Panic for people with Bitcoins

Panic for people with Bitcoins. One of the largest Bitcoin exchanges has disappeared causing the price of Bitcoins to tank. One of the world’s largest Bitcoin exchanges Mt Gox website is gone. Reports say that the company may have experienced a major security breach and is about to go bankrupt. A leaked document shows that 744,400 bitcoins worth $350M have been stolen from the company.

Upgrades:

Canadian Imperial Bank (CM): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Ensco PLC (ESV): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Hormel Foods (HRL): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

McDonalds (MCD): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Nike (NKE): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

UnitedHealth (UNH): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Verizon (VZ): JPMorgan raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight and raised their target price from $54.00 to $57.00. Pre-market: 46.06 -0.17 (-0.37%)

Downgrades:

Sonoco Products (SON): S&P lowered their rating from 3 stars to 1 star.

Tenet Healthcare (THC): CRT Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Fair Value and lowered their rating from $51.00 to $41.50. Pre-market: 47.63 -0.70 (-1.45%)

Coverage Initiated:

Adobe Systems (ADBE): Susquehanna initiated coverage with a Positive rating and target price of $83.00. Pre-market: 68.83 +0.07 (0.09%)

Alaska Air (ALK): Stifel initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $100.00.

Delta Air Lines (DAL): Stifel initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $40.00.

Spirit Airlines (SAVE): Stifel initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $65.00. Pre-market: 56.00 +0.71 (1.28%)

Southwest Airlines (LUV): Stifel initiated coverage with a Hold rating.

United Continental (UAL): Stifel initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $60.00. Pre-market: 46.12 +0.02 (0.04%)

Earning Reports:

EOG Resources (EOG): Reported EPS of $2.00 beating estimates by +$0.05. Pre-market: 183.10 +2.70 (1.50%)

Home Depot (HD): Reported EPS of $0.73 beating estimates by +$0.03. Pre-market: 79.70 +1.83 (2.35%)

Macy’s (M): Reported EPS of $2.31 beating estimates by +$0.14. Pre-market: 51.64 -1.42 (-2.68%)

Office Depot (ODP): Reported EPS of -$0.03 missing estimates by -$0.07. Pre-market: 4.34 -1.01 (-18.88%)

Toll Brothers (TOLL): Reported EPS of $0.25 beating estimates by +$0.06. Pre-market: 38.30 -0.04 (-0.10%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:43: Dow -0.13%. S&P -0.22%. Nasdaq -0.17%. Crude -0.89% to $101.90. Gold -0.38% to $1332.90. U.S. 10 Year 0/32 to 2.738%.

Europe: London -1.05%. Paris -0.53%. Frankfurt -0.50%. 

Asia: Japan +1.44% to 15051.6. Hong Kong -0.32% to 22317. China -2.05% to 2034. India +0.20% to 20844. 

#TopWealthManager #RLPaler #WallStreet #AnalystsRatings #EarningReports #FinancialPlanning 

Actavis to Buy Forest Labs

Actavis to Buy Forest Labs. Generic drug maker Actavis PLC (ACT) will buy Forest Labs (FRX) for approximately $25 billion in cash and stock. Actavis will pay $89.48 per share, representing a premium of 25% to Forest's closing price on Friday. The offer comprises $26.04 in cash and 0.3306 Actavis share for every Forest share. Actavis said the deal should increase its profits by double-digit percentages in 2015 and 2016, including about $1 billion in tax and operating savings.

Upgrades:

Abbott (ABT): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Allstate (ALL): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B): First Call raised their rating from Buy to Strong Buy.

Blackberry (BBRY): FBR Capital raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform and raised their target price from $6.75 to $10.00. Pre-market: 9.38 +0.40 (4.45%)

Express Scripts (ESRX): Monness Crespi raised their rating from Neutral to Buy. Pre-market: 76.99 +0.24 (0.31%)

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG): First Call raised their rating from Hold to Buy.

J.M. Smucker Co. (SJM): Stephens raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and raised their target price from $110.00 to $115.00. Pre-market: 92.07 +0.26 (0.28%)

Kraft (KRFT): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Mosaic (MOS): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Praxair (PX): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Total SA (TOT): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Waste Management (WM): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold. Pre-market: 42.40 -1.27 (-2.91%)

Downgrades:

Hormel (HRL): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

Intel (INTC): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

Microsoft (MSFT): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce. Pre-market: 37.58 -0.04 (-0.11%)

Coverage Initiated:

Allscripts Healthcare (MDRX): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $18.00.

Credit Suisse (CS): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating. Pre-market: 32.07 +0.62 (1.97%)

Deutsche Bank (DB): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating. Pre-market: 49.27 +0.35 (0.72%)

UBS (UBS): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Hold rating. Pre-market: 20.97 +0.13 (0.62%)

Earning Reports:

Coca-Cola (KO): Reported EPS of $0.46 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 38.10 -0.83 (-2.13%)

Diana Shipping (DSX): Reported EPS of -$0.12 missing estimates by -$0.06. Pre-market: 11.90 -0.79 (-6.23%)

Duke Energy (DUK): Reported EPS of $1.00 beating estimates by +$0.05. Pre-market: 71.45 0.00 (0.00%)

Genuine Parts (GPC): Reported EPS of $0.97 beating estimates by +$0.04.

Medtronic (MDT): Reported EPS of $0.91 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 57.00 +0.12 (0.21%)

Waste Management (WM): Reported EPS of $0.56 missing estimates by -$0.04. Pre-market: 42.40 -1.27 (-2.91%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:34: Dow +0.09%. S&P +0.03%. Nasdaq +0.09%. Crude +0.90% to $101.20. Gold -0.02% to $1318.50. U.S. 10 Year +5/32 to 2.732%.

Europe: London +0.33%. Paris -0.25%. Frankfurt -0.06%. 

Asia: Japan +3.13% to 14843. Hong Kong +0.23% to 22588. China -0.77% to 2119. India +0.83% to 20634. 

#TopWealthManager #RLPaler #WallStreet #PreMarket #WealthManagement #FinancialPlanning #AnalystsRatings #EarningReports

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

UPS and the University of Virginia Blame Obamacare for Cuts. Both UPS (UPS) and the University of Virginia announced they would end offering medical benefits to family members of employees, blaming Obamacares increased cost as the direct cause. UPS in an announcement said it will cut healthcare benefits for around 15,000 working spouses of employees starting in 2014. The company said that it expects coast to the company due to Obamacare to increase +11.25%. In a memo the company also said that it expects that 35% of companies will also drop coverage of employee spouses.  The University of Virginia announced that they also will be dropping coverage of employee spouses due to direct cost increases due to Obamacare. The University said that it expects to pay $7.3 million more in 2014 due to Obamacare. Additionally, Xerox (XRX) is having employees pay $1,000 if they wish to keep their spouse on their current company medical plan, otherwise the company will be dropping them.

Upgrades:

Microsoft (MSFT): Nomura raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $38.00 on the company. Pre-market: 32.12 +0.51 (1.61%)

Precision Castparts (PCP): Wells Fargo raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target range from $228.00-$234.00 to $240.00-$248.00.

Downgrades:

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): Janney Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 37.74 -9.06 (-19.36%)

Target Corp (TGT): ISI Group lowered their rating from Strong Buy to Buy and placed a target price of $70.00 on the company. Pre-market: 65.25 -0.25 (-0.38%)

Target Corp (TGT): William Blair lowered their rating from Market Perform to Undrperform. Pre-market: 65.25 -0.25 (-0.38%)

Coverage Initiated:

Tesla Motors (TSLA): Stifel initiated coverage with a Hold rating. Pre-market: 149.12 +1.26 (0.85%)

Zynga (ZNGA): The Benchmark Co initiated coverage with a Hold rating and a target price of $2.98. Pre-market: 2.77 +0.02 (0.73%)

Earning Reports:

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): Reported EPS of $0.16 missing estimates by -$0.12. Pre-market: 37.74 -9.06 (-19.36%)

Children’s Place (PLCE): Reported EPS of -$0.42 beating estimates by +$0.11. Pre-market: 55.87 +4.47 (8.70%)

Dollar Tree (DLTR): Reported EPS of $0.56 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 51.45 -0.39 (-0.75%)

Gamestop (GME): Reported EPS of $0.09 beating estimates by +$0.06. Pre-market: 52.40 +4.78 (10.04%)

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): Reported EPS of $0.86 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 23.49 -1.89 (-7.45%)

Hormel Foods (HRL): Reported EPS of $0.42 missing estimates by -$0.03. Pre-market: 41.60 -0.51 (-1.21%)

Patterson Companies (PDCO): Reported EPS of $0.46 missing estimates by -$0.03.

Sears Holdings (SHLD): Reported EPS of -$1.46 missing estimates by -$0.34. Pre-market: 40.13 -3.14 (-7.26%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:09: Dow +0.24%. S&P +0.32%. Nasdaq +0.47%. Crude +0.22% to $104.07. Gold +0.07% to $1371.00. U.S. 10 Year -1/32 2.902%.

Europe: London +0.87%. Paris +0.96%. Frankfurt +1.08%. 

Asia: Japan -0.44% to 13365. Hong Kong +0.36% to 21895. China -0.28% to 2067. India +2.27% to 18313. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Omnicom and Publicis to Merge. 

Omnicom Group (OMC) and Publicis Groupe (PGPEF) have agreed to merger that creating the world’s largest advertising firm valued at $35.1B. Publicis Chief Executive Maurice Levy said "This is a new company for a new world," and went on to say "It will be able to face the exponential development of new internet giants like Facebook and Google, changing consumer behavior, the explosion of big data, as well as handle the blurring of roles of all the players in the market." Under the deal, Publicis shareholders will receive one newly issued ordinary share of Publicis Omnicom Group for each Publicis share they own, plus a special dividend of 1.00 euro per share. Omnicom shareholders will receive 0.813 newly issued ordinary shares of Publicis Omnicom Group for each Omnicom share they own, together with a special dividend of $2.00 per share.

Upgrades:

Abbott Labs (ABT): ResearchTeam raised their target price from Reduce to Hold.

Apple (AAPL): ResearchTeam raised their target price from Reduce to Hold.

Bank of New York Mellon (BK): Guggenheim raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Harley Davidson (HOG): S&P raised their rating from *** Stars to **** Stars.

Hormel Foods (HRL): Credit Suisse raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $39.00 to $46.00.

Downgrades:

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

Expedia (EXPE): Lazard Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 47.85 +0.65 (1.38%)

ING Groep NV (ING): BTIG lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Microsoft (MSFT): Atlantic Equities lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral and lowered their target price from $35.00 to $33.00. Pre-market: 31.45 -0.17 (-0.54%)

Ryder Systems (R): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

Tower Watson (TW): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Accumulate to Hold.

T. Rowe Price (TROW): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform and lowered their target price from $82.00 to $80.00.

Coverage Initiated:

Smith & Wesson (SWHC): Dougherty initiated coverage with a Buy and target price of $14.00. Pre-market: 11.12 +0.05 (0.45%)

Earning Reports:

Franklin Resources (BEN): Reported EPS of $0.86 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 49.26 +0.60 (1.23%)

Hertz Global (HTZ): Reported EPS of $0.45 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 26.10 -0.79 (-2.94%)

Loews Corp (L): Reported EPS of $0.69 missing estimates by -$0.10. Pre-market: 48.70 +2.65 (5.75%)

Tenneco (TEN): Reported EPS of $1.10 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 49.90 +1.16 (2.38%)

Wynn Resorts (WYNN): Reported EPS of $1.51 missing estimates by -$0.06. Pre-market: 129.60 -1.38 (-1.05%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:00: Dow -0.17%. S&P -0.21%. Nasdaq -0.15%. Crude +0.53% to $105.25. Gold +0.83% to $1332.90. U.S. 10 Year -4/32 2.584%

Europe: London +0.30%. Paris +0.32%. Frankfurt +0.26%. 

Asia: Japan -3.32% to 13661. Hong Kong -0.54% to 21850. China -1.72% to 1976. India -0.78% to 19,593. 

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.