MORNING COFFEE

New Short Sale Program. The White House's has new program in a attempt to stem the foreclosure crisis.  The program allows homeowners to sell their houses for less than what they owe, and gives them $1,500 to move. The process, known as a short sale, will also make lenders forgive the difference between the sale price of the property and what they're actually owed. The move could potentially help hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers from among the 5 million households that are behind on their mortgages and face possible foreclosure.

China’s Yuan vs. Dollar. China struck a more flexible tone on currency appreciation over the weekend, central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said the yuan's de-facto peg to the dollar a "special measure" used as a temporary response to the financial crisis. He also said China will eventual move away from its current exchange-rate policies, though change is unlikely in the near future.

Upgrades

Research In Motion (RIMM): BMO Capital Markets raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $70.00 to $88.00.

Yahoo! (YHOO): JMP Securities raised their rating from Market Perform to Market Outperform and raised their target price to $21.00.

Downgrades

Fifth Third (FTIB): FBR Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and placed a target price of $14.00.

Coverage Resumed

Cisco Systems (CSCO): JP Morgan resumed coverage with a Overweight rating.

·         Futures: Dow flat. S&P -0.1%. Nasdaq -0.1%. Crude +0.4% to $81.84. Gold flat at $1135.30.

·         Asia: Nikkei +2.1% to 10586. Hang Seng +2.0% to 21197. Shanghai+0.7% to 3053. BSE +0.6% to 17103.

·         Europe: London -0.3% to 5582. Paris -0.1% to 3905. Frankfurt -0.1% to 5870.