>>> Charter Comm upgraded to Outperform at Telsey Advisory Group; tgt raised to

Charter Comm upgraded to Outperform at Telsey Advisory Group; tgt raised to $450
Telsey Advisory Group upgrades CHTR to Outperform from Market Perform and raises their tgt to $450 from $340. With Telecom and Cable battling for strategic leverage for the next five years of media and communications firm expects continued consolidation will occur within and of cable operators. While S has made soft gestures at cable in an effort to test the waters and improve its positioning, firm expects ATUS has the edge in consolidating cable. It trades at a lofty EBITDA multiple and generates DD EBITDA growth. Also, they expect Liberty Media (LBTYA) and John Malone would prefer to be aligned with ATUS more than S. So, ATUS becomes the white knight. The next question is, who or what will be Mr Malone's new target.

(WP) FBI reportedly raided Pres Trump's former campaign manager Manafort's house

FBI reportedly raided Pres Trump's former campaign manager Manafort's house last month as part of Russia investigation - press 
- Raided the home in predawn hours of July 26th, seized documents and other materials (occurred day after Manafort met with Senate Intel Committee staff) 

>>> CNBC's Faber: Sources say Altice working on offer to buy Charter - Proposal

CNBC's Faber: Sources say Altice working on offer to buy Charter 
- Proposal not yet made to Charter or its advisers 
- Liberty's Malone said to be wary of accepting Altice paper as part of any deal


Quick Comment : Charter, with $60 billion in debt and an expected purchase price that could reach or exceed $500 a share would represent an enterprise value of almost $200 billion. While Altice operates at higher levels of leverage than Charter and would be expected to add two turns of leverage to the $16 billion in cash flow it receives from Charter in the deal, those additional borrowings would not be near enough to fund a large cash component.