Overseas Business Activity Slows

Overseas Business Activity Slows. Business activities in both China and the Eurozone are continuing to slow. For the fifth straight month in China, the flash manufacturing PMI fell to 48.1 in March from 48.5 in February and missing economist estimates of 48.7. In the Eurozone the flash composite PMI fell to 53.2 from 53.3 in February but topped economist consensus of 52.6. The latest PMI survey signals a 0.5% increase in Q1 GDP after growth of 0.3% in Q4.

Upgrades:

Boston Scientific (BSX): Bernstein raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $12.00 to $15.00. Pre-market: 13.07 +0.25 (1.95%)

Ensco PLC (ESV): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Ross Stores (ROST): RBC Capital raised their rating from Sector Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $79.00 to $81.00. Pre-market: 74.40 +1.43 (1.96%)

United Continental Holdings (UAL): Raymond James raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $52.00 on the company. Pre-market: 45.02 +0.69 (1.56%)

US Bancorp (USB): Atlantic Equities raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 43.08 +0.06 (0.14%)

VMware (VMW): Sterne Agee raised their rating from Neutral to Buy. Pre-market: 110.33 +1.12 (1.03%)

Wells Fargo (WFC): Atlantic Equities raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 49.50 +0.38 (0.77%)

Yelp (YELP): JMP Securities raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $113.00 on the company. Pre-market: 86.00 +2.57 (3.08%)

Downgrades:

Abbott (ABT): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

AFLAC (AFL): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

Bank of America (BAC): Alantic Equities lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral and lowered their target price from $20.00 to $18.50. Pre-market: 45.02 +0.69 (1.56%)

National Oilwell (NOV): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce. Pre-market: 74.58 +0.11 (0.15%)

Nike (NKE): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce. Pre-market: 75.49 +0.28 (0.37%)

Tiffany & Co. (TIF): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Conviction Buy to Buy and lowered their target price from $101.00 to $100.00. Pre-market: 89.11 -1.62 (-1.79%)

Coverage Initiated:

T-Mobile (TMUS): Evercore initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and target price of $34.00.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:34: Dow +0.20%. S&P +0.26%. Nasdaq +0.31%. Crude +0.52% to $99.98. Gold -0.97% to $1323.10. U.S. 10 Year -6/32 to 2.768%.

Europe: London -0.13%. Paris -0.20%. Frankfurt -0.23%. 

Asia: Japan +1.77% to 14475.3. Hong Kong +1.91% to 21846. China +0.91% to 2066. India +1.38% to 22055. 

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Actavis to Buy Forest Labs

Actavis to Buy Forest Labs. Generic drug maker Actavis PLC (ACT) will buy Forest Labs (FRX) for approximately $25 billion in cash and stock. Actavis will pay $89.48 per share, representing a premium of 25% to Forest's closing price on Friday. The offer comprises $26.04 in cash and 0.3306 Actavis share for every Forest share. Actavis said the deal should increase its profits by double-digit percentages in 2015 and 2016, including about $1 billion in tax and operating savings.

Upgrades:

Abbott (ABT): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Allstate (ALL): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B): First Call raised their rating from Buy to Strong Buy.

Blackberry (BBRY): FBR Capital raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform and raised their target price from $6.75 to $10.00. Pre-market: 9.38 +0.40 (4.45%)

Express Scripts (ESRX): Monness Crespi raised their rating from Neutral to Buy. Pre-market: 76.99 +0.24 (0.31%)

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG): First Call raised their rating from Hold to Buy.

J.M. Smucker Co. (SJM): Stephens raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and raised their target price from $110.00 to $115.00. Pre-market: 92.07 +0.26 (0.28%)

Kraft (KRFT): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Mosaic (MOS): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Praxair (PX): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Total SA (TOT): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Waste Management (WM): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold. Pre-market: 42.40 -1.27 (-2.91%)

Downgrades:

Hormel (HRL): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

Intel (INTC): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

Microsoft (MSFT): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce. Pre-market: 37.58 -0.04 (-0.11%)

Coverage Initiated:

Allscripts Healthcare (MDRX): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $18.00.

Credit Suisse (CS): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating. Pre-market: 32.07 +0.62 (1.97%)

Deutsche Bank (DB): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating. Pre-market: 49.27 +0.35 (0.72%)

UBS (UBS): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Hold rating. Pre-market: 20.97 +0.13 (0.62%)

Earning Reports:

Coca-Cola (KO): Reported EPS of $0.46 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 38.10 -0.83 (-2.13%)

Diana Shipping (DSX): Reported EPS of -$0.12 missing estimates by -$0.06. Pre-market: 11.90 -0.79 (-6.23%)

Duke Energy (DUK): Reported EPS of $1.00 beating estimates by +$0.05. Pre-market: 71.45 0.00 (0.00%)

Genuine Parts (GPC): Reported EPS of $0.97 beating estimates by +$0.04.

Medtronic (MDT): Reported EPS of $0.91 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 57.00 +0.12 (0.21%)

Waste Management (WM): Reported EPS of $0.56 missing estimates by -$0.04. Pre-market: 42.40 -1.27 (-2.91%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:34: Dow +0.09%. S&P +0.03%. Nasdaq +0.09%. Crude +0.90% to $101.20. Gold -0.02% to $1318.50. U.S. 10 Year +5/32 to 2.732%.

Europe: London +0.33%. Paris -0.25%. Frankfurt -0.06%. 

Asia: Japan +3.13% to 14843. Hong Kong +0.23% to 22588. China -0.77% to 2119. India +0.83% to 20634. 

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Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

American’s Outraged Over U.S. Budget Deal/Debt Agreement.

Congress approved a deal to fund the U.S. government, but only through January 15 and raise the debt limit not by a dollar amount but up until February 7. So in reality in a few months we could be facing another shutdown and the out of control spending continues. As the news circulated American became outraged that the temporary agreement was filled with $3 billion in pork spending.  The two most outrageous examples of the pork spending buried in the bill are $174,000 of taxpayers’ money going to the widow of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D).  The Senator was one of the richest in D.C. and he left his wife a multimillionaire.  The other is the quadrupling of the funding for a boondoggle dam project on the Ohio River to nearly $3 billion.  

Upgrades:

Abbott Labs (ABT) S&P raised their rating from Hold *** to Buy ****.

AFLAC (AFL): The Research Team raised their rating from Hold to Accumulate.

Downgrades:

Bank of America (BAC): Raymond James lowered their rating from Strong Buy to Outperform.

Clorox (CLX): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Equal Weight to Underweight and placed a target price of $83.00 on the company.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR): Dougherty lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

KB Homes (KBH): Raymond James lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform.

Men’s Warehouse (MW): Stifel lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Standard Pacific (SPF): Raymond James lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform.

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

Stanley Black & Decker (SWK): Macquarie lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and placed a target price of $75.00 on the company.

Travelers Cos (TRV): Guggenheim lowered their rating from Neutral to Sell and placed a target price of $72.00 on the company.

Coverage Initiated:

Allergan (AGN): JMP Securities initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $110.00.

Salesforce.com (CRM): Argus initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $63.00.

Earning Reports:

Baxter (BAX): Reported EPS of $1.19 in-line with estimates.

Ebay (EBAY): Reported EPS of $0.64 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Goldman Sachs (GS): Reported EPS of $2.88 beating estimates by +$0.25.

IBM (IBM): Reported EPS of $3.99 beating estimates by +$0.03.

Kinder Morgan (KMI): Reported EPS of $0.27 missing estimates by -$0.04.

Kinder Morgan Partners (KMP): Reported EPS of $0.51 missing estimates by -$0.10.

Noble Corp (NE): Reported EPS of $0.85 beating estimates by +$0.15.

PPG (PPG): Reported EPS of $2.44 beating estimates by +$0.09.

Snap-On (SNA): Reported EPS of $1.43 beating estimates by +$0.02.

UnitedHealth (UNH): Reported EPS of $1.53 in-line with estimates.

Verizon (VZ): Reported EPS of $0.77 beating estimates by +$0.03.

Markets: 
Futures at 6:20: Dow -0.35%. S&P -0.27%. Nasdaq -0.09%. Crude -0.5% to $101.77. Gold +1.9% to $1306.80.  U.S. 10 Year +12/32 to 2.622%.

Europe: London -0.32%. Paris -0.47%. Frankfurt -0.68%. 

Asia, Japan +0.83% to 14587. Hong Kong -0.57% to 23095. China -0.21% to 2189. India -0.64% to 20416. 

#RLPaler

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Bonds Continue to See Massive Outflows. According to a report from TrimTabs outflows from U.S. bond mutual funds and ETFs have risen to $19.7B so far in August. So far this month’s number is the fourth-highest outflow on record and up from $14.8B in July. Since the beginning of June, $103.5B or 2.7% of the total assets invested in bond funds have left the asset class. The mass exodus can be directly tired to fears of the Fed ending its stimulus program which has sent yields higher. This morning the U.S. 10 Year stands at 2.843% its highest yield in over two years. U.S. 10 Year -4/32 2.843%

Upgrades:

American Midstream Partners (AMID): Wells Fargo raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target range from $19.00-$21.00 to $23.00-$25.00.

Dollar General (DG): JPMorgan raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight and raised their target price from $51.00 to $64.00.

Intel (INTC): Piper Jaffray raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral and raised their target price from $20.00 to $22.00. Pre-market: 22.03 +0.11 (0.52%)

Kaiser Aluminum (KALU): Sterne Agee raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Orbital Sciences (ORB): ReserchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Public Storage (PSA): RBC Capital raised their rating from Underperform to Sector Perform and raised their target price from $158.00 to $160.00.

Pulte Group (PHM): Wells Fargo raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target range from $15.50-$16.50 to $19.00-$20.00. Pre-market: 16.49 +0.21 (1.29%)

Ross Stores (ROST): Morgan Stanley raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and placed a target price of $77.00 on the company. Pre-market: 66.00 +1.24 (1.91%)

Downgrades:

Abbott (ABT): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

Foot Locker (FL): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

TRW Automotive (TRW): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Accumulate to Hold.

Union Pacific (UNP): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

Coverage Initiated:

Lumber Liquidators (LL): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $115.00.

Earning Reports:

Saks (SKS): Reported EPS of -0.10 missing estimates by -$0.02. Pre-market: 16.00 -0.02 (-0.12%)

Markets:

Futures at 7:28: Dow -0.03%. S&P -0.08%. Nasdaq +0.04%. Crude -0.10% to $107.06. Gold +0.08% to $1372.20. U.S. 10 Year -4/32 2.843%

Europe: London -0.45%. Paris -0.87%. Frankfurt -0.30%. 

Asia: Japan +0.79% to 13758. Hong Kong -0.24% to 22464. China +0.83% to 2086. India -1.56% to 18266. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Omnicom and Publicis to Merge. 

Omnicom Group (OMC) and Publicis Groupe (PGPEF) have agreed to merger that creating the world’s largest advertising firm valued at $35.1B. Publicis Chief Executive Maurice Levy said "This is a new company for a new world," and went on to say "It will be able to face the exponential development of new internet giants like Facebook and Google, changing consumer behavior, the explosion of big data, as well as handle the blurring of roles of all the players in the market." Under the deal, Publicis shareholders will receive one newly issued ordinary share of Publicis Omnicom Group for each Publicis share they own, plus a special dividend of 1.00 euro per share. Omnicom shareholders will receive 0.813 newly issued ordinary shares of Publicis Omnicom Group for each Omnicom share they own, together with a special dividend of $2.00 per share.

Upgrades:

Abbott Labs (ABT): ResearchTeam raised their target price from Reduce to Hold.

Apple (AAPL): ResearchTeam raised their target price from Reduce to Hold.

Bank of New York Mellon (BK): Guggenheim raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Harley Davidson (HOG): S&P raised their rating from *** Stars to **** Stars.

Hormel Foods (HRL): Credit Suisse raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $39.00 to $46.00.

Downgrades:

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

Expedia (EXPE): Lazard Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 47.85 +0.65 (1.38%)

ING Groep NV (ING): BTIG lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Microsoft (MSFT): Atlantic Equities lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral and lowered their target price from $35.00 to $33.00. Pre-market: 31.45 -0.17 (-0.54%)

Ryder Systems (R): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

Tower Watson (TW): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Accumulate to Hold.

T. Rowe Price (TROW): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform and lowered their target price from $82.00 to $80.00.

Coverage Initiated:

Smith & Wesson (SWHC): Dougherty initiated coverage with a Buy and target price of $14.00. Pre-market: 11.12 +0.05 (0.45%)

Earning Reports:

Franklin Resources (BEN): Reported EPS of $0.86 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 49.26 +0.60 (1.23%)

Hertz Global (HTZ): Reported EPS of $0.45 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 26.10 -0.79 (-2.94%)

Loews Corp (L): Reported EPS of $0.69 missing estimates by -$0.10. Pre-market: 48.70 +2.65 (5.75%)

Tenneco (TEN): Reported EPS of $1.10 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 49.90 +1.16 (2.38%)

Wynn Resorts (WYNN): Reported EPS of $1.51 missing estimates by -$0.06. Pre-market: 129.60 -1.38 (-1.05%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:00: Dow -0.17%. S&P -0.21%. Nasdaq -0.15%. Crude +0.53% to $105.25. Gold +0.83% to $1332.90. U.S. 10 Year -4/32 2.584%

Europe: London +0.30%. Paris +0.32%. Frankfurt +0.26%. 

Asia: Japan -3.32% to 13661. Hong Kong -0.54% to 21850. China -1.72% to 1976. India -0.78% to 19,593.