MORNING COFFEE

Fed Chairman to Speak in Atlanta Today.  With all of the poor economic reports released over the past two weeks many economist are saying that the U.S. economy is slowing down, with a few saying that we are heading for another recession. Because of this all eyes will be on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke when he gives a speech in Atlanta today. It is expected that he will acknowledge that the economy faces serious problems but will reiterate that these problems are temporary.

Ford to Unveil Aggressive Sales Plan. Ford (F) is expected to unveil a plan today at its shareholders meeting to increase the company's worldwide sales to 8 million over the next few years from 5.3 million. The company is expected to put additional focus on Asia. Pre-market: 14.12 +0.21 (1.51%)

Upgrades

Symantec (SYMC): Cowen raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform.

Xilinx (XLNX): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Sell to Neutral and raised their target price from $25.00 to $33.00. Pre-market: 34.25 +0.49 (1.45%)

Coverage Initiated

Energizer (ENR): Standpoint Research initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $90.00.

Vail Resorts (MTN): Rodman & Renshaw initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating.

RF Micro Devices (RFMD): Cantor initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $10.00.

Starbucks (SBUX): Lazard Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $47.00. After Hours: 35.77 +0.03 (0.08%)

McDonalds (MCD): Lazard Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $92.00. Pre-market: 81.25 +0.55 (0.68%)

Coverage Resumed

Micron (MU): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Sell rating and target price of $8.00. Pre-market: 9.06 +0.02 (0.22%)

Downgrades

Research In Motion (RIMM): Morgan Keegan lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform. Pre-market: 38.85 -0.06 (-0.15%)

Earning Reports

Navistar (NAV): Reported EPS of $1.02 missing estimates by -$0.15.

Talbots (TLB): Reported EPS of $0.08 beating estimates by +$0.05. Pre-market: 3.26 -1.16 (-26.24%)

·         Futures at 7:00: Dow +0.5%. S&P +0.6%. Nasdaq +0.4%. Crude 0.0% at $99.01. Gold +0.2% to $1549.90.

·         Europe: London +0.2%. Paris +0.6%. Frankfurt +0.7%.

·         Asia: Japan +0.7% to 9443. Hong Kong -0.3% to 22869. China +0.6% to 2746. India +0.4% to 18496.