Government Motors is No Longer

Government Motors is No Longer. The U.S. government has sold its remaining 31.1M shares in General Motors (GM) for $9.2B. Because of the government ownership some had called the company Government Motors. The sale ends restrictions on executive pay and would allow the payment of dividends and share buybacks. The wisdom of the sale at this time is being questioned since the sale netted only $39B from an initial investment of $49.5B. The total loss to U.S. taxpayers will be over $10.5B.

Upgrades:

Broadcom (BRCM): Charter Equity raised their rating from Market Perform to Buy.

Celgene (CELG): Credit Suisse raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform.

Johnson Controls (JCI): RBC Capital raised their rating from Outperform to Top Pick and placed a target price of $61.00 on the company.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY): S&P raised their rating from 3 Stars to 4 Stars.

United Rentals (URI): RBC Capital raised their rating from Outperform to Top Pick and placed a target price of $85.00 on the company.

Downgrades:

Quest Diagnostics (DGX): Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowered their rating from Buy to Underperform and lowered their target price from $64.00 to $55.00.

Old Dominion Freight (ODLF): Longbow lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Tenneco (TEN): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Top Pick to Outperform and placed a target price of $66.00 on the company.

Tyson Foods (TSN): Miller Tabak lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $35.00 to $33.00.

Coverage Initiated:

IMAX (IMAX): Ascendiant Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $32.00.

Papa John’s International (PZZA):  Jefferies initiated coverage with a Hold rating and target price of $86.00.

Rambus (RMBS): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Hold rating and target price of $13.00.

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Earning Reports:

AutoZone (AZO): Reported EPS of $6.29 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Burlington Stores (BURL): Reported EPS of -$0.05 in-line with estimates.

Toll Brothers (TOL): Reported EPS of $0.54 beating estimates by +$0.10.

Markets: 
Futures at 6:20: Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.1%. Nasdaq +0.1%. Crude +1.2% to $98.49. Gold +1% to $1246.30. 

Europe: London +0.1%. Paris +0.1%. Frankfurt +0.2%. 

Asia: Japan -0.3% to 15611. Hong Kong -0.3% to 23744. China -0.02% at 2237. India -0.3% at 21256. 

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Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

S&P 500 Forecasts raised by Goldman. Goldman Sachs announced that they have raised their forecast S&P 500.  The firm now expects the index to rise 5% by year-end to 1,750. Analysts expectations for 2014 is now an increase of 9% to 1,900 and for 2015 a return of 10% to 2,100. The reason for the increase is expectations of an improving GDP with P/E’s increasing to 16x. Additionally, the firm said dividends should rise 30% over the next two years. Pre-market: 167.03 +0.06 (0.04%)

Upgrades

Blackrock (BLK): Macquarie raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $253.00 to $315.00.

Con-way (CNW): Wunderlich raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $37.00 to $45.00.

Downgrades

Breazer Homes (BZH): Sterne Agee lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 22.50 -0.23 (-1.01%)

Carnival Corp (CCL): Wells Fargo lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target price range from $39.00 - $41.00 to $34.00 - $36.00. Pre-market: 32.55 -2.77 (-7.84%)

Carnival Corp (CCL): William Blair lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform. Pre-market: 32.55 -2.77 (-7.84%)

Carnival Corp (CCL): UBS lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $38.00 to $36.00. Pre-market: 32.55 -2.77 (-7.84%)

Coverage Initiated

Aetna (AET): Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $68.00.

Sony Corp (SNE): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating.

Earning Reports

AutoZone (AZO): Reported EPS of $0.32 beating estimates by +$0.06.

Best Buy (BBY): Reported EPS of $0.32 beating estimates by +$0.06. Pre-market: 26.53 -0.28 (-1.04%)

Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS): Reported EPS of $0.48 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 52.00 -0.21 (-0.40%)

Home Depot (HD): Reported EPS of $0.83 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 79.50 +2.74 (3.57%)

Medtronic (MDT): Reported EPS of $1.10 beating estimates by +$0.08. Pre-market: 52.00 +2.11 (4.23%)

Urban Outfitters (URBN): Reported EPS of $7.27 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 43.35 -1.14 (-2.56%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:00: Dow +0.02%. S&P -0.09%. Nasdaq -0.05%. Crude -0.27% to $96.45. Gold -0.32% to $1380.00.

Europe: London +0.17%. Paris -0.36%. Frankfurt -0.32%. 

Asia: Japan +0.13% to 15381. Hong Kong -0.54% to 23366. China +0.22% to 2305. India -0.56% to 20111.