Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Govt. Set to Shut Down. The U.S. federal government is set to shut down tonight after midnight if a funding agreement is not worked out. Republican-led House passed a measure to fund the government that included a one-year delay to the individual mandate to Obamacare.  It also repealed the tax on medical devices. Businesses have already received the one-year delay. The Democrat-led Senate is due to meet today at 2 pm and they are expected to reject the House funding measures.

Upgrades:

Accenture (ACN): Societe Generale raised their rating from Sell to Hold and raised their target price from $70.00 to $75.00.

BlackBerry (BBRY): Bernstein raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform and placed a target price of $7.00 on the company. Pre-market: 7.93 -0.10 (-1.25%)

CIT Group (CIT): Janney Capital raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $52.00 to $58.00.

Colgate-Palmolive (CL): Morgan Stanley raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and placed a target price of $68.00 on the company.

JM Smucker (SJM): Citigroup raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $115.00 to $119.00.

Marathon Oil (MRO): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $42.00 on the company. Pre-market: 34.70 -0.20 (-0.57%)

Xilinx (XLNX): Pacific Crest raised their rating from Sector Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $55.00 on the company. Pre-market: 46.24 -0.30 (-0.64%)

Downgrades:

J. C. Penney (JCP): Maxim Group lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 8.79 -0.26 (-2.87%)

Earning Reports:

Cal-Maine Foods (CALM): Reported EPS of $0.36 missing estimates by -$0.13.

Omnova Solutions (OMN): Reported EPS of $0.19 missing estimates by -$0.03.

Markets: 
Futures at 6:20: Dow -0.84%. S&P -0.90%. Nasdaq -0.65%. Crude -1.22% to $101.59. Gold -0.46% to $1332.70. U.S. 10 Year +4/32 2.613%. 

Europe: London -0.81%. Paris -1.1%. Frankfurt -0.91%. 

Asia: Japan -2.06% to 14455.8. Hong Kong -1.50% to 22860. China +0.68% to 2175. India -1.76% to 19,380. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Nike Beats EPS Estimates. Nike (NKE) shares are 7% higher premarket after the company reported EPS that beat Wall Street estimates. The company reported FQ1 EPS of $0.86 beat estimates of $0.78. Profits at the company jumped 38% to $780M and revenue rose 8% to an expected $6.97B. Nike saw high demand in the U.S. and many international markets for its athletic products, except for China.  Global futures orders, a leading indicator for top line growth, rose 8%. Pre-market: 75.36 +5.02 (7.14%)

Upgrades:

Nike (NKE): Sterne Agee raised their rating from Neutral to Buy. Pre-market: 75.36 +5.02 (7.14%)

Occidental Petroleum (OXY): Susquehanna raised their rating from Neutral to Positive and placed a target price of $114.00 on the company. Pre-market: 93.57 -0.01 (-0.01%)

Downgrades:

Bank of America (BAC): Guggenheim lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 13.99 -0.09 (-0.64%)

Goldman Sachs (GS): Guggenheim lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 161.50 -0.79 (-0.49%)

International Game Technology (IGT): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and placed a target price of $22.00 on the company. After Hours: 20.60 -0.07 (-0.34%)

International Paper (IP): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $54.00 to $51.00. Pre-market: 46.50 -0.79 (-1.67%)

Marathon Oil (MRO): Stifel lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 35.00 -0.28 (-0.79%)

Coverage Initiated:

Masco Corp (MAS): FBR Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $24.00.

Owens Corning (OC): FBR Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $50.00.

Earning Reports:

Accenture (ACN): Reported EPS of $1.01 missing estimates by -$0.01. After Hours: 72.90 -2.97 (-3.91%)

BlackBerry (BBRY): Reported EPS of -$0.47 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 8.00 +0.05 (0.63%)

Finish Line (FINL): Reported EPS of $0.54 beating estimates by +$0.08. Pre-market: 25.00 +2.61 (11.66%)

Nike (NKE): Reported EPS of $0.86 beating estimates by +$0.08. Pre-market: 75.36 +5.02 (7.14%)

Thor Industries (THO): Reported EPS of $1.04 beating estimates by +$0.09.

Markets:

Futures at 6:20: Dow -0.31%. S&P -0.43%. Nasdaq -0.34%. Crude -0.57% to $102.49. Gold +0.14% at $1325.90. U.S. 10 Year +6/32 2.630%.

Europe:  London -0.82%. Paris -0.18%. Frankfurt -0.27%. 

Asia: Japan -0.26% to 14760. Hong Kong +0.35% to 23207. China +0.20% to 2160. India -0.84% to 19727. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Obamacare Sticker Shock. According to new government data the average cost of a mid-tier “Silver” health-insurance plan under Obamacare will be $328 a month. The Silver plan is the second to the lowest costing plan. The cost does not include the $2,000 deductible or the insurance co-pays. The three states with the highest uninsured population includes California where the average plan will cost $373, Florida where a plan will cost $328 and Texas where the silver plan will cost $305 a month. Recent data also shows that younger people who generally are healthy thereby using less medical services will be stuck with the bill, by subsidizing the elderly. People will be able to purchase insurance from the exchanges starting on October 1. , Insurers that intend to sell plans on exchanges include Aetna (AET), Humana (HUM), Molina Healthcare (MOH), UnitedHealth (UNH) and WellPoint (WLP).

Upgrades:

Diamond Offshore (DO): Guggenheim raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $73.00 to $80.00. Pre-market: 62.85 +0.72 (1.16%)

Duke Energy (DUK): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $79.00 on the company. Pre-market: 68.08 +0.39 (0.58%)

Infosys (INFY): RW Baird raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $46.00 to $58.00. Pre-market: 49.10 +0.49 (1.01%)

KB Home (KBH): ISI Group raised their rating from Cautious to Neutral. Pre-market: 17.97 +0.21 (1.18%)

Ross Stores (ROST): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Buy to Conviction Buy and placed a target price of $83.00 on the company.

Downgrades:

Dollar Tree (DLTR): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Conviction Buy to Buy and placed a target price of $61.00 on the company.

ENSCO PLC (ESV): Guggenheim lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $63.00 to $58.00. Pre-market: 54.36 -0.36 (-0.66%)

Skyworks Solutions (SWKS): B. Riley lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 25.72 -0.11 (-0.43%)

Coverage Initiated:

Cirrus Logic (CRUS): Northland Securities initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $26.00. Pre-market: 23.76 +0.16 (0.68%)

DTE Energy (DTE): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target range of $70.00 - $71.00.

Facebook (FB): Canaccord initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $60.00. Pre-market: 49.23 +0.78 (1.61%)

Earning Reports:

AutoZone (AZO): Reported EPS of $10.42 beating estimates by +$0.09. Pre-market: 416.00 +1.69 (0.41%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:46: Dow +0.02%. S&P +0.01%. Nasdaq +0.12%. Crude +0.75% to $103.90. Gold +0.16% to $1319.10. U.S 10 Year -0/32 2.660%

Europe: London -0.24%. Paris -0.16%. Frankfurt -0.02%. 

Asia: Japan -0.76% to 14621. Hong Kong +0.13% to 23210. China -0.41% to 2199. India -0.32% to 19856. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

BlackBerry to be Acquired. Troubled cell phone maker BlackBerry (BBRY) has agreed to be acquired for $4.7 billion. A consortium led by Fairfax Financial will pay $9.00 share in cash and roll over its existing 9.9% stake into its buyout offer.  Fairfax Financial will rely on other investors to finance the rest of the deal via equity and debt. BlackBerry can look at competing bids up until the due diligence is completed. Pre-market: 8.79 -0.03 (-0.34%)

Upgrades:

Apple (AAPL): Susquehanna raised their rating from Neutral to Positive and raised their target price from $440.00 to $625.00. Pre-market: 495.60 +4.96 (1.01%)

BlackBerry (BBRY): Cowen raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform and raised their target price from $8.00 to $9.00. Pre-market: 8.79 -0.03 (-0.34%)

BlackBerry (BBRY): Canaccord raised their rating from Sell to Hold and placed a target price of $9.00 on the company. Pre-market: 8.79 -0.03 (-0.34%)

Microchip Tech (MCHP): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $42.00 to $46.00. Pre-market: 40.84 +0.51 (1.26%)

Downgrades:

Automatic Data Processing (ADP): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform.

DirecTV (DTV): Moffett Research lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Equifax (EFX): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform.

Red Hat (RHT): Pacific Crest lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform. Pre-market: 47.55 -5.38 (-10.16%)

Coverage Initiated:

Automatic Data Processing (ADP): UBS initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $110.00.

Sturm Ruger & Company (RGR): Dougherty initiated coverage with a Neutral rating.

Tata Motors (TTM): Bernstein initiated coverage with an Outperform rating.

Earning Reports:

CarMax (KMX): Reported EPS of $0.62 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 52.22 +2.21 (4.42%)

KB Home (KBH): Reported EPS of $0.28 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 16.86 -0.17 (-1.00%)

Lennar (LEN): Reported EPS of $0.54 beating estimates by +$0.08. Pre-market: 35.10 +0.56 (1.62%)

Red Hat (RHT): Reported EPS of $0.35 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 47.55 -5.38 (-10.16%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:14: Dow +0.02%. S&P -0.02%. Nasdaq +0.09%. Crude -0.60% to $102.96. Gold -0.93% to $1315.00. U.S. 10 Year +5/32 2.688%

Europe: London +0.27%. Paris +0.69%. Frankfurt +0.25%. 

Asia: Japan -0.07% to 14732. Hong Kong -0.82% to 23179. China -0.61% to 2207. India +0.10% to 19911. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Eurozone PMI Continues to Rise. The Eurozone continues to recover as the composite PMI increased to a 27-month high of 52.1 from 51.5. Economists had been looking for a reading of only 51.9. Services exceeded expectations, but manufacturing unexpectedly fell. Economists say that the current reading is consistent with GDP growth of 0.2%.

Upgrades:

Copart (CPRT): RW Baird raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $38.00 to $42.00. Pre-market: 34.50 +0.75 (2.22%)

Darden Restaurants (DRI): Buckingham raised their rating from Underperform to Neutral and placed a target price of $44.00 on the company.

Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Conviction Buy and raised their target price from $30.00 to $34.00. Pre-market: 30.48 +0.80 (2.70%)

Nokia (NOK): HSBC raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 6.56 -0.02 (-0.30%)

Walgreen (WAG): Morgan Stanley raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and placed a target price of $70.00 on the company. Pre-market: 56.00 +0.48 (0.86%)

Zimmer Holdings (ZMH): RBC Capital raised their rating from Sector Perform to Outperform.

Downgrades:

BlackBerry (BBRY): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Sector Perform to Underperform. Pre-market: 8.43 -0.30 (-3.38%)

BlackBerry (BBRY): RW Baird lowered their rating from Neutral to Underperform and lowered their target price from $9.00 to $8.00. Pre-market: 8.43 -0.30 (-3.38%)

Darden Restaurants (DRI): Stephens lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered their target price from $55.00 to $52.00.

DreamWorks Animation (DWA): B. Riley lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

FedEx (FDX): Stifel lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 115.50 -1.33 (-1.14%)

ING Groep (ING): BNP Paribas lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral. Pre-market: 11.40 -0.14 (-1.21%)

Oceaneering Intl (OII): Global Hunter lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $92.00 to $81.00.

Coverage Initiated:

Nokia (NOK): Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Buy rating. Pre-market: 6.56 -0.02 (-0.30%)

Markets: 
Futures at 6:20: Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.2%. Nasdaq +0.3%. Crude +0.2% to $104.95. Gold -0.8% to $1322. U.S. 10 Year 0/32 2.736%

Europe: London -0.2%. Paris +0.1%. Frankfurt 0.0%. 

Asia: Japan closed. Hong Kong -0.6% to 23372. China +1.3% to 2221. India -1.8% to 19901. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Fed News Sends World Markets Higher. Yesterday the Federal Reserve unexpectedly announced that it would keep its monetary stimulus policy unchanged.  The news sent world stock markets and commodity prices higher. The Fed will maintain its asset purchase program of $85 billion a month instead of tapering off the program.  Economists have expected a $10 billion monthly reduction in the program.

Rick Paler President of RL Paler Investment Advisors, LLC said “The Fed news should help the stock market and lower mortgage rates going forward, but also indicates the Fed is still worried about the economy.”

Upgrades:

AOL (AOL): Topeka raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $43.00 on the company. Pre-market: 35.45 +1.08 (3.14%)

Diageo PLC (DEO): Bernstein raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform. Pre-market: 134.07 +2.80 (2.13%)

Groupon (GRPN): Stifel raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $16.00 on the company. Pre-market: 12.02 +0.47 (4.07%)

Travelers Cos. (TRV): FBR Capital raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $84.00 to $94.00.

Time Warner (TWX): Morgan Stanley raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and raised their target price to $72.00. Pre-market: 64.35 +1.01 (1.59%)

Downgrades:

FedEx (FDX): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $116.00 to $112.00. Pre-market: 115.06 -1.19 (-1.02%)

Walt Disney (DIS): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered their target price to $70.00. Pre-market: 66.45 -0.66 (-0.98%)

Coverage Initiated:

Amazon.com (AMZN): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $350.00. Pre-market: 312.40 +0.37 (0.12%)

Cardinal Health (CAH): Sterne Agee initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $48.00.

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and target price of $21.00. Pre-market: 24.56 -0.24 (-0.95%)

Google (GOOG): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $1090.00. Pre-market: 905.70 +2.38 (0.26%)

LinkedIn (LNKD): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $302.00. Pre-market: 252.00 +2.42 (0.97%)

Netflix (NFLX): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Fair Value rating. Pre-market: 307.25 +0.33 (0.11%)

Oracle (ORCL): William Blair initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating. Pre-market: 33.66 -0.21 (-0.62%)

Quest Diagnostics (DGX): Craig-Hallum initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $74.00.

Yahoo! (YHOO): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Fair Value rating. Pre-market: 30.52 +0.09 (0.28%)

Zillow (Z): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Fair Value rating.

Earning Reports:

ConAgra (CAG): Reported EPS of $0.37 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 31.69 -0.38 (-1.18%)

Oracle (ORCL): Reported EPS of $0.59 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 33.66 -0.21 (-0.62%)

Rite Aid (RAD): Reported EPS of $0.03 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 4.17 +0.46 (12.40%)

Scholastic Corp (SCHL): Reported EPS of -0.90 missing estimates by -$0.28.

Steelcase (SCS): Reported EPS of $0.24 missing estimates by -$0.02.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:09: Dow +0.14%. S&P +0.21%. Nasdaq +0.23%. Crude +0.7% to $108.40. Gold +4.76% to $1369.70. U.S. 10 Year -3.32 2.704%.

Europe: London +1.40%. Paris +0.86%. Frankfurt +0.99%. 

Asia: Japan +1.80% to 14766. Hong Kong +1.67% to 23502. China, Closed. India +3.43% to 20607.