U.S. stock futures were somewhat higher Monday morning as investors put October -- one of the worst months ever -- behind them and braced for the impact of the presidential election. A slew of economic data will be released this week, including September construction spending and the October release of the ISM index due today after the market opens. Global stocks were generally higher even as oil slipped again.PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) said Monday it will invest $1 billion in China over the next four years. The beverage company wants to expand local manufacturing capability, research and development and sales force.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) -- the company has been in the process of trying to find a way to merge with Chrysler. While we didn't hear much about the merger so far from the United Auto Workers union, it seems
it intends to play a key part in it and has has retained an adviser to help with workers' concerns should the merger occur, the WSJ reported.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) saw its 27,000 machinists resuming work Sunday after a 57-day strike that shut down production. Because of logistics, it will take several weeks before Boeing is running normally. The company missed at least 70 deliveries as a result of the strike. Seems it may miss more until production is properly under way. Boeing was downgraded to Conviction Sell from Neutral by Goldman Sachs, saying investors should sell into the strength from the resolution of the machinists union strike.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) said it lost $1.4 billion during the third-quarter from credit-card securitizations expects the losses to continue. Losses could reach record level in 2009, it said.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber (NYSE: GT), MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA) are among the companies due to report today.
Analyst calls:
- Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) -- Goldman Sachs upgraded SLB from Neutral to Buy and added the stock to its Conviction Buy List. The firm cut its price target form $70 to $59.
- Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) was upgraded at Deutsche Bank from Sell to Hold, citing valuation and willingness of management to make bold moves.
- Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) was upgraded by JP Morgan from Neutral to Overweight, citing valuation, and as the company's image is turning more favorable.
- Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ) was downgraded at Barclays from Equalweight to Underweight.
- Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) was downgraded by Goldman Sachs from Buy to Neutral, citing product risks and valuation.
- Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was downgraded at Merrill Lynch from Buy to Neutral and its price target was cut to $7.
- Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN) was also downgraded by Merrill Lynch from Neutral to Underweight.
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