MORNING COFFEE

Banks Close To Foreclosure Settlement. Reports say that several of the major banks are close to reaching a settlement with state and federal officials to resolve claims over improper foreclosure practices.  The settlement if agreed to by regulators could exceed $20 billion and includes Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), JPMorgan (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Ally Financial.  Additionally, the deal would set standards for servicing loans and processing foreclosures.  BAC Pre-market: 10.94 +0.20 (1.86%) C Pre-market: 42.52 +0.51 (1.21%) JPM Pre-market: 41.16 +0.60 (1.48%) WFC Pre-market: 28.50 +0.38 (1.35%)

Downgrades

IBM (IBM): Davenport lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and placed a target price of $189.00 on the company. Pre-market: 176.39 -1.32 (-0.74%)

 Fastenal (FAST): BB&T lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 36.25 -0.22 (-0.60%)

Northrop Grumman (NOC): Bernstein lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and raised their target price from $77.00 to $78.00

Coverage Initiated

Wynn Resorts (WYNN): Brean Murray initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $175.00. Pre-market: 155.55 +2.26 (1.47%)

Las Vegas Sands (LVS): Brean Murray initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $53.00. Pre-market: 44.50 +0.68 (1.55%)

LinkedIn (LNKD): Capstone initiated coverage with a Sell rating and target price of $45.00. Pre-market: 93.71 +0.01 (0.01%)

Motorola Mobility (MMI): Merriman initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a target price range of $33.00 to $34.00. Pre-market: 22.99 +0.59 (2.63%)

Coverage Reinitiated

AIG (AIG): Credit Suisse reinitiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $32.00. Pre-market: 29.60 +0.22 (0.75%)

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Viacom (VIA.B): Needham reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $55.00 to $63.00.

AT&T (T): Oppenheimer reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $32.00 to $35.00. Pre-market: 31.19 -0.04 (-0.13%)

Earning Reports

Helen of Troy (HELE): Reported EPS of $0.78 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 35.80 +0.13 (0.36%)

Intl Speedway (ISCA): Reported EPS of $0.26 missing estimates by -$0.01.

·         Futures at 8:47: Dow +0.50%. S&P +0.75%. Nasdaq +0.62%. Crude+1.50% to $98.10. Gold -0.18% to $1526.80.

·         Europe: London +1.07%. Paris +0.92%. Frankfurt +0.71%.

·         Asia: Japan -0.11% to 10071. Hong Kong +0.06% to 22530. China -0.58% to 2794. India +1.88% to 19078.