MORNING COFFEE

Trading Suspended In Italian Bank Stocks. Trading in Italian bank stocks has been suspended after bank shares saw sudden price declines.  Bank stock shares fell after Moody’s (MCO) put the banks on negative outlook.  Additionally, there were rumors that Italy’s banks need to raise more capital after going through the European stress text.  Shares of Unicredit SpA (IT:UCG) fell -8.9%, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (IT: ISP) dropped -7.2%.   A spokeswoman for Borsa Italiana said the trading suspension was temporary and triggered by "technical problems about volatility." Other European bank stocks are trading lower on the news.

Upgrades

Diamond Offshore (DO): FBR Capital raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $85.00 on the company.

Constellation Energy (CEG): Wunderlich raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $43.50 on the company.

Comcast (CMCSA): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Buy to Conviction Buy and placed a target price of $31.00 on the company. Pre-market: 24.20 +0.49 (2.07%)

Raymond James (RJF): Ticonderoga raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $37.00 on the company.

Downgrades

Boston Scientific (BSX): UBS lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $7.91 to $7.66.

Coach (COH): HSBC Securities lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 59.96 -0.93 (-1.53%)

Tiffany & Co (TIF): HSBC Securities lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 74.83 -1.44 (-1.89%)

Coverage Initiated

AT&T (T): Kaufman Bros initiated coverage with a Hold rating and target price of $31.00. Pre-market: 30.75 +0.03 (0.10%)

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Discover Financial Services (DFS): FBR Capital reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $25.00 to $30.00. Pre-market: 24.16 +0.27 (1.13%)

Earning Reports

Accenture (ACN): Reported FQ3 EPS of $0.93 beating estimates by +$0.04 on revenue of $6.7 billion, beating estimates by +$0.3 billion.

H&R Block (HRB): Reported FQ4 EPS of $2.14 beating estimates by +$0.02 on revenue of $2.32 billion, beating estimates by +$0.01 billion.

Micron Technology (MU): Reported FQ3 EPS of $0.07 missing estimates by -$0.10 on revenue of $2.13 billion, missing estimates by -$0.24 billion. Pre-market: 7.62 -0.81 (-9.61%)

Oracle (ORCL): Reported FQ4 EPS of $0.75 beating estimates by +$0.04 on revenue of $10.78 billion, beating estimates by +$0.04 billion. Pre-market: 31.25 -1.21 (-3.72%) 

·         Futures at 7:00: Dow +0.2%. S&P +0.1%. Nasdaq +0.4%. Crude+0.5% to $91.48. Gold -0.2% to $1518.10.

·         Europe: London +0.8%. Paris +1.0%. Frankfurt +0.9%.

·         Asia: Japan +0.8% to 9679. Hong Kong +1.9% to 22172. China +2.2% to 2746. India +2.9% to 18241.