MORNING COFFEE

Warren Buffett Wants Higher Taxes On Wealthy.  In an article in the New York Times billionaire Warren Buffett urged lawmakers to raise taxes on the country's super-rich.   By doing so he says that it would help cut the budget deficit, while not hurting investments.  In the article he states “My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It's time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice."

Last year Warren Buffett, one of the world's richest men and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/BRK.B), paid $6,938,744 in federal taxes.

He went on to say "Americans are rapidly losing faith in the ability of Congress to deal with our country's fiscal problems. Only action that is immediate, real and very substantial will prevent that doubt from morphing into hopelessness." Buffett also said higher taxes for the rich will not discourage investment.

Many economists disagree that it would help close the deficit in any significant way.  They point to the fact that if you took all the billionaires money and then took 100% from every American making over $250,000, it would still not cover the debt.  Some are now questioning why 50% of American’s pay no federal tax at all.

Upgrades

General Motors (GM): Ticonderoga raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $42.00 on the company. Pre-market: 26.04 +0.29 (1.13%)

TCF Financial (TCB): FBR Capital raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform.

Tyson Foods (TSN): BMO Capital raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $20.00 to $21.00.

VMware (VMW): Credit Suisse raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $100.00 to $115.00.

TreeHouse Foods (THS): raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $62.00 on the company.

IBM (IBM): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $170.00 to $195.00. Pre-market: 169.47 +1.27 (0.76%)

Downgrades

Diageo PLC (DEO): Nomura lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Church & Dwight (CHD): William Blair reiterated their Outperform rating and raised their target price from $42.50 to $45.50.

Earning Reports

Lowe’s (LOW): Reported EPS of $0.64 missing estimates by -$0.02. Pre-market: 19.58 +0.07 (0.36%)

Futures at 7:08: Dow +0.39%. S&P +0.49%. Nasdaq +0.45%. Crude -0.54% to $84.92. Gold +0.07% to $1743.90. 

Europe: London +0.43%. Paris +0.01%. Frankfurt +0.78%. 

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