Before the bell: Further declines; MER downgraded, SNDK may be bought, BA, DELL, MO ...

Posted Sep 5th 2008 8:01AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the Bell, Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Deals, Dell (DELL), Market Matters, Advanced Micro Dev (AMD), Altria Group (MO), Boeing Co (BA), Ciena Corp (CIEN), Merrill Lynch (MER), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF), Economic Data, Unilever ADR (UL), SanDisk Corp (SNDK)

U.S. stock futures are pointing to further declines following a rough session where the Dow plunged 344 points and ahead of the jobs report mostly feared to show weakness in the labor market. Non-farm payroll is expected to show a job loss of 75,000 but the unemployment remain unchanged. Meanwhile, international markets sank following U.S. markets. Also affecting mood this morning is Goldman's call to sell Merrill Lynch.

Goldman Sachs downgraded Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) to Sell from Neutral and added the firm to its conviction sell list. MER stock is plunging 6.6% in pre-market trading. Goldman said valuation and the likelihood of further write-downs are the reasons. Goldman also lowered its third-quarter EPS forecast to a loss of $5.75 a share.

SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) shares are shooting up 26% in pre-market trading after Samsung Electronics said it may buy the flash memory maker. There are no concrete announcements or details as to price yet.

And at Boeing (NYSE: BA), the company continues to negotiate with labor leaders to avert an expensive strike it cannot afford. Negotiators and mediators are trying to work to avert the strike voted for by the union during the 48 hour extension.

Altria (NYSE: MO) is in advanced talks to buy smokeless tobacco maker UST (NYSE: UST) for more than $10 billion, The New York Times reported. Altria wants to expand its offering into the smokeless market. Shares of UST are up nearly 19% in pre-market trading.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is planning to sell most or all of its factories around the world within the next 18 months as it tries to cut costs, overhaul its production model and improve profitability, The Wall Street Journal reported.

More analyst calls from Briefing.com and Street Insider:

Credit Suisse upgraded Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN) from Underperform to Neutral, but Merrill Lynch downgraded Ciena from Buy to Neutral.
UBS upgraded Unilever (NYSE: UL) from Sell to Neutral.
Merrill Lynch downgraded Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) from Neutral to Sell, citing valuation.
Morgan Stanley downgraded American International Group (NYSE: AIG) from Overweight to Equal Weight.
Citigroup downgraded Abercrombie (NYSE: ANF) from Buy to Sell.

Tags: aig, amd, anf, ba, cien, dell, inthenews, mer, mo, sndk, ul