Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

The House Moves Ahead to Prevent Fiscal Cliff. The House which is controlled by Republicans will vote today on John Boehner's (R) "Plan B" budget. The vote comes after President Obama rejected the plan and negotiations on spending cuts and taxes came to an impasse. The plan would raise taxes on households earning over $1 million a year, while maintaining the current tax rates for the middle class. President Obama has already said he'll veto the measure if it reaches his desk. The president wants to raise taxes on those making over $250,000 and is refusing to cut spending. All three rating agencies have said they could lower the U.S.A.’s credit rating due to the out of control debt.

Upgrades

PPG Industries (PPG): RBC Capital raised their rating from Sector Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $130.00 to $160.00.

Flir Systems (FLIR): Sterne Agee raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $30.00 on the company.

Diageo PLC (DEO): JPMorgan raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 120.81 +1.88 (1.58%)

Downgrades

Research In Motion (RIMM): Hudson Securities lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 13.59 -0.04 (-0.29%)

Coverage Initiated

Blackrock (BLK): JPMorgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and target price of $231.00.

Abbott Lab (ABT): Williams Blair initiated coverage with an Overweight rating.

Patterson Cos (PDCO): Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $39.00.

Earning Reports

Accenture (ACN): Reported EPS of $1.06 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 66.50 -3.90 (-5.54%)

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY): Reported EPS of $1.03 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 57.10 -3.18 (-5.28%).

Paychex (PAYX): Reported EPS of $0.41 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 32.97 -0.08 (-0.24%)

ConAgra (CAG): Reported EPS of $0.57 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 31.00 +1.04 (3.47%)

Darden Restaurants (DRI): Reported EPS of $0.26 missing estimates by -$0.01.

KB Home (KBH): Reported EPS of $0.10 beating estimates by +$0.04. Pre-market: 15.85 -0.81 (-4.86%)

Rite Aid (RAD): Reported EPS of $0.10 beating estimates by +$0.09. Pre-market: 1.16 +0.12 (11.54%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:44: Dow +0.05%. S&P -0.03%. Nasdaq +0.06%. Crude +0.06% to $90.03. Gold +0.51% to $1668.50.

Europe: London +0.06%. Paris +0.15%. Frankfurt +0.03%. 

Asia: Japan -1.19% to 10039. Hong Kong +0.16% to 22660. China+0.28% to 2168. India -0.11% at 19454.