Financial Breakfast: Morning News Summary for February 24, 2012

Benzinga's Top News

• Kenneth Cole KCP Proposes Transaction to Acquire 100% of Public Interest in Kenneth Cole Productions for $15 per Share
• W&T Offshore WTI Increases Quarterly Dividend 100% to $0.08

Domestic Pre-Market Trading

• U.S. Equity Markets trade higher as Dow futures trade up about 27 points.
• U.S. Dollar trades about 0.40% lower.

Overseas Trading

• European markets are mixed in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.13%, Germany's DAX gained 0.12% and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.54% on the session.
• Asian stocks ended the session higher as well. China's Shanghai added 1.24%, Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 0.54%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.12%.

Upgrades/Downgrades

• Bank of America Upgrades Deutsche Bank DB from Neutral to Buy, Raises PO from $39 to $42
• Citigroup Upgrades Baxter International BAX from Sell to Neutral, Raises PT from $53 to $57

• The Benchmark Company Downgrades Warnaco Group WRC from Buy to Hold
• Guggenheim Securities Downgrades Invesco Mortgage Capital IVR from Buy to Neutral, Maintains PT at $17

On the Economic Calendar

• University of Michigan Confidence is set to report at 9:55 a.m. ET
• New Home Sales are due at 10:00 a.m.

Earnings

• Alpha Natural Resources ANR Reports Q4 EPS $0.07 May Not Compare vs $0.26 Est; Revenues $2.07B vs $2.16B Est
• Endo Pharmaceuticals ENDP Reports Q4 EPS $1.40 vs $1.32 Est; Revenues $803.00M vs $802.91M Est
• Westar Energy WR Reports Q4 EPS $0.16 vs $0.15 Est; Revenues $486.2M vs $468.22M Est

Corporate News

• Kenneth Cole KCP Proposes Transaction to Acquire 100% of Public Interest in Kenneth Cole Productions for $15 per Share
• W&T Offshore WTI Increases Quarterly Dividend 100% to $0.08
• Dell DELL Acquires AppAssure; Terms Not Disclosed

Commodities

• Precious metals are trading lower, with gold posting early losses of about 0.30%
• Energy futures are trading higher, with crude oil posting early gains of about 0.56%
• Natural Gas futures are lower by about 0.27% and copper is trading higher by about 0.70%

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	1372	1368	1359	1354	1344
Gold	1797	1789	1781	1773	1765
Crude	110.92	109.08	107.63	106.51	104.34
Natural Gas	2.75	2.67	2.61	2.54	2.48
EUR/USD	1.3456	1.3412	1.3334	1.3292	1.3213
US Dollar Index	79.44	79.06	78.86	78.43	78.27

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