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 

Gold Prices Fall.

Gold Prices Fall. Gold has dropped to $1200 an ounce for the first time since June after the Fed's decided to taper its QE program by $10B a month. , Gold prices have fallen over -28% this year and is currently trading at $1.201.50 down -2.74%. Silver was -3.7% at $19.32.

Upgrades:

Sirius XM (SIRI): Wunderlich raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $4.20 to $4.50.

Downgrades:

Ford Motor Co. (F): Craig-Hullum lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $21.00 to $16.00.

Comerica (CMA): Macquarie lowered their rating from Neutral to Underperform and placed a target price of $41.00 on the company.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM): SunTrust lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $62.00 to $59.00.

Coverage Initiated:

Edison International (EIX): Tudor Pickering initiated coverage with an Accumulate rating.

Ralph Lauren (RL): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and target price of $184.00.

Southwest Airlines (LUV): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $25.00.

Standard Pacific (SPF): Sterne Agee initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $8.00.

Tiffany & Co (TIF): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and target price of $95.00.

Xylem (XYL): Sterne Agee initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $32.00.

Earning Reports:

Accenture (ACN): Reported EPS of $1.15 beating estimates by +$0.05. Pre-market: 78.08 +2.46 (3.25%)

ConAgra (CAG): Reported EPS of $0.62 beating estimates by +$0.06. Pre-market: 33.09 +1.30 (4.09%)

KB Home (KBH): Reported EPS of $0.31 missing estimates by -$0.16. Pre-market: 16.95 -0.60 (-3.42%)

Oracle (ORCL): Reported EPS of $0.69 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 35.34 +0.74 (2.14%)

Paychex (PAYX): Reported EPS of $0.43 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 44.00 +0.68 (1.57%)

Rite Aid (RAD): Reported EPS of $0.04 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 5.42 -0.34 (-5.90%)

Winnebago Inds (WGO): Reported EPS of $0.40 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 31.65 +0.01 (0.03%)

Markets: 
Futures at 8:59: Dow -0.42%. S&P -0.51%. Nasdaq -0.53%. Crude -0.09% to $97.71. Gold -2.74% to $1201.50. U.S. 10 Year -13/32 to 2.944%.

Europe: London +0.87%. Paris +0.93%. Frankfurt +0.94%. 

Asia: Japan +1.74% to 15859. Hong Kong -1.10% to 22889. China -0.95% to 2128. India -0.73% to 20709. 

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

Facebook Added to S&P 500. Standard & Poor’s will be adding Facebook (FB) to the S&P 500 Index at the close of trading on December 20.  It will also be added to the S&P 100. Facebook will replace test-equipment vendor Teradyne (TER) in the S&P 500 index and will replace Williams Companies (WMB) in the S&P 100 Index. Alliance Data Systems (ADS) and Mohawk Industries (MHK) will also be added to the S&P 500 replacing Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and JDS Uniphase (JDSU).

Upgrades:

Exxon Mobil (XOM): ISI Group their rating from Neutral to Buy and placed a target price of $105.00 on the company. Pre-market: 94.61 +0.35 (0.37%)

Intel (INTC): Nomura raised their rating from Reduce to Neutral and raised their target price of $20.00 to $24.00. Pre-market: 24.59 +0.17 (0.70%)

iRobot (IRBT): JPMorgan raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral and placed a target price of $32.00 on the company.

Micron Technology (MU): Nomura raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price of $16.00 to $30.00. Pre-market: 22.71 +0.21 (0.93%)

Southwest Airlines (LUV): BofA Merrill Lynch raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price of $18.00 to $23.00. Pre-market: 18.24 +0.27 (1.50%)

Downgrades:

Brown & Brown (BRO): William Blair lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform.

Oracle (ORCL): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform and placed a target price of $35.00 on the company. Pre-market: 33.75 -0.81 (-2.34%)

Texas Instruments (TXN): Nomura lowered their rating from Neutral to Reduce and placed a target price of $30.00 on the company. Pre-market: 42.35 -0.46 (-1.07%)

Coverage Initiated:

Freeport McMoRan (FCX): Bernstein initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $42.00. Pre-market: 34.60 +0.15 (0.44%)

Nucor (NUE): Bernstein initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $56.00.

United States Steel (X): Bernstein initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target price of $27.00. Pre-market: 26.37 +0.10 (0.38%)

Weyerhaeuser (WY): JPMorgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and placed a target price of $37.00 on the company.

Earning Reports:

Ciena (CIEN): Reported EPS of $0.16 missing estimates by -$0.08. Pre-market: 20.49 -2.41 (-10.52%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:53 Dow -0.13%. S&P -0.06%. Nasdaq -0.09%. Crude +0.22% to $97.65. Gold -1.81% to $1234.40. U.S. 10 Year -1/32 to 2.866%.

Europe: London -0.82%. Paris -0.37%. Frankfurt -0.66%. 

Asia: Japan -1.12% to 15342. Hong Kong -0.51% to 23218. China -0.06% at 2203. India -1.16% at 20926. 

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

China Bans Banks from Bitcoin

China Bans Banks from Bitcoin. Report says that The People's Bank of China has banned banks from trading in Bitcoin. In a statement officials said that the virtual currency doesn't have "real meaning," and no legal status as a formal currency. While the ban affects banks, Chinese citizens are still free to trade the currency. Currently Bitcoins are trading down -15.8% to $1000 on the news.

Upgrades:

Aeropostale (ARO): KeyBanc raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral. Pre-market: 8.90 -0.46 (-4.91%)

Celgene (CELG): UBS raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $163.00 to $200.00. Pre-market: 163.25 +3.18 (1.99%)

Jack in the Box (JACK): Wedbush raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform and raised their target price from $50.00 to $60.00. Pre-market: 47.12 +0.64 (1.38%)

Smith &Wesson (SWHC): Lake Street raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $12.00 to $17.00. Pre-market: 11.85 +0.25 (2.16%)

Sprint (S): Nomura raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $6.00 to $10.50. Pre-market: 8.10 +0.15 (1.89%)

Tiffany & Co (TIF): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $97.00 to $105.00. Pre-market: 90.15 +1.57 (1.77%)

Union Pacific (UNP): Raymond James raised their rating from Outperform to Strong Buy. Pre-market: 163.50 +2.11 (1.31%)

Downgrades:

J.M. Smucker (SJM): Wells Fargo lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform. Pre-market: 103.00 -1.75 (-1.67%)

Coverage Initiated:

Boston Scientific (BSX): The Benchmark Co. initiated coverage with a Hold rating and target price of $12.00.

eBay (EBAY): CRT Capital initiated coverage with a Fair Value rating and target price of $58.00. Pre-market: 51.08 -0.01 (-0.02%)

Oracle (ORCL): BMO Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $42.00.

Raymond James (RJF): Buckingham initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $58.00.

Spirit Aero Systems (SPR): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $39.00. Pre-market: 33.81 +2.17 (6.86%)

Earning Reports:

Aeropostale (ARO): Reported EPS of -$0.29 missing estimates by -$0.06. Pre-market: 8.90 -0.46 (-4.91%)

Dollar General (DG): Reported EPS of $0.72 beating estimates by +$0.02.

Guess? (GES): Reported EPS of $0.42 beating estimates by +$0.05. Pre-market: 34.00 +0.66 (1.98%)

Royal Bank of Canada (RY): Reported EPS of $1.40 beating estimates by +$0.02.

Synopsys (SNPS): Reported EPS of $0.56 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Markets: 
Futures at 7:43: Dow -0.03%. S&P +0.12%. Nasdaq +0.20%. Crude +0.14% to $97.37. Gold -1.32% to $1230.70. U.S. 10 Year -9/32 2.870%.

Europe: London +0.04%. Paris -0.13%. Frankfurt +0.31%. 

Asia: Japan -1.50% to 15177. Hong Kong -0.07% to 23713. China -0.21% to 2247. India +1.20% to 20958. 

#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.