MORNING COFFEE

Bernanke Gives Dim View. In an interview on 60 minutes Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a dim outlook on the economy.  During the interview he said that "We're not very far from the level where the economy is not self-sustaining." He also warned that it could take five years for unemployment to fall back to "normal" levels. As far as QE2 he said that he is please with it and would do more in needed.  Some are concerned that the Fed’s policies could cause runaway inflation.  To that he said he’s "100% confident" the Fed has the tools to control it, and that the Fed “will not allow inflation to rise above 2%.” Stock futures are lower today on the news.

Upgrades

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Oppenheimer raised their rating from Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $23.00 on the company.

Downgrades

Diamond Foods (DMND): Northland Securities lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform.

Novellus (NVLS): Stifel Nicolaus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and placed a target price of $32.00 on the company.

Federal-Mogul (FMO): Robert W. Baird lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and placed a target price of $21.00 on the company.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Compuware (CPWR): Northland Securities reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $10.50 to $12.00.

Illinois Tool (ITW): Robert W. Baird reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $60.00 to $62.00.

Earning Reports

Dollar General (DG): Reported EPS of $0.39 beating estimates by +$0.04.

·         Futures at 9:07: S&P -0.27%. Dow -0.17%. Nasdaq -0.03%. Crude -0.20% to $88.83. Gold +0.47% to $1412.60.

·         Asia: Japan -0.1%. Hong Kong -0.4%. China +0.5%. India +0.1%.

·         Europe: London +0.41%. Paris 0.0%. Frankfurt +0.16%.