NEW YORK - Shares of casino operator Ameristar Casinos Inc. seesawed Monday after JPMorgan Securities boosted its rating on the stock, saying that it could trade up as investors predict a possible takeover.
Shares traded as high as $14.60 Monday, an increase of nearly 9 percent over Thursday's closing price. The stock closed unchanged at $13.44. Shares have traded between $12.76 and $38 during the past 52 weeks.
JPMorgan analyst Joseph Greff raised Ameristar's stock to "Neutral" from "Underweight," noting that the company's stock had dropped roughly 25 percent since early June.
Also, Greff said the termination last week of Penn National Gaming Inc.'s $5.82 billion takeover deal by private investors is likely to increase speculation that Ameristar is now a target for Penn.
Penn received $225 million in cash as a termination fee, plus $1.25 billion in what amounts to no-cost capital until 2015.

Next weeks G8 may shine the spotlight on the USD as the global standard
The main financial headlines for the day:
Cisco live 2009 website is down and nobody can access the site for the latest in...


Come and experience the trading platform that everyone talks about. Simple, fast and exciting.
Take profit from the markets roller coaster. No downloads, no commissions, no spreads.
Effective and Affordable Press Release Distribution Service