Friday, March 26, 2010

MORNING COFFEE

Eurozone Bials Out Greece. Eurozone countries agreed on a bailout plan for Greece that would be two-thirds funded by government loans and one-third funded by the IMF. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet called the proposed IMF involvement "very very bad," but later endorsed the plan. The exact amount of the bailout plan wasn't announced, but diplomats have consistently spoken of figures upwards of €20 billion ($27 billion).

AMBAC Open to Bankruptcy. Struggling bond insurer Ambac (ABK) plunged nearly -17% yesterday, following its announcement that the company is open to a prepackaged bankruptcy and is handing over control of troubled mortgage contracts totaling around $35 billion to its state regulator. 

GM to Make Payment. General Motors plans to make another $1.2 billion payment by the end of the month to the U.S. and Canadian governments. GM made a $1.2 billion payment in December, and intends to repay the full $6.7 billion in loans from the U.S. by June.

Accenture (ACN): Reported Q2 2010 EPS of $0.60 missing estimates by -$0.01 on revenue of $5.18 billion.  The company also gaveQ3 revenue guidance in-line and lowered FY10 EPS below consensus.

Oracle (ORCL): Reported Q3 2010 EPS of $0.38, in-line on revenue of $6.4 billion.

Upgrades
Genzyme (GENZ): Leerink Swann upgraded their rating from Market Perform to Outperform.
Coach (COH): JP Morgan upgraded their rating from Neutral to Overweight and raised their target price from $35.00 to $44.00.
Research In Motion (RIMM): JP Morgan upgraded their rating from Neutral to Overweight and raised their target price from $70.00 to $84.00.

Downgrades
Best Buy (BBY): FBR Capital lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform and placed a target price of $36.00 on the company.
Unilever PLC (UL):  HSBC Securities lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed
Paychex (PAYX): Credit Suisse reiterated their Neutral rating and raised their target price from $26.00 to $28.00.
Oracle (ORCL): Credit Suisse reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $30.00 to $31.00.
Apple (AAPL): Credit Suisse reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $275.00 to $300.00.

·         Futures: Dow +0.2%. S&P +0.2%. Nasdaq +0.2%. Crude +0.5% to $80.92. Gold +0.4% to $1097.30.
·         Asia: Nikkei +1.6% to 10996. Hang Seng +1.3% to 21053. Shanghai +1.3% to 3060. BSE +0.5% to 17645.
·         Europe: London -0.3% to 5711. Paris -0.3% to 3986. Frankfurt -0.3% to 6116.

No comments: