Wealth Gap Widest in Large Affluent Cities

Wealth Gap Widest in Large Affluent Cities.  A new report indicates the gap between the wealthy and the poor is most extreme in several of the U.S.’s largest cities. The largest disparities in wealth where found to be in the democratically lead cities of Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C.  Some economists are pointing out that many of these cities have higher immigrant and illegal alien populations and higher high school dropout rates that they say add to the wealth gap. Of the nation’s 50 biggest cities, just 18 experienced greater income inequality since the recession. The report also found that not all the 50 largest cities saw large wealth gaps. Some Western and Sun Belt cities, such as Mesa, AZ and Arlington, TX that have smaller downtowns had a noticeably smaller wealth gap than the national average.

Upgrades:

Seagate Tech (STX): RBC Capital raised their rating from Sector Perform to Outperform. Pre-market: 51.10 +1.08 (2.16%)

Tim Hortons (THI): Raymond James raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform.

Total SA (TOT): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Sell to Neutral. Pre-market: 62.36 +0.94 (1.53%)

Downgrades:

Columbia Sportswear (COLM): McAdams Wright lowered their rating from Hold to Sell.

Groupon (GRPN): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Sector Perform to Underperform and lowered their target price from $11.00 to $7.00. Pre-market: 9.00 -1.28 (-12.44%)

Wal-Mart (WMT): Stifel lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and placed a target price of $83.00 on the company. Pre-market: 73.26 -0.26 (-0.35%)

Earning Reports:

Charter Comm (CHTR): Reported EPS of $0.35 beating estimates by +$0.06.

DISH Network (DISH): Reported EPS of $0.63 beating estimates by +$0.22.

Groupon (GRPN): Reported EPS of $0.04 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 9.00 -1.28 (-12.44%)

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): Reported EPS of $0.90 beating estimates by +$0.06. Pre-market: 30.45 +0.26 (0.86%)

Intuit (INTU): Reported EPS of $0.02 in-line with estimates.

Priceline.com (PCLN): Reported EPS of $8.85 beating estimates by +$0.56. Pre-market: 1,315.93 +32.93 (2.57%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:02: Dow +0.18%. S&P +0.19%. Nasdaq +0.19%. Crude -0.27% to $102.46. Gold +0.38% to $3121.90. U.S. 10 Year -5/32 to 2.768%

Europe: London +0.09%. Paris +0.27%. Frankfurt +0.13%. 

Asia: Japan +2.88% to 14866. Hong Kong +0.78% to 22568. China -1.17% to 2114. India +0.80% to 20701. 

#TopWealthManager #RLPaler #AnalystsRatings #EarningReports #WallStreet #FinancialPlaner 

Bitcoin Value Sinks. China’s largest Bitcoin exchange BTC China was forced to stop accepting deposits in the Chinese currency on Wednesday, sending the price of the virtual money crashing. By Wednesday evening, BTC was quoting Bitcoins at about 2,300 renminbi, or about $380, apiece a decline in price of nearly -40%.  According to reports, the People’s Bank of China and the Chinese central bank, met Monday with the country’s largest third-party payment processing companies and ordered them to stop all transactions involving digital currencies.

Upgrades:

Western Union (WU): Macquarie raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform. Pre-market: 16.90 +0.43 (2.61%)

Downgrades:

Jabil Circuits (JBL): Longbow lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 16.20 -3.52 (-17.85%)

Coverage Initiated:

Fresh Markets (TFM): Stephens initiated coverage with an Overweight and target price of $50.00.

Groupon (GRPN): Northland Securities initiated coverage with an Outperform rating. Pre-market: 10.81 +0.14 (1.31%)

Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight and target price of $40.00.

Whole Foods Market (WFM): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight and target price of $61.00. Pre-market: 57.60 +0.29 (0.51%)

Earning Reports:

FedEx (FDX): Reported EPS of $1.57 missing estimates by -$0.08. Pre-market: 138.27 -0.82 (-0.59%)

General Mills (GIS): Reported EPS of $0.83 missing estimates by -$0.05. Pre-market: 48.25 -1.33 (-2.68%)

Jabil Circuits (JBL): Reported EPS of $0.51 missing estimates by -$0.03. Pre-market: 16.20 -3.52 (-17.85%)

VeriFone (PAY): Reported EPS of $0.27 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 23.80 -1.20 (-4.80%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:39: Dow +0.25%. S&P +0.14%. Nasdaq +0.11%. Crude +0.16% to $97.38. Gold +0.15% to $1232.00. U.S. 10 Year -8/32 to 2.873%

.

Europe: London +0.27%. Paris +0.88%. Frankfurt +1.12%. 

Asia: Japan +2.02% to 15587.8. Hong Kong +0.32% to 23144. China -0.13% to 2148. India +1.20% 20860. 

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

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Fed News Sends World Markets Higher. Yesterday the Federal Reserve unexpectedly announced that it would keep its monetary stimulus policy unchanged.  The news sent world stock markets and commodity prices higher. The Fed will maintain its asset purchase program of $85 billion a month instead of tapering off the program.  Economists have expected a $10 billion monthly reduction in the program.

Rick Paler President of RL Paler Investment Advisors, LLC said “The Fed news should help the stock market and lower mortgage rates going forward, but also indicates the Fed is still worried about the economy.”

Upgrades:

AOL (AOL): Topeka raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $43.00 on the company. Pre-market: 35.45 +1.08 (3.14%)

Diageo PLC (DEO): Bernstein raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform. Pre-market: 134.07 +2.80 (2.13%)

Groupon (GRPN): Stifel raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $16.00 on the company. Pre-market: 12.02 +0.47 (4.07%)

Travelers Cos. (TRV): FBR Capital raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $84.00 to $94.00.

Time Warner (TWX): Morgan Stanley raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and raised their target price to $72.00. Pre-market: 64.35 +1.01 (1.59%)

Downgrades:

FedEx (FDX): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $116.00 to $112.00. Pre-market: 115.06 -1.19 (-1.02%)

Walt Disney (DIS): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered their target price to $70.00. Pre-market: 66.45 -0.66 (-0.98%)

Coverage Initiated:

Amazon.com (AMZN): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $350.00. Pre-market: 312.40 +0.37 (0.12%)

Cardinal Health (CAH): Sterne Agee initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $48.00.

Cisco Systems (CSCO): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and target price of $21.00. Pre-market: 24.56 -0.24 (-0.95%)

Google (GOOG): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $1090.00. Pre-market: 905.70 +2.38 (0.26%)

LinkedIn (LNKD): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $302.00. Pre-market: 252.00 +2.42 (0.97%)

Netflix (NFLX): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Fair Value rating. Pre-market: 307.25 +0.33 (0.11%)

Oracle (ORCL): William Blair initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating. Pre-market: 33.66 -0.21 (-0.62%)

Quest Diagnostics (DGX): Craig-Hallum initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $74.00.

Yahoo! (YHOO): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Fair Value rating. Pre-market: 30.52 +0.09 (0.28%)

Zillow (Z): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Fair Value rating.

Earning Reports:

ConAgra (CAG): Reported EPS of $0.37 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 31.69 -0.38 (-1.18%)

Oracle (ORCL): Reported EPS of $0.59 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 33.66 -0.21 (-0.62%)

Rite Aid (RAD): Reported EPS of $0.03 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 4.17 +0.46 (12.40%)

Scholastic Corp (SCHL): Reported EPS of -0.90 missing estimates by -$0.28.

Steelcase (SCS): Reported EPS of $0.24 missing estimates by -$0.02.

Markets: 
Futures at 8:09: Dow +0.14%. S&P +0.21%. Nasdaq +0.23%. Crude +0.7% to $108.40. Gold +4.76% to $1369.70. U.S. 10 Year -3.32 2.704%.

Europe: London +1.40%. Paris +0.86%. Frankfurt +0.99%. 

Asia: Japan +1.80% to 14766. Hong Kong +1.67% to 23502. China, Closed. India +3.43% to 20607. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Tesla’s Earnings Beat Estimates. Tesla's (TSLA) reported EPS of shares $0.05 vs consensus for a loss of $0.17, while revenues surged to $405.1M from $26.6M last year and the gross margin hit 22%. Helping the numbers is the very popular all electric Model S. Shares of the company rose 12.5% in the pre-market.

Upgrades:

Groupon (GRPN): Raymond James raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform.

Microsoft (MSFT): Evercore raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight.

Lowe’s Cos (LOW): Cleveland Research raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Lowe’s Cos (LOW): JPMorgan raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight.

Tata Motors (TTM): Nomura raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Downgrades:

Ralph Lauren (RL): ISI Group lowered their rating from Strong Buy to Buy.

Target Corp (TGT): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral.

Whole Food Markets (WFM): Northcoast lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Coverage Initiated:

Netflix (NFLX): RW Baird initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $263.00.

Nike (NKE): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target range of $73.00 - $76.00.

Stryker (SYK): Needham initiated coverage with a Hold rating.

Under Armour (UA): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target range of $73.00 - $75.00.

Zimmer Holdings (ZMH): Needham initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $98.00.

Earning Reports:

Advance Auto (AAP): Reported EPS of $1.59 beating estimates by +$0.10.

Chiquita Brands (CQB): Reported EPS of $0.66 beating estimates by +$0.20.

Cooper Tire (CTB): Reported EPS of $0.55 missing estimates by -$0.38.

Foster Wheeler (FWTL): Reported EPS of $0.54 beating estimates by +$0.21.

MAXIMUS (MMS): Reported EPS of $0.41 in-line with estimates.

Orbitz (OWW): Reported EPS of $0.00 missing estimates by -$0.10.

Tesla Motors (TSLA): Reported EPS of $0.05 beating estimates by +$0.22.

TreeHouse Foods (THS): Reported EPS of $0.65 beating estimates by +$0.02.

Transocean (RIG): Reported EPS of $1.08 in-line with estimates.

Markets: 

Futures at 9:10: Dow +0.42%. S&P +0.41%. Nasdaq +0.44%. Crude -0.89% to $103.50. Gold +0.59% to $1292.90. U.S. 10 Year 5/32 2.594

Europe: London +0.59%. Paris +0.70%. Frankfurt +0.90%. 

Asia: Japan -1.59% to 13606. Hong Kong +0.31% to 21656. China -0.09% to 2045. India +0.67% to 18,789. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Home Prices Rise. Home prices in May rose the most in seven years according to CoreLogic. Prices were up +12.2% compared to May of last year and up +2.6% from April. This was the largest increase since February 2006. Excluding distressed sales, which include foreclosures and short sales, prices were up +11.6% on a yearly basis. The analysts on Wall Street forecast prices will rise by another +2.9% in June for a yearly gain of +13.2%. Nevada saw the biggest price increases, followed by Arizona , California,  Hawaii and Oregon.

Upgrades:

JPMorgan Chase (JPM): Raymond James raised their rating from Outperform to Strong Buy and raised their target price from $55.00 to $64.00. Pre-market: 52.65 +0.16 (0.30%)

Las Vegas Sands (LVS): ISI Group raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Quicksilver (ZQK): B. Riley raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $9.25 on the company.

Downgrades:

Accenture (ACN): Argus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 71.21 -0.89 (-1.23%)

Barrick Gold (ABX): Jefferies lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $30.00 to $14.00.

Newmont Mining (NEM): Jefferies lowered their rating from Hold to Underperform and lowered their target price from $30.00 to $18.00.

Pfizer (PFE): Standpoint Research lowered their rating from Hold to Sell. Pre-market: 27.56 -0.22 (-0.79%)

Tractor Supply Co (TSCO): Nomura lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 114.89 -1.49 (-1.28%)

Coverage Initiated:

Groupon (GRPN): Wunderlich initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $11.00.

Ryder Systems (R): Wunderlich initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $72.00.

Earning Reports:

Acuity Brands (AYI): Reported EPS of $0.97 beating estimates by +$0.10. Pre-market: 79.00 +3.07 (4.04%)

Constellation Brands (STZ): Reported EPS of $0.38 missing estimates by -0.03. Pre-market: 52.38 -0.77 (-1.45%)     

      

Markets: 
Futures at 8:18: Dow +0.01%. S&P -0.07%. Nasdaq +0.14%. Crude +0.35% to $98.33. Gold -0.14% to $1254.00.

Europe: London -0.45%. Paris -0.74%. Frankfurt -1.05%. 

Asia: Japan +1.78% to 14099. Hong Kong -0.70% to 20659. China +0.57% to 2007. India -0.58% to 19464.