MORNING COFFEE

Jefferson County Bankrupt: Yesterday, Jefferson County located in Alabama filed for chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.  The filing has become the largest municipal failure in U.S. history, the county owed over $3 billion for sewer treatment plants.  One of the creditors is JPMorgan (JPM) which will have to take substantial losses. JPM Pre-market: 33.11 +0.57 (1.75%)

Upgrades

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG): Miller Tabak raised their rating from Sell to Neutral.  Pre-market: 335.20 +2.36 (0.71%)

Ashland Inc. (ASH): JP Morgan raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight and raised their target price from $56.00 to $62.00.

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Deutsche Bank raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $17.00 to $22.00. Pre-market: 18.77 +1.16 (6.59%)

Downgrades

Advance Auto Parts (AAP): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and maintained their $70.00 target price. Pre-market: 67.50 +1.13 (1.70%)

Kellogg (K): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $60.00 to $50.00. Pre-market: 49.20 +0.12 (0.24%)

Coverage Initiated

Eastman Chemical (EMN): Ticonderoga initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $56.00.

Earning Reports

Advance Auto Parts (AAP): Reported EPS of $1.41 beating estimates by +$0.22.

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Reported EPS of $0.43 beating estimates by +$0.04.

Huntington Ingalls (HII): Reported EPS of $1.05 beating estimates by +$0.20.

Kolh’s (KSS): Reported EPS of $0.80 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 56.00 +1.71 (3.15%)

Tim Horton’s (THI): Reported EPS of $0.65 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Viacom (VIA.B): Reported EPS of $1.06 beating estimates by +$0.04.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:10: Dow +0.90%. S&P +1.26%. Nasdaq +1.14%. Crude +1.47% to $97.15. Gold -1.08% to $1772.70. 

Europe: London +0.60%. Paris +0.64%. Frankfurt +1.10%. 

Asia: Japan -2.91% to 8500. Hong Kong -5.25% to 18963. China -1.8-% to 2479. India -1.18% to 17362.