Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Lawmakers Look to Exempt Themselves From Obamacare. Reports have surfaced that both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been engaging in confidential talks about exempting themselves and their aides from the insurance exchanges mandated by Obamacare. The talks have been going on for months and are continuing led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Obama administration and other top lawmakers. Both parties fear that lower paid aides could be hit with thousands of dollars in new health care costs. Senior aides could also retire versus face a big financial penalty.  Lawmakers are concerned about what they will have to pay out of their own wallets. I guess lawmakers finally read the law and they don’t like it. “Let them eat cake.”

Upgrades

Apple (AAPL): Hilliard Lyons raised their rating from Buy to Long Term Buy and raised their target price from $540.00 to $680.00.

Lumber Liquidators (LL): Stifel raised their rating from Sell to Hold. Pre-market: 79.34 +0.66 (0.84%)

Proctor & Gamble (PG): SunTrust raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $80.00 to $88.00.

WellPoint (WLP): Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $90.00 on the company.

Waste Mgmt (WM): Wunderlich raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $35.00 to $43.00. Pre-market: 39.85 +0.30 (0.76%)

Yum! Brands (YUM): Raymond James raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform.

Downgrades

First Solar (FSLR): Raymond James lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform.

Intuit (INTC): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral.

Proctor & Gamble (PG): B Riley & Co lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $87.00 to $85.00. Pre-market: 77.50 +0.38 (0.49%)

SEI Investments (SEIC): Keefe Bruyette lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and placed a target price of $30.00 on the company.

VMware (VMW): Bernstein lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform and lowered their target price from $75.00 to $61.00.

Western Digital (WDC): FBN Securities lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform.

Western Digital (WDC): Craig-Hallum lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and placed a target price of $54.00 on the company.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Qualcomm (QCOM): Oppenheimer reiterated their Outperform rating and lowered their target price from $72.00 to $70.00. Pre-market: 62.81 -3.19 (-4.83%)

Earning Reports

3M (MMM): Reported EPS of $1.61 missing estimates by -$0.04. Pre-market: 104.31 -3.56 (-3.30%)

AFLAC (AFL): Reported EPS of $1.69 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 51.00 -0.56 (-1.09%)

Altria (MO): Reported EPS of $0.54 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 35.75 +0.22 (0.62%)

AstraZeneca (AZN): Reported EPS of $1.41 beating estimates by +$0.05. Pre-market: 51.11 -0.34 (-0.66%)

Biogen Idec (BIIB): Reported EPS of $1.80 beating estimates by +$0.19. Pre-market: 214.29 +8.11 (3.93%)

Bristol-Myers (BMY): Reported EPS of $0.41 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 41.00 -0.45 (-1.09%)

Celgene (CELG): Reported EPS of $1.37 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 120.75 +2.47 (2.09%)

Colgate Palmolive (CL): Reported EPS of $1.32 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 120.16 +2.26 (1.92%)

ConocoPhillips (COP): Reported EPS of $1.42 in-line with estimates.

Dow Chemical (DOW): Reported EPS of $0.69 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 33.22 +1.05 (3.26%)

Equifax (EFX): Reported EPS of $0.87 in-line with estimates.

Exxon Mobil (XOM): Reported EPS of $2.12 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 88.71 -0.72 (-0.81%)

Flowserve (FLS): Reported EPS of $2.01 beating estimates by +$0.06.

Harley-Davidson (HOG): Reported EPS of $0.99 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 53.41 +0.21 (0.39%)

Noble Energy (NBL): Reported EPS of $1.48 beating estimates by +$0.05.

Old Dominion (ODFL): Reported EPS of $0.47 beating estimates by +$0.23.

Qualcomm (QCOM): Reported EPS of $1.17 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 63.00 -3.00 (-4.55%)

Southwest Air (LUV): Reported EPS of $0.07 beating estimates by +$0.04. Pre-market: 13.72 +0.30 (2.24%)

UPS (UPS): Reported EPS of $1.04 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 84.67 +1.17 (1.40%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:30: Dow +0.37%. S&P +0.48%. Nasdaq +0.67%. Crude +0.35% to $91.74. Gold +1.80% to $1449.00.

Europe: London +0.17%. Paris +0.16%. Frankfurt +0.69%. 

Asia: Japan +0.60% to 13926. Hong Kong +0.98% to 22401. China -0.86% to 2199. India +1.19% 19407.