FISHER CAPITAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES: 11 STOCKS TO WATCH: MCDONALD’S, CIENA

THUR June 09, 2011

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Fast food chain McDonald’s (MCD_) reported comparable-sales growth of 3.1% in May. U.S. and Europe comparable sales were up 2.4% and 2.3%, respectively. Same-store sales rose 4.3% in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

McDonald’s shares were down 1.9% to $79.63 in premarket trading Wednesday due to the smaller-than-expected rise in U.S. comparable store sales.

Ciena(CIEN_) shares were tumbling 11.4% to $21.46 after the provider of communications networking equipment reported a second-quarter loss of 24 cents a share compared with the Wall Street consensus target of a loss of 11 cents a share.

Leonard Green & Partners and fellow private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners are set to make a joint buyout offer next week for BJ’s Wholesale Club(BJ_) that could value the warehouse retailer at about $2.8 billion, The New York Post reported. Shares of BJ’s were rising 3.3% to $49.25.

LDK Solar(LDK_) dipped 3.2% to $6.87 after the company reported first-quarter earnings of $135.4 million, or 95 cents a share, but saw revenue decline17% on a sequential basis to $766.3 million.

Citigroup(C_) was falling 0.7% to $37.33 in premarket trading Wednesday after reaching a deal to sell a $1.7 billion portfolio of private-equity assets to AXA Private Equity, the European buyout firm.

Miner Cliffs Natural Resources(CLF_) was up 0.2% to $85.81 after announcing that its recently announced offering of 9 million common shares was priced at $85.63 a common share.

Aircraft leasing company Air Lease(AL_) was up 0.2% to $24.97 after announcing that it has issued $120 million in senior unsecured notes in a private placement to institutional investors. The company said this was part of its move to fund future fleet acquisitions.

Analogic (ALOG_), a provider of medical imaging and aviation security technology, reported third-quarter earnings of 54 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate of 44 cents a share.

Comcast’s (CMCSA_) NBCUniversal won the U.S. broadcasting rights to the Olympic Games from 2014 to 2020, beating Foxand ESPN with a $4.38 billion bid.

Red Bank, N.J.-based home builder Hovnanian Enterprises(HOV_) reported a much wider loss for its fiscal second quarter vs. last year as gross margins deteriorated and contract backlog declined.

Specialty retailer Men’s Wearhouse(MW_) is expected to report a first-quarter profit of 49 cents a share after the markets close Wednesday.