Alcoa to Kickoff Q4 Earnings Season Today.

Alcoa to Kickoff Q4 Earnings Season Today. Alcoa (AA) will kickoff the Q4 earnings season today after the market close. Wall Street always watches very closely as since some believe that the company can give indications of how other industrial companies performed.  The first few days and weeks of earning season can be volatile as Wall Street interprets earning results.  Alcoa is expected to report Q4 EPS of $0.06 on a decline of revenue of 8.8% to %5.38 billion.   

Upgrades:

Dupont (DD): Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $70.00 on the company.

Forest Labs (FRX): Buckingham raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $63.00 to $84.00.

Halliburton (HAL): Howard Weil raised their rating from Sector Perform to Outperform.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): Jefferies raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $102.00 to $108.00.

McDonalds (MCD): Morgan Stanley raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and raised their target price from $93.00 to $115.00.

Smith & Wesson (SWHC): Sidoti raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Downgrades:

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Overweight to Underweight and lowered their target price from $144.00 to $143.00.

Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO): Howard Weil lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform.

ENSCO (ESV): Howard Weil lowered their rating from Focus List to Outperform.

Family Dollar (FDO): MKM Partners lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Yum! Brands (YUM): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered their target price from $81.00 to $77.00.

Coverage Initiated:

Bank of America (BAC): Nomura initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $19.00.

Charles Schwab (SCHW): Nomura initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $23.00.

Citigroup (C): Nomura initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $70.00.

CVS Caremark (CVS): Leerink initiated coverage with a Outperform rating and target price of $85.00.

E*Trade (ETFC): Nomura initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $23.00.

Goldman Sachs (GS): Nomura initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $172.00.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM): Nomura initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $61.00.

Morgan Stanley (MS): Nomura initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $34.00.

Raymond James (RJF): Nomura initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $60.00.

TD Ameritrade (AMTD): Nomura initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $32.00.

Western Union (WU): BTIG initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $23.00.

Earning Reports:

Family Dollar (FDO): Reported EPS of $0.68 missing estimates by -$0.01.

Supervalu (SVU): Reported EPS of $0.13 in-line with estimates.

Markets: 
Futures at 9:14: Dow +0.24%. S&P +0.10%. Nasdaq +0.16%. Crude +0.34% to $92.63. Gold +0.05% to $1226.10. U.S. 10 Year +4/32 to 2.978%.

Europe: London -0.02%. Paris -0.14%. Frankfurt +0.17%.

Asia: Japan -1.50% to 15880. Hong Kong -0.91% to 22787. China -0.82% to 2028. India -0.08% to 20713. 

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Sony’s PlayStation 4 Goes On Sale

Sony’s PlayStation 4 Goes On Sale. Sony’s (SNE) PS4 went on sale Friday night and within 24 hours the company sold over 1 million video-gaming consoles.  The company needs to hit a home run with the PS4 to help the company the turn around its consumer-electronics division. Sony will face stiff competition from Microsoft which will be releasing its new gaming system Xbox One this Friday. Pre-market: 19.10 +0.60 (3.24%)

Upgrades:

Baxter Intl (BAX): Credit Suisse raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $73.00 to $80.00.

Swift Transportation (SWFT): RW Baird raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $25.00 to $28.00. Pre-market: 23.31 +0.08 (0.34%)

Downgrades:

Halliburton (HAL): Global Hunter lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and maintained a target price of $61.00. Pre-market: 56.10 -0.13 (-0.23%)

Microchip Tech (MCHP): Stephens lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and placed a target price of $45.00 on the company. Pre-market: 43.00 -0.61 (-1.40%)

Microsoft (MSFT): BofA Merrill Lynch lowered their rating from Neutral to Underperform and placed a target price of $36.00 on the company.

NVIDIA (NVDA): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Equal Weight to Underweight and placed a target price of $13.00 on the company. Pre-market: 15.85 -0.32 (-1.98%)

Coverage Initiated:

Twitter (TWTR): Wunderlich re-initiated coverage with a Sell rating and target price of $34.00. Pre-market: 43.28 -0.70 (-1.59%)

Earning Reports:

Tyson Foods (TSN): Reported EPS of $0.70 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 29.85 +1.08 (3.75%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:03: Dow +0.23%. S&P +0.15%. Nasdaq +0.06%. Crude -0.46% to $93.41. Gold -0.71% to $1278.20. U.S. 10 Year 0/32 2.705%.

Europe: London +0.41%. Paris +0.73%. Frankfurt +0.62%. 

Asia: Japan -0.01% at 15164.3. Hong Kong +2.73% to 23660. China +2.87%. India +2.21%. 

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Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Netflix Shares Jump on EPS. Netflix's (NFLX) shares jumped after the company reported Q3 earnings that topped Wall Street estimates. Netflix reported EPS of $0.52, with net profit quadrupling to $32M. Revenue also came in at a strong $1.1 billion, up 22%.  The video service added 1.29M subscribers in the U.S. to give it 31.09M customers vs. the 30M that was expected. Pre-market: 381.48 +26.49 (7.46%)

Upgrades:

Kohl’s (KSS): Deutsche Bank raised their rating from Sell to Hold and raised their target price from $46.00 to $50.00.

Netflix (NFLX): Evercore raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and placed a target price of $350.00 on the company. Pre-market: 381.48 +26.49 (7.46%)

Texas Instruments (TXN): FBR Capital raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform and placed a target price of $38.00 on the company. Pre-market: 40.30 -0.69 (-1.68%)

Downgrades:

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): Bernstein lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform and lowered their target price from $3.00 to $2.50. Pre-market: 3.31 -0.06 (-1.78%)

Gap (GAP): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target price from $50.00 to $35.00.

Marriott International (MAR): MKM Partners lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Nokia (NOK): Santander lowered their rating from Buy to Underweight.

Nokia (NOK): Nordea lowered their rating from Buy to Sell.

United States Steel (X): UBS lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $25.00 to $22.00.

Coverage Initiated:

Expedia (EXPE): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $65.00.

Goodyear Tire (GT): CLSA initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $29.00. Pre-market: 21.30 +0.18 (0.85%)

Halliburton (HAL): Iberia initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $70.00. Pre-market: 50.88 +0.22 (0.43%)

Priceline.com (PCLN): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $1250.00.

Earning Reports:

CIT Group (CIT): Reported EPS of $0.99 beating estimates by +$0.04. Pre-market: 52.00 +1.03 (2.02%)

Coach (COH): Reported EPS of $0.77 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 50.25 -3.93 (-7.25%)

DuPont (DD): Reported EPS of $0.45 beating estimates by +$0.04. Pre-market: 59.40 -0.06 (-0.10%)

Forward Air (FWRD): Reported EPS of $0.46 in-line with estimates.

Harley-Davidson (HOG): Reported EPS of $0.73 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 66.25 +0.68 (1.04%)

Kimberly-Clark (KMB): Reported EPS of $1.44 beating estimates by +$0.04. Pre-market: 101.50 +2.67 (2.70%)

Lockheed Martin (LMT): Reported EPS of $2.57 beating estimates by +$0.30. Pre-market: 128.85 +3.55 (2.83%)

Netflix (NFLX): Reported EPS of $0.52 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 381.48 +26.49 (7.46%)

Ryder Systems (R): Reported EPS of $1.46 beating estimates by +$0.02.

State Street (STT): Reported EPS of $1.19 in-line with estimates.

Texas Instruments (TXN): Reported EPS of $0.56 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 40.30 -0.69 (-1.68%)

VMware (VMW): Reported EPS of $0.84 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 90.10 +7.45 (9.01%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:14: Dow +0.03%. S&P +0.34%. Nasdaq +0.34%. Crude -0.40% to $98.82. Gold +1.27% to $1330.20. U.S. 10 Year +18/32 2.543%.

Europe: London +0.50%. Paris +0.38% Frankfurt +0.71%. 

Asia: Japan +0.13% to 14713. Hong Kong -0.52% to 23316. China -0.83% to 2211. India -0.14% to 20865. 

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Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Tablets outpace PC’s. The research firm IDC announced that their research shows that shipments of tablet computers will outstrip those of PCs for the first time ever in Q4. The firm estimates that deliveries of tablets will reach 84.1M units and PC’s shipments will total only 83.1M. Companies that are expected to benefit from this trend include Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), and Samsung (SSNLF), while companies that will be hurt from this trend include Dell (DELL), H-P (HPQ), and Microsoft (MSFT).  IDC also estimates that the total market for Internet-connected devices of desktops, laptops, smartphones and tablets is projected to grow 28% to $622.4B in 2013 and then grow to $735.1B in 2015.

Upgrades:

Allstate (ALL): Wells Fargo raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target range from $48.00-$52.00 to $58.00-$62.00.

SunTrust Bank (STI): Compass Point raised their rating from Neutral to Buy. Pre-market: 33.41 +0.15 (0.45%)

Wendy’s (WEN): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $10.00 on the company. Pre-market: 8.48 +0.23 (2.79%)

Zynga (ZNGA): Evercore raised their rating from Underweight to Equal Weight. Pre-market: 3.06 +0.06 (2.00%)

Downgrades:

AB InBev (BUD): Normura lowered their rating from Neutral to Reduce. Pre-market: 96.33 -1.32 (-1.35%)

Apple (AAPL): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral. Pre-market: 471.00 +3.29 (0.70%)

Ericsson (ERIC): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Conviction Buy to Buy.

Halliburton (HAL): Macquarie lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and lowered their target price from $54.00 to $51.00. Pre-market: 49.76 -0.43 (-0.86%)

SABMiller PLC (SBMRY): Normura lowered their rating from Neutral to Reduce.

Symantec (SYMC): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight. Pre-market: 24.71 -0.55 (-2.18%)

Travelers Cos. (TRV): Wells Fargo lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target range from $94.00-$98.00 to $92.00-$89.00. Pre-market: 83.20 -0.53 (-0.63%)

Coverage Initiated:

Aqua America (WTR): Ladenburg Thalmann initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $28.00.

American Water Works (AWK): Ladenburg Thalmann initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $50.00.

Expedia (EXPE): Janney Capital initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $53.00.

Priceline.com (PLCN): Janney Capital initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $925.00. Pre-market: 983.00 +1.44 (0.15%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:59: Dow +0.04%. S&P -0.05%.  Nasdaq +0.16%. Crude +0.73% to $108.34. Gold -1.73% to $1340.00. U.S. 10 Year +4/32 2.898%.

Europe: London +0.12%. Paris -0.16%. Frankfurt +0.09%. 

Asia: Japan -0.26% to 14387. Hong Kong +0.07% to 22954. China +0.64% to 2256. India -1.08% to 1978 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Leaders Defend Detroit Bankruptcy

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) and Kevyn Orr, the emergency manager and bankruptcy lawyer that was appointed to run the city, both put the city’s bankruptcy blame squarely on the city. The city has been run by Democrats for decades.  At its height Detroit had over 1.8 million citizens, now the city has less than half that many citizens leaving abandoned burned out homes and a $19 billion debt in its wake. The city had once even been considered as a finalist for the Olympics.

The Republican Governor stood by his decision over the weekend on Face the Nation saying that “It’s not about just more money, it’s about accountable government.” He went on to talk about the mismanagement and corruption within the local government. Currently former Detroit Major Kwame Kilpatrick is serving a jail sentence for racketeering, wire fraud, Mail fraud, and obstruction of justice.

Some Wall Street analysts and investors are watching very closely since there are several other major U.S. cities with similar financial problems including : Chicago which has an unfunded pension liability reported to be at least $19 billion and Los Angeles with a liability estimate to be as much as $30 billion.

Upgrades:

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): Raymond James raised their rating from Outperform to Strong Buy and placed a target price of $3.50 on the company.

Cognizant Tech (CTSH): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $90.00 on the company.

Downgrades:

Autoliv (ALV): Buckingham lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $68.00 to $63.00. Pre-market: 80.97 -1.16 (-1.41%)

Crocs (CROX): Wedbush lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and maintained their target price of $18.00.

Honeywell (HON): Nomura lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and raised their target price to $88.00.

H&R Block (HRB): BTIG lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Nokia (NOK): Oppenheimer lowered their rating from Perform to Underperform.

TD Ameritrade (AMTD): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and placed a target price of $26.00 on the company.

Towers Watson (TW): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and raised their target price from $80.00 to $93.00.

VF Corp (VFC): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and lowered their target price from $208.00 to $188.00.

Earning Reports:

Federal-Mogul (FDML): Reported EPS of $0.57 beating estimates by +$0.18. Pre-market: 11.28 +0.60 (5.62%)

Gannett (GCI): Reported EPS of $0.58 missing estimates by $0.01. Pre-market: 25.11 -1.25 (-4.74%)

Halliburton (HAL): Reported EPS of $0.73 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 46.10 +0.27 (0.59%)

Hasbro (HAS): Reported EPS of $0.29 missing estimates by $0.05. Pre-market: 44.60 -0.78 (-1.72%)

Kimberly-Clark (KMB): Reported EPS of $1.41 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 98.05 -1.44 (-1.45%)

McDonald's (MCD): Reported EPS of $1.38 missing estimates by $0.02. Pre-market: 97.77 -2.50 (-2.49%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:30: Dow +0.05%. S&P +0.05%. Nasdaq +0.17%. Crude +0.30% to $108.37. Gold +2.02% to $1319.02.

Europe: London -0.24%. Paris +0.15%. Frankfurt -0.09%. 

Asia: Japan +0.47% to 14658. Hong Kong +0.25% to 21417. China +0.61% to 2005. India +0.05% to 20,159.