Employment Data Stuns Wall Street.

Employment Data Stuns Wall Street. The U.S. employment data for December was released this morning and the results stunned Wall Street. Wall Street economists had estimated that the economy would generate 196,000 new jobs down from Novembers 203,000 jobs. The actual results can in far less, at a terrible 74,000. The unemployment rate fell to 6.7% down from 7%, but analysts say that the decline was due to people giving up on looking for work. The latest data is giving more ammo to those who believe that President Obama’s economic policies are deeply flawed.

Upgrades:

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): Janney Capital raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $49.00 on the company.

Baidu (BIDU): Maxium raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $200.00 on the company.

Macy’s (M): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $54.00 to $65.00.

Downgrades:

Baker Hughes (BHI): Iberia lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform.

Fossil Group (FOSL): KeyBanc lowered their rating from Hold to Underweight and placed a target price of $100.00 on the company.

Pacific Sunwear (PSUN): Janney Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Pfizer (PFE): Cowen lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform.

Schlumberger (SLB): Iberia lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform.

Total SA (TOT): BNP Paribas lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral.

Whole Foods Market (WWFM): Cleveland Research lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Coverage Initiated:

Micron Tech (MU): Argus initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $31.00.

Precision Cast Parts (PCP): Cleveland Research initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $320.00.

TRW Automotive (TRW): FBR Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $75.00.

Visteon (VC): FBR Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $100.00.

Earning Reports:

Alcoa (AA): Reported EPS of $0.04 missing estimates by -$0.02.

Barracuda Networks (CUDA): Reported EPS of $0.01 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Helen of Troy (HELE): Reported EPS of $1.16 beating estimates by +$0.07.

Infosys (INFY): Reported EPS of $50.32 beating estimates by +3.58.

PriceSmart (PSMT): Reported EPS of $0.71 missing estimates by -$0.03.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:57: Dow +0.20%. S&P +0.07%. Nasdaq +0.24%. Crude +1.64% to $93.18. Gold +0.78% to $1239.20. U.S. 10 Year +17/32 to 2.905%.

Europe: London +0.90%. Paris +0.69%. Frankfurt +0.70%. 

Asia: Japan +0.20% to 15912. Hong Kong +0.26% to 22846. China -0.71% to 2013. India +0.22% to 20758. 

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Bitcoin Value Sinks. China’s largest Bitcoin exchange BTC China was forced to stop accepting deposits in the Chinese currency on Wednesday, sending the price of the virtual money crashing. By Wednesday evening, BTC was quoting Bitcoins at about 2,300 renminbi, or about $380, apiece a decline in price of nearly -40%.  According to reports, the People’s Bank of China and the Chinese central bank, met Monday with the country’s largest third-party payment processing companies and ordered them to stop all transactions involving digital currencies.

Upgrades:

Western Union (WU): Macquarie raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform. Pre-market: 16.90 +0.43 (2.61%)

Downgrades:

Jabil Circuits (JBL): Longbow lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 16.20 -3.52 (-17.85%)

Coverage Initiated:

Fresh Markets (TFM): Stephens initiated coverage with an Overweight and target price of $50.00.

Groupon (GRPN): Northland Securities initiated coverage with an Outperform rating. Pre-market: 10.81 +0.14 (1.31%)

Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight and target price of $40.00.

Whole Foods Market (WFM): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight and target price of $61.00. Pre-market: 57.60 +0.29 (0.51%)

Earning Reports:

FedEx (FDX): Reported EPS of $1.57 missing estimates by -$0.08. Pre-market: 138.27 -0.82 (-0.59%)

General Mills (GIS): Reported EPS of $0.83 missing estimates by -$0.05. Pre-market: 48.25 -1.33 (-2.68%)

Jabil Circuits (JBL): Reported EPS of $0.51 missing estimates by -$0.03. Pre-market: 16.20 -3.52 (-17.85%)

VeriFone (PAY): Reported EPS of $0.27 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 23.80 -1.20 (-4.80%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:39: Dow +0.25%. S&P +0.14%. Nasdaq +0.11%. Crude +0.16% to $97.38. Gold +0.15% to $1232.00. U.S. 10 Year -8/32 to 2.873%

.

Europe: London +0.27%. Paris +0.88%. Frankfurt +1.12%. 

Asia: Japan +2.02% to 15587.8. Hong Kong +0.32% to 23144. China -0.13% to 2148. India +1.20% 20860. 

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