Consumer Electronics Show Opens Today in Vegas.

Consumer Electronics Show Opens Today in Vegas. This year’s CES officially opens today in Las Vegas. The highly anticipated event already has several companies making announcements. Samsung (SSNLF) announced that their smartphones will connect to refrigerators and that their tablets will be powerful enough for business users. The company also is showcasing their curved 4K HD TV’s.  Microsoft (MSFT) said that they have now sold over 3 million Xbox One devices. Sony (SNE) unveiled a waterproof smartphone and Auto manufacturers are looking to turn cars into driverless mobile devices.

Upgrades:

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): RBC Capital raised their rating from Sector Perform to Outperform and raised their target price from $88.00 to $104.00. Pre-market: 93.35 +1.02 (1.10%)

St Jude Medical (STJ): RBC Capital raised their rating from Underperform to Sector Perform and raised their target price from $44.00 to $64.00.

Yum! Brands (YUM): RBC Capital raised their rating from Outperform to Top Pick and raised their target price from $85.00 to $87.00. Pre-market: 76.98 +1.48 (1.96%)

Downgrades:

AFLAC (AFL): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral. Pre-market: 121.00 +4.98 (4.29%)

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM): Stephens lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight.

Baker Hughes (BHI): Cowen lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target price from $70.00 to $56.00. Pre-market: 52.90 -0.50 (-0.94%)

Baxter Intl (BAX): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform and placed a target price of $73.00 on the company. Pre-market: 69.26 -0.16 (-0.23%)

International Game Tech (IGT): Argus lowered their rating from Buy to Hold. Pre-market: 17.50 -0.08 (-0.46%)

LinkedIn (LNKD): BofA Merrill Lynch lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $270.00 to $240.00. Pre-market: 199.00 -4.92 (-2.41%)

Monsanto (MON): Topeka lowered their rating from Buy to Hold.

Coverage Initiate:

Genworth Financial (GNW): Compass Point initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $22.00. Pre-market: 16.09 +0.31 (1.96%)

WD-40 (WDFC): B. Riley initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $91.00.

Earning Reports:

IHS (IHS): Reported EPS of $1.46 beating estimates by +$0.16.

Sonic (SONC): Reported EPS of $0.13 in-line with estimates. Pre-market: 20.30 +1.05 (5.45%)

Markets: 
Futures at 4:21: Dow +0.25%. S&P +0.12%. Nasdaq +0.48%. Crude +0.57% to $93.96. Gold -0.01% to $1237.80. U.S. 10 Year -3/32 to 2.949%.

Europe: London +0.39%. Paris +0.40%. Frankfurt +0.58%. 

Asia: Japan -0.59% to 15814. Hong Kong +0.13% to 22713. China +0.08% to 2047. India -0.45% to 20693. 

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Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Tablets outpace PC’s. The research firm IDC announced that their research shows that shipments of tablet computers will outstrip those of PCs for the first time ever in Q4. The firm estimates that deliveries of tablets will reach 84.1M units and PC’s shipments will total only 83.1M. Companies that are expected to benefit from this trend include Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), and Samsung (SSNLF), while companies that will be hurt from this trend include Dell (DELL), H-P (HPQ), and Microsoft (MSFT).  IDC also estimates that the total market for Internet-connected devices of desktops, laptops, smartphones and tablets is projected to grow 28% to $622.4B in 2013 and then grow to $735.1B in 2015.

Upgrades:

Allstate (ALL): Wells Fargo raised their rating from Market Perform to Outperform and raised their target range from $48.00-$52.00 to $58.00-$62.00.

SunTrust Bank (STI): Compass Point raised their rating from Neutral to Buy. Pre-market: 33.41 +0.15 (0.45%)

Wendy’s (WEN): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $10.00 on the company. Pre-market: 8.48 +0.23 (2.79%)

Zynga (ZNGA): Evercore raised their rating from Underweight to Equal Weight. Pre-market: 3.06 +0.06 (2.00%)

Downgrades:

AB InBev (BUD): Normura lowered their rating from Neutral to Reduce. Pre-market: 96.33 -1.32 (-1.35%)

Apple (AAPL): Credit Suisse lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral. Pre-market: 471.00 +3.29 (0.70%)

Ericsson (ERIC): Goldman Sachs lowered their rating from Conviction Buy to Buy.

Halliburton (HAL): Macquarie lowered their rating from Outperform to Neutral and lowered their target price from $54.00 to $51.00. Pre-market: 49.76 -0.43 (-0.86%)

SABMiller PLC (SBMRY): Normura lowered their rating from Neutral to Reduce.

Symantec (SYMC): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight. Pre-market: 24.71 -0.55 (-2.18%)

Travelers Cos. (TRV): Wells Fargo lowered their rating from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered their target range from $94.00-$98.00 to $92.00-$89.00. Pre-market: 83.20 -0.53 (-0.63%)

Coverage Initiated:

Aqua America (WTR): Ladenburg Thalmann initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $28.00.

American Water Works (AWK): Ladenburg Thalmann initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $50.00.

Expedia (EXPE): Janney Capital initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $53.00.

Priceline.com (PLCN): Janney Capital initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $925.00. Pre-market: 983.00 +1.44 (0.15%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:59: Dow +0.04%. S&P -0.05%.  Nasdaq +0.16%. Crude +0.73% to $108.34. Gold -1.73% to $1340.00. U.S. 10 Year +4/32 2.898%.

Europe: London +0.12%. Paris -0.16%. Frankfurt +0.09%. 

Asia: Japan -0.26% to 14387. Hong Kong +0.07% to 22954. China +0.64% to 2256. India -1.08% to 1978