Canaccord upgraded Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) to Buy from Hold citing valuation following the severe price decline following BHP Billiton's (NYSE: BHP) dropped bid.
UBS upgraded Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) to Buy from Neutral citing valuation and defensive business mix.
Jefferies upgraded shares of HealthSouth (NYSE: HLS) to Buy from Hold on valuation and maintains a $13.50 target.
Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE: TM) -- recently we've seen more and more signs that the slowdown in general and the auto industry troubles particularly have been hurting Toyota too. Today, Fitch Ratings cut Toyota's top-notch credit rating to "AA" from "AAA," as the carmaker was indeed hit by the world auto market slump, high material cost and from a surging yen. TM shares were down 3% by 11 am.
American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) announced late Tuesday it has closed its $40 billion stock placement with the U.S. Treasury under the government's Troubled Assets Relief Program. The Treasury bought shares of AIG equaling 2% of the company on the date of the investment. AIG shares were up 0.5% by 11 am.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) reported that fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell 18% to $345 million, or 81 cents a share, as sales rose 21% to $7.4 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 99 cents a share on sales of $5.2 billion according to FactSet Research. The guidance for fourth quarter was below estimates. DE shares were 6.3% lower in premarket trading (8:03 am). DE shares were down 9.6% by 11 am.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) reported that its third quarter earnings declined to $44 million, or 35 cents a share on lower sales of $618 million. This was above analyst estimates of 26 cents EPS and sales of $697 million, according to FactSet Research. Tiffany said it plans to reduce staff. TIF shares were 8.6% lower in premarket trading (8:03 am). TIF shares were down 4.1% by 11 am.
BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP)dropped its $66 billionRio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) takeover bid after a year-long pursuit, citing the deteriorating economy, the rout in commodities prices and the credit-market squeeze for derailing the biggest hostile takeover. Rio Tinto shares dropped 34.6%, while BHP rose over 13.7% in premarket trading (8:04 am). At around 11:00 am, BHP stock gained about 18%, while RTP's declined over 32%.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) posted impressive, better-than-expected results Monday afternoon thanks to its diversified business. These included 21% growth in laptop sales, and a totoal revenue growth of 19%. Still, Wall Street doesn't have confidence in how the computer company will do as the economy worsens, and some think it will do worse than management believes. HPQ shares declined 1.3% in premarket trading (8:03 am). HPQ shares declined 6.2% as of 11 am.
Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) warned yet again late Monday of an "extremely challenging" fiscal year as it forecast slumping sales. It seems that selling high-end coffee during a recession is a tricky business. For fiscal 2009, which began Sept. 29, Starbucks said it expects to see a drop in sales at coffee shops that it opened at least a year ago, extending a trend already evident in 2008. While warning of another round of restructuring, SBUX also said October store traffic has actually improved. SBUX shares declined over 5% in after-hours trading Monday. SBUX shares declined about 1% as of 11 am.
Huge mining and metals company BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) has been chasing competitor Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) for nearly a year. The BHP management has reasoned that combining the two companies would create billions of dollars in annual savings. As is usually the case Rio Tinto said that the price offered for its firm was too low.
The RTP board should have taken the money and run. BHP dropped its bid and the Rio Tinto shares fell as much as 40% on the news.
What happened? The credit crisis. According toMarketWatch, BHP said the firm has "concerns about the continued deterioration of near-term global economic conditions, the lack of any certainty as to the time it will take for conditions to improve, and the risks that these issues imply for shareholder value."
In plain English BHP could not come up with the money.
The crumbling of the deal has negative implications for Wall St. which has already had its fill of bad news. M&A, which might have begun to revive as the prices of some companies became dirt cheap in the stock market, can't get back on track because clients fear a vicious downturn in the economy and capital markets where raising a dollar is next to impossible.
No matter how much of a bargain an acquisition target may be, the deal business is officially dead with the passing of one of the biggest deals ever proposed.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
Jefferies upgraded Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) to Buy from Hold on valuation with the stock down 65% in two months as they believe the company has a "best-in-class fundamental story." The firm lowered its target to $25 from $30.
Morgan Stanley upgraded Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) to Overweight from Equal Weight on valuation and believes near-term cost reductions could provide a positive catalyst.
Citigroup upgraded New York Times (NYSE: NYT) to Hold from Sell and lowered its target to $5.50 from $7 on valuation and believes the dividend cut will boost the company's liquidity.
Pantry (NASDAQL PTRY) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings.
LECG Corp (NASDAQ: XPRT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI) was upgraded at RBC Capital to Outperform from Sector Perform.
Analyst downgrades:
Jefferies downgraded Suntech (NYSE: STP) to Hold from Buy and lowered its target to $6 from $25 as they believe concerns about a convert refinancing in February 2010 will continue to weigh on the stock.
Credit Suisse cut Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Underperform from Outperform due to expectations for a decline in wireless infrastructure spending.
ING downgraded shares of Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) to Hold from Buy as they believe it will be challenging for the company to execute asset sales planned at reducing debt in the current environment.
U.S. stock futures were lower Wednesday morning after two volatile sessions that recorded a 777 point drop in the Dow, then a remarkable 485 point recovery. No doubt, investors are jittery ahead of the vote in the Senate today on the controversial $700 billion bailout package. Will it pass in the Senate after failing in the House? The two plans are slightly different. Some data might also affect the mood today with the Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing index for September and the September ADP employment estimate on tap. For now, the indication calls for a selloff in stocks at the start of trade today.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) - the Nasdaq Stock Market canceled a few trades in Google late Tuesday following an inexplicable slide in price the exchange blames on mistaken routing from other exchanges. Google shares, which were trading up about 8% for most of the session, fell between 10%-16% in the final minutes, bringing its closing price to $341.39. The Nasdaq also reset the stock's closing price at $400.52. Google shares are up in pre-market trading to about $409.
Automakers also are due to report monthly auto sales for September. Sales for GM (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F) are expected to be weak, perhaps the worst in several years. Shares of Ford decline over 5% in after-hours Tuesday.
Daimler (NYSE: DAI) shares declined nearly 8% in pre-market trade after some rumors, denied by the company by now, suggested DAI would issue a profit warning.
TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that even in lousy markets -- and this is one of them -- you can find stocks to buy.
When nothing's working, something's working. I know sounds counterintuitive. but there is simply no reason to think, as bad as this market is -- and it is really, really bad -- that there isn't something to buy.
But are they really hurting General Mills (NYSE: GIS) (Cramer's Take)? Can I see selling Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) (Cramer's Take) because of them? After we know the price increases are all baked in? And don't hit me with that strong-dollar stuff, because GIS doesn't have that much overseas exposure. Same with Pepsi (NYSE: PEP) (Cramer's Take): This is a national company with an international arm that is generating oodles of cash and doesn't have as much bad commodity exposure as it did a few months ago.
U.S. stock futures were mixed on Tuesday. Following Monday's broad sell-off and volatile session, which was also marked by low volume, today might not be different -- volatile and low volume. Several reports are in focus today, specifically some housing data that could shine more light on the sector, and consumer confidence, which could also move stocks. Meantime, oil prices declined and the dollar strengthened against major currencies.
Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) shares are down over 3% in premarket trading after the mining giant reported fiscal first-half profit more than doubled. RTP's acquisition of Alcan and soaring commodity prices helped Rio achieve the results. RTP shares have been declining due to worldwide slower growth.
Meanwhile, Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) shares were 2.4% higher in after-hours after it announced a plan to buy back up to $5 billion of stock.
Staying with share buybacks, Coach (NYSE: COH) are also 1.7% higher in premarket trading after announcing a buyback program of up to $1 billion, which follows the completion of a similar repurchase.
And of course, Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH). Shares of the embattled banker are rising this morning following speculation that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts may be interested in buying Neuberger Berman, according to CNBC, while Blackstone Group backed away.
Stock futures were mixed Monday morning, indicating stock would start on a down note a week full of economic data. This morning, investors are focusing on rising oil prices and existing home sales data to be released at 10:00 a.m. EDT. Also, over the weekend, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke commented from the Fed's yearly retreat, saying that problems in credit markets not yet over and are a threat to economy. Meanwhile, economists are saying inflation is catching up to the credit crisis as the major concern for the economy.
American International Group's (NYSE: AIG) credit ratings may be downgraded by Fitch due to uncertainties over AIG's exposure to mortgage backed securities. AIG was down 1.5% in after-hours Friday.
The Australian government approved Chinalco 14.99% stake in Rio Tinto's (NYSE: RTP) but warned the Chinese firm against buying more shares without prior approval. Alcoa (NYSE: AA) backed the purchase. RTP shares were up over 1% in Australian trading.
Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) will pay around $192.8 million in cash to acquire chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s (NYSE: AMD) digital TV business, the companies announced Monday.
Eoin Treacy of Fullermoney says that as commodities prices weaken, you need to look carefully before investing.
Q. Eoin, I've read that China's annual consumption of copper has declined from a 28.66% growth rate to 2.4%. What does that mean for continued growth in China and also for the global copper market?
A. China and indeed much of Asia and the Middle East are in a generational-long period where they have to build infrastructure from the ground up. The push for educating, housing, transporting and employing large young populations requires massive investment, fueling demand for commodities across the boards.
The supply side was completely taken unawares by this demand following the 20-year crushing bear market that cut exploration budgets to the bone. That is now changing, as major mining groups compete for the best resources, particularly in politically stable parts of the world.
China continues to lead the world in terms of GDP growth, although it has recently manufactured a slowdown to combat rising inflation, generally positive for the economy.
According to people familiar with the discussions, the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) has held discussions with Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX) and News Corporation (NYSE: NWS), among others, about joining it in a deal that could lead to the breakup of Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO). Some of the sources said the preliminary talks are unlikely to result in a deal with Yahoo!
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is reportedly in exclusive talks to sell its wound-care business Ethicon to the private-equity arm of JP Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM), according to the Wall Street Journal. Terms of the potential deal were not disclosed.
OTHER PAPERS:
Sources familiar with the inquiry said that the Justice Department has opened a formal antitrust investigation into a deal that would allow Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) to provide some search advertising for Yahoo!. The Washington Post reported that investigators will demand documents from Google and Yahoo!, as well as other large companies in the media and Internet industries.
WEB SITES:
Reuters reported that regulators in the European Union are looking at the long-term effects of BHP Billiton Limited's (NYSE: BHP) $170B bid for Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RTP). Sources familiar with the EU questionnaire said regulators have asked competitors and customers about effects of the deal on their businesses through 2015.
The Wall Street Journal reported that, in an attempt to move past its takeover battle with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) is planning a reorganization. People familiar with the matter said executives are discussing a plan to centralize numerous product groups into a global-product organization. Details may be announced next week.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that an internal feud at Live Nation Inc (NYSE: LYV) over strategy may soon be resolved, as the concert promoter is reportedly negotiating the exit of chairman Michael Cohl.
OTHER PAPERS:
A recommendation by an Australian commission to open Rio Tinto Group's (NYSE: RTP) Pilbara railway to third parties could cost $30B if the idea is implemented, Rio contended and the Australian reported. The National Competition Commission, which advises Australian governments on infrastructure issues, has suggested that Fortescue Metals Group be given access to certain rail lines operated by Rio Tinto.
WEB SITES:
A joint investigation by CBC News and the Canadian Press found one-third of people shot by Taser International Inc's (NASDAQ: TASR) Tasers reportedly required some medical attention, Engadget reported.
TechCrunch confirmed that Joshua Schachter, the founder of delicious, will resign from Yahoo!. Sources believe the near-stalled development of the new version of delicious may have played a part in his resignation.
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Analyst upgrades:
U.S. stock futures were lower Wednesday morning after two volatile sessions that recorded a 777 point drop in the Dow, then a remarkable 485 point recovery. No doubt, investors are jittery ahead of the 
U.S. stock futures were mixed on Tuesday. Following Monday's broad sell-off and volatile session, which was also marked by low volume, today might not be different -- volatile and low volume. Several reports are in focus today, specifically some housing data that could shine more light on the sector, and consumer confidence, which could also move stocks. Meantime, oil prices declined and the dollar strengthened against major currencies.
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