Foster Wheeler to Be Acquired. Foster Wheeler (FWLT) will be acquired by U.K. engineering company Amec (AMCBF) for £1.9B ($3.13B) in cash and stock. Foster shareholders will receive 23% in Amec which will seek a U.S. listing. The company said in a statement that the transaction will position Amec "to serve across the whole oil and gas value chain," and that, "adding mid and downstream capabilities to Amec's existing upstream focus and bringing new customer relationships."

Upgrades:

Broadcom (BRCM): B. Riley raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $29.00 to $37.00. Pre-market: 29.05 +0.14 (0.48%)

Carnival (CCL): SunTrust raised their rating from Reduce to Neutral.

Jacobs Engineering (JEC): UBS raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $60.00 to $75.00.

Macys’ (M): Macquarie raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform.

Visa (V): Citigroup raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price from $212.00 to $265.00.

Downgrades:

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/BRK.B): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Hold to Reduce. Pre-market: 114.80 -0.17 (-0.15%)

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

Charles Schwab (SCHW): CLSA lowered their rating from Outperform to Underperform.

Mattel (MAT): ResearchTeam lowered their rating from Accumulate to Hold.

Oceaneering Intl (OII): ISI Group lowered their rating from Strong Buy to Neutral.

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

SAP AG (SAP): Pacific Crest lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform. Pre-market: 83.07 -0.47 (-0.56%)

Symantec (SYMC): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Equal Weight to Underweight and placed a target price of $21.00 on the company. Pre-market: 22.95 -0.52 (-2.22%)

Transocean (RIG): ISI Group lowered their rating from Neutral to Cautious. Pre-market: 48.48 -0.05 (-0.10%)

Coverage Initiated:

Ford Motor Co (F): ISI Group initiated coverage with a Strong Buy rating and target price of $22.00. Pre-market: 16.34 +0.27 (1.68%)

General Motors (GM): ISI Group initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $45.00. Pre-market: 40.30 +0.27 (0.67%)

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): Atlantic Equities initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and target price of $36.00.

IBM (IBM): Atlantic Equities initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $195.00.

Markets: 
Futures at 6:20: Dow -0.1%. S&P -0.3%. Nasdaq -0.3%. Crude -0.7%to $92.11. Gold -0.1% to $1245.60. 

Europe: London 0.0%. Paris +0.1%. Frankfurt +0.2%. 

Asia: Japan +0.2% to 15912. Hong Kong +0.2% to 22889. China -0.2% to 2010. India +1.8% to 21134. 

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Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Government Wants Bank of America to Pay $6 Billion. Reports say that the Federal Housing Finance Agency reportedly wants Bank of America (BAC) to pay a minimum of at least $6B in fines to settle accusations that it sold faulty mortgage bonds to Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC). The fin if agreed to would be much larger then JPMorgan’s (JPM) agreement to pay $4B and UBS’s fine of $885M. (BAC) Pre-market: 14.54 -0.09 (-0.62%)

Upgrades:

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

Apple ( AAPL): Societe Generale raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $500.00 to $575.00.

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM): BofA Merrill Lynch raised their rating from Underperform to Buy and raised their target price from $36.00 to $44.00. Pre-market: 38.27 +0.25 (0.66%)

Celgene (CELG): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Hold to Accumulate.

CVS Caremark (CVS): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Accumulate.

Barrick Gold (ABX): HSBC raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight and placed a target price of $21.00 on the company.

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

Expeditors Intl (EXPD): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Hold to Accumulate.

Intel (INTC): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Hold to Accumulate.

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

Sonoco (SON): ResearchTeam raised their rating from Reduce to Hold.

Downgrades:

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): Macquarie lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and placed a target price of $36.00 on the company.

Apache (APA): ISI Group lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $112.00 to $111.00.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG): Miller Tabak lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and maintained their target price of $490.00.

General Mills (GIS): BofA Merrill Lynch lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $54.00 to $51.00. Pre-market: 48.70 -0.49 (-1.00%)

Goodyear Tire (GT): Deutsche Bank lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $29.00 to $26.00.

Kaiser Aluminum (KALU): Sterne Agee lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Kaiser Aluminum (KALU): KeyBanc lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Kellogg (K): BofA Merrill Lynch lowered their rating from Buy to Underperform and lowered their target price from $69.00 to $62.00. Pre-market:60.37 -1.05 (-1.71%)

Marathon Oil (MRO): ISI Group lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and maintained their target price of $42.00.

Tesco (TESO): Capital One lowered their rating from Add to Neutral and placed a target price of $18.00 on the company.

Earning Reports:

Check Point Software (CHKP): Reported EPS of $0.85 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 60.00 +1.59 (2.72%)

Halliburton (HAL): Reported EPS of $0.83 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 51.01 -1.46 (-2.78%)

Hasbro (HAS): Reported EPS of $1.31 beating estimates by +$0.02. Pre-market: 48.49 +1.25 (2.65%)

McDonald’s (MCD): Reported EPS of $1.52 beating estimates by +$0.01. Pre-market: 93.50 -1.70 (-1.79%)

Philips Electronics (PHG): Reported EPS of $0.31 missing estimates by -$0.02. Pre-market: 35.43 +1.88 (5.60%)

SAP AG (SAP): Reported EPS of $0.78 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 77.26 +3.51 (4.76%)

V.F. Corp (VFC): Reported EPS of $3.91 beating estimates by +$0.13. Pre-market: 211.25 +6.95 (3.40%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:14: Dow +0.02%. S&P +0.12%. Nasdaq +0.28%. Crude -1.20% to $99.60. Gold +0.05% to $1315.20. U.S. 10 Year -4/32 2.597%.

Europe: London +0.85%. Paris -0.28%. Frankfurt -0.06%. 

Asia: Japan +0.91% to 14694. Hong Kong +0.42% to 23438. China +1.62% to 2229. India +0.05% to 20894. 

#RLPaler

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Microsoft to Buy Nokia. Reports say that Microsoft (MSFT) has agreed to purchase Nokia’s (NOK) handset unit for $5B and license its patents and mapping services for $2.2B. Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop as well as other senior Nokia executives will be joining Microsoft, along with the company’s 32,000 workers. (MSFT) Pre-market: 31.84 -1.56 (-4.67%)  (NOK)  Pre-market: 5.54 +1.64 (42.05%)

Upgrades:

AT&T (T): Macquarie raised their rating from Underperform to Neutral. Pre-market: 34.05 +0.22 (0.65%)

Constellation Brands (STZ): Goldman Sachs raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price for $59.00 to $65.00.

Finish Line (FINL): Janney Capital raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and raised their target price for $24.00 to $26.00.

NASDAX OMX (NDAQ): BMO Capital raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform.

Nokia (NOK): Credit Suisse raised their rating from Underperform to Neutral. Pre-market: 5.54 +1.64 (42.05%)

Nokia (NOK): Oppenheimer raised their rating from Underperform to Perform. Pre-market: 5.54 +1.64 (42.05%)

Nokia (NOK): Bernstein raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform. Pre-market: 5.54 +1.64 (42.05%)

Nokia (NOK): Deutsche Bank raised their rating from Sell to Hold.

Ryder Systems (R): Buckingham raised their rating from Neutral to Buy and maintained their target price of $68.00.

Verizon (VZ): RBC Capital raised their rating from Sector Perform to Outperform. Pre-market: 45.48 -1.90 (-4.33%)

Vodafone (VOD): Bernstein raised their rating from Underperform to Market Perform. Pre-market: 31.79 -0.56 (-1.73%)

Downgrades:

Apple (APPL): ABG Sundal lowered their rating from Hold to Sell and maintained their target price of $400.00. Pre-market: 492.00 +4.78 (0.98%)

Coca-Cola (KO): CLSA lowered their rating from Outperform to Underperform. Pre-market: 38.40 +0.22 (0.58%)

Dean Foods (DF): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $23.00 to $21.00.

Shaw Communications (SJR): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target price from $27.00 to $26.00.

Coverage Initiated:

ING Groep NV (ING): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $12.75. Pre-market: 11.01 +0.14 (1.29%)

Markets: 
Futures at 6:30: Dow +0.71%. S&P +0.82%. Nasdaq +0.66%. Crude -0.29% to $107.37. Gold -0.25% to $1392.80. U.S. 10 Year -15/32 2.846%.

Europe: London -0.14%. Paris -0.19%. Frankfurt -0.23%. 

Asia: Japan +2.99% to 13978. Hong Kong +0.99% to 22395. China +1.18% to 2123. India -3.45% to 18235. 

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.