Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

American Airlines and US Airways in Merger Talks.  Reports say that American Airlines parent AMR Corp. (AAMRQ) and US Airways Group Inc. (LLC) are in the final stages of working out a merger deal. The deal would create would create the world's largest airline. If the deal is reached, the new company could have a market capitalization of more than $10 billion. The all-stock deal would be done as part of a reorganization plan that takes American out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. LLC Pre-market: 15.09 +0.53 (3.64%)

Upgrades

Yahoo! (YHOO): Pivotal Research raised their rating from Hold to Buy. Pre-market: 20.20 +0.35 (1.76%)

Downgrades

Google (GOOG): Pivotal Research lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 770.40 +0.23 (0.03%)

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Neutral to Underperform and maintained their target price of $73.00. Pre-market: 74.98 -0.41 (-0.54%)

Owens Corning (OC): KeyBanc lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Diego PLC (DEO): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform. Pre-market: 118.81 +0.82 (0.69%)

Visa (V): Wells Fargo lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target range from $160.00 - $165.00 to $$150.00 - $155.00. After Hours: 158.71 -2.11 (-1.31%)

Coverage Initiated

Pfizer (PFE): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $29.00. Pre-market: 27.27 -0.05 (-0.18%)

AbbVie (ABBV): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $37.00.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed 

Visa (V): FBR Capital reiterated their Market Perform rating and raised their target price from $145.00 to $170.00. After Hours: 158.71 -2.11 (-1.31%)

Earning Reports

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): Reported EPS of -$0.60 missing estimates by -$0.58. Pre-market: 1.78 +0.07 (4.09%)

CIGNA (CI): Reported EPS of $1.57 beating estimates by +$0.09. After Hours: 61.00 +1.33 (2.23%)

Credit Suisse (CS): Reported EPS of $0.17 missing estimates by -$0.38. Pre-market: 29.65 +0.10 (0.34%)

Gartner (IT): Reported EPS of $0.63 beating estimates by +$0.02.

International Foods (IFF): Reported EPS of $0.83 missing estimates by -$0.03.

MAXIMUS (MMS): Reported EPS of $0.63 beating estimates by +$0.07.

Old Dominion Freight (ODFL): Reported EPS of $0.46 missing estimates by -$0.04.

Snap-On (SNA): Reported EPS of $1.43 beating estimates by +$0.07.

Sprint Nextel (S): Reported EPS of -$0.30 beating estimates by +$0.14. Pre-market: 5.70 -0.07 (-1.21%)

Teva Pharma (TEVA): Reported EPS of $1.32 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 37.84 -0.32 (-0.84%)

Visa (V): Reported EPS of $1.82 beating estimates by +$0.02. After Hours: 158.71 -2.11 (-1.31%)

Markets: 
Futures at 6:06: Dow +0.18%. S&P +0.19%. Nasdaq +0.12%. Crude +0.29% to $96.90. Gold -0.15% to $1676.20.

Europe: London -0.27%. Paris +0.23%. Frankfurt +0.42%. 

Asia: Japan -0.93% to 11357. Hong Kong -0.34% to 23177. China -0.66% to 2419. India -0.30% to 19580.