MIDDAY LUNCH

Dow 11157.72  -9.60, Nasdaq 2500.18  -11.7, S&P 1203.70  -3.08 

Stocks are trading lower in today’s trading with the NASDAQ sporting the largest losses.  The weakness in the NASDAQ is due to large cap tech stocks Apple (AAPL) 264.44 -4.20, -1.56%, Intel (INTC) 22.92 -0.57, -2.43% and Microsoft (MSFT) 30.70 -0.30, -0.98% are all trading to the downside.

Financials continue to hamper the broader market; the sector is down -0.9%. Goldman Sachs (GS) 144.73 -15.51, -9.68% shares are getting hammered again today on news that a criminal investigation has begun against the company by the DOJ.

The final Consumer Confidence Index for April from University of Michigan came in at 72.2, which is up from the preliminary reading of 69.5 and above the 71.0 that economist had forecasted.

First quarter GDP came in at +3.2% economists had expected the economy to grow at a rate of 3.3%.

MORNING COFFEE

Fallout From the Oil Spill. As the oil spill in the gulf continues other companies other than BP (BP) may be on the hook for the cleanup cost.  The oil rig was owned by Transocean (RIG) and Cameron International (CAM), which made the blowout preventers for the rig that caught fire and sank. Additionally, Halliburton (HAL) had done equipment and cement work on the rig. All these companies could be held liable and are bracing for lawsuits. In yesterday's trading, RIG -7.45%, BP -8.3%, CAM -13%, HAL -5.25%.

Warren Buffett Meeting. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/BRK.B) will hold its annual meeting on Saturday. Over 40,000 shareholders expected to attend.

Upgrades

El Paso (EP): Jefferies raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $22.5 to $25.00.

ValueClick (VCLK): Merriman raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Downgrades

Transocean (RIG): Jefferies lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $21.00 to $20.00.

Halliburton (HAL): FBR Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target price from $44.00 to $35.00.

Newell Rubbermaid (NWL): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.25 beating estimates by +$0.07 on revenue of $1.3 billion.

Expedia (EXPE): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.20 missing estimates by -$0.02 on revenue of $718 million.

Fiserv (FISV): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.95 missing estimates by -$0.02 on revenue of $1 billion. 

McAfee (MFE): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.60 missing estimates by -$0.03 on revenue of $503 million.

·         Futures: Dow 0.0%. S&P 0.0%. Nasdaq +0.2%. Crude +0.6% to $85.65. Gold +0.5% to $1174.90.

·         Asia: Japan +1.2% to 11057.4. Hong Kong +1.6% to 21109. China +0.1% to 2871. India +0.3% to 17559.

·         Europe: London -0.4%. Paris -0.5%. Frankfurt +0.3%.

CLOSING BELL

Dow 11167.32  +122.05, Nasdaq 2511.92  +40.19, S&P 1206.78  +15.42 

The market saw its biggest percentage gain today in more than a month on high volume.  The gains were broad based and steady all day.

The gains today were helped by thoughts that Greece’s bailout package will be announced over the weekend.  This caused yields on Greek, Spanish and Portugal debt to fall.  Additionally, the dollar lost ground falling -0.4%.

BP PLC (BP) 52.56 -4.78, -8.34% shares are got hit today after news that the oil leak in the gulf is worse than first estimated and could hit the coast over the weekend.  Additionally, the government said that they would go after the company for cleanup coast.

Advancing Sectors: Financials +2.5%, Industrials +2.1%, Consumer Discretionary +2.1%, Health Care +1.3%, Tech +1.0%, Telecom +0.8%, Materials +0.8%, Consumer Staples +0.4%, Energy +0.1%

Declining Sectors: None
Unchanged: Utilities

MIDDAY LUNCH

Dow 11173.21  +127.94, Nasdaq 2499.74  +28.01,S&P 1206.60  +15.24 

Stocks are posting nice gains today as traders predict that final details of the Greece bailout will come out over the weekend.  Of the 30 stocks in the down only four are trading to the down size.

Financials +1.9% and consumer discretionary stocks +1.9% are some of the biggest gainers in trading today.

BP PLC (BP) 53.32 -4.02, -7.01% shares are getting hit today after news that the oil leak in the gulf is worse than first estimated and could hit the coast over the weekend.  Additionally, the government said that they would go after the company for cleanup coast.

In earnings news Ball Corp (BLL) 53.87 -0.90, -1.64% reported earnings of $0.85 beating estimates by +$0.11.  Celgene (CELG) 62.23 +2.60, +4.36% reported earnings of $0.63 beating estimates by +$0.03, Colgate-Palmolive (CL)  84.92 -0.08, -0.09% reported earnings of $1.21 beating estimates by +0.02 and Kellogg (K) 55.12 +2.54, +4.83% reported earnings of $1.09 beating estimates by +0.15.

MORNING COFFEE

HP Buys Palm. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) announced they have agreed to buy Palm (PALM) in a $1.2 billion deal.  HP said Palm's webOS operating system will help it compete in the smartphone market. Palm shareholders will receive $5.70 in cash for each share of common stock, a 23% premium over Palm's share price before the deal was announced.

Fed Keeps Rates Unchanged. The Federal Open Market Committee maintained its 0.0-0.25% zero rates and said it expects rates to remain at their current levels "for an extended period," keeping the language that has accompanied the rate statement for more than a year. The Fed also said that the economy has continued to strengthen and said that inflation will be "subdued for some time."

Upgrades

Palm (PALM): Morgan Joseph raised their rating from Sell to Hold.

Owens Corning (OC): Longbow raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $41.00 on the company.

Downgrades

Dollar Thrifty (DTG): MKM Partners lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Children's Place (PLCE): Stifel Nicolaus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Equifax (EFX): Robert W. Baird lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral.

Coverage Resumed

Celgene (CELG): Wedbush resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a target price of $73.00.

Earning Reports:

Burger King (BKC): Reported FQ3 EPS of $0.32 beating estimates by +$0.03 on revenue of $597 million.

Eastman Kodak (EK): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.82 missing estimates by -$0.08 on revenue of $1.9 billion.

Potash Corp. (POT): Reported Q1 EPS of $1.47 beating estimates by +$0.15 on revenue of $1.7 billion.

Baidu.com (BIDU): Reported Q1 EPS of $2.02 beating estimates by +$0.52 on revenue of $190 million. 

Express Scripts (ESRX): Reported Q1 EPS of $1.10 in-line on revenue of $11.1billion. 

Visa (V): Reported Q2 EPS of $0.96 beating estimates by +$0.05 on revenue of $1.96 billion. The company also raised FY10 net revenue growth outlook, reaffirmed EPS growth outlook through FY11.

Xilinx (XLNX): Reported Q4 EPS of $0.46 beating estimates by +$0.01 on revenue of $529 million.

·         Futures: Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.5%. Nasdaq +0.4%. Crude +1.2% to $84.25. Gold -0.3% to $1168.40.

·         Asia: Japan -2.6% to 10925. Hong Kong -0.8% to 20779. China -1.1%to 2868. India +0.7% to 17503.

·         Europe: London +0.6%. Paris +1.1%. Frankfurt +0.4%.

MIDDAY LUNCH

Dow 11033.10  +41.11, Nasdaq 2469.16  -2.31, S&P 1190.06  +6.35 

Trading remains choppy today ahead of the FOMC rate decision due out today at 2:15pm EST.  Most economists believe that the Fed will leave rates unchanged but they will look very closely at their policy statement for clues about future actions.

S&P lowered the debt rating on Spain to AA and said its outlook is negative.  This comes on the heels of Greece’s debt being downgraded to junk and Portugal’s debt being lowered to A-.  This has lead to strength in the dollar and continued weakness in the Euro.

It should be noted that US based multinational corporations that receive significant sales from EU countries could have their earnings affected by the weak Euro.

In Earnings news today Medco Health Solutions (MHS) 60.59 -2.43, -3.86% reported earnings of $0.73 beating estimates by +$0.01 and Silicon Labs (SLAB) 49.75 -0.96, -1.89% reported earnings of $0.62, beating estimates by +$0.07.

MORNING COFFEE

Greece and Portugal Debt Rating Lowered. Ratings agency S&P cut Greece to junk status and lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating to BB+ with a negative outlook. S&P also lowered Portugal’s debt two notches to A- with a negative outlook on "amplified fiscal risks." European markets got hit hard yesterday, with the euro falling to a new one-year low against the dollar. There are concerns that Greece’s problems are just the first in the EU, with Portugal, Spain, and Italy next.  OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said "It's not a question of the danger of contagion; contagion has already happened. This is like Ebola. When you realize you have it you have to cut your leg off in order to survive.” The Greek crisis is "contaminating all the spreads and distorting all the risk-assessment measures. It's threatening the stability of the financial system."

Upgrades

Cisco Systems (CSCO): RBC Capital Markets raised their rating from Outperform to Top Pick.

Tellabs (TLAB): JP Morgan raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight and raised their target price from $8.50 to $11.00.

Downgrades

Plum Creek (PCL): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Neutral to Underperform and paced a target price of $33.00 on the company.

Motorola (MOT): RBC Capital Markets lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform.

Ford Motor (F): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Neutral to Underperform and placed a target price of $10.00 on the company.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Under Armour (UA): Wedbush reiterated their Neutral rating on the company and raised their target price from $31.00 to $36.00.

AFLAC (AFL): FBR Capital reiterated their Market Perform rating on the company and raised their target price from $51.00 to $53.00.

Earning Reports:

Dow Chemical (DOW): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.43 beating estimates by +$0.03 on revenue of $13.4 billion.

Medco Health Solutions (MHS): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.73 beating estimates by +$0.01 on revenue of $16.3 billion.

AFLAC (AFL): Reported Q1 EPS of $1.41 beating estimates by +$0.09 on revenue of $5.1 billion.

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.58 beating estimates by +$0.01 on revenue of $152 million.

WellPoint Health Networks (WLP): Reported Q1 EPS of $1.95 beating estimates by +$0.28 on revenue of $14.9 billion. 

Robert Half International (RHI): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.05 Missing estimates by -$0.01 on revenue of $737 million.

·         Futures: Dow -0.1%. S&P -0.1%. Nasdaq 0.0. Crude -0.4% to $82.10. Gold +0.1% to $1163.80.

·         Asia: Japan -2.6% to 10925. Hong Kong -1.5% to 20949. China -0.3%to 2900. India -1.8% to 17380.

·         Europe: London -0.6%. Paris -2.5%. Frankfurt -1.4%.