MORNING COFFEE

Bank Set For Foreclosure Settlement. Reports say that some of the largest mortgage loan servicers, including Bank of America Corp (BAC), Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM), Wells Fargo & Co  (WFC) and Ally Financial, formally known as GMAC, may be willing to settle with 50 state attorneys general who are investigating their foreclosure practices.  The banks will reach individual settlements rather than a joint agreement.  The banks have been under pressure due to their improper foreclosure practices including “robo-signing”.

Bankruptcies Reach New High. The American Bankruptcy Institute reported that consumer bankruptcies reached a five-year high in 2010, increasing +9% over 2009 numbers.  Analysts say that consumer bankruptcies may not peak until sometime later in 2011.

Upgrades

Wynn Resorts (WYNN): KeyBanc Capital Markets raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral.

Downgrades

Pinnacle Airlines (PNCL): Dahlman Rose lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Coverage Initiated

eBay (EBAY): Wedbush initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $31.00.

Sherwin-Williams (SHW): Ticonderoga initiated coverage with a Neutral rating.

Potash (POT): Boenning & Scattergood initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $190.00.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Peabody Energy (BTU): Dahlman Rose reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $66.00 to $80.00.

Massey Energy (MEE): Dahlman Rose reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $48.00 to $67.00.            

CONSOL Energy (CNX): Dahlman Rose reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $44.00 to $59.00. 

         

·         Futures at 7:00: Dow +0.35%. S&P +0.3%. Nasdaq +0.3%. Crude +0.5% to $91.98. Gold -1.05% to $1407.90.

·         Europe: London +2.3%. Paris +1.0%. Frankfurt +0.3%.

·         Asia: Japan +1.6% to 10398.1. Hong Kong +1.0% to 23668. China +1.6% to 2853. India -0.3% to 20499.