Zacks Gives Thumbs Down to 2 REITs

The stocks of Equity Office Properties Trust, Chicago, and MeriStar Hospitality Corp., Arlington, Va., have received "strong sell" ratings from Zacks.com.The Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) ratings are assigned to a list of Stocks to Sell Now by Chicago-based Zacks & Co. Zacks noted that EOPT recently reported fourth-quarter earnings that fell short of those from a year earlier, and said earnings estimates for 2004 have slumped in the face of "challenging" fundamentals in the office property sector. MeriStar reported a net loss in the fourth quarter, albeit a smaller one than it reported a year earlier, Zacks said, and it has received downward revisions in earnings estimates from several analysts. Zacks can be found online at http://www.zacks.com.