MORNING COFFEE

Another Credit Agency Warns About U.S. Debt. Yesterday rating agency Fitch became the third rating agency to threaten to downgrade the government's credit status if the ceiling isn't lifted. Government leaders have until August 2 to work out a deal to raise the debt limit.  Republicans are standing firm on requiring spending cuts in conjunction with any increase in the debt limit.  Congressional leaders and White House officials will be meeting today to continue discussions on raising the U.S.'s $14.3T borrowing limit and cutting the deficit.

Citigroup Get Hacked. Citigroup (C) has confirmed that hackers have obtained access to the data of hundreds of thousands of bank card customers. The hackers were able to view clients' personal information such as account numbers, contact information and email addresses. Pre-market: 36.86 +0.05 (0.14%)

Upgrades

Elan (ELN): UBS  raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $9.25 to $12.78. Pre-market: 10.16 +0.50 (5.18%)

Downgrades

Research In Motion (RIMM): Citigroup lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $80.00 to $45.00. Pre-market: 36.90 +0.17 (0.46%)

Coverage Initiated

United Technologies (UTX): William Blair initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $94.00. Pre-market: 83.35 +0.31 (0.37%)

Aqua America (WTR): Ladenburg Thalmann initiated coverage with a Buy rating.

Autodesk (ADSK): RBC Capital initiated coverage with a Sector Perform rating and target price of $46.00.

3M (MMM): RBC Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Eastman Chemical (EMN): Dahlman Rose reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $105.00 to $112.00.

UPS (UPS): HSBC Securities reiterated their Overweight rating and raised their target price from $105.00 to $112.00.

Earning Reports

J.M. Smucker (SJM): Reported EPS of $1.00 beating estimates by +$0.02.

Vail Resorts (MTN): Reported EPS of $2.08 missing estimates by -$0.08.

·         Futures at 8:45: Dow +0.23%. S&P +0.20%. Nasdaq +0.18%. Crude +0.87% to $101.54. Gold -0.8% to $153760.

·         Europe: London  +0.07%. Paris +0.10%. Frankfurt +0.29%.

·         Asia: Japan +0.19% to 9467. Hong Kong -0.23% to 22610. China -1.71% to 2703. India -0.05% to 18385.