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. 

#TopWealthManager #RLPaler #FinancialPlanning #WallStreet #AnalystsRatings #EarningReports #LaborDepartment #JobNumbers #Unemployment

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

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

Job Growth Expected to Slow. U.S. July unemployment data is due to be released this morning and economists expect that the number will show that job growth has slowed. Wall Street estimates are that nonfarm payrolls rose by 185,000 vs 195,000 in June. Wall Street is also expecting that the unemployment rate will tick down from 7.6% to 7.5%, which would be a four-year low. The data comes on the heels of yesterday’s report that showed weekly jobless claims fell to a 5 1/2 year low.

Upgrades:

Honda Motor (HMC): Credit Suisse raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform.

LinkedIn (LNKD): Cantor raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $170.00 to $250.00. Pre-market: 233.51 +20.51 (9.63%)

ResMed (RMD): Deutsche Bank raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $46.00 to $54.00.

Downgrades:

Automatic Data Processing (ADP): Susquehanna lowered their rating from Positive to Neutral and placed a target price of $78.00 on the company.

Broadcom (BRCM): UBS lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $35.00 to $30.00. Pre-market: 27.47 -0.16 (-0.58%)

Mosaic (MOS): UBS lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral and lowered their target price from $67.00 to $40.00.

Mylan (MYL): Needham lowered their rating from Strong Buy to Buy and placed a target price of $40.00 on the company. Pre-market: 35.00 +1.02 (3.00%)

Coverage Initiated:

Dynergy (DYN): Drexel Hamilton initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $27.00.

Electronic Arts (EA): Benchmark Co initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $30.84. Pre-market: 26.53 0.00 (0.00%)

NRG Energy (NRG): Drexel Hamilton initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $38.00.

Earning Reports:

Chevron (CVX): Reported EPS of -$2.77 missing estimates by -$0.21. Pre-market: 125.50 -0.94 (-0.74%)

Church & Dwight (CHD): Reported EPS of $0.61 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Eaton (ETN): Reported EPS of $1.09 missing estimates by -$0.02. Pre-market: 67.00 -2.93 (-4.19%)

Edison (EIX): Reported EPS of $0.79 beating estimates by +$0.11.

Kraft Foods (KRFT): Reported EPS of $0.85 beating estimates by +$0.19. Pre-market: 57.40 +0.26 (0.46%)

Leap Wireless (LEAP): Reported EPS of -$2.09 missing estimates by -$0.97.

LinkedIn (LNKD): Reported EPS of $0.38 beating estimates by +$0.07. Pre-market: 233.51 +20.51 (9.63%)

Sealed Air (SEE): Reported EPS of $0.35 beating estimates by +$0.10.

Synaptics (SNYA): Reported EPS of $1.39 beating estimates by +$0.15. Pre-

market: 41.96 +1.29 (3.17%)

Viacom (VIAB): Reported EPS of $1.29 missing estimates by -$0.01. Pre-market: 78.50 +4.14 (5.57%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:40: Dow +0.11%. S&P +0.12%. Nasdaq +0.31%. Crude -0.32% at $107.57. Gold -2.08% to $1284.00. U.S. 10 Year +22/32 2.637%

Europe: London -0.03%. Paris -0.02%. Frankfurt +0.06%. 

Asia: Japan +3.29% to 14466. Hong Kong +0.46% to 22191. China +0.02% at 2029. India -0.79% to 19,164. 

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

U.S. Economy Adds 195,000 New Jobs. According to the U.S. Labor Department the economy added 195,000 new jobs in June. Wall Street economists were looking for only 166,000 new jobs to have been created in June. Private employers added 202,000 positions, while local, state and federal governments shed 7,000 workers. The Manufacturing sector which is a good barometer for the overall economy lost 6,000 jobs in June. While construction gained 13,000 new jobs.

Additionally, the unemployment rate held steady, but high at 7.6%, unchanged from May.  Two weeks ago, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that he anticipated that the Fed’s current bond-buying program would begin to end when unemployment fell below 7%.

Upgrades:

Apache Corp (APA): Argus raised their rating from Hold to Buy and placed a target price of $95.00 on the company. Pre-market: 81.50 +1.27 (1.58%)

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD): Miller Tabak raised their rating from Hold to Buy and raised their target price from $99.00 to $117.00.

Pandora (P): HSBC raised their rating from Neutral to Overweight. Pre-market: 19.85 +0.42 (2.16%)

SABMiller (SBMRY): Societe Generale raised their rating from Hold to Buy.

Downgrades:

Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN): Morgan Stanley lowered their rating from Overweight to Equal Weight and placed a target price of $76.00 on the company. Pre-market: 69.41 +0.56 (0.81%)

Markets: 
Futures at 7:55: Dow +0.97%. S&P +0.81%. Nasdaq +0.73%. Crude +0.52% to $101.75. Gold -1.13% to $1237.70. U.S. 10 Year -1 6/32 2.646%

Europe: London +0.27%. Paris -0.14%. Frankfurt -0.61%. 

Asia: Japan +2.08% to 14310. Hong Kong +1.89% to 20855. China +0.05% to 2007. India +0.44% to 19496.

Morning Coffee Pre-Market Wall Street News

EU Unemployment Hits Record High. Unemployment in the eurozone rose in April to a new high of 12.2% from 12.1% in March. The new number means that over 19.4 million people are unemployed. Inflation in the zone rose to an annual 1.4% in May up from 1.2% in April. The core CPI, which excluded food and energy rose more than economist had expected to 1.2% from 1%.

Netflix Added to Nasdaq 100. On June 6^th Netflix (NFLX) will be added to the Nasdaq 100 replacing Perrigo (PRGO). Shares of Netflix may rise as portfolio managers at the company to their index funds. NFLX Pre-market: 224.70 +2.04 (0.92%)

Upgrades

Canadian National Railway (CNI): JPMorgan raised their rating from Underweight to Neutral and raised their target price from $96.00 to $110.00.

Downgrades

Golar LNG Partners (GMLP): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Outperform to Sector Perform and placed a target price of $34.00 on the company.

Panera Bread (PNRA): Lazard Capital lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral. Pre-market: 191.74 -2.08 (-1.07%)

Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG): BMO Capital lowered their rating from Market Perform to Underperform and placed a target price of $43.00 on the company.

Coverage Initiated

Boston Scientific (BSX): Wedbush initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $10.00.

Chesapeake Energy (CHK): Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $26.00. Pre-market: 22.76 +0.23 (1.02%)

CVS Caremark (CVS): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target range of $68.00 - $72.00.

Express Scripts (ESRX): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and target range of $64.00 - $69.00.

Jazz Pharma (JAZZ): Stifel initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $80.00.

Medtronic (MDT): Wedbush initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and target price of $54.00.

St Jude Medical (STJ): Wedbush initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $57.00.

Tiffany & Co (TIF): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and target price of $89.00.

Coverage Reiterated/Price Target Changed

Guess? (GES): B. Riley & Co. reiterated their Neutral rating and raised their target price from $26.00 to $36.00. Pre-market: 31.53 +2.18 (7.43%)

Earning Reports

Guess? (GES): Reported EPS of $0.14 beating estimates by +$0.06. Pre-market: 31.53 +2.18 (7.43%)

Krispy  Kreme (KKD): Reported EPS of $0.20 beating estimates by +$0.04. Pre-market: 15.77 +1.51 (10.59%)

Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF): Reported EPS of $0.66 beating estimates by +$0.21. Pre-market: 29.10 +1.07 (3.82%)

OmniVision (OVTI): Reported EPS of $0.31 beating estimates by +$0.10. Pre-market: 18.60 +3.11 (20.08%)

Pall (PLL): Reported EPS of $0.74 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Markets: 

Futures at 7:33: Dow -0.50%. S&P -0.50%. Nasdaq -0.50%. Crude -0.78% to $92.89. Gold +0.13% to $1413.30.

Europe: London -0.91%. Paris -0.60%. Frankfurt -0.54%. 

Asia: Japan +1.37% to 13775. Hong Kong -0.41% to 22392. China -0.74% to 2301. India -2.25% to 19760.