MORNING COFFEE

No Vote On Debt Bill. Yesterday’s vote on John Boehner’s debt reduction bill was delayed and finally canceled after it became evident that Tea Party Republicans would not vote yes on the bill and it would be defeated.  The Tea Party Republicans were looking for more substantial cuts to spending.  Republican and Democratic leaders plan to meet today to discuss strategy with only four days until the Aug. 2 deadline for raising the debt ceiling.  10yr Tres +19/32 2.881%, 30yr Tres +26/32 4.212%

Upgrades

Altria (MO): Stifel Nicolaus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $29.00 on the company. Pre-market: 26.10 -0.13 (-0.50%)

Downgrades

Constant Contact (CTCT): Stifel Nicolaus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 17.54 -3.38 (-16.16%)

Constant Contact (CTCT): Robert W. Baird lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and lowered their target price from $35.00 to $24.00. Pre-market: 17.54 -3.38 (-16.16%)

Motorola Mobility (MMI): Wells Fargo lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target price range from $30.00-$31.00 to $22.00-$23.00. Pre-market: 21.51 -1.40 (-6.11%)

Coverage Initiated

Tellabs (TLAB): Kaufman Bros initiated coverage with a Hold rating and target price of $5.00. Pre-market: 4.04 0.00 (0.00%)

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Expedia (EXPE): The Benchmark Company reiterated their Hold rating and raised their target price from $34.00 to $36.00. Pre-market: 30.23 +1.24 (4.28%)

Starwood Hotels (HOT): FBR Capital reiterated their Market Perform rating and raised their target price from $63.00 to $66.00. Pre-market: 54.25 -1.11 (-2.01%)

Earning Reports

American Electric (AEP): Reported EPS of $0.73 missing estimates by -0.03. Pre-market: 36.93 -0.23 (-0.62%)

Amgen (AMGN): Reported EPS of $1.37 beating estimates by +$0.08. Pre-market: 54.41 +0.98 (1.83%)

Arch Coal (ACI): Reported EPS of $0.44 missing estimates by -0.16. Pre-market: 24.93 -0.84 (-3.26%)

Newmont Mining (NEM): Reported EPS of $0.90 missing estimates by -0.09. Pre-market: 56.75 -0.98 (-1.70%)

·         Futures at 8:52: Dow -0.95%. S&P -0.96%. Nasdaq -0.71%. Crude -1.22% to $96.25. Gold +0.45% at $1620.60. 

·         Europe: London -1.38%. Paris -2.04%. Frankfurt -1.5%.

·         Asia: Japan -0.64% to 9833. Hong Kong -0.58% to 22440. China -0.26% to 2702. India -0.07% to 18197. 

MORNING COFFEE

Jefferson Could File For Bankruptcy. The Jefferson Alabama County Commission is scheduled to meet today to discuss whether to file for bankruptcy.  If done it would become the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. The county is hoping that that creditors including JPMorgan, which holds most of the bonds, will agree to reduce the debt to about $2 billion.

Upgrades

Symantec (SYMC): Wunderlich raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $21.00 to $22.00. Pre-market: 19.20 +0.78 (4.26%)

Sketchers (SKX): BB&T raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $18.00 on the company. Pre-market: 15.40 +1.10 (7.69%)

Gap (GPS): Jefferies raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $25.00 on the company. Pre-market: 19.02 +0.06 (0.32%)

JCPenney (JCP): CRT Capital raised their rating from Fair Value to Buy and maintained a target price of $38.00 on the company.

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $21.00 on the company. Pre-market: 15.95 +0.26 (1.66%)

Downgrades

Flagstar Bancorp (FBC): FBR Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target price from $2.00 to $1.00.

Corning (GLW): CLSA lowered their rating from Buy to Outperform and lowered their target price from $21.00 to $16.00. Pre-market: 16.05 +0.01 (0.06%)

Coverage Initiated

Tiffany & Co. (TIF): Merriman initiated coverage with a Neutral rating.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

3M (MMM): FBR Capital reiterated their Outperform rating and lowered their target price from $105.00 to $103.00. Pre-market: 87.88 -0.20 (-0.23%)

Earning Reports

Airgas (ARG): Reported EPS of $0.99 beating estimates by +$0.03.

Automatic Data (ADP): Reported EPS of $0.48 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 52.09 -0.29 (-0.55%)

Ball Corp (BLL): Reported EPS of $0.85 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 38.24 -1.04 (-2.65%)

Bristol-Myers (BMY): Reported EPS of $0.56 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 29.00 +0.39 (1.36%)

Celgene (CELG): Reported EPS of $0.99 beating estimates by +$0.04. Pre-market: 61.74 +2.26 (3.80%)

Colgate-Palmolive (CL): Reported EPS of $1.26 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 85.03 -0.46 (-0.54%)

DuPont (DD): Reported EPS of $1.37 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 53.00 +0.72 (1.38%)

Kellogg (K): Reported EPS of $0.94 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 55.10 -0.45 (-0.81%)

Tyco (TYC): Reported EPS of $0.85 beating estimates by +$0.12.

·         Futures at 7:56: Dow +0.09%. S&P +0.13%. Nasdaq +0.24%. Crude +0.12% to $97.53. Gold +0.15% at $1617.60. 

·         Europe: London -0.74%. Paris -1.34%. Frankfurt -1.6%. 

·         Asia: Japan -1.45% to 9901. Hong Kong +0.13% to 22571. China -0.54% to 2709. India -1.21% to 18210. 

MORNING COFFEE

Clorox Rejects Offer. After investor Carl Icahn revised his offer to purchase Clorox (CLX) at $80.00 it was rejected.  His latest offer was called "inadequate and unlikely to be completed." Also that it "lacks detail and contains significant conditionality." Pre-market: 73.30 0.00 (0.00%)

Dunkin Goes Public. Dunkin' Brands (DNKN) is scheduled to begin trading today after raising $422.75 million from its IPO.  The company sold 22.25 million shares at $19.00 per share. This was above the previously target range of $16-$18.00.

Upgrades

Electronic Arts (ERTS): Brean Murray raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $29.00 on the company. Pre-market: 24.05 +0.24 (1.01%)

Stryker (SYK): Wunderlich raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $66.00 on the company. Pre-market: 55.74 +0.62 (1.12%)

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD): Raymond James raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $72.00 on the company. Pre-market: 64.25 -1.00 (-1.53%)

Downgrades

Charles Schwab (SCHW): Ticonderoga lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Amazon.com (AMZN): Oppenheimer reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $220.00 to $250.00. Pre-market: 225.34 +11.16 (5.21%)

Amazon.com (AMZN): The Benchmark Company reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $246.00 to $256.00. Pre-market: 225.34 +11.16 (5.21%)

Under Armour (UA): FBR Capital reiterated their Market Perform rating and raised their target price from $75.00 to $80.00.

Earning Reports

AutoNation (AN): Reported EPS of $0.49 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 39.85 -0.12 (-0.30%)

Boeing (BA): Reported EPS of $1.25 beating estimates by +$0.27. Pre-market: 72.20 +2.04 (2.91%)

Corning (GLW): Reported EPS of $0.48 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 16.55 -0.74 (-4.28%)

Dow Chemical (DOW): Reported EPS of $0.85 beating estimates by +$0.06. Pre-market: 36.60 +0.75 (2.09%)

General Dynamics (GD): Reported EPS of $1.79 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 71.42 +1.10 (1.56%)

Teva Pharmacuticals (TEVA): Reported EPS of $1.10 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 47.27 +0.48 (1.03%)

WellPoint (WLP): Reported EPS of $1.83 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 71.00 -2.56 (-3.48%)

Futures at 8:47: Dow -0.18%. S&P -0.41%. Nasdaq -0.27%. Crude -1.07% to $98.52. Gold +0.46% to $1624.50.

Europe: London -0.51%. Paris -1.18%. Frankfurt -0.85%. 

Asia: Japan -0.50% to 10047. Hong Kong -0.13% to 22542. China +0.76% to 2723. India -0.46% to 18432. .00.

MORNING COFFEE

No Debt Deal Yet. Last night President Obama went on nationwide T.V. to plead his case for increasing the debt ceiling, which was rebutted by GOP leader John Boehner.  Both sides still seem very far away for reaching a deal on increasing the debt limit, which now stands over $14.5 trillion with only one week before hitting the Aug. 2 deadline.  Even with the Aug 2 deadline approaching, which is when the White House says it will not be able to pay the bills Wall Street doesn’t seem all that concerned.  This is because there are reports that the White House has been privately telling the major banks that the goverment will continue to make payments beyond the Aug 2 deadline.  Some analysts are saying that with the current Treasury tax intake the government could pay its bills for another month or two beyond the Aug 2 date.   30yr Bond -9/32 4.338% 10yr Bond -6/32 3.026%

Upgrades

BB&T (BBT): Rochdale raised their rating from Neutral to Buy. Pre-market: 26.42 +0.32 (1.23%)

Downgrades

Guess? (GES): Lazard Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 40.10 -0.59 (-1.45%)

ITT Educational (ESI): UBS lowered their rating from Neutral to Sell and placed a target price of $70.00 on the company.

Coverage Initiated

Google (GOOG): CLSA initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $750.00. Pre-market: 622.75 +3.77 (0.61%)

Herbalife (HLF): SunTrust initiated coverage with a Buy and target price of $80.00 on the company.

PETsMart (PETM): RBC Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $52.00.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Broadcom (BRCM): Needham reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $40.00 to $43.00. Pre-market: 37.70 +2.79 (7.99%)

Broadcom (BRCM): FBR Capital reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $48.00 to $50.00. Pre-market: 37.70 +2.79 (7.99%)

Texas Instruments (TXN): FBR Capital reiterated their Outperform rating and lowered their target price from $39.00 to $36.00. Pre-market: 31.60 +0.13 (0.41%)

Baker Hughes (BHI): Dahlman Rose reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $92.00 to $114.00.

Futures at 8:29: Dow +0.02%. S&P +0.25%. Nasdaq +0.17%. Crude +0.41% to $99.61. Gold -0.11% at $1610.50.

Europe: London -0.2%. Paris -0.6%. Frankfurt -0.2%. 

Asia: Japan +0.5% to 10098. Hong Kong +1.3% to 22572. China +0.5% to 2703. India -1.9% to 18518.