President Obama Will Act Alone

President Obama Will Act Alone. During last night’s State of the Union speech President Obama said that he would use his executive power to implement his economic and other policies, while highlighting the gap between the rich and poor that has widened during his administration. President Obama announced a dozen proposals including raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for future federal contract workers that would affect about 560,000 people.  Additionally, some analysts believe he will also attempt to use his executive power to act on immigration reform and gun control, two hot buttons with American’s that many constitutional scholars say would be unconstitutional and illegal. During his speech the President also said he plans to create a government-coordinated retirement savings program that would provide a guaranteed return, but not additional specific are available at this time.

Upgrades:

CIT Group (CIT): Buckingham raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $54.00 on the company.

VMware (VMW): Raymond James raised their rating from Outperform to Strong Buy and placed a target price of $109.00 on the company. Pre-market: 94.00 -0.94 (-0.99%)

Wal-Mart (WMT): Credit Suisse raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $80.00 to $87.00. Pre-market: 74.81 +0.14 (0.19%)

Downgrades:

WellPoint (WLP): Monness Crespi lowered their rating from Neutral to Sell. Pre-market: 81.60 -2.70 (-3.20%)

Yahoo! (YHOO): Gabelli lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 35.90 -2.32 (-6.07%)

Earning Reports:

Amgen (AMGN): Reported EPS of $1.82 beating estimates by +0.14. Pre-market: 117.09 -3.61 (-2.99%)

AT&T (T): Reported EPS of $0.53 beating estimates by +0.03. Pre-market: 32.77 -0.93 (-2.76%)

Boeing (BA): Reported EPS of $1.88 beating estimates by +0.31. Pre-market: 131.75 -5.34 (-3.90%)

Cirrus Logic (CRUS): Reported EPS of $0.89 beating estimates by +0.12. Pre-market: 17.50 -1.24 (-6.62%)

Dow Chemical (DOW): Reported EPS of $0.65 beating estimates by +0.22.

EMC (EMC): Reported EPS of $0.60 beating estimates by +0.01. Pre-market: 25.50 +0.12 (0.47%)

Jetblue Airways (JBLU): Reported EPS of $0.14 beating estimates by +0.01. Pre-market: 8.74 0.00 (0.00%)

Novartis AG (NVS): Reported EPS of $1.20 beating estimates by +0.01. Pre-market: 78.94 -0.62 (-0.78%)

Phillips 66 (PSX): Reported EPS of $1.34 beating estimates by +0.24. Pre-market: 73.00 -2.08 (-2.77%)

VMware (VMW): Reported EPS of $1.01 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 94.00 -0.94 (-0.99%)

WellPoint (WLP): Reported EPS of $0.87 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 81.60 -2.70 (-3.20%)

Yahoo! (YHOO): Reported EPS of $0.46 beating estimates by +0.08. Pre-market: 35.90 -2.32 (-6.07%)

Markets:
Futures at 8:33: Dow -0.49%. S&P -0.45%. Nasdaq -0.46%. Crude -0.15% to $97.27. Gold +1.02% to $1263.70. U.S. 10 Year +10/32 to 2.724%.

Europe: London -0.51%. Paris -0.86%. Frankfurt -0.48%.

Asia: Japan +2.70% to 15384. Hong Kong +0.82% to 22142. China +0.56% to 2050. India -0.18% to 20647.

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Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Senate and House Set to Meet. The Senate and the House are due to hold sessions today even though its federal holiday; Congress was scheduled to be close in observance of Columbus Day. Over the weekend President Obama refused to negotiate with House Republicans and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) demanded that all previous spending cuts, known as sequester be added back into the budget.  U.S. Stock futures are lower this morning.

Upgrades:

Advance Micro Devices (AMD): Wedbush raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $4.50 to $5.00. Pre-market: 3.86 +0.03 (0.78%)

Dunkin Brands (DNKN): Miller Tabak raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $46.00 to $53.00. Pre-market: 45.80 +0.12 (0.26%)

Hyatt Hotels (H): ISI Group raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Iron Mountain (IRM): RW Baird raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and placed a target price of $34.00 on the company. Pre-market: 25.42 +0.12 (0.47%)

Downgrades:

Coach (COH): Canaccord lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $65.00 to $62.00. Pre-market: 53.80 -0.79 (-1.45%)

Expedia (EXPE): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $66.00 to $51.00. Pre-market: 50.00 -1.73 (-3.34%)

Merck & Co (MRK): Bernstein lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform. Pre-market: 46.86 -0.43 (-0.91%)

SABMIller plc (SBMRY): Citigroup lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Coverage Initiated:

Capital One Financial (COF): SunTrust initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $81.00. Pre-market: 71.77 -0.14 (-0.19%)

CIT Group (CIT): SunTrust initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $53.00.

Discover Financial (DFS): Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $62.00.

Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA): Oppenheimer initiated coverage with a Perform rating. Pre-market: 40.25 -0.79 (-1.92%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:55: Dow -0.68%. S&P -0.78%. Nasdaq -0.40%. Crude -0.53% to $101.48. Gold +1.58% to $1288.50. U.S. 10 Year 0/32 2.692%.

Europe: London +0.07%. Paris -0.30%. Frankfurt -0.28%. 

Asia: Japan +1.48% to 14404, Hong Kong +1.16% to 23218. China +0.43% to 2238. India +1.26% to 20528. 

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Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Govt. Set to Shut Down. The U.S. federal government is set to shut down tonight after midnight if a funding agreement is not worked out. Republican-led House passed a measure to fund the government that included a one-year delay to the individual mandate to Obamacare.  It also repealed the tax on medical devices. Businesses have already received the one-year delay. The Democrat-led Senate is due to meet today at 2 pm and they are expected to reject the House funding measures.

Upgrades:

Accenture (ACN): Societe Generale raised their rating from Sell to Hold and raised their target price from $70.00 to $75.00.

BlackBerry (BBRY): Bernstein raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform and placed a target price of $7.00 on the company. Pre-market: 7.93 -0.10 (-1.25%)

CIT Group (CIT): Janney Capital raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $52.00 to $58.00.

Colgate-Palmolive (CL): Morgan Stanley raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and placed a target price of $68.00 on the company.

JM Smucker (SJM): Citigroup raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $115.00 to $119.00.

Marathon Oil (MRO): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $42.00 on the company. Pre-market: 34.70 -0.20 (-0.57%)

Xilinx (XLNX): Pacific Crest raised their rating from Sector Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $55.00 on the company. Pre-market: 46.24 -0.30 (-0.64%)

Downgrades:

J. C. Penney (JCP): Maxim Group lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 8.79 -0.26 (-2.87%)

Earning Reports:

Cal-Maine Foods (CALM): Reported EPS of $0.36 missing estimates by -$0.13.

Omnova Solutions (OMN): Reported EPS of $0.19 missing estimates by -$0.03.

Markets: 
Futures at 6:20: Dow -0.84%. S&P -0.90%. Nasdaq -0.65%. Crude -1.22% to $101.59. Gold -0.46% to $1332.70. U.S. 10 Year +4/32 2.613%. 

Europe: London -0.81%. Paris -1.1%. Frankfurt -0.91%. 

Asia: Japan -2.06% to 14455.8. Hong Kong -1.50% to 22860. China +0.68% to 2175. India -1.76% to 19,380.