MORNING COFFEE

U.S. Nears Debt Limit Again. Analysts believe that the U.S. will again hit its $14.3 trillion debt limit by March unless Congress takes action to raise the limit again. Hitting the debt limit could cause the government to default on its debt and cause a shutdown in the government.  Many are now pushing for aggressive cuts in spending before agreeing to increase the Federal debt limit again.

Upgrades

Elan (ELN): RBC Capital Markets raised their rating from Underperform to Sector Perform and raised target price from $4.00 to $8.00.

Exxon Mobil (XOM): Oppenheimer raised their rating from Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $90.00 on the company.

BB&T Corp (BBT): Oppenheimer raised their rating from Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $32.00 on the company.

Downgrades

bebeStores (BEBE): Brean Murray lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Zumiez (ZUMZ): Wedbush lowered their rating from Neutral to Underperform and lowered their target price from $30.00 to $20.00.

Comerica (CMA): Oppenheimer lowered their rating from Outperform to Perform.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Estee Lauder (EL): Wedbush reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $80.00 to $87.00.

Massey Energy (MEE): FBR Capital reiterated their Market Perform rating and raised their target price from $80.00 to $87.00.

Earning Reports

Constellation Brands (STZ): Reported EPS of $0.66 beating estimates by +$0.04.

Monsanto (MON): Reported EPS of $0.02 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Ruby Tuesday (RT): Reported EPS of $0.07 beating estimates by +$0.02.

·         Futures at 7:00: Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.35%. Nasdaq +0.4%. Crude -0.5% to $89.81. Gold 0.0% at $1373.60.

·         Europe: London +0.7%. Paris +0.8%. Frankfurt +1.1%.

·         Asia: Japan +1.4% to 10530. Hong Kong +0.1% to 23786. China -0.5% to 2824. India -0.6% to 20185.