Financial Breakfast: Morning News Summary for May 17, 2012

Thursday, May 17, 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

  • Wal-Mart Stores WMT Reports Q1 EPS $1.09 vs $1.04 Est; Revenues $112.3B vs $110.50B Est
  • Sears Holdings SHLD Reports Q1 EPS $-0.31 vs $-0.67 Est; Revenues $9.27B vs $9.15B Est
  • Domestic Pre-Market Trading

    • U.S. Equity Markets trade lower as Dow futures trade down about 3 points.
    • U.S. Dollar trades about 0.23% higher.
    To see more pre-market news, click here.

    Overseas Trading

    • European markets are lower in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 slid 1.15%, Germany's DAX fell 0.79% and France's CAC 40 declined 0.99% on the session.
    • Asian stocks ended the session mixed. China's Shanghai added 1.4%, Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 0.86%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.31%.
    To see more overseas news, click here.

    Upgrades/Downgrades

    • Brean Murray Carret & Co. Upgrades Ctrip International CTRP from Sell to Hold, Removes PT of $19
    • Bank of America Upgrades Atmos Energy ATO from Neutral to Buy, Raises PO from $34 to $37
    To see more of today's upgrades, click here.

    • Deutsche Bank Downgrades Vitamin Shoppe VSI from Buy to Hold, Announces PT of $54
    • Goldman Sachs Downgrades Visa V from CL-Buy to Buy, Lowers PT from $142 to $1355
    To see more of today's downgrades, click here.

    On the Economic Calendar

    • 08:30 a.m. ET - Continuing Jobless Claims
    • 08:30 - Treasury Secretary Geithner Speaks
    • 08:30 - Initial Jobless Claims
    • 10:00 - Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index
    • 10:00 - CB Leading Index (MoM)
    • 10:30 - Natural Gas Storage
    To see more economic news, click here

    Earnings

    • Wal-Mart Stores WMT Reports Q1 EPS $1.09 vs $1.04 Est; Revenues $112.3B vs $110.50B Est
    • Sears Holdings SHLD Reports Q1 EPS $-0.31 vs $-0.67 Est; Revenues $9.27B vs $9.15B Est
    To see more earnings announcements, click here.

    Corporate News

    • Agilent A to Acquire Dako for $2.2 Billion
    • Sears Holdings SHLD Announces Plan to Pursue a Partial Spin-Off of Its Interest in Sears Canada
    To see more corporate news, click here.

    Commodities

    • Precious metals are trading higher, with gold posting early gains of about 0.77%
    • Energy futures are trading higher, with crude oil posting early gains of about 0.13%
    • Natural Gas futures are trading 0.42% higher and copper is trading lower by about 0.01%
    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 1346 1334 1327 1315 1308
    Gold 1565 1552 1539 1527 1514
    Crude 95.28 94.05 92.90 91.70 90.58
    Natural Gas 2.73 2.68 2.58 2.53 2.43
    EUR/USD 1.2795 1.2755 1.2718 1.2677 1.2640
    US Dollar Index 81.95 81.77 81.55 81.37 81.15


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Posted In: EarningsNewsBondsUpgradesDowngradesFuturesTechnicalsCommoditiesForexM&AEventsGlobalEcon #sEconomicsPre-Market OutlookMarketsAnalyst RatingsTrading IdeasGeneral
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