STOCKS NEWS US-Wedbush starts covering enterprise software co's

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U.S. stock market report [.N]
1344 ET 19March2009-Wedbush starts covering enterprise software co's
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Wedbush Morgan on Thursday started coverage on the enterprise software
group, saying that some sectors of the industry represented secular growth
opportunities while others were being impacted by cautious information
technology spending.

The firm said that online business optimization software was poised for
growth, as marketing and IT-related budgets continued to shift towards online
channels from traditional customer touch-point channels. Among the companies in
this group, Wedbush started coverage on Art Technology Group (ARTG.O) with a
strong buy rating.

The software group that was being hurt by cautious IT spending, Wedbush
said, was the enterprise resource planning/ customer relationship management
software group. The software required "large, costly implementations with long
time-to-returns," it wrote.

Among the companies manufacturing this software, Wedbush started both
Chordiant Software (CHRD.O) and CDC Corp (CHINA.O) at hold.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1328 ET 19March2009-Markets fall on banks, big pharma
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Major U.S. indexes fell on Thursday, hurt by profit-taking in financial
stocks and a drag in large-cap pharamceutical stocks.

Pharma stocks were hurt after a report said that 2008 growth of U.S.
prescription drug sales was about only one third of the growth in 2007.

For details, see [ID:nN19437256]

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 0.8 percent to 7,425.01 while
the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.7 percent to 788.90 and the Nasdaq .IXIC was off
0.4 percent to 1,486.03.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1323 ET 19March2009-Wal-Mart to award $2 bln to hourly employees
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Wal-Mart Stores (WMT.N) is awarding about $2 billion to its U.S. hourly
employees, after the retailer gained market share amid a recession that has
pushed consumers to seek bargains.

The money includes about $933.6 million in bonuses, $788.8 million in
profit sharing and 401(k) contributions, merchandise discounts and
contributions to employee stock purchase programs, according to a memo to
Wal-Mart employees obtained by Reuters.

For details, see [ID:nN19422853]

Shares of Wal-Mart fell 0.6 percent to $50.12.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1311 ET 19March2009-Developers Diversified falls on S&P 500 removal
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Shares of Developers Diversified Realty Corp (DDR.N) tumbled on Thursday
after Standard & Poor's said the company will be replaced in the S&P 500 index
by Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC.N) after the close of trading on March 27.

S&P also said that O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY.O) will replace Noble Corp
(NE.N) in the index on a date to be announced. Itron Inc (ITRI.O) will replace
O'Reilly in the S&P MidCap 400 index and NBT Bancorp (NBTB.O) will take the
place of Itron in the S&P SmallCap 600 index.

Shares of Developers Diversified fell nearly 19 percent to $2.18 while Time
Warner Cable shed 4.8 percent to $25.95. O'Reilly Auto rose 1 percent to $35.35
and Noble Corp gained 7.3 percent to $26.95. NBT Bancorp added 6.5 percent to
$22.34 while Itron rose 0.7 percent to $45.33.
(Reuters Messaging:rm://Charles.mikolajczak.reuters.com@reuters.net))