Stock Market Futures Point to Small Gain at Opening. Stock futures show the market opening with a small gain after the release of the latest ADP employment numbers. ADP reported that private employment for March came in at 191,000 up from 178,000 in February, but below economist estimates of 215,000 jobs. Economists are also expected the government jobs report to come in at 250,000 new jobs of Friday. Factory orders for February are also expected to be released today at 10:00 a.m. Economist expect to see a 1.1% increase.

Upgrades:

Comerica (CMA): Wells Fargo raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform.

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG): JMP Securities raised their rating from Market Underperform to Market Outperform and placed a target price of $700.00 on the company. Pre-market: 508.00 +14.40 (2.92%)

W.P. Carey (WPC): First Call raised their rating from Buy to Strong Buy.

Downgrades:

Edison International (EIX): Argus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Potash Corp. (POT): Alta Corp lowered their rating from Sector Perform to Underperform and placed a target price of $28.00 on the company. Pre-market: 34.93 -0.39 (-1.10%)

U.S. Bancorp (USB): Sandler O’Neil lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 42.83 -0.16 (-0.37%)

Coverage Initiated:

Ford Motor Co. (F): Nomura initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $15.00. Pre-market: 16.35 +0.03 (0.18%)

General Motors (GM): Nomura initiated coverage with a Reduce rating and target price of $32.00. Pre-market: 34.61 +0.27 (0.79%)

Honda Motor (HMC): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Outperform rating. Pre-market: 35.48 +0.28 (0.80%)

NRG Energy (NRG): Barclays resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and target price of $36.00.

Textron (TXT): JPMorgan resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and target price of $44.00.

Earning Reports:

Jos. A. Bank (JOSB): Reported EPS of $1.07 in-line with estimates.

Monsanto (MON): Reported EPS of $3.15 beating estimates by $0.08. Pre-market: 114.97 +0.98 (0.86%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:46: Dow +0.08%. S&P +0.03%. Nasdaq +0.14%. Crude -0.77% to $98.97. Gold +1.00% to $1292.50. U.S. 10 Year -6/32 to 2.778%.

Europe: London +0.09%. Paris +0.09%. Frankfurt +0.26%. 

Asia: Japan +1.04% to 14946. Hong Kong +0.34% to 22524. China +0.56% to 2056. India +0.47% to 2253. 

#RLPaler #TopWealthManager #WallStreet #Stocks #ADPEmployment

Gold Prices Fall.

Gold Prices Fall. Gold has dropped to $1200 an ounce for the first time since June after the Fed's decided to taper its QE program by $10B a month. , Gold prices have fallen over -28% this year and is currently trading at $1.201.50 down -2.74%. Silver was -3.7% at $19.32.

Upgrades:

Sirius XM (SIRI): Wunderlich raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $4.20 to $4.50.

Downgrades:

Ford Motor Co. (F): Craig-Hullum lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $21.00 to $16.00.

Comerica (CMA): Macquarie lowered their rating from Neutral to Underperform and placed a target price of $41.00 on the company.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM): SunTrust lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $62.00 to $59.00.

Coverage Initiated:

Edison International (EIX): Tudor Pickering initiated coverage with an Accumulate rating.

Ralph Lauren (RL): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and target price of $184.00.

Southwest Airlines (LUV): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $25.00.

Standard Pacific (SPF): Sterne Agee initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $8.00.

Tiffany & Co (TIF): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and target price of $95.00.

Xylem (XYL): Sterne Agee initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $32.00.

Earning Reports:

Accenture (ACN): Reported EPS of $1.15 beating estimates by +$0.05. Pre-market: 78.08 +2.46 (3.25%)

ConAgra (CAG): Reported EPS of $0.62 beating estimates by +$0.06. Pre-market: 33.09 +1.30 (4.09%)

KB Home (KBH): Reported EPS of $0.31 missing estimates by -$0.16. Pre-market: 16.95 -0.60 (-3.42%)

Oracle (ORCL): Reported EPS of $0.69 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 35.34 +0.74 (2.14%)

Paychex (PAYX): Reported EPS of $0.43 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 44.00 +0.68 (1.57%)

Rite Aid (RAD): Reported EPS of $0.04 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 5.42 -0.34 (-5.90%)

Winnebago Inds (WGO): Reported EPS of $0.40 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 31.65 +0.01 (0.03%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:59: Dow -0.42%. S&P -0.51%. Nasdaq -0.53%. Crude -0.09% to $97.71. Gold -2.74% to $1201.50. U.S. 10 Year -13/32 to 2.944%.

Europe: London +0.87%. Paris +0.93%. Frankfurt +0.94%. 

Asia: Japan +1.74% to 15859. Hong Kong -1.10% to 22889. China -0.95% to 2128. India -0.73% to 20709. 

#RLPaler #WallStreet #PreMarket #WealthManagement#EarningReports #AnalystsRatings #Gold

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Shineway in Talks with Smithfield Foods. China based Shineway has been reported to be in talks with Smithfield Foods (SFD) to purchase the company in a deal worth $4.5-5 billion. The acquisition if completed would represent a 25-30% premium over Smithfield's close yesterday of $25.97. Pre-market: 32.34 +6.37 (24.53%)

Upgrades

Analog Devices (ADI): Citigroup raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $48.00 to $54.00. Pre-market: 45.60 +0.12 (0.26%)

Microchip Tech (MCHP): Citigroup raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $39.00 to $47.00.

Peugot SA (PEUGY): HSBC Securities raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral.

Downgrades

Brocade (BRCD): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Equal Weight to Underweight and placed a target price of $4.50 on the company. Pre-market: 5.25 -0.13 (-2.42%)

Comerica (CMA): Wunderlich lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and placed a target price of $40.00 on the company.

Coverage Initiated

Flagstar Bancorp (FBC): BTIG initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $18.00.

SeaWorld Entertainment (SEAS): Lazard Capital initiated coverage with a Neutral rating. Pre-market: 37.00 -0.71 (-1.88%)

SeaWorld Entertainment (SEAS): Macquarie initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $44.00. Pre-market: 37.00 -0.71 (-1.88%)

SeaWorld Entertainment (SEAS): KeyBank initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $45.00. Pre-market: 37.00 -0.71 (-1.88%)

SeaWorld Entertainment (SEAS): JPMorgan initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $41.00. Pre-market: 37.00 -0.71 (-1.88%)

Earning Reports

Bank of Montreal (BMO): Reported EPS of $1.46 missing estimates by -$0.04. Pre-market: 60.70 -0.51 (-0.83%)

Brown Shoes (BWS): Reported EPS of $0.32 beating estimates by +$0.10.

Chico's FAS (CHS): Reported EPS of $0.32 missing estimates by -$0.04. Pre-market: 18.18 -1.16 (-6.00%)

Movado Group (MOV): Reported EPS of $0.28 beating estimates by +$0.06.

Trina Solar (TSL): Reported EPS of -$0.90 missing estimates by -$0.16.

Wet Seal (WTSL): Reported EPS of $0.03 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 4.66 +0.16 (3.56%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:30: Dow -0.39%. S&P -0.54%. Nasdaq -0.45%. Crude -0.69% to $94.35. Gold +0.66% to $1388.10.

Europe: London -1.47%. Paris -1.22%. Frankfurt -1.42%. 

Asia: Japan +0.10% to 14326. Hong Kong -1.61% to 22555. China +0.12% to 2324. India -0.07% to 20148. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Berkshire Hathaway Followers Ready for Pilgrimage.  Hordes of Warren Buffett followers are ready to descend on Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders meeting this weekend. Prior to the meeting the company is expected to release their quarterly results. Wall Street analysts expect the company to report EPS of $1,995.50 per Class A share according to Thomson Reuters. One year ago for the same quarter the company reports EPS of $1,966. On Saturday Chairman Warren Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger will speak to the thousands of followers on topics ranging from the company’s performance, to the economy and general investing. Reports say that Hedge-fund manager Doug Kass will grill Buffett about Berkshire’s business. Kass is short Berkshire, meaning he expects the shares to fall in price. In a statement Kass said “My challenge is to ask some original questions, some that have never been asked, that might divulge new news and give people some insight.”

Upgrades

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): Jefferies raised their rating from Underperform to Hold and raised their target price from $18.50 to $24.00. Pre-market: 23.18 +1.95 (9.19%)

Pacific Sunwear (PSUN): Wedbush raised their rating from Underperform to Neutral and raised their target price from $2.00 to $3.75. Pre-market: 3.20 +0.28 (9.59%)

Pacific Sunwear (PSUN): Topeka raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $4.50 on the company. Pre-market: 3.20 +0.28 (9.59%)

Seagate Tech (STX): Deutsche Bank raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $40.00 to $46.00. Pre-market: 42.03 -0.14 (-0.33%)

Downgrades

Blue Nile (NILE): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform and maintained a target price of $36.00 on the company. Pre-market: 33.55 -1.02 (-2.95%)

Comerica (CMA): Susquehanna lowered their rating from Neutral to Negative and placed a target price of $30.00 on the company.

Devon Energy (DVN): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral and lowered their target price from $62.50 to $61.50. Pre-market: 58.00 -1.15 (-1.94%)

E.I. DuPont de Nemours (DD): BGC Partners lowered their rating from Hold to Sell and placed a target price of $50.00 on the company. Pre-market: 54.97 -0.60 (-1.08%)

Coverage Initiated

Chipolte Mexican Grill (CMG): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $360.00. Pre-market: 368.00 -3.05 (-0.82%)

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and target price of $73.0. Pre-market: 87.19 -1.27 (-1.44%)

NVIDIA (NVDA): Topeka initiated coverage with a Hold rating and target price of $15.00. Pre-market: 14.15 -0.25 (-1.74%)

Earning Reports

Advance Auto (AAP): Reported EPS of $1.65 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 86.15 +0.35 (0.41%)

Children’s Place (PLCE): Reported EPS of $0.83 beating estimates by +$0.22. Pre-market: 53.00 +1.53 (2.97%)

Dollar Tree (DLTR): Reported EPS of $0.59 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 49.60 +1.23 (2.54%)

Hormel Foods (HRL): Reported EPS of $0.46 missing estimates by -$0.03.

Kirklands (KIRK): Reported EPS of $0.10 beating estimates by +$0.05.

Paterson Companies (PDCO): Reported EPS of $0.62 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 37.22 -1.78 (-4.56%)

Perry Ellis (PERY): Reported EPS of $0.62 beating estimates by +$0.03.

Polo Ralph Lauren (RL): Reported EPS of $1.41 beating estimates by +$0.11. Pre-market: 180.51 -7.55 (-4.01%)

Toro (TTC): Reported EPS of $1.32 beating estimates by +$0.15.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD):  Reported EPS of $1.92 in-line with estimates.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:06: Dow -0.79%. S&P -0.95%. Nasdaq: -0.93%. Crude -1.47% to $92.89. Gold +1.86% to $1393.00.

Europe: London -1.80%. Paris -2.50%. Frankfurt -2.65%. 

Asia: Japan: -6.80% to 14564. Hong Kong -2.54% to 22669. China -1.16% to 2276. India -1.93% to 19674.