Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Fitch Warns of Possible U.S. Credit Rating Downgrade. Fitch announced that they have placed the United States AAA debt rating on rating “watch negative." The company could lower their rating even if the debt ceiling is raised, stating that "Although Fitch continues to believe that the debt ceiling will be raised soon, the political brinkmanship and reduced financing flexibility could increase the risk of a U.S. default." Standard & Poor's downgraded the rating to AA-plus with a stable outlook back in 2011. Moody's Investors Service rates U.S. government debt at Aaa with a stable outlook.

Upgrades:

Alaska Air Group (ALK): Imperial Capital raised their rating from In-Line to Outperform.

Intel (INTC): B. Riley raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Downgrades:

Brown & Brown (BRO): Stephens lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered their target price from $38.00 to $35.00.

Cisco Systems (CSCO): MKM Partners lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $28.00 to $26.00.

Diamond Offshore (DO): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform and lowered their target price from $70.00 to $64.00.

ENCSO (ESV): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform and lowered their target price from $65.00 to $61.00.

FedEx (FDX): Buckingham lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $122.00 to $120.00.

INVESCO (IVZ): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral.

INVESCO (IVZ): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and placed a target price of $33.00 on the company.

Noble Energy (NE): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform and lowered their target price from $47.00 to $70.00.

Stanley Black & Decker (SWK): RW Baird lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral.

Transocean (RIG): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform and lowered their target price from $54.00 to $43.00.

Coverage Initiated:

Allegheny Technology (ATI): Sterne Agee initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and target price of $27.00.

Smith & Wesson (SWHC): Lake Street Agee initiated coverage with Hold rating and target price of $12.00.

United States Steel (X): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with Neutral rating and target price of $19.00.

Earning Reports:

Abbott Labs (ABT): Reported EPS of $0.55 beating estimates by +$0.03.

Bank of America (BAC): Reported EPS of $0.20 beating estimates by +$0.01.

BlackRock (BLK): Reported EPS of $3.88 missing estimates by -$0.01.

BNY Mellon (BK): Reported EPS of $0.60 beating estimates by +$0.02.

Intel (INTC): Reported EPS of $0.58 beating estimates by +$0.05.

Mattel (MAT): Reported EPS of $1.16 beating estimates by +$0.04.

Northern Trust (NTRS): Reported EPS of $0.76 missing estimates by -$0.01.

PepsiCo (PEP): Reported EPS of $1.24 beating estimates by +$0.07.

PNC (PNC): Reported EPS of $1.69 beating estimates by +$0.07.

St Jude Medical (STJ): Reported EPS of $0.90 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Yahoo! (YHOO): Reported EPS of $0.34 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Markets: 
Futures at 6:20: Dow +0.4%. S&P +0.4%. Nasdaq +0.1%. Crude 0.0% at $101.18. Gold +0.4% to $1278.50. U.S. 10 Year -1/32 to 2.72%

Europe: London -0.6%. Paris -0.9%. Frankfurt -0.1%. 

Asia: Japan +0.2% to 14467. Hong Kong -0.5% to 23228. China -1.8% to 2193. India closed. 

#RLPaler