MORNING COFFEE

Nasdaq & Ice Make Offer To Buy NYSE.  

The Nasdaq OMX (NDAQ) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) have made a $11.3 billion offer what works out to $42.50/share for the NYSE Euronext (NYX).   The bid is a 19% premium over the Deutsche Boerse (DBOEY) offer of $9.5 billion. Pre-market: 39.00 +3.83 (10.89%)

SEC Investigates David Sokol. 

Reports say that the SEC is investigating David Sokol for possible insider trading.  Sokol recently resigned from Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/BRK.B) after it was revealed that he purchased 96,000 shares of Lubrizol (LZ) just before he recommended to Warren Buffet that he should buy the company.  By front running the Berkshire Hathaway trade and announcement, he may have illegally profited from the subsequent price run-up.  Some estimate that Sokol may have made over $3 million on the trade.

Upgrades

Las Vegas Sands (LVS): Stifel Nicolaus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $55.00 on the company.

Allergan (AGN): Leerink raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $83.00 on the company.

Coverage Initiated

Huntington Ingalls (HII): Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Hold recommendation.

Downgrades

Mosaic (MOS): Scotia Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform.

Baidu (BIDU): Mizuho lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Logitech (LOGI): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Nokia (NOK): RBC Capital Markets reiterated their Outperform rating and lowered their target price from $14.00 to $12.00.

Medifast (MED): Northland Securities reiterated their Outperform rating and lowered their target price from $44.00 to $29.00.

·         Futures at 7:00: Dow +0.4%. S&P +0.4%. Nasdaq +0.5%. Crude +0.3% to $107.06. Gold -0.35% to $1434.80.

·         Europe: London +0.8%. Paris +0.8%. Frankfurt +1.0%.

·         Asia: Japan -0.5% to 9708. Hong Kong +1.2% to 23802. China +1.3% to 2967. India -0.1% to 19420.