Before the bell: Stocks futures higher after strong earnings yesterday ZDNet reports that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may be blacklisting hacked iPhones, refusing to service phones hacked that run T-Mobile. The L.A. Times also reports that beginning this week, season premiere episodes of seven Fox Broadcasting programs will be made available for free through Apple's iTunes store.
Notable calls this morning:
- Merrill Lynch downgraded Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) to Neutral from Buy, citing the stock's recent outperformance and rising credit losses.
- Mattel (NYSE: MAT), which also apologized to China for toy recalls, was upgraded Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Linda Bolton Weiser to Buy from Neutral, with a target of $30. The analyst said that recall-related bad news is now in the past and already priced in. There are a number of catalysts for share price growth like the introduction of new toys related to three movies and others. She expects operating margin expansion and double-digit earnings growth in 2008.
- Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) was downgraded by JPMorgan anlayst Charles Grom to Underweight from Neutral due to tough competition and a sluggish economy.
- Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY) was downgraded at CIBC World Market from Sector Outperform to Sector Perform and the price target lowered from $16 to $14.
- The least surprising of downgrades come from Bear Stearns of Circuit City (NYSE: CC), to Peer Perform from Outperform.
- More calls here.
According to executives at Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), it's true that U.S. mortgage lenders are cutting advertising budgets due to a global credit squeeze, but they are not likely to reduce internet search marketing anytime soon.
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