Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

President Obama Releases Debt Proposal. President Obama has released his plans to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff.  The plan calls for $1.6 trillion in tax increases and $50 billion in infrastructure spending.  Economists are saying that the planed tax increases would slow the already dismal economy.  While others are pointing out that the plan is basically the same budget plan the president releases prior that received zero support by Democrats when it was brought up for a vote.  The most controversial aspect to his plan includes what some call a power grab.  The President would like the ability to raise the federal debt limit without congressional approval.

Upgrades

Lockheed Martin (LMT): CRT Capital raised their rating from Sell to Fair Value. Pre-market: 93.24 +0.20 (0.21%)

Royal Bank of Canada (RY): Macquarie raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform.

St Jude Medical (STJ): Mizuho raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $40.00 on the company. Pre-market: 34.70 +1.01 (3.00%)

Downgrades

Volvo (VOLVY): HSBC Securities lowered their rating from Neutral to Underweight.

Yum! Brands (YUM): Susquehanna lowered their rating from Positive to Neutral. Pre-market: 68.26 -6.21 (-8.34%)

Coverage Initiated

ConocoPhillips (COP): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target range of $72.00 - $78.00.

Pilgram’s Pride (PPC): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and placed a target price of $5.50 on the company.

Earning Reports

Five Below (FIVE): Reported EPS of $0.03 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 34.00 +2.61 (8.31%)

Pacific Sunwear (PSUN): Reported EPS of -$0.03 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 1.89 0.00 (0.00%)

Ulta Salon (ULTA): Reported EPS of $0.59 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 98.56 +5.41 (5.81%)

Zumiez (ZUMZ): Reported EPS of $0.51 beating estimates by +$0.04. Pre-market: 19.06 -1.69 (-8.14%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:20: Dow +0.07%. S&P 0.00%. Nasdaq +0.18%. Crude -0.30% to $87.81. Gold -0.05% to $1726.40.

Europe: London +0.17%. Paris +0.17%. Frankfurt +0.27%. 

Asia: Japan +0.48% to 9446. Hong Kong +0.49% to 22030. China +0.85% to 1980. India +0.88% to 19340. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Fed To Continue QE in 2013. With new job creation stagnant and job losses accelerating many Fed officials want to continue buying long-term Treasurys after Operation Twist expires. The purchases are in addition to the $40 billion a month of mortgage-backed they have been buying.

Upgrades

Google (GOOG): Oracle Research raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $760.00 on the company. Pre-market: 686.79 +3.12 (0.46%)

Nike (NKE): HSBC Securities raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight and raised their target price from $101.00 to $112.00. Pre-market: 99.77 +0.64 (0.65%)

Expeditors International (EXPD): Stifel Nicolaus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $46.00 on the company. Pre-market: 37.42 +0.39 (1.05%)

DR Horton (DHI): Compass Point raised their rating from Sell to Neutral and raised their target price from $13.00 to $18.00.

Downgrades

Aeropostale (ARO): Caris & Company lowered their rating from Buy to Above Average and placed a target price of $18.00 on the company. Pre-market: 13.24 -0.88 (-6.23%)

Coverage Initiated

Western Digital (WDC): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $33.00-$38.00.

Seagate Tech (STX): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $28.00-$28.00. Pre-market: 26.00 +0.31 (1.21%)

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight and target price of $28.00.

Texas Instruments (TXN): Sun Trust initiated coverage with a Reduce and target price of $26.00. Pre-market: 29.79 +0.01 (0.03%)

Earning Reports

Aeropostale (ARO): Reported EPS of $0.31 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 13.24 -0.88 (-6.23%)

Guess? (GES): Reported EPS of $0.43 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 26.84 +1.59 (6.30%)

La-Z-Boy (LZB): Reported EPS of $0.12 missing estimates by -$0.08.

Pall (PLL): Reported EPS of $0.68 beating estimates by +$0.02.

Markets: 
Futures at 7:00: Dow +0.46%. S&P +0.53%. Nasdaq +0.64%. Crude +1.23% to $87.56. Gold +0.40% to $1723.40.

Europe: London +0.90%. Paris +0.93%. Frankfurt +0.70%. 

Asia: Japan +0.99% to 9401. Hong Kong +0.99% to 21923. China -0.51% to 1963. India +1.75% to 19171. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Costco Announced Special Dividend. Bulk retailer Costco (COST) is the latest company to announce a special dividend to be paid out prior to the New Year.  The dividend of $3 billion or $7.00 per share will allow shareholders to take advantage of the current 15% tax rate on dividends. Beginning next year taxes on dividends are expected to increase to 40% versus the current 15%. This quarter alone a record 103 companies have said that they'll pay special dividends before the end of the year. If taxes on dividends are increased to 40% companies are expected to favor share buybacks over dividends. Pre-market: 100.26 +3.75 (3.89%)

Upgrades

AK Steel (AKS): Dahlman Rose raised their rating from Sell to Hold. Pre-market: 3.83 +0.04 (1.06%)

Downgrades

Ensco (ESV): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and placed a target price of $58.00 on the company.

Nabors (NBR): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and placed a target price of $28.00 on the company. Pre-market: 14.12 +0.32 (2.32%)

Sherwin-Williams (SHW): Nomura lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and placed a target price of $170.00 on the company. Pre-market: 155.81 -1.34 (-0.85%)

Coverage Initiated

Vodafone PLC (VOD): Robert W. Baird initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $30.00. Pre-market: 25.19 +0.15 (0.60%)

Check Point Software (CHKP): BMO Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $48.00.

Earning Reports

Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR): Reported EPS of $0.65 beating estimates by +$0.16. Pre-market: 34.58 +5.63 (19.45%)

American Eagle (AEO): Reported EPS of $0.41 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 20.70 +1.31 (6.76%)

Express (EXPR): Reported EPS of $0.20 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 14.18 +1.19 (9.16%)

Jos. A Bank (JOSB): Reported EPS of $0.47 missing estimates by -0.09.

Movado Group (MOV): Reported EPS of $0.67 beating estimates by +$0.05. Pre-market: 34.51 +2.28 (7.07%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:20: Dow -0.27%. S&P -0.37%. Nasdaq -0.33%. Crude -1.12% to $86.20. Gold -1.57% to $1715.00.

Europe: London -0.41%. Paris -0.40%. Frankfurt -0.36%. 

Asia: Japan -1.22% to 9308. Hong Kong -0.62% to 21709. China -0.89% to 1974. India +1.65% to 18842. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Dollar General Joins the S&P 500. Standard & Poor’s announced that Dollar General (DG) will be added to the S&P 500 index on Friday. The company will be replacing Cooper Industries (CBE), which is being acquired by Eaton Corp. (ETN). DG Pre-market: 50.85 +1.54 (3.12%)

Upgrades

Yelp (YELP): Cantor Fitzgerald raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $24.00 on the company. Pre-market: 19.60 +0.61 (3.21%)

Genuine Parts (GPC): Sun Trust raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $75.00 on the company.

Exelon (EXC): ISI Group raised their rating from Neutral to Buy. Pre-market: 29.47 +0.15 (0.51%)

Eaton Vance (EV): RBC Capital raised their rating from Sector Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $30.00 to $36.00. Pre-market: 31.86 +0.21 (0.66%)

Downgrades

Baxter (BAX): Mizuho lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and placed a target price of $72.00 on the company. Pre-market: 66.62 -0.22 (-0.33%)

Boston Scientific (BSX): Bernstein lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and maintained their target price of $6.00. Pre-market: 5.65 -0.01 (-0.18%)

Pfizer (PFE): MKM Partners lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 24.32 -0.17 (-0.67%)

Coverage Initiated

Eastman (EMN): KeyBanc Capital Markets initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $74.00 on the company.

Angie's List (ANGI): Northland Securities Markets initiated coverage with a Outperform rating and target price of $15.00 on the company.

Allscripts Healthcare (MDRX): JMP Securities initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating.

Illinois Tool Works (ITW): Stifel Niclaus initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $71.00 on the company.

Foot Locker (FL): Goldman Sachs Niclaus initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $39.00 on the company.

Markets: 
Futures at 7:46: Dow -0.03%. S&P +0.03%. Nasdaq +0.09%. Crude +0.27% to $87.99. Gold -0.18% to $1747.80.

Europe: London +0.43%. Paris +0.28%. Frankfurt +0.58%. 

Asia: Japan +0.37% to 9423.3. Hong Kong -0.08% to 21844. China -1.30% to 1991. India +1.65% to 18842. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Black Friday Sales Climb. Over the four day Thanksgiving weekend holiday sales rose by 13% to $59.1 billion with the average spending per customer rising 6.3% to $423.00. Online sales continued to climb with online Black Friday sales increasing 26%, topping $1 billion for the first time.

BlackRock Sets Up Infrastructure Fund. Investment giant BlackRock (BLK) announced that it will set up an infrastructure fund making the company the first major fund manager to enter the market. The fund will help governments raise private funding for completing infrastructure projects. The fund will fill the void left by banks that have left the market place following the fiscal crisis back in 2008 and the current EU debt crisis.

Upgrades

Lockheed Martin (LMT): Bernstein raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $105.00 to $111.00. Pre-market: 92.95 +1.12 (1.22%)

Mosaic (MOS): Atlantic Equities raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight.

Broadcom (BRCM): The Benchmark Company raised their rating from Hold to Buy. Pre-market: 31.60 +0.02 (0.06%)

Research In Motion (RIMM): CIBC raised their rating from Sector Underperformer to Sector Outperformer and raised their target price from $8.00 to $17.00. Pre-market: 11.97 +0.31 (2.66%)

Exelon (EXC): Deutsche Bank raised their rating from Hold to Buy. Pre-market: 28.90 +0.33 (1.16%)

Downgrades

Ball Corp (BLL): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Aeropostale (ARO): Janney Montgomery Scott lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and placed a target price of $14.00 on the company.

Chico’s FAS (CHS): FBR Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target price from $20.00 to $18.00.

Honda Motor Co (HMC): Macquatie lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral.

H.J. Heinz (HNZ): Stifel Nicolaus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

McDonalds (MCD): Lazard Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 86.37 -0.68 (-0.78%)

Coverage Initiated

Apple (AAPL): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $675.00. Pre-market: 572.70 +1.20 (0.21%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:00: Dow -0.34%. S&P -0.49%. Nasdaq -0.32%. Crude -0.49% to $87.86. Gold -0.05% to $1750.50.

Europe: London -0.62%. Paris -0.85%. Frankfurt -0.40%. 

Asia: Japan +1.80% to 9389. Hong Kong +0.55% to 21862. China -0.49% to 2017. India +0.11% to 18537. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Google Wins Judgment Against Microsoft. In a week long trail Google (GOOG) has won a judgment against Microsoft (MSFT) for infringing on the company’s wireless and video patents. Google wants the judge to award damages of $4 billion a year. Microsoft on the other hand says that Google only deserves $1 million. GOOG Pre-market: 671.74 +1.77 (0.26%) MSFT Pre-market: 26.75 +0.04 (0.15%)

Upgrades

Sketchers USA (SKX): Susquehanna raised their rating from Neutral to Positive and raised their target price from $19.00 to $22.00.

Downgrades

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): Mizuho lowered their rating from Neutral to Underperform. Pre-market: 11.76 +0.05 (0.43%)

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform and lowered their target price from $18.00 to $14.00. Pre-market: 11.76 +0.05 (0.43%)

Hormel Foods (HRL): CLSA lowered their rating from Outperform to Underperform and placed a target price of $32.00 on the company. Pre-market: 29.50 -0.55 (-1.83%)

St Jude Medical (STJ): Wells Fargo lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target range from $49.00 - $50.00 to $35.00 - $36.00.

Coverage Initiated

Celgene (CELG): Brean Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $100.00. Pre-market: 77.60 +0.48 (0.62%)

Biogen (BIIB): Brean Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $184.00. Pre-market: 149.00 +0.85 (0.57%)

Yum! Bands (YUM): Macquarie initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $93.00.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed 

Dycom (DY): Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their Buy rating and raised their target price from $18.00 to $22.00.

Tilly’s (TLYS): Reported EPS of $0.30 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 13.37 -2.29 (-14.62%)

Zale (ZLC): Reported EPS of -$0.88 missing estimates by -$0.25. Pre-market: 6.39 -1.05 (-14.11%)

Deere (DE): Reported EPS of $1.75 missing estimates by -$0.13. Pre-market: 83.68 -2.31 (-2.69%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:07: Dow -0.06%. S&P +0.03%. Nasdaq +0.07%. Crude +1.20% to $87.79. Gold +0.17% to $1726.60.

Europe: London +0.09%. Paris +0.34%. Frankfurt +0.19%. 

Asia: Japan +0.87% to 9223. Hong Kong +1.39% to 21524. China +1.07% to 2030. India +0.72% to 18460.