MORNING COFFEE

California Declares An Emergency. Yesterday California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of fiscal emergency.  California is sinking in $19 billion in debt and the budget is more than a month overdue. The emergency order requires state employees to take three unpaid days off a month, starting in August.

The SEC Exempt From FOIA. A little known provision of the financial reform law signed into law by President Obama exempts the Securities and Exchange Commission from the Freedom of Information Act.   The law exempts the SEC from disclosing to the public information derived from "surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities," this covers nearly every SEC action. This came to light after the law was billed as giving more transparency.

Upgrades

Flagstar Bancorp (FBC): FBR Capital raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform.

Downgrades

AstraZeneca (AZN): Standpoint Research lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Symantec (SYMC): FBR Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target price from $20.00 to $15.00.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): FBR Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target price from $14.00 to $11.00.

Coverage Initiated

Blue Nile (NILE): MKM Partners initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $60.00.

Earning Reports

Potash Corp. (POT): Reported Q2 EPS of $1.38 beating estimates by +$0.19 on revenue of $1.4 billion.

Ameriprise Financial (AMP): Reported Q2 EPS of $0.98 beating estimates by +$0.21 on revenue of $2.6 billion.

BMC Software (BMC): Reported FQ1 EPS of $0.62 missing estimates by -$0.02 on revenue of $461 million.

Express Scripts (ESRX): Reported Q2 EPS of $0.60 beating estimates by +$0.01 on revenue of $11.3 billion.

Mylan Laboratories (MYL): Reported Q2 EPS of $0.37 in-line on revenue of $1.4 billion. 

Skechers (SKX): Reported Q2 EPS of $0.82 beating estimates by +$0.38 on revenue of $505 million.

Visa (V): Reported FQ3 EPS of $0.97 beating estimates by +$0.04 on revenue of $2 billion. 

·         Futures: Dow +0.4%. S&P +0.5%. Nasdaq +0.4%. Crude +0.3% to $77.21. Gold +0.5% to $1165.80.

·         Asia: Japan -0.6% to 9696. Hong Kong 0.0% at 21094. China +0.6% to 2648. India +0.2% to 17992.

·         Europe: London +0.8%. Paris +0.4%. Frankfurt +0.6%.