Employment Data Stuns Wall Street.

Employment Data Stuns Wall Street. The U.S. employment data for December was released this morning and the results stunned Wall Street. Wall Street economists had estimated that the economy would generate 196,000 new jobs down from Novembers 203,000 jobs. The actual results can in far less, at a terrible 74,000. The unemployment rate fell to 6.7% down from 7%, but analysts say that the decline was due to people giving up on looking for work. The latest data is giving more ammo to those who believe that President Obama’s economic policies are deeply flawed.

Upgrades:

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): Janney Capital raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $49.00 on the company.

Baidu (BIDU): Maxium raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $200.00 on the company.

Macy’s (M): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $54.00 to $65.00.

Downgrades:

Baker Hughes (BHI): Iberia lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform.

Fossil Group (FOSL): KeyBanc lowered their rating from Hold to Underweight and placed a target price of $100.00 on the company.

Pacific Sunwear (PSUN): Janney Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Pfizer (PFE): Cowen lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform.

Schlumberger (SLB): Iberia lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform.

Total SA (TOT): BNP Paribas lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral.

Whole Foods Market (WWFM): Cleveland Research lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Coverage Initiated:

Micron Tech (MU): Argus initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $31.00.

Precision Cast Parts (PCP): Cleveland Research initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $320.00.

TRW Automotive (TRW): FBR Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $75.00.

Visteon (VC): FBR Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $100.00.

Earning Reports:

Alcoa (AA): Reported EPS of $0.04 missing estimates by -$0.02.

Barracuda Networks (CUDA): Reported EPS of $0.01 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Helen of Troy (HELE): Reported EPS of $1.16 beating estimates by +$0.07.

Infosys (INFY): Reported EPS of $50.32 beating estimates by +3.58.

PriceSmart (PSMT): Reported EPS of $0.71 missing estimates by -$0.03.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:57: Dow +0.20%. S&P +0.07%. Nasdaq +0.24%. Crude +1.64% to $93.18. Gold +0.78% to $1239.20. U.S. 10 Year +17/32 to 2.905%.

Europe: London +0.90%. Paris +0.69%. Frankfurt +0.70%. 

Asia: Japan +0.20% to 15912. Hong Kong +0.26% to 22846. China -0.71% to 2013. India +0.22% to 20758. 

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

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Fed Fears Rock World Markets. World markets are lower after two Fed policy makers, including Charles Evans, said the U.S. central bank could start tapering as early as next month. The remarks sent the dollar lower against the yen, which in turn caused the Nikkei to fall -4%. This comes much sooner than Wall Street had expected and many feel that the economy which is still on shaky ground could start to lose steam.

Upgrades:

Louisiana Pacific (LPX): TD Securities raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Maximus (MMS): First Analysis raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and placed a target price of $45.00 on the company.

Yum! Brands (YUM): BofA Merrill Lynch raised their rating from Underperform to Neutral and raised their target price from $60.00 to $75.00.

Downgrades:

CVS Caremark (CVS): Cantor lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $65.00 to $62.00.

Fossil Group (FOSL): Citigroup lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

McDermott Intl (MDR): Stifel lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Coverage Initiated:

Baxter Intl (BAX): Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Conviction Buy rating and target price of $86.00.

Earning Reports:

AOL (AOL): Reported EPS of $0.35 beating estimates by +$0.02.

Carlyle (CG): Reported EPS of $0.39 missing estimates by -$0.17.

Clean Harbors (CLH): Reported EPS of $0.38 missing estimates by -$0.19.

Duke Energy (DUK): Reported EPS of $0.87 missing estimates by -$0.07.

Huntington Ingalls (HII): Reported EPS of $1.12 beating estimates by +$0.17.

Kelly Services (KELYA): Reported EPS of $0.33 beating estimates by +$0.08.

Walt Disney (DIS): Reported EPS of $1.03 beating estimates by +$0.02.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:20: Dow -0.45%. S&P -0.45%. Nasdaq -0.31%. Crude +0.15% to $105.46. Gold -0.5% to $1275.40. U.S. 10 Year 3/32 2.634%.

Europe: London -0.89%. Paris +0.05%. Frankfurt -0.39%. 

Asia: Japan -4.00% to 13825. Hong Kong -1.53% to 21589. China -0.67% to 2047. India -0.36% to 18665. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

IBM Furloughs Workers. IBM (IBM) announced that it will have a majority of its U.S. hardware workers to take a week off at lower pay.  This announcement comes as the company tries to slash costs in the face of weak sales. IBM's hardware sales slumped 17% year-over-year in Q1 and 12% in Q2. The company’s sales have been hurt by falling UNIX server demand as companies shift their IT hardware spending towards cloud-service companies.

Upgrades:

Fiserv (FISV): First Analysts raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight.

Old Dominion Freight (ODFL): RBC Capital raised their rating from Sector Perform to Outperform.

Downgrades:

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO): B. Riley lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $26.00 to $17.50.

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO): Brean Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

IBM (IBM): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Neutral to Underperform and lowered their target price from $200.00 to $175.00.

Sony (SNE): Hudson Square lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Unilever (UN/UL): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral.

Coverage Initiated:

CDW Corp (CDW): William Blair initiated coverage with an Outperform rating.

CDW Corp (CDW): Raymond James initiated coverage with an Outperform rating.

CDW Corp (CDW): Stifel initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $24.00.

Earning Reports:

Cognizant Tech (CTSH): Reported EPS of $1.07 beating estimates by +$0.02.

CVS Caremark (CVS): Reported EPS of $0.97 beating estimates by +$0.01.

DISH Network (DISH): Reported EPS of -$0.02 missing estimates by -$0.56.

Emerson (EMR): Reported EPS of $1.04 beating estimates by +$0.06.

Fossil (FOSL): Reported EPS of $1.10 beating estimates by +$0.16.

Henry Schein (HSIC): Reported EPS of $1.23 missing estimates by -$0.01.

MGM Resorts (MGM): Reported EPS of $0.04 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Tenet Healthcare (THC): Reported EPS of $0.66 missing estimates by -$0.05.

Tidewater (TDW): Reported EPS of $0.68 missing estimates by -$0.09.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:37: Dow -0.14%. S&P -0.16%. Nasdaq +0.04%. Crude +1.00% to $106.87. Gold -1.08% to $1288.30. U.S. 10 Year -4/32 2.657%

Europe: London -0.01%. Paris +0.15%. Frankfurt -0.11%. 

Asia, Japan +1.00% to 14401. Hong Kong -1.34% to 21924. China +0.49% to 2061. India -2.34% to 18,736.