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.