Financial Breakfast: Morning News Summary for October 18, 2011

This is your Benzinga news summary and traders' outlook for Tuesday, October 18, 2011, covering headlines from overnight and Tuesday pre-market session.

Today in domestic pre-market trading, U.S equity futures are trading lower. At last check, Dow futures are down by about 60 points or 0.53% and the U.S. dollar trades higher near the $77.65 level.

Earlier this morning, JP Morgan upgraded TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL) to Overweight and Piper Jaffray upgraded Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) to Overweight as well. View all of today's upgrades here.

JP Morgan downgraded Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) to Neutral and Jefferies downgraded Walgreens (NYSE: WAG) to Hold. View all of today's downgrades here.

Overseas, European markets are lower in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 1.3%, Germany's DAX slid 0.6% and France's CAC 40 tumbled 1.8% on the session. Asian stocks ended the session lower as well. China's Shanghai lost 2.35%, Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 1.55% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 4.23%.

On the economic calendar, Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims are set to be reported at 8:30 a.m. Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at 0.50% and the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at 1.5%.

On the commodity front, gold and silver futures are lower in pre-market trading, with gold trading down by about 0.85%. Energy futures are mixed with crude oil unchanged near the $86.43 level and gasoline futures are trading lower by about 0.3%. Natural Gas futures are down by about 1% and copper futures are trading over 2% lower this morning.

On the earnings front, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) reported Q3 EPS of $0.56, which may not compare to estimate, on revenues of $28.45 billion; The Street was looking for $0.20 per share on revenues of $25.95 billion.

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) reported Q3 EPS of $1.03 on revenues of $12.25 billion; The Street was looking for $1.02 per share on revenues of $12 billion.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) reported Q3 EPS of $(0.84), which may not compare to estimate, on revenues of $3.59 billion; The Street was looking for $(0.15) per share on revenues of $4.59 billion.

Unitedhealth Group (NYSE: UNH) reported Q3 EPS of $1.17 on revenues of $25.28 billion; The Street was looking for $1.11 per share on revenues of $25.45 billion.

In corporate news, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group (NYSE: DTG) announced it has extended its agreement with Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) to distribute its Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental brands through the Orbitz family of sites until the end of 2014.

The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a $383 million contract to maintain, operate and sustain the Persistent Threat Detection Systems.

Yesterday, Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX) lowered its revenue and EPS guidance. The company now sees revenue in a range of $273 to $275 million versus previous guidance of $280 million. Crocs now expects Q3 EPS to be between $0.31 and $0.33 versus previous guidance of $0.40.

Benzinga's Morning Radar:

Technical Levels for Futures and Forex

This concludes your news summary for October 18, 2011.

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