month.

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0821 EST 3Feb2010
Crude oil flat ahead of inventory data

March crude futures were flat on Tuesday ahead of the release of key inventory data out of the United States.

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The contract was up 0.1 percent at $77.28 per barrel.

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0758 EST 3Feb2010
Toyota US sales hit by recall, Honda ups outlook

Toyota Motor Corp suffered a sharp drop in U.S. sales last month as its massive recall and unprecedented sales halt allowed rivals to grab market share from the world's largest automaker.

Honda Motor Co was not a beneficiary of Toyota's woes in January, but it raised its forecast for the year to March after cost cutting contributed to the strongest quarterly profit in a year-and-a-half.

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U.S.-listed shares of Toyota fell 3.2 percent to $75.69 in premarket trading while Honda rose 3.6 percent to $35.50 on modest volume.

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0755 EST 3Feb2010
Futures little changed ahead of data

U.S. stock index futures were mostly flat on Wednesday, following two days of strong market gains and ahead of key jobs and services sector data expected to show the U.S. economy has continued to improve.

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Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 11 points while S&P 500 futures slid 0.2 points and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 2.25 points.

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0749 EST 3Feb2010
WellPoint CEO to take over as chairman

WellPoint Inc Chief Executive Officer Angela Braly will also become chairman of the company's board in March, the health insurer said on Wednesday.

Braly takes over for the retiring Larry Glasscock, who also preceded Braly as CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer by membership.

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Shares of WellPoint closed Tuesday at $65.05.

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