MORNING COFFEE

100 Year Govt. Bonds. Many on Wall Street have been speaking with the government to lock in low interest rates for several decades by issuing long-term bonds that mature in 50 or 100 years. By issuing the bonds, called “century bonds”, the government would benefit from historically low rates while pushing some of its significant debt into the future. The Treasury department has said they are open to the idea of bonds that extended beyond thirty years.

Upgrades

FedEx (FDX): Robert W. Baird raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $109.00 to $117.00.

Downgrades

Southwest Air (LUV): Argus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Intersil (ISIL): Morgan Keegan lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and placed a target price of $13.00 on the company.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed 

Intersil (ISIL): Wedbush reiterated their Neutral rating and lowered their target price from $14.00 to $11.00.

NetLogic (NETL): Wedbush reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $40.00 to $45.00.

Exxon Mobil (XOM): Oppenheimer reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $90.00 to $96.00.

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Oppenheimer reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $23.00 to $25.00.

Earning Reports

CIGNA (CI): Reported Q4 EPS of $1.15 beating estimates by +$0.13 on revenue of $5.43 billion, up +17.1%.

Dow Chemical (DOW): Reported Q4 EPS of $0.47 beating estimates by +$0.12 on revenue of $13.77 billion, up +10.5%. 

Starwood Hotels (HOT): Reported Q4 EPS of $0.52 beating estimates by +$0.13 on revenue of $1.34 billion, up +7.5%. 

Ameriprise Financial (AMP): Q4 EPS of $1.21 missing estimates by -$0.10 on revenue of $2.6 billion, up +18%.

BMC Software (BMC): Reported FQ3 EPS of $0.79 missing estimates by -$0.01 on revenue of $540 million, up +6.3%.

News Corporation (NSWA): Reported FQ2 EPS of $0.29 beating estimates by +$0.01 on revenue of $8.8 billion, up +0.9%. 

Visa (V): FQ1 EPS of $1.23 beating estimates by +$0.02 on revenue of $2.2 billion, up +14%.

Yum! Brands (YUM): Reported Q4 EPS of $0.63 beating estimates by +$0.03 on revenue of $3.6 billion, up +6%.

·         Futures at 7:00: Dow -0.05%. S&P -0.1%. Nasdaq -0.2%. Crude +0.9% to $91.71. Gold -0.2% to $1329.20.

·         Europe: London -0.4%. Paris -1.1%. Frankfurt -0.1%.

·         Asia: Japan -0.3% to 10431. Hong Kong +1.8% to 23909. China +0.3% to 2799. India +1.98% to 18449.