MORNING COFFEE

President Obama Reveals New Healthcare Plan. President Obama is expected to propose giving government authorities the ability to limit rate hikes by health insurance companies. A White House official said regulators will be able to deny unfair premium increases, roll back increases already in effect, and demand a rebate for consumers.

Governors Are Not Smiling. In a meeting of the National Governors Association this weekend, state governors were generally downbeat about the economic outlook, warning "the worst probably is yet to come." States are facing a $134billion budget shortfall over the next three years and most governors view job creation as the key to recovery.

Toyota Memo Adds Fire To Recalls. In an internal document from 2009, Toyota (TM) employees celebrated saving the company over $100 million by convincing DOT regulators to end a 2007 investigation into sudden acceleration complaints with a cheap floormat replacement for just 55,000 cars.

Campbell Soup (CPB): Reported FQ2 EPS of $0.74 in-line on revenue of $2.1 billion.

Lowe's (LOW): Reported Q4 EPS of $0.14 beating estimates by +$0.02 on revenue of $10.1 billion. 

Upgrades

PNC Bank (PNC): Bernstein raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform.

Viacom (VIA.B): Deutsche Bank raised their rating from Hold to Buy and changed their target price from $28.00 to $37.00.

Downgrades

Gilead Sciences (GILD): Morgan Joseph downgraded their rating from Buy to Sell and changed their target price to $37.00.

AXA (AXA): Citigroup downgraded their rating from Buy to Hold.

H & R Block (HRB): Oppenheimer downgraded their rating from Outperform to Hold.

·         Futures: Dow +0.27% to 10406. S&P +0.28% to 1109. Nasdaq +0.44%. Crude flat at to $81.75. Gold -0.26% to $1170.90.

·         Asia, Nikkei +2.7% to 10400. Hang Seng +2.4% to 20377. Shanghai -0.5% to 3003. BSE +0.3% to 16237.

·         Europe London flat at 5360. Paris -0.1% to 3767. Frankfurt -0.3% to 5708.