MORNING COFFEE

Iran Plans To Up The Ante. Iran is at it again.  Iran announced plans to hold another round of naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz in February.  This comes after they announced that they would not allow U.S. naval ships to reenter the Straits of Hormuz.  Military officials said that, if U.S. naval ships tried to return through the Straits, they would be attacked. The Iranians have also warned that they could close the Straits, shutting down oil supplies. The news followed reports yesterday that thousands of U.S. troops are headed to Israel to take part in the largest-ever joint drill between the two countries.

J&J Halts Doribax Trials. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) announced they have halted clinical trials of its Doribax antibiotic after more pneumonia patients who took the product died and fewer were cured. The drug is still considered safe and effective for treating urinary and abdominal infections. Pre-market: 65.50 +0.10 (0.15%)

Upgrades

SanDisk (SNDK): Sterne Agee raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $57.00 on the company. Pre-market: 50.05 +0.94 (1.91%)

TD Ameritrade Holdings (AMTD): Deutsche Bank raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $17.00 to $18.00.

Downgrades

Charles Schwab (SCHW): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $14.00 to $13.00.

Intel (INTC): Sterne Agee lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and placed a target price of $26.00 on the company. Pre-market: 25.30 -0.10 (-0.39%)

Goldman Sachs (GS): Wells Fargo lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target range from $105-$115.00 to $95.00 - $105.00. Pre-market: 94.50 -0.08 (-0.08%)

Altria (MO): Davenport lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 28.90 +0.07 (0.24%)

Kohl’s (KSS): Argus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 45.92 -0.60 (-1.29%)

Coinstar (CSTR): Morgan Keegan lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and placed a target price of $42.00 on the company.

Illinois Tool Works (ITW): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and placed a target price of $53.00 on the company.

Unilever N.V. ADS (UN/UL): ING Group lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. UN Pre-market: 34.03 -0.46 (-1.33%), UL Pre-market: 33.19 -0.45 (-1.34%)

Coverage Initiated

National Oilwell (NOV): Bernstein initiated coverage with a Outperform rating and target price of $100.00.

Corning (GLW): KeyBanc Capital Markets initiated coverage with a Hold rating. Pre-market: 13.36 +0.08 (0.60%)

               

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Mosaic (MOS): Ticonderoga reiterated their Buy rating and lowered their target price from $74.00 to $70.00. Pre-market: 53.82 +0.52 (0.98%)

Kraft Foods (KFT): Ticonderoga reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $37.00 to $42.00.

Morgan Stanley (MS): Ticonderoga reiterated their Buy rating and lowered their target price from $22.00 to $19.00. Pre-market: 16.35 +0.07 (0.43%)

Ross Stores (ROST): Avondale reiterated their Market Outperform rating and raised their target price from $50.00 to $60.00.        

    

Earning Reports

Apollo Group (APOL):  Reported EPS of $1.28 beating estimates by +$0.11. Pre-market: 55.01 +1.29 (2.40%)

Ruby Tuesday (RT): Reported EPS of -$0.03 beating estimates by +$0.03.

Markets: 
Futures at 7:07: Dow +0.20%. S&P +0.11. Nasdaq +0.03%. Crude +0.47% to $102.26. Gold +0.18% to $1623.00. 

Europe: London +0.67%. Paris +0.88%. Frankfurt +0.49%. 

Asia: Japan -1.16% to 8390. Hong Kong -1.17% to 18593. China +0.70% to 2163. India +0.07% to 15868.