MORNING COFFEE

Ford and Microsoft to Partner on Electric Cars. Microsoft (MSFT) will expand its Hohm consumer energy management software to work with Ford's (F) electric cars. The partnership will allow drivers to determine the best time to recharge their vehicles at home. As more people use electric cars and want to recharge the batteries after coming home from work, "the demand placed on the energy grid will be momentous. Addressing the challenge of how that demand is managed in a smart and affordable way is absolutely going to be critical." Microsoft also provides the popular Sync system to Ford.

Hartford Repays TARP. Hartford Financial Services (HIG) announced that it had bought back $3.4 billion in TARP preferred shares, but still has 52million warrants outstanding. The company said that by repaying the government, the company is "well positioned from both a capital and balance sheet perspective."

China Hacks Yahoo. Several activists and journalists working on issues related to China and Taiwan reported yesterday that their Yahoo (YHOO) email accounts were hacked into. This the latest of a string of internet incidents involving China. Yahoo said it "condemns all cyber attacks regardless of origin or purpose."

Micron (MU): Reported Q2 2010 EPS of $0.39 beating estimates by +$0.15 on revenue of $1.96 billion.

Mosaic Company (MOS): Reported FQ3 EPS of $0.50 missing estimates by -$0.12 on revenue of $1.7 billion.

Research In Motion (RIMM): Reported Q4 EPS of $1.27 missing estimates by -$0.01 on revenue of $4.08 billion. The company also gave Q1 EPS guidance above consensus estimates.

Upgrades

Omnicare (OCR): UBS raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Foot Locker (FL): FBR Capital raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $17.00 on the company.

Finish Line (FINL): Capital raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $15.00 to $19.00.

Downgrades

BlackRock (BLK): Citigroup lowered their rating from Buy to Sell.

BlackRock (BLK): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Coverage Initiated

Gap Inc (GPS): Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $28.00.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Micron (MU): Credit Suisse reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $15.00 to $20.00

Micron (MU): Broadpoint AmTech reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $13.00 to $14.00

Baidu.com (BIDU): Deutsche Bank reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $604 to $752.00.

·         Futures: Dow +0.5%. S&P +0.5%. Nasdaq +0.2%. Crude +0.9% to $84.52. Gold +0.2% to $1115.30.

·         Asia: Nikkei +1.4% to 11244.4. Hang Seng +1.4% to 21537. Shanghai +1.2% to 3147. BSE +0.9% to 17693.

·         Europe: London +0.7% to 5721. Paris +1.1% to 4016. Frankfurt +0.8% to 6206.