Financial Breakfast: Morning News Summary for February 15, 2012
Posted in: Bonds, Earnings, News, Futures, Guidance, Upgrades, Commodities, Downgrades, Forex, Technicals, Asset Sales, M&A, Events, Global, Econ #s, Economics, Pre-Market Outlook, Markets, Analyst Ratings, Movers, Trading Ideas, Best of Benzinga
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
This is your Benzinga news summary and trader's outlook covering headlines from overnight and today's pre-market session.
Benzinga's Top News
- Kellogg (NYSE: K) Announces Agreement to Acquire Procter & Gamble's (NYSE: PG) Pringles Business for $2.695B
- Comcast Increases Dividend by 44% and $6.5B in Share Repurchases
- Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Reports Q4 EPS $0.47 vs $0.41 Est; Revenues $15.04B vs $14.87B Est
- Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) Reports Q4 EPS $1.12 vs $1.12 Est; Revenues $1.33B vs $1.33B Est
- Deere (NYSE: DE) Reports Q1 EPS $1.30 vs $1.23 Est; Revenues $6.77B vs $6.49B Est
Domestic Pre-Market Trading
- U.S. Equity Markets trade higher as Dow futures trade up about 71 points.
- U.S. Dollar trades about 0.36% lower.
To see more pre-market news, click here.
Overseas Trading
- European markets are higher in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.18%, Germany's DAX gained 1.15% and France's CAC 40 advanced 1.05% on the session.
- Asian stocks ended the session higher as well. China's Shanghai added 0.96%, Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 2.3%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 2.14%.
To see more overseas news, click here.
Upgrades/Downgrades
- Benchmark Upgrades Rackspace Hosting (NASDAQ: RAX) to Buy
- Citigroup Upgrades Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) to Neutral
To see more of today's upgrades, click here.
- Citigroup Downgrades Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) to Neutral
- Bank of America Downgrades Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) from Neutral to Underperform
To see more of today's downgrades, click here.
On the Economic Calendar
- Empire Manufacturing is Set to Report at 8:30 a.m. ET
- Total TIC Flows are due at 9:00 a.m.
- Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization are set for 9:15 a.m.
- FOMC Minutes are to be released at 2:00 p.m.
To see more economic news, click here
Earnings
- Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Reports Q4 EPS $0.47 vs $0.41 Est; Revenues $15.04B vs $14.87B Est
- Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) Reports Q4 EPS $1.12 vs $1.12 Est; Revenues $1.33B vs $1.33B Est
- Deere (NYSE: DE) Reports Q1 EPS $1.30 vs $1.23 Est; Revenues $6.77B vs $6.49B Est
To see more earnings announcements, click here.
Corporate News
- Kellogg (NYSE: K) Announces Agreement to Acquire Procter & Gamble's (NYSE: PG) Pringles Business for $2.695B
- Comcast Increases Dividend by 44% and $6.5B in Share Repurchases
To see more corporate news, click here.
Commodities
- Precious metals are trading higher, with gold posting early gains of about 0.68%
- Energy futures are trading higher, with crude oil posting early gains of about 1.15%
- Natural Gas futures are lower by about 0.63% and copper is trading higher by about 0.61%
To see more commodities news, click here.
Benzinga's Morning Radar
Technical Levels for Futures and Forex
| Name | Resistance-2 | Resistance-1 | Mid Pivot | Support-1 | Support-2 |
| E-Mini S&P 500 | 1360 | 1353 | 1345 | 1339 | 1331 |
| Gold | 1738 | 1730 | 1722 | 1714 | 1706 |
| Crude | 102.59 | 101.75 | 101.03 | 100.23 | 99.47 |
| Natural Gas | 2.65 | 2.60 | 2.51 | 2.46 | 2.38 |
| EUR/USD | 1.3278 | 1.3205 | 1.3140 | 1.3069 | 1.3006 |
| US Dollar Index | 80.17 | 79.83 | 79.42 | 79.08 | 78.67 |
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