U.S. Banks Must Raise Capital

U.S. Banks Must Raise Capital. The eight largest banks in the U.S. have to hold an additional $68B in capital to absorb future losses. U.S. regulators voted to raise the "leverage ratio" to 5-6% of their total assets which is above Basel III standard of 3%. The banks affected include Bank of America (BAC), Bank of New York Mellon (BK), Citigroup (C),  Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), State Street (ST), Wells Fargo (WFC). The banks will have until January 1, 2018 to comply.

Upgrades:

Alcoa (AA): Deutsche Bank raised their rating from Sell to Hold and placed a target price of $10.00 on the company. Pre-market: 13.01 +0.48 (3.83%)

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B): The ReasearchTeam raised their rating from Hold to Accumulate. Pre-market: 123.69 +0.56 (0.45%)

Nike (NKE): Stifel raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $87.00 on the company.

Downgrades:

Apache Corp. (APA): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and placed a target price of $91.00 on the company. Pre-market: 84.70 -0.48 (-0.56%)

Arris Group (ARRS): The Street.com lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Credit Suisse (CS): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Neutral to Underweight. Pre-market: 32.27 -0.01 (-0.03%)

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Wunderlich lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $25.00 to $24.00.

The Hershey Comp. (HSY): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Neutral to Sell and placed a target price of $70.00 on the company. Pre-market: 99.37 -2.35 (-2.31%)

Royal Caribbean (RCL): Pareto lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Coverage Initiated:

Ball Corp. (BLL): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $59.00.

Cabela’s (CAB): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $71.00.

CBS Corp. (CBS): JPMorgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating.

General Motors (GM): JPMorgan initiated coverage with an Underweight rating and target price of $33.00. Pre-market: 33.94 -0.59 (-1.71%)

International Paper (IP): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $67.00.

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG): Sterne Agee initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and target price of $440.00. Pre-market: 438.76 -51.08 (-10.43%)

Kellogg Comp. (K): Nomura initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $70.00.

Earning Reports:

Alcoa (AA): Reported EPS of $0.09 beating estimates by +$0.04. Pre-market: 13.01 +0.48 (3.83%)

Constellation Brands (STZ): Reported EPS of $0.81 beating estimates by +$0.05. Pre-market: 84.75 +3.27 (4.01%)

Progressive (PGR): Reported EPS of $0.54 beating estimates by +$0.15. Pre-market: 24.86 +0.70 (2.90%)

WD-40 (WDFC): Reported EPS of $0.67 missing estimates by -$0.01.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:41: Dow +0.35%. S&P +0.27%. Nasdaq +0.43%. Crude +0.13% to $102.69. Gold -0.37% to $1304.00. U.S. 10 Year -6/32 to 2.705%.

Europe: London +0.8%. Paris +0.4%. Frankfurt +0.4%. 

Asia: Japan -2.1% to 14300. Hong Kong +1.1% to 22843. China +0.3% to 2105. India +1.6% to 22702. 

#RLPaler #TopWealthManager #WallStreet #Stocks #EarningReports #AnalystsUpgradesDowngrades    

Stock Market Futures Point to Small Gain at Opening. Stock futures show the market opening with a small gain after the release of the latest ADP employment numbers. ADP reported that private employment for March came in at 191,000 up from 178,000 in February, but below economist estimates of 215,000 jobs. Economists are also expected the government jobs report to come in at 250,000 new jobs of Friday. Factory orders for February are also expected to be released today at 10:00 a.m. Economist expect to see a 1.1% increase.

Upgrades:

Comerica (CMA): Wells Fargo raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform.

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG): JMP Securities raised their rating from Market Underperform to Market Outperform and placed a target price of $700.00 on the company. Pre-market: 508.00 +14.40 (2.92%)

W.P. Carey (WPC): First Call raised their rating from Buy to Strong Buy.

Downgrades:

Edison International (EIX): Argus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Potash Corp. (POT): Alta Corp lowered their rating from Sector Perform to Underperform and placed a target price of $28.00 on the company. Pre-market: 34.93 -0.39 (-1.10%)

U.S. Bancorp (USB): Sandler O’Neil lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 42.83 -0.16 (-0.37%)

Coverage Initiated:

Ford Motor Co. (F): Nomura initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $15.00. Pre-market: 16.35 +0.03 (0.18%)

General Motors (GM): Nomura initiated coverage with a Reduce rating and target price of $32.00. Pre-market: 34.61 +0.27 (0.79%)

Honda Motor (HMC): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Outperform rating. Pre-market: 35.48 +0.28 (0.80%)

NRG Energy (NRG): Barclays resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and target price of $36.00.

Textron (TXT): JPMorgan resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and target price of $44.00.

Earning Reports:

Jos. A. Bank (JOSB): Reported EPS of $1.07 in-line with estimates.

Monsanto (MON): Reported EPS of $3.15 beating estimates by $0.08. Pre-market: 114.97 +0.98 (0.86%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:46: Dow +0.08%. S&P +0.03%. Nasdaq +0.14%. Crude -0.77% to $98.97. Gold +1.00% to $1292.50. U.S. 10 Year -6/32 to 2.778%.

Europe: London +0.09%. Paris +0.09%. Frankfurt +0.26%. 

Asia: Japan +1.04% to 14946. Hong Kong +0.34% to 22524. China +0.56% to 2056. India +0.47% to 2253. 

#RLPaler #TopWealthManager #WallStreet #Stocks #ADPEmployment

Obama to Unveil New $1.4 Trillion Budget

Obama to Unveil New $1.4 Trillion Budget. President Obama is scheduled to unveil his new $1.4T budget today that most economists say has little chance of passing Congress. The budget includes expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to 13.5M childless workers. The 10-year $60B cost would be met by eliminating tax write-offs for self-employed professionals and investment-fund managers. The budget also includes spending $302B on highways, bridges and transit projects, and an increase in the minimum wage.

Upgrades:

Magna International (MGA): JPMorgan raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 95.09 +1.44 (1.54%)

Magna International (MGA): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Sell to Neutral. Pre-market: 95.09 +1.44 (1.54%)

Pulte Homes (PHM): KeyBanc raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $26.00 on the company. Pre-market: 21.26 +0.45 (2.16%)

Downgrades:

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG): Cantor lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and maintained their target price of $450.00. Pre-market: 452.01 -1.83 (-0.40%)

Lennar (LEN): KeyBanc lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 43.84 0.00 (0.00%)

McDermott (MDR): Capital One lowered their rating from Equal Weight to Underweight. Pre-market: 7.50 -0.61 (-7.52%)

Royal Caribbean (RCL): Longbow lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 51.70 +0.48 (0.94%)

Time Warner Cable (TWC): Macquarie lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral.

USG Corp (USG): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 34.75 -0.03 (-0.09%)

WebMD (WBMD): Stifel lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 41.80 -1.53 (-3.53%)

Coverage Initiated:

Advance Auto Parts (AAP): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and target price of $133.00.

DeamWorks Animation SKG (DWA): Topeka initiated coverage with a Hold rating and target price of $32.00. Pre-market: 28.81 +0.31 (1.09%)

Earning Reports:

AutoZone (AZO): Reported EPS of $5.63 beating estimates by +$0.09. Pre-market: 550.00 +8.77 (1.62%)

McDermott (MDR): Reported EPS of -$1.37 missing estimates by -$1.30. Pre-market: 7.50 -0.61 (-7.52%)

Molycorp (MCP): Reported EPS of -$0.28 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 5.21 -0.04 (-0.76%)

RadioShack (RSH): Reported EPS of -$1.29 missing estimates by -$1.16. Pre-market: 2.07 -0.65 (-23.90%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:28: Dow +1.02%. S&P +1.00%. Nasdaq +1.05%. Crude -1.20% to $103.65. Gold -1.18% to $1334.30. U.S. 10 Year -12/32 to 2.645%.

Europe: London +1.39%. Paris +2.11%. Frankfurt +2.04%. 

Asia: Japan +0.47% to 14721. Hong Kong +0.70% to 22658. China -0.18% to 2071. India +1.26% to 21210. 

#TopWealthManager #RLPaler #WallStreet #AnalystsRatings #EarningReports #FinancialPlanning