Zacks Equity Research picks Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE: HMY) as Bull of the Day and Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE) as Bear of the Day. In addition, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research discuss the latest on Macy's (NYSE: M), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) and Kohl's (NYSE: KSS).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678

Bull of the Day

Formed in 1950, South Africa's Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE: HMY) conducts underground and surface gold mining. It is also engaged in related activities such as exploration, processing, smelting and refining. Presently, Harmony is the 3rd largest producer of gold in South Africa, producing about 20% of the country's annual gold output and the 5th largest gold producer in the world.

Harmony Gold is benefiting from higher gold prices in terms of the South African rand. Going forward however, Harmony is focused on lowering its cost structure, primarily by closure of loss-making shafts and reducing its debt level aggressively.

As a result, we rate the shares a Buy with a target of $16.00. The company is also focused on reducing its operating costs through restructuring efforts. As a result, we rate the shares a Buy with a target of $16.00. This is 39.0x our 2009 earnings estimate.

Bear of the Day

Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE) is a global hybrid chemical company based in Dallas. The company produces chemical substances and materials.

Weak market conditions drove a dramatic decline in overall global demand for many industries which affected Celanese operations. Recessionary trends, coupled with inventory destocking, resulted in sharp volume declines in the Advanced Engineered Materials and the Acetyl Intermediates businesses.

The company expects volumes to remain under pressure in 2009, even with the easing of inventory destocking. Thus, we rate the shares a Sell with a target of $9.00.

Recent Analysis from the Analyst Blog

Private Labels Grow More Popular

Consumers are looking for ways to save money, and switching from name brands to private brands fits the bill. This shouldn't be too surprising as shoppers can routinely save up to 20% on private-label products compared to similar name-brand products. Retailers also benefit from private-label sales.

Store traffic increases as shoppers seek out lower-cost items, and private-label products are more profitable than name brands. For those reasons, grocers and drug stores have been selling private-label food, staples, and medicines for years.

Due to the difficult economic conditions, more retailers are now ramping up their private-label efforts. While retailers including Macy's (NYSE: M), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) and Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) already carry their own brands for some products, they are increasing their private-label offerings to attract shoppers looking for lower priced merchandise.

This is clear sign that consumers will continue to trade down to cheaper alternatives for sometime. Those retailers that adjust their merchandise to this trend will be more successful than those retailers that do not.

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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.

About the Analyst Blog

Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.

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