Walt Disney to Acquire Maker Studios

Walt Disney to Acquire Maker Studios. Disney (DIS) will acquire YouTube content provider Maker Studios for $500M, with as much as $450M in performance earn-outs. Maker Studios receives receives 5.5B monthly video views and has 380M YouTube channel subscribers. Pre-market: 80.40 +0.91 (1.14%)

Upgrades:

Paccar (PCAR): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $74.00 to $80.00.

SABMiller PLC (SBMRY): Bernstein raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform.

Downgrades:

Arch Coal (ACI): Jeffries lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and placed a target price of $4.75 on the company.

AT&T (T): HSBC lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral and lowered their target price from $39.00 to $35.00. Pre-market: 34.34 -0.12 (-0.35%)

KBR (KBR): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $34.00 to $32.00.

Navistar International (NAV): UBS lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $44.00 to $36.00.

Timken (TKR): KeyBanc lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Earning Reports:

Carnival (CCL): Reported EPS of $0.00 beating estimates by +$0.08. Pre-market: 38.90 -1.10 (-2.75%)

McCormick (MKC): Reported EPS of $0.62 beating estimates by +$0.02.

Walgreens (WAG): Reported EPS of $0.91 missing estimates -$0.01. Pre-market: 65.25 +0.94 (1.46%)

Markets:
Futures at 6:20: Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.1%. Nasdaq +0.1%. Crude +0.3% to $99.89. Gold -1.6% to $1314.40.  U.S. 10 Year -6/32 to 2.752%.

Europe: London +1.1%. Paris +1.1%. Frankfurt +1.1%.

Asia: Japan -0.4% to 14423. Hong Kong -0.5% to 21732. China +0.05% to 2067. India -0.1% to 22055.

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King Obama Uses His Pen

King Obama Uses His Pen. During the State of the Union speech President Obama said that “We’re not just going to be waiting for legislation, or plans, or any logical idea of what will actually result in order to make sure that we’re providing Americans the kind of help I’ve decided they need,” He went on to say “I’ve got a pen, I’ve got paper, scotch tape, a fax machine, a copier, a phone, and a whole box of those binder clips.”  Working around Congress the President used his pen and changed his Obamacare law once again. The latest law change will delay the part of Obamacare, saying that businesses with 50-99 full-time workers won't have to provide health insurance to their workers until 2016. Which analysts say is a political move designed to put off the requirement until after the election. Larger companies will have to cover at least 70% of employees by 2015 and 95% buy 2016. The original law states that companies had to offer health coverage this year.

Upgrades:

Allscripts (MDRX): Maxim raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $20.00 on the company.

Eastman Chemical (EMN): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Ralph Lauren (RL): Atlantic Equities raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight and placed a target price of $187.00 on the company.

Tata Motors (TTM): Nomura raised their rating from Neutral to Buy. Pre-market: 30.14 -0.48 (-1.57%)

Downgrades:

CVS Caremark (CVS): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce. Pre-market: 68.29 +1.35 (2.02%)

KB Homes (KBH): Raymond James lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform. Pre-market: 18.57 -0.31 (-1.64%)

Lennar (LEN): Raymond James lowered their rating from Outperform to Strong Buy and placed a target price of $46.00 on the company. Pre-market: 40.64 -0.25 (-0.61%)

United States Steel (X): Citigroup lowered their rating from Neutral to Sell and lowered their target price from $28.00 to $23.00.

Coverage Initiated:

AT&T (T): Drexel Hamilton initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $40.00. Pre-market: 32.60 +0.16 (0.49%)

Thermo Fisher (TMO): JPMorgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and target price of $135.00.

Earning Reports:

CVS Caremark (CVS): Reported EPS of $1.12 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 68.29 +1.35 (2.02%)

Dean Foods (DF): Reported EPS of $0.18 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 13.40 -1.80 (-11.84%)

Health Net (HNT): Reported EPS of $0.24 missing estimates by -$0.04. Pre-market: 33.50 +0.75 (2.29%)

Marsh McLennan (MMC): Reported EPS of $0.54 missing estimates by -$0.02.

Mosaic (MOS): Reported EPS of $0.36 missing estimates by -$0.06. Pre-market: 47.35 +0.53 (1.13%)

Reynolds American (RAI): Reported EPS of $0.77 missing estimates by -$0.04. Pre-market: 48.50 -0.31 (-0.64%)

Sprint (S): Reported EPS of -$0.26 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 8.25 +0.56 (7.28%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:17: Dow +0.40%. S&P +0.36%. Nasdaq +0.43%. Crude +0.14% to $100.20. Gold +0.93% to $1286.50. U.S. 10 Year -8/32 to 2.70%.

Europe: London +0.83%. Paris +0.63%. Frankfurt +1.48%. 

Asia: Japan closed. Hong Kong +1.78% to 21963. China +0.84% to 2104. India +0.14% to 20363. 

#TopWealthManager #RLPaler #PreMarket #WallStreet #EarningReports #AnalystsRatings

President Obama Will Act Alone

President Obama Will Act Alone. During last night’s State of the Union speech President Obama said that he would use his executive power to implement his economic and other policies, while highlighting the gap between the rich and poor that has widened during his administration. President Obama announced a dozen proposals including raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for future federal contract workers that would affect about 560,000 people.  Additionally, some analysts believe he will also attempt to use his executive power to act on immigration reform and gun control, two hot buttons with American’s that many constitutional scholars say would be unconstitutional and illegal. During his speech the President also said he plans to create a government-coordinated retirement savings program that would provide a guaranteed return, but not additional specific are available at this time.

Upgrades:

CIT Group (CIT): Buckingham raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $54.00 on the company.

VMware (VMW): Raymond James raised their rating from Outperform to Strong Buy and placed a target price of $109.00 on the company. Pre-market: 94.00 -0.94 (-0.99%)

Wal-Mart (WMT): Credit Suisse raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $80.00 to $87.00. Pre-market: 74.81 +0.14 (0.19%)

Downgrades:

WellPoint (WLP): Monness Crespi lowered their rating from Neutral to Sell. Pre-market: 81.60 -2.70 (-3.20%)

Yahoo! (YHOO): Gabelli lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 35.90 -2.32 (-6.07%)

Earning Reports:

Amgen (AMGN): Reported EPS of $1.82 beating estimates by +0.14. Pre-market: 117.09 -3.61 (-2.99%)

AT&T (T): Reported EPS of $0.53 beating estimates by +0.03. Pre-market: 32.77 -0.93 (-2.76%)

Boeing (BA): Reported EPS of $1.88 beating estimates by +0.31. Pre-market: 131.75 -5.34 (-3.90%)

Cirrus Logic (CRUS): Reported EPS of $0.89 beating estimates by +0.12. Pre-market: 17.50 -1.24 (-6.62%)

Dow Chemical (DOW): Reported EPS of $0.65 beating estimates by +0.22.

EMC (EMC): Reported EPS of $0.60 beating estimates by +0.01. Pre-market: 25.50 +0.12 (0.47%)

Jetblue Airways (JBLU): Reported EPS of $0.14 beating estimates by +0.01. Pre-market: 8.74 0.00 (0.00%)

Novartis AG (NVS): Reported EPS of $1.20 beating estimates by +0.01. Pre-market: 78.94 -0.62 (-0.78%)

Phillips 66 (PSX): Reported EPS of $1.34 beating estimates by +0.24. Pre-market: 73.00 -2.08 (-2.77%)

VMware (VMW): Reported EPS of $1.01 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 94.00 -0.94 (-0.99%)

WellPoint (WLP): Reported EPS of $0.87 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 81.60 -2.70 (-3.20%)

Yahoo! (YHOO): Reported EPS of $0.46 beating estimates by +0.08. Pre-market: 35.90 -2.32 (-6.07%)

Markets:
Futures at 8:33: Dow -0.49%. S&P -0.45%. Nasdaq -0.46%. Crude -0.15% to $97.27. Gold +1.02% to $1263.70. U.S. 10 Year +10/32 to 2.724%.

Europe: London -0.51%. Paris -0.86%. Frankfurt -0.48%.

Asia: Japan +2.70% to 15384. Hong Kong +0.82% to 22142. China +0.56% to 2050. India -0.18% to 20647.

#TopWealthManager #RLPaler #WallStreet #AnalystsRatings #EarningReports #WealthManagement

New Year, New “Dogs of the Dow.”

New Year, New “Dogs of the Dow.” With the New Year comes a list of the new “Dogs of the Dow.” This year’s list of the 10 “Dogs of the Dow” looks a lot like the list from 2013. The list consists of the 10 highest yielding stocks in the Dow Jones Index. This year the top honor goes to AT&T (T) with a yield of 5.3%, followed by Verizon (VZ) with a dividend yield of 4.4%. Other companies making the Dog list this year include Merck (MRK), Intel (INTC), Pfizer (PFE), McDonald’s (MCD), Chevron (CVX), General Electric (GE), Cisco (CSCO) and Microsoft (MSFT). Collectively, this year’s “Dogs of the Dow” have a dividend yield of near 4%. Last year the “Dogs” outperform the market with a return of 33%.

Upgrades:

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS): Needham raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $16.00 on the company. Pre-market: 14.51 +0.50 (3.57%)

Infosys Ltd (INFY): HSBC raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight.

Metlife (MET): Janney Capital raised their rating from Neutral to Buy. Pre-market: 53.19 0.00 (0.00%)

Downgrades:

Chubb (CB): Janney Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

General Electric (GE): Oppenheimer lowered their rating from Outperform to Perform.

Joy Global (JOY): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Neutral to Sell and placed a target price of $52.00 on the company. Pre-market: 55.00 -1.36 (-2.41%)

Micron Tech (MU): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform and maintained their target price of $19.00. Pre-market: 21.19 -0.47 (-2.17%)

Prudential Financial (PRU): Janney Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 90.76 0.00 (0.00%)

Sprint (S): Stifel lowered their rating from Hold to Sell. Pre-market: 10.08 -0.32 (-3.08%)

Coverage Initiated:

Bank of Montreal (BMO): RBC Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS): RBC Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating.

Canadian Imperial Bank (CM): RBC Capital initiated coverage with a Sector Perform rating.

Toronto Dominion Bank (TD): RBC Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating.

Markets: 

Futures at 8:38: Dow +0.20%. S&P +0.20%. Nasdaq +0.06%. Crude -0.31% to $95.13. Gold +0.24% to $1228.20. U.S. 10 Year -3/32 to 3.004%.

Europe: London +0.28%. Paris +0.66%. Frankfurt +0.41%. 

Asia: Japan +0.69% to 16291. Hong Kong -2.25% to 22817. China -0.31% to 2083. India -0.18% to 20851. 

#RLPaler #WallStreet #PreMarket #WealthManagement #EarningReports #AnalystsRatings #DogsoftheDow

AstraZeneca Eyes Bid on Forest Labs

AstraZeneca  Eyes Bid on Forest Labs. 

Reports say that AstraZeneca (AZN) has met with Forest Labs (FRX) top executives concerning a takeover bid for the company. Forest Labs has a market cap of $15.2B and on Monday announced a restructuring on Monday.

Upgrades:

Electronic Arts (EA): Hilliard Lyons raised their rating from Underperform to Neutral. Pre-market: 21.57 +0.03 (0.14%)

US Bancorp (USB): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Conviction Buy and raised their target price from $40.00 to $44.00.

Downgrades:

AT&T (T): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral and placed a target price of $38.00 on the company.

Citigroup (C): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Conviction Buy to Neutral and raised their target price from $58.00 to $60.00.

eBay (EBAY): Evercore lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and placed a target price of $58.00 on the company.

Coverage Initiated:

Cablevision Systems (CVC): Northland Securities initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $19.00.

Charter Communications (CHTR): Northland Securities initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $146.00.

Comcast (CMCSA): Northland Securities initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $61.00.

Dish Network (DISH): Northland Securities initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $61.00.

DIRECTV (DTV): Northland Securities initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $84.00.

McDonalds (MCD): Buckingham initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $99.00.

Mosaic (MOS): RBC Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $57.00.

Time Warner Cable (TWC): Northland Securities initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $165.00.

Whirlpool (WHR): MKM Partners initiated coverage with a Buy rating and Target price of $183.00.

Earning Reports:

Bob Evans (BOBE): Reported EPS of $0.35 missing estimates by -$0.20. Pre-market: 51.99 -3.11 (-5.64%)

Brown-Forman (BF.B): Reported EPS of $0.96 beating estimates by +$0.05.

Express (EXPR): Reported EPS of $0.23 missing estimates by -$0.02. Pre-market: 20.06 -4.61 (-18.69%)

OmniVision (OVTI): Reported EPS of $0.60 beating estimates by +$0.17. Pre-market: 14.22 -1.77 (-11.07%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:47: Dow -0.17%. S&P -0.19%. Nasdaq -0.09%. Crude +1.04% to $97.03. Gold +0.20% to $1223.50. U.S. 10 Year -15/32 2.841%.

Europe: London -0.59%. Paris -0.99%. Frankfurt -1.19%. 

Asia: Japan -2.17% to 15408. Hong Kong -0.76% to 23729. China +1.31% to 2252. India -0.70% to 20709. 

#RLPaler #WallStreet #PreMarket #WealthManagement #EarningReports #AnalystsRatings 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

AT&T Exploring Vodafone Acquisition. Reports say that AT&T (T) is exploring a possible takeover of cell phone competitor Vodafone (VOD). If AT&T decides to proceed it would create a company with a market cap in excess of $250B and over 500M wireless subscribers. The deal would have to wait until Vodafone closes the sale of its Verizon Wireless stake. (T) Pre-market: 36.45 +0.25 (0.69%) (VOD): Pre-market: 36.99 +0.14 (0.37%)

Upgrades:

Facebook (FB): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $64.00 on the company. Pre-market: 50.86 +0.65 (1.30%)

ITT Corp (ITT): RW Baird raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $37.00 to $52.00. Pre-market: 39.73 0.00 (0.00%)

Netflix (NFLX): RW Baird raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $383.00 to $420.00. Pre-market: 330.73 +8.25 (2.56%)

Downgrades:

American International Group (AIG): Drexel Hamilton lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 49.08 -2.57 (-4.98%)

PETsMart (PETM): Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price to $80.00.

Sony Corp. (SNE): Jeffries lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 17.01 -0.24 (-1.39%)

Strayer Education (STRA): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Equal Weight to Underweight and placed a target price of $30.00 on the company. Pre-market: 37.52 -1.90 (-4.82%)

Earning Reports:

Fluor (FLR): Reported EPS of $1.02 beating estimates by +$0.02.

Markets: 
Futures at 7:19: Dow +0.25%. S&P +0.26%. Nasdaq +0.22%. Crude -0.75% at $95.63. Gold -0.80% to $1313.00. U.S. 10 Year -8/32 2.587%.

 Europe: London +0.04%. Paris -0.32%. Frankfurt -0.16%. 

Asia: Japan -0.88% to 14202. Hong Kong +0.19% to 23250. China +0.37% to 2150. India +0.15% to 21197. 

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