Economy Adds 175,000 Jobs in February

Economy Adds 175,000 Jobs in February. After two disappointing job reports in December and January the Labor Department reported that 175,000 jobs were added in February. Economists had expected only 157,000 new jobs would have been created for the month. The unemployment rate did rise to 6.7% from 6.6%. While the December report was revised upward from 75,000 to 82,000 and January was revised to 129,000 from 113,000.

Upgrades:

Charter Communications (CHTR): Northland Securities raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform.

Clean Harbors (CLH): Raymond James raised their rating from Market Perform to Buy and placed a target price of $60.00 on the company.

Fresh Market (TFM): UBS raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $45.00 to $48.00. Pre-market: 34.90 +0.90 (2.65%)

Safeway (SWY): UBS raised their rating from Sell to Neutral. Pre-market: 38.08 -1.39 (-3.52%)

Sirius XM (SIRI): Macquarie raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform.

Skullcandy (SKUL): DA Davidson raised their rating from Underperform to Neutral. Pre-market: 9.27 +1.84 (24.76%)

Downgrades:

Safeway (SWY): BB&T lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 38.08 -1.39 (-3.52%)

Staples (SPLS): Argus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 28.66 +0.27 (0.95%)

Coverage Initiated:

MGM Resorts (MGM): Ascendiant initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $33.00. Pre-market: 28.66 +0.27 (0.95%)

Magna International (MGA): TD Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating.

Salesforce.com (CRM): B. Riley initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $65.00. Pre-market: 63.14 0.00 (0.00%)

Earning Reports:

Big Lots (BIG): Reported EPS of $0.98 missing estimates by -$0.22. Pre-market: 34.02 +4.77 (16.31%)

Foot Locker (FL): Reported EPS of $0.82 beating estimates by +$0.06. Pre-market: 45.10 +2.37 (5.55%)

Skullcandy (SKUL): Reported EPS of $0.13 beating estimates by +$0.04. Pre-market: 9.27 +1.84 (24.76%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:33: Dow +0.44%. S&P +0.40%. Nasdaq +0.30%. Crude +0.25% to $101.81. Gold -0.08% to $1350.70. U.S. 10 Year -17/32 to 2.799%.

Europe: London +0.05%. Paris +0.22%. Frankfurt -0.29%. 

Asia: Japan +0.92% to 15274. Hong Kong -0.19% to 22660. China -0.08% to 2058. India +1.89% to 21920. 

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Macy’s Beats Wall Street’s Estimates.

Macy’s Beats Wall Street’s Estimates. Shares retailer Macy's (M) are higher in the pre-market after the company posted Q3 profits that beat Wall Street expectations and made positive comments about the upcoming holiday shopping season. The company reported EPS $0.47, up 31% from a year ago. Analysts' consensus estimate was only $0.39. Macy's has posted 15 straight quarters of improved earnings. Revenue came in at $6.28 billion, up 3.3% also beating estimates. Sales were up 3.5%.

Upgrades:

Qualcomm (QCOM): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Buy to Conviction Buy and raised their target price of $80.00.

Transocean (RIG): Guggenheim raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $70.00 on the company.

United States Steel (X): Morgan Stanley raised their rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and raised their target price from $32.00 to $35.00.

Union Pacific (UNP): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Downgrades:

Agrium (AGU): BGC Financial lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

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

ConocoPhillips (COP): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Accumulate to Hold.

Dean Foods (DF): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and lowered their target price from $24.00 to $19.00.

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

Nucor (NUE): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered their target price from $58.00 to $56.00.

Coverage Initiated:

Humana (HUM): FBR Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $92.00.

J.M. Sucker (SJM): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $115.00.

MGM Resorts (MGM): FBR Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $25.00.

Las Vegas Sands (LVS): FBR Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $80.00.

UnitedHealth (UNH): FBR Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $77.00.

Wellpoint (WLP): FBR Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $93.00.

Wynn Resorts (WYNN): FBR Capital initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $175.00.

Earning Reports:

Macy's (M): Reported EPS of $0.47 beating estimates by +$0.08.

MBIA (MBI): Reported EPS of $0.67 beating estimates by +$0.41.

Pinnacle Foods (PF): Reported EPS of $0.36 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Potbelly (PBPB): Reported EPS of $0.15 beating estimates by +$0.09.

Woodward (WWD): Reported EPS of $0.76 beating estimates by +$0.06.

Markets:
Futures at 6:20: Dow -0.2%. S&P -0.2%. Nasdaq -0.3%. Crude +0.3% to $93.33. Gold +0.35% to $1275.00. U.S. 10 Year +11/32 2.736%.

Europe: London -1%. Paris -0.5%. Frankfurt -0.3%. 

Asia: Japan -0.15% to 14567. Hong Kong -1.9% to 22463. China -1.8% to 2087. India -0.4% to 20194. 

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.