MORNING COFFEE

No Budget Meeting Scheduled. 

The Republican and Democratic negotiators were scheduled to meet again today, but reports say no meeting will occur.  The meeting would have attempted to seal a deal on budget cuts to avert a government shutdown which will occur on Friday. The budget should have taken effect back in October of last year, but was not voted on while the Democrats had control of both houses and the Oval Office.  Some political analysts say it was a strategic move by Democrats, since they didn’t want to pass budget cuts prior to the November election. The Republican controlled House is calling for $61 billion in cuts, while Democrats have tentatively agreed on $33 billion in cuts.

Upgrades

Broadcom (BRCM): Oppenheimer raised their rating from Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $55.00 on the company.

Aeropostale (ARO): KeyBanc Capital Markets raised their rating from Underweight to Hold.

La-Z-Boy (LZB): KeyBanc Capital Markets raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $13.00 on the company.

Barclays PLC (BCS): Canaccord Genuity raised their rating from Hold to Buy.  

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Diamond Foods (DMND): RBC Capital Markets reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $54.00 to $69.00.

KB Home (KBH): RBC Capital Markets reiterated their Outperform rating and lowered their target price from $17.00 to $14.00.

Stryker (SYK): Oppenheimer reiterated their Outperform rating and lowered their target price from $61.00 to $68.00.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated their Buy rating and lowered their target price from $65.00 to $75.00.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): Oppenheimer reiterated their Outperform rating and lowered their target price from $60.00 to $74.00.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): Brean Murray reiterated their Buy rating and lowered their target price from $70.00 to $80.00.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): Janney Mntgmy Scott reiterated their Buy rating and lowered their target price from $72.00 to $81.00.

Earning Reports

Monsanto (MON): Reported EPS of $1.87 beating estimates by+$0.03.

·         Futures at 7:00: Dow +0.5%. S&P +0.7%. Nasdaq +0.8%. Crude -0.1% to $108.20. Gold +0.5% to $1460.40.

·         Europe: London +0.6%. Paris +0.3%. Frankfurt +0.7%.

·         Asia: Japan -0.3% to 9584. Hong Kong +0.6% to 24285. China +1.1% to 3001. India -0.4% to 19612.