Labor Department Reports Unemployment Drops

Labor Department Reports Unemployment Drops. The Labor Department announced that U.S. unemployment benefits dropped 26,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, the lowest level in three months. The less volatile four-week average came in at 336,500. 3.4 million Americans remain unemployed as of Feb. 15 down from 3.49 million the previous week.

On Friday, the Labor Department will release its February jobs report in which economist estimate that 145,000 jobs will have been added. That would follow two bad reports in which December saw only 75,000 new jobs being created and January’s 113,00 jobs.

Upgrades:

Anadarko (APC): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $95.00 on the company. Pre-market: 85.82 +0.41 (0.48%)

Biogen Idec (BIIB): BMO Capital raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform raised their target price from $286.00 to $422.00. Pre-market: 346.50 +7.50 (2.21%)

Consolidated Edison (ED): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $60.00 on the company. Pre-market: 55.68 +0.40 (0.72%)

Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA): Leerink raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $48.00 to $65.00. Pre-market: 50.80 +1.00 (2.01%)

Tiffany & Co. (TIF): Citigroup raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $100.00 to $110.00. Pre-market: 94.55 +1.49 (1.60%)

Yum! Brands (YUM): RW Baird raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform raised their target price from $79.00 to $87.00. Pre-market: 75.99 +1.18 (1.58%)

Downgrades:

adidas AG (ADDYY): Citigroup lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY): Wedbush lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and lowered their target price from $86.00 to $66.00.

Exelon (EXC): Tudor Pickering lowered their rating from Accumulate to Hold and placed a target price of $27.00 on the company. Pre-market: 30.24 -0.04 (-0.13%)

Lowe’s (LOW): Wedbush lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and lowered their target price from $60.00 to $50.00.

Coverage Initiated:

Microsoft (MSFT): B. Riley initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $39.00. Pre-market: 38.23 +0.12 (0.31%)

Oracle (ORCL): B. Riley initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $48.00. Pre-market: 39.56 +0.06 (0.15%)

Earning Reports:

Ciena (CIEN): Reported EPS of $0.13 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 25.50 +0.14 (0.55%)

Costco (COST): Reported EPS of $1.05 missing estimates by -$0.12. Pre-market: 113.40 -3.07 (-2.64%)

Joy Global (JOY): Reported EPS of $0.49 missing estimates by -$0.15. Pre-market: 56.69 +0.90 (1.61%)

Staples (SPLS): Reported EPS of $0.33 missing estimates by -$0.06. Pre-market: 11.71 -1.69 (-12.61%)

Markets: 
Futures at 6:20: Dow +0.20%. S&P +0.23%. Nasdaq +0.15%. Crude -0.68% to $100.77. Gold -0.22% to $1337.30. U.S. 10 Year -7/32 to 2.732%

Europe: London +0.32%. Paris +0.80%. Frankfurt +0.31%. 

Asia: Japan +1.59% to 15135. Hong Kong +0.55% to 22703. China +0.32% to 2060. India +1.11% to 21514. 

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

Gunman Storm Buildings in Ukraine

Gunman Storm Buildings in Ukraine. In Ukraine’s Crimea region gunmen stormed government buildings replacing the Ukrainian flag with the Russian flag. Ukraine’s provisional government said they are taking measures “to counter extremist actions.” Russia has a naval base in the area and Ukrainian authorities have also warned Russian troops to stay on their base. This comes after Russian troops staged military drills along Ukraine’s boarder in a show of force yesterday. Reports also indicate that the Russian government has given protection to deposed Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych.

Upgrades:

JCPenney (JCP): Wells Fargo raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform and raised their target range from $4.00-$5.00 to $6.00-$7.00. Pre-market: 7.35 +1.39 (23.32%)

Molson Coors Brewing (TAP): First Call raised their rating from Hold to Buy.

Sony Corp. (SNE): Citigroup raised their rating from Neutral to Buy.

Downgrades:

Baidu (BIDU): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered their target price from $185.40 to $179.50. Pre-market: 175.38 +2.48 (1.43%)

Clean Harbors (CLH): Wedbush lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and lowered their target price from $74.00 to $50.00. Pre-market: 45.91 -0.17 (-0.37%)

Western Union (WU): SunTrust lowered their rating from Neutral to Reduce and lowered their target price from $15.00 to $13.00.

Coverage Initiated:

Microsoft (MSFT): B. Riley initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $39.00.

Oracle (ORCL): B. Riley initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $48.00.

Ross Stores (ROST): Wedbush initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $83.00.

SAP AG (SAP): B. Riley initiated coverage with a Neutral.

Textron (TXT): Jeffries initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $46.00.

TJX Cos. (TJX): Wedbush initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $63.00.

Earning Reports:

Best Buy (BBY): Reported EPS of $1.24 beating estimates by +$0.23. Pre-market: 27.69 +1.87 (7.24%)

Dynegy (DYN): Reported EPS of -$3.56 missing estimates by -$4.31.

Foster Wheeler (FWLT): Reported EPS of $0.47 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 32.60 +0.68 (2.13%)

Kohl's (KSS): Reported EPS of $1.56 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 55.10 +0.66 (1.21%)

Sears Holdings (SHLD):  Reported EPS of -$3.37 missing estimates by -$1.77. Pre-market: 42.60 +2.20 (5.45%)

Wendy’s (WEN): Reported EPS of $0.11 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 10.09 -0.10 (-0.98%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:47: Dow 0.0%. S&P -0.03%. Nasdaq +0.14%. Crude -0.11% to $102.48. Gold +0.26% to $1331.40. U.S. 10 Year +2/32 to 2.658%.

Europe: London -0.24%. Paris -0.36%. Frankfurt -1.01%. 

Asia: Japan -0.32% to 14923. Hong Kong +1.74% to 22830. China +0.30% to 2047. India closed. 

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

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

Microsoft Paying Companies to Make Windows Phones

Microsoft Paying Companies to Make Windows Phones. Unconfirmed reports say that Microsoft (MSFT) will reportedly make $2.6B in "support" payments to Smartphone manufactures persuade them to make one Windows Phone each. Some may call it a bribe and others say it’s a sign that Microsoft has lost the mobile device wars. Samsung (SSNLF) will receive $1.2B, Sony (SNE) $500M, Huawei $600M and others will receive $300M. Pre-market: 36.69 -0.07 (-0.19%)

Upgrades:

AOL (AOL): CRT Capital raised their rating from Fair Value to Buy and placed a target price of $57.00 on the company. Pre-market: 48.25 +1.00 (2.11%)

Big Lots (BIG): Raymond James raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform.

CSX Corp (CSX): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $35.00 on the company. Pre-market: 27.69 -1.54 (-5.27%)

Micron Tech (MU): JMP Securities raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and placed a target price of $31.00 on the company. Pre-market: 23.45 +0.12 (0.51%)

Downgrades:

CSX Corp (CSX): Stifel lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 27.69 -1.54 (-5.27%)

Diageo PLC (DEO): JPMorgan lowered their rating from Overweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 129.23 -1.45 (-1.11%)

Dollar General (DG): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce.

EMC Corp (EMC): Monness Crespi lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 26.18 -0.11 (-0.42%)

Family Dollar (FDO): Raymond James lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform.

Kroger (KR): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and lowered their target price from $48.00 to $39.00.

Norfolk Southern (NSC): Stifel lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 89.35 -1.81 (-1.99%)

Coverage Initiated:

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD): CLSA initiated coverage with an Outperform rating.

Twitter (TWTR): Telsey Advisory initiated coverage with a Not Rated rating and a target price of $70.00. Pre-market: 61.20 -0.37 (-0.60%)

Earning Reports:

BB&T Corp (BBT): Reported EPS of $0.75 beating estimates by +$0.03.

BlackRock (BLK): Reported EPS of $4.92 beating estimates by +$0.59. Pre-market: 324.26 +11.51 (3.68%)

Citigroup (C): Reported EPS of $0.82 missing estimates by -$0.16. Pre-market: 53.25 -1.74 (-3.16%)

Goldman Sachs (GS): Reported EPS of $4.60 beating estimates by +$0.42. Pre-market: 179.00 +0.25 (0.14%)

Huntington Banc (HBAN): Reported EPS of $0.18 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 9.74 -0.16 (-1.62%)

PNC (PNC): Reported EPS of $1.85 beating estimates by +$0.22. Pre-market: 80.69 +1.85 (2.35%)

PPG Industries (PPG): Reported EPS of $1.81 beating estimates by +$0.08. Pre-market: 192.00 +1.30 (0.68%)

UnitedHealth (UNH): Reported EPS of $1.41 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 73.00 -1.84 (-2.46%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:00: Dow -0.10%. S&P -0.18%. Nasdaq -0.03%. Crude +0.28% to $94.42. Gold -0.09% to $1234.40. U.S. 10 Year +7/32 to 2.871%.

Europe: London +0.06%. Paris -0.19%. Frankfurt -0.22%. 

Asia: Japan -0.39% to 15747.2. Hong Kong +0.37% to 22986. China +0.02% at 2024. India -0.11% to 21265. 

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