MORNING COFFEE

Goldman May Payback Buffett. Reports say that Goldman Sachs (GS) is considering paying back the $5 billion investment that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA/BRKB) made during the financial meltdown. Buffett’s investment into Goldman came with a cost, dividend payments of 10% a year on Berkshire's "perpetual" preferred shares and curbs on insider selling. If approved by the Fed, Goldman could redeem Berkshire's preferred shares for $5.5 billion, plus a charge of $1.6 billion.

Beige Book remains mixed. The Fed's Beige Book was released and shows that economic activity "continued to rise, albeit at a modest pace." Manufacturing continued to expand and  retail spending was flat to moderately positive.  Additionally, loan demand saw some increase.  On the negative side housing "remained weak," commercial real estate conditions were "subdued," and inventories remain "elevated or rising." Employment remains weak as  hiring "remained limited" and companies are "reluctant" to add to permanent payrolls.

Upgrades

Agrium (AGU): Stifel Nicolaus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $100.00 on the company.

Netflix (NFLX): Oppenheimer raised their rating from Underperform to Outperform and raised their target price from $110.00 to $200.00.

Downgrades

Seagate Tech (STX): Robert W. Baird lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral.

BlackRock (BLK): Ticonderoga lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Boeing (BA): RBC Capital Markets reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $75.00 to $81.00.

Seagate Tech (STX): RBC Capital Markets reiterated their Sector Perform rating and raised their target price from $13.00 to $15.00.

Seagate Tech (STX): Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their Buy rating and lowered their target price from $20.00 to $17.00.

Genzyme (GENZ): RBC Capital Markets reiterated their Sector Perform rating and raised their target price from $61.00 to $75.00.

eBay (EBAY): RBC Capital Markets reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $28.00 to $30.00.

eBay (EBAY): Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $30.00 to $32.00.

Morgan Stanley (MS): FBR Capital reiterated their Outperform rating and lowered their target price from $35.00 to $32.00.

Wells Fargo (WFC): Oppenheimer reiterated their Outperform rating and lowered their target price from $37.00 to $36.00.

Earnings

Air Products and Chemicals (APD): Reported FQ4 EPS of $1.35 beating estimates by +$0.03 on revenue of $2.35B 

BB&T (BBT): Reported Q3 EPS of $0.30 beating estimates by +$0.04.

Eli Lilly (LLY): Reported Q3 EPS of $1.21 beating estimates by +$0.06 on revenue of $5.65 billion.

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB): Q3 EPS of $0.22 beating estimates by +$0.05. 

PNC Financial (PNC): Reported Q3 EPS of $2.07 beating estimates by +$0.71 on revenue of $3.6 billion.

SunTrust Banks (STI): Reported Q3 EPS of $0.17 beating estimates by +$0.18 on revenue of $2.31 billion.

eBay (EBAY): Reported Q3 EPS of $0.40 beating estimates by +$0.03 on revenue of $2.25 billion. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.45-0.48 vs. $0.44. 

E TRADE Financial (ETFC): Reported Q3 EPS of $0.03 in-line on revenue of $489 million. vs. $317M.

Intersil (ISIL): Reported Q3 EPS of $0.28 beating estimates by +$0.07 on revenue of $219 million. 

Netflix (NFLX): Reported Q3 EPS of $0.70 missing estimates by-$0.01 on revenue of $553 million. 

Noble (NE): Reported Q3 EPS of $0.39 beating estimates by +$0.01 on revenue of $613 million.

Robert Half International (RHI): Reported Q3 EPS of $0.14 beating estimates by +$0.01 on revenue of $817 million.

Seagate Technology (STX): Reported FQ1 EPS of $0.37 missing estimates by-$0.08 on revenue of $2.7 billion. 

Textron (TXT): Reported Q3 EPS of $0.13 beating estimates by +$0.05 on revenue of $2.48 billion.

Xilinx (XLNX): Reported FQ2 EPS of $0.65 in-line on revenue of $620 million.

·         Futures: Dow +0.4%. S&P +0.45%. Nasdaq +0.6%. Crude -0.3% to $82.29. Gold +0.1% to $1345.90.

·         Asia: Japan -0.1% to 9376. Hong Kong +0.4% to 23649. China -0.7% to 2984. India +1.9% to 20261.

·         Europe: London +0.7%. Paris +0.8%. Frankfurt +0.8%.