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. 

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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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Google Shares Split

Google Shares Split. 

Google will split their shares today with investors will receive one class-C share for each class-A and class-B shares they own. The split will allow founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to maintain control of the company through their class B shares they currently hold. The class-C shares will have no voting rights. Both class-A and class-C share will be included in the S&P 500 index. The class- A shares will trade under the ticker (GOOGL) and the class-C shares will trade under (GOOG) ticker. Both classes of shares are expected to trade with little spread to each other. As part of a settlement with investors the company agreed to reimburse holders of the class C shares should they fail to trade in line with the existing A shares.

Upgrades:

Eli Lilly (LLY): Cowen & Company raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $68.00 on the company.

Monsanto (MON): JPMorgan raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight and placed a target price of $125.00 on the company. Pre-market: 116.00 +1.58 (1.38%)

Downgrades:

BB&T Corp (BBT): Raymond James lowered their rating from Strong Buy to Outperform and placed a target price of $44.00 on the company.

CSX (CSX): Barclays lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and placed a target price of $30.00 on the company. Pre-market: 28.92 -0.30 (-1.03%)

Deutsche Bank (DB): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 45.13 -0.90 (-1.96%)

Royal Caribbean (RCL): Swedbank lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 56.14 -0.43 (-0.76%)

Coverage Initiated:

Altera Corp (ALTR): Piper Jaffrey initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and target price of $41.00.

Altera Corp (ALTR): FBR Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating.

BP p.l.c (BP): BMO Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating. Pre-market: 48.33 -0.11 (-0.23%)

ConAgra (CAG): Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and target price of $30.00.

ConocoPhillips (COP): BMO Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform and target price of $70.00.

Chevron (CVX): BMO Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform and target price of $125.00.

Total (TOT): BMO Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform. Pre-market: 65.86 +0.06 (0.09%)

W.P. Carey (WPC): Capital One initiated coverage with an Equal Weight and target price of $64.00.

Earning Reports:

Greenbrier Comp (GBX): Reported EPS of $0.51 missing estimates by -$0.10. Pre-market: 45.74 -1.97 

Perry Ellis (PERY): Reported EPS of $0.06 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 14.55 +0.30 (2.11%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:36: Dow +0.05%. S&P 0.00%. Nasdaq -0.01%. Crude -0.12% to $99.48. Gold -0.60% to $1283.10. U.S. 10 Year -1/32 to 2.800%

Europe: London +0.10%. Paris +0.23%. Frankfurt +0.17%. 

Asia: Japan +0.84% to 15072. Hong Kong +0.18% to 22565. China -0.74% to 2044. India -0.19% to 22509. 

#RLPaler #TopWealthManager #WallStreet #Stocks #GoogleSplit 

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.

#TopWealthManager #RLPaler #WallStreet #Stocks #FinancialPlanner #AnalystsRatings #EarningReports

Overseas Business Activity Slows

Overseas Business Activity Slows. Business activities in both China and the Eurozone are continuing to slow. For the fifth straight month in China, the flash manufacturing PMI fell to 48.1 in March from 48.5 in February and missing economist estimates of 48.7. In the Eurozone the flash composite PMI fell to 53.2 from 53.3 in February but topped economist consensus of 52.6. The latest PMI survey signals a 0.5% increase in Q1 GDP after growth of 0.3% in Q4.

Upgrades:

Boston Scientific (BSX): Bernstein raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $12.00 to $15.00. Pre-market: 13.07 +0.25 (1.95%)

Ensco PLC (ESV): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Ross Stores (ROST): RBC Capital raised their rating from Sector Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $79.00 to $81.00. Pre-market: 74.40 +1.43 (1.96%)

United Continental Holdings (UAL): Raymond James raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $52.00 on the company. Pre-market: 45.02 +0.69 (1.56%)

US Bancorp (USB): Atlantic Equities raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 43.08 +0.06 (0.14%)

VMware (VMW): Sterne Agee raised their rating from Neutral to Buy. Pre-market: 110.33 +1.12 (1.03%)

Wells Fargo (WFC): Atlantic Equities raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 49.50 +0.38 (0.77%)

Yelp (YELP): JMP Securities raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $113.00 on the company. Pre-market: 86.00 +2.57 (3.08%)

Downgrades:

Abbott (ABT): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

AFLAC (AFL): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

Bank of America (BAC): Alantic Equities lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral and lowered their target price from $20.00 to $18.50. Pre-market: 45.02 +0.69 (1.56%)

National Oilwell (NOV): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce. Pre-market: 74.58 +0.11 (0.15%)

Nike (NKE): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce. Pre-market: 75.49 +0.28 (0.37%)

Tiffany & Co. (TIF): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Conviction Buy to Buy and lowered their target price from $101.00 to $100.00. Pre-market: 89.11 -1.62 (-1.79%)

Coverage Initiated:

T-Mobile (TMUS): Evercore initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and target price of $34.00.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:34: Dow +0.20%. S&P +0.26%. Nasdaq +0.31%. Crude +0.52% to $99.98. Gold -0.97% to $1323.10. U.S. 10 Year -6/32 to 2.768%.

Europe: London -0.13%. Paris -0.20%. Frankfurt -0.23%. 

Asia: Japan +1.77% to 14475.3. Hong Kong +1.91% to 21846. China +0.91% to 2066. India +1.38% to 22055. 

#TopWealthManager #RLPaler #WallStreet #Stocks #FinancialPlanner #AnalystsRatings #EarningReports

Fannie and Freddie Share Continue Selloff

Fannie and Freddie Share Continue Selloff. Both Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) shares are poised to continue their selloff which began yesterday. Shares sold off yesterday after the Senate introduced a bill that would continue government backing of mortgages, but would wind down the companies. Shares of Fannie fell -31%, while shares of Freddie fell -27%. The proposal has the backing of President Obama. FNMA Pre-market: 3.67 -0.36 (-8.93%) FMCC Pre-market: 3.51 -0.53 (-13.12%)

Upgrades:

Rite Aid (RAD): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $5.00 to $8.00.

Downgrades:

Airgas (ARG): BGC Financial lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Equal Weight to Underweight and placed a target price of $11.00 on the company. Pre-market: 12.70 -0.40 (-3.05%)

American International Group (AIG): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $58.00 to $55.00.

Church & Dwight (CHD): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and lowered their target price from $66.00 to $63.00.

Clean Harbors (CLH): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Top Pick to Outperform and lowered their target price from $58.00 to $54.00.

Forest Labs (FRX): Piper Jaffrey lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral and lowered their target price from $96.00 to $91.00.

Pulte Group (PHM): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and placed a target price of $20.00 on the company. Pre-market: 19.47 -0.46 (-2.31%)

Toll Brothers (TOLL): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and placed a target price of $39.00 on the company.

Earning Reports:

Caesars Entertainment (CZR): Reported EPS of -$12.83 missing estimates by -$11.34. Pre-market: 24.95 -0.62 (-2.42%)

Diamond Foods (DMND): Reported EPS of $0.09 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 31.19 +1.24 (4.14%)

Express (EXPR): Reported EPS of $0.57 missing estimates by -$0.02. Pre-market: 16.09 -2.15 (-11.79%)

Men's Wearhouse (MW): Reported EPS of -$0.38 missing estimates by -$0.26. Pre-market: 56.50 -0.64 (-1.12%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:44: Dow -0.33%. S&P -0.38%. Nasdaq -0.41%. Crude -1.61% to $98.42. Gold +1.18% to $1362.80. U.S. 10 Year +6/32 to 2.746%.

Europe: London -1.17%. Paris -1.54%. Frankfurt -1.45%.

Asia: Japan -2.59% to 14830. Hong Kong -1.65% to 21902. China -0.17% to 1998. India +0.14% to 21856. 

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