MORNING COFFEE

Germany Okays Aid. Germany's lower house of parliament approved a law which would let Germany contribute to the €750 billion emergency aid package to protect the euro. Germany’s upper house of parliament is expected to approve the law later today which would allow Germany to contribute up to €148 billion in guarantees.

Geithner To Meet With UK And German Officials. Treasury's Geithner will meet with his British and German counterparts over the European debt crisis next week. Officials will discuss "the economic situation in the region and the measures being taken to restore global confidence and financial stability." The news of the meeting came amid reports that the EU may take further measures to stop the euro's fall.

 Financial Reform Bill Passes Senate. The Senate yesterday approved the most sweeping reforms to financial regulation since the 1930's.  The legislation must now be reconciled with the version approved by the House of Representatives in December.

Upgrades

Dollar Tree (DLTR): Jefferies upgraded their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $64.00 to $77.00.

Downgrades

Wendy's (WEN): Argus lowered their rating from Buy to Sell.

Waddell & Reed (WDR): Stifel Nicolaus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Volcom (VLCM): KeyBanc Capital Markets lowered their rating from Hold to Underweight.

Coverage Initiated

Pfizer (PFE): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $17.50.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Williams-Sonoma (WSM): RBC Capital Markets reiterated their Sector Perform rating and raised their target price from $28.00 to $30.00.

Advance Auto (AAP): RBC Capital Markets reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $47.00 to $57.00.

Earning Reports

Aeropostale (ARO): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.48 beating estimates by +$0.02 on revenue of $464 million.

Compuware (CPWR): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.16 beating estimates by +$0.02 on revenue of $230 million.

Dell (DELL): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.30 beating estimates by +$0.03 on revenue of $14.9 billion.

Gap (GPS): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.45 beating estimates by +$0.02 on revenue of $3.3 billion. 

Intuit (INTU): Reported Q3 EPS of $1.89 beating estimates by +$0.07 on revenue of $1.6 billion.

·         Futures: Dow -0.35%. S&P -0.4%. Nasdaq -0.3%. Crude -1.0% to $70.09. Gold -0.5% to $1182.80.

·         Asia: Japan -2.5% to 9785. Hong Kong closed. China +1.1% to 2584. India -0.5% to 16446.

·         Europe: London -1.1%. Paris -1.1%. Frankfurt -1.6%.