IMF Worries About Emerging Markets Economic Growth

IMF Worries About Emerging Markets Economic Growth. The International Monetary Fund has lowered their world economic outlook mostly due to slower projected growth in Brazil and Russia. The IMF now projects that world economic activity will grow by 3.6% in 2014 and 3.7% in 2015. The U.S. economy is expected to grow at a modest 2.8% in 2014 and 3% in 2015.

Upgrades:

Eli Lilly (LLY): BMO Capital raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform and placed a target price of $62.00 on the company. Pre-market: 57.99 -0.63 (-1.07%)

Google (GOOGL): S&P raised their rating from 3 Stars to 4 Stars. Pre-market: 545.04 +4.41 (0.82%)

Nike (NKE): Stifel Nicolaus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $87.00 on the company. Pre-market: 72.24 +1.41 (1.99%)

Downgrades:

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO): Janney Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and placed a target price of $10.00 on the company. Pre-market: 11.60 -0.08 (-0.68%)

Canadian Imperial Bank (CM): First Call lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Wunderlich lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $25.00 to $24.00. Pre-market: 22.75 -0.10 (-0.44%)

Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS): Wells Fargo lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform.

Royal Caribbean (RCL): Pareto lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 52.73 -0.03 (-0.06%)

Coverage Initiated:

Pinnacle Foods (PF): Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Buy and placed a target price of $32.00 on the company.

Earning Reports:

Intl Speedway (ISCA): Reported EPS of $0.33 missing estimates by -$0.01.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:38: Dow +0.03%. S&P +0.05%. Nasdaq +0.23%. Crude +0.85% to $101.33. Gold +1.18% to $1313.80. US 10 Year -2/32 to 2.712%

Europe: London -0.85%. Paris -0.71%. Frankfurt -0.66%. 

Asia: Japan -1.36% to 14607. Hong Kong +0.98% to 22597. China +1.92% to 2098. India closed. 

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Bank of America Being Investigated Again. Once again Bank of America seems to be in trouble with regulators.  This time reports say that the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are investigating Bank of America (BAC) for improper trading. The allegations are that the bank improperly carried out its own transactions before executing orders for clients. The probes appear to shed light on an The investigation could pertain to an FBI bulletin that said it suspected traders at two banks of conspiring to manipulate rates on major orders from Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC), and of front running the GSE’s in the markets for interest-rate swaps.

Upgrades:

AGL Resources (GAS): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Potash (POT): Raymond James raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $30.00 $37.00.

Downgrades:

Cisco Systems (CSCO): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Neutral to Underweight and lowered their target price from $21.00 to $17.00.

ConocoPhillips (COP): Guggenheim lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $80.00 to $73.00.

Coverage Initiated:

AMC Entertainment (AMC): B. Riley initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $24.00.

AMC Entertainment (AMC): Stifel initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $24.00.

AMC Entertainment (AMC): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $25.00.

Cabelvision (CVC): Buckingham initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $18.00.

DIRECTV (DTV): Buckingham initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $85.00.

Dish Network (DISH): Buckingham initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $60.00.

Finish Line (FINL): initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $28.00.

Foot Locker (FL): JPMorgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and target price of $47.00.

Earning Reports:

Caterpillar (CAT): Reported EPS of $1.54 beating estimates by +$0.36.

Rayonier (RYN): Reported EPS of $0.64 beating estimates by +$0.13.

Regis (RGS): Reported EPS of -$0.04 missing estimates by -$0.06.

Royal Caribbean (RCL): Reported EPS of $0.23 beating estimates by +$0.05.

Markets: 
Futures at 6:20: Dow 0.0%. S&P +0.2%. Nasdaq +0.1%. Crude +0.2% to $96.79. Gold +0.4% to $1269.10. 

Europe:London -1.5%. Paris -0.3%. Frankfurt -0.5%. 

Asia: Japan -2.5% to 15006. Hong Kong -2.1% to 21976. China -1% to 2033. India -2% to 20707. 

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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. 

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Gun Sales Propel Smith & Wesson. Smith & Wesson's (SWHC) reported FQ2 earnings of $0.28 beating estimates by a wide margin.  The company also issued higher-than-expected FQ3 guidance. Revenue for the weapons manufacture rose 2% to $139.3M, while income from continuing operations increased to $17.1M. Sales of handguns at the company continue to climb, up a whopping +27% as people rush to purchase weapons for self protects and amid a fresh push for gun control. Pre-market: 12.76 +0.64 (5.28%)

Upgrades:

3M Co. (MMM): Nomura raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $150.00 on the company. Pre-market: 128.15 +0.60 (0.47%)

Cardinal Health (CAH): Leerink raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $64.00 to $75.00.

General Dynamics (GD): CRT Capital raised their rating from Sell to Fair Value and placed a target price of $89.00 on the company.

Downgrades:

Scripps Networks (SNI): Citigroup lowered their rating from Neutral to Sell. Pre-market: 81.02 +5.77 (7.67%)

Coverage Initiated:

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Mizuho initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and placed a target price of $23.00 on the company.

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Sell rating and placed a target price of $18.00 on the company.

Ericsson (ERIC): Mizuho initiated coverage with a Buy rating and placed a target price of $15.00 on the company. Pre-market: 11.88 -0.06 (-0.50%)

Motorola Solutions (MSI): Mizuho initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and placed a target price of $63.00 on the company. Pre-market: 21.05 -0.16 (-0.75%)

Nokia (NOK): Mizuho initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and placed a target price of $8.00 on the company. Pre-market: 7.94 +0.02 (0.25%)

Twitter (TWTR): Macquarie initiated coverage with a Neutral rating. Pre-market: 52.90 +0.91 (1.75%)

Earning Reports:

Costco (COST): Reported EPS of $0.96 missing estimates by -$0.06. Pre-market: 118.50 -1.54 (-1.28%)

H&R Block (HRB): Reported EPS of -0.42 missing estimates by -$0.05. Pre-market: 28.55 -0.25 (-0.87%)

Joy Global (JOY): Reported EPS of $1.11 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 53.30 -2.94 (-5.23%)

Smith & Wesson (SWHC): Reported EPS of 0.28 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 12.76 +0.64 (5.28%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:10: Dow +0.08%. S&P -0.28%. Nasdaq +0.01%. Crude -0.15% at $98.38. Gold -0.52% to $1254.60. U.S. 10 Year -3/32 to 2.819%.

Europe: London +0.37%. Paris +0.76%. Frankfurt +0.29%. 

Asia: Japan -0.62% to 15515. Hong Kong -1.71% to 23338. China -1.49% at 2204. India -0.39% at 21171. 

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

Overseas Growth Slows. Overseas economic growth has unexpectedly slowed. Economic growth slowed in Japan during Q3. Capex growth rose just +0.2% for Q3, far below consensus estimates. Economic growth in the eurozone came in at just +0.1% for Q3 also missing economists estimates.  Germany’s economy expanded by 0.3% in Q3, which was in-line with economists’ estimates but must slower than the +0.7% growth posted in Q2. France’s economy turned negative as their economy contracted -0.1% in Q3. Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said France should still report a modest expansion for the full year.

Upgrades:

Office Depot (ODP): BofA Merrill Lynch raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $6.50 on the company. Pre-market: 5.51 +0.13 (2.42%)

Downgrades:

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Wedbush lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and lowered their target price from $26.00 top $23.00. Pre-market: 5.51 +0.13 (2.42%)

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Conviction Buy to Buy and lowered their target price from $30.00 top $25.00. Pre-market: 5.51 +0.13 (2.42%)

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $28.00 top $25.00. Pre-market: 5.51 +0.13 (2.42%)

PNC Financial (PNC): Oppenheimer lowered their rating from Outperform to Perform.

Coverage Initiated:

BP (BP): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Neutral rating.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Outperform rating.

Total S.A. (TOT): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Outperform rating.

Earning Reports:

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Reported EPS of $0.53 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 20.93 -3.07 (-12.77%)

Dillard's (DDS): Reported EPS of $1.13 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 90.87 +1.32 (1.47%)

Kolh’s (KSS): Reported EPS of $0.81 missing estimates by -$0.05. Pre-market: 54.10 -4.16 (-7.14%)

Sally Beauty (SBH): Reported EPS of $0.38 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 27.50 -0.14 (-0.51%)

Tyco (TYC): Reported EPS of $0.52 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 37.00 +0.27 (0.74%)

Viacom (VIAB): Reported EPS of $1.55 beating estimates by +$0.11. Pre-market: 82.00 -1.13 (-1.36%)

Wal-Mart (WMT): Reported EPS of $1.14 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 77.60 -1.30 (-1.65%)

Markets: 

Futures at 8:12: Dow +0.07%. S&P +0.17%. Nasdaq -0.12%. Crude -0.61% to $93.30. Gold +1.34% to $1285.30. U.S. 10 Year +1/32 2.720%.

Europe: London +0.32%. Paris +0.62%. Frankfurt +0.65%. 

Asia: Japan +2.12% to 14876. Hong Kong +0.82% to 22649. China +0.60% to 2100. India -0.43% to 20399. 

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

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Fitch Warns of Possible U.S. Credit Rating Downgrade. Fitch announced that they have placed the United States AAA debt rating on rating “watch negative." The company could lower their rating even if the debt ceiling is raised, stating that "Although Fitch continues to believe that the debt ceiling will be raised soon, the political brinkmanship and reduced financing flexibility could increase the risk of a U.S. default." Standard & Poor's downgraded the rating to AA-plus with a stable outlook back in 2011. Moody's Investors Service rates U.S. government debt at Aaa with a stable outlook.

Upgrades:

Alaska Air Group (ALK): Imperial Capital raised their rating from In-Line to Outperform.

Intel (INTC): B. Riley raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Downgrades:

Brown & Brown (BRO): Stephens lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered their target price from $38.00 to $35.00.

Cisco Systems (CSCO): MKM Partners lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $28.00 to $26.00.

Diamond Offshore (DO): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform and lowered their target price from $70.00 to $64.00.

ENCSO (ESV): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform and lowered their target price from $65.00 to $61.00.

FedEx (FDX): Buckingham lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $122.00 to $120.00.

INVESCO (IVZ): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral.

INVESCO (IVZ): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and placed a target price of $33.00 on the company.

Noble Energy (NE): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform and lowered their target price from $47.00 to $70.00.

Stanley Black & Decker (SWK): RW Baird lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral.

Transocean (RIG): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform and lowered their target price from $54.00 to $43.00.

Coverage Initiated:

Allegheny Technology (ATI): Sterne Agee initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and target price of $27.00.

Smith & Wesson (SWHC): Lake Street Agee initiated coverage with Hold rating and target price of $12.00.

United States Steel (X): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with Neutral rating and target price of $19.00.

Earning Reports:

Abbott Labs (ABT): Reported EPS of $0.55 beating estimates by +$0.03.

Bank of America (BAC): Reported EPS of $0.20 beating estimates by +$0.01.

BlackRock (BLK): Reported EPS of $3.88 missing estimates by -$0.01.

BNY Mellon (BK): Reported EPS of $0.60 beating estimates by +$0.02.

Intel (INTC): Reported EPS of $0.58 beating estimates by +$0.05.

Mattel (MAT): Reported EPS of $1.16 beating estimates by +$0.04.

Northern Trust (NTRS): Reported EPS of $0.76 missing estimates by -$0.01.

PepsiCo (PEP): Reported EPS of $1.24 beating estimates by +$0.07.

PNC (PNC): Reported EPS of $1.69 beating estimates by +$0.07.

St Jude Medical (STJ): Reported EPS of $0.90 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Yahoo! (YHOO): Reported EPS of $0.34 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Markets: 
Futures at 6:20: Dow +0.4%. S&P +0.4%. Nasdaq +0.1%. Crude 0.0% at $101.18. Gold +0.4% to $1278.50. U.S. 10 Year -1/32 to 2.72%

Europe: London -0.6%. Paris -0.9%. Frankfurt -0.1%. 

Asia: Japan +0.2% to 14467. Hong Kong -0.5% to 23228. China -1.8% to 2193. India closed. 

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