Financial Breakfast: Morning News Summary for November 22, 2011

The first exchange traded fund, or ETF, was SPDR. It was cretaed in 1993 by State Street Global Advisors and tracks the S&P 500 stock index.

Benzinga's Top News

• KKR (NYSE: KKR), Samson near $7B-plus deal for on-shore assets
• Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL) reports Q4 EPS $0.43 vs $0.42 Est; Revenues $2.1B vs $2.11B Est
• Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) reports Q2 EPS $0.84 vs $0.82 Est; Revenues $4.13B vs $4.07B Est
• Campbell Soup (NYSE: CBP) reports Q1 EPS $0.82 vs $0.79 Est; Revenues $2.16B vs $2.21B Est

Domestic Pre-Market Trading

• U.S. Equity Markets trade higher with Dow Futures up about 30 points.
• U.S. Dollar trades about 0.25% lower.

Overseas Trading

• European markets are higher in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.75%, Germany's DAX gained 0.76% and France's CAC 40 added 0.78% on the session.
• Asian stocks ended the session mixed. China's Shanghai fell 0.05%, Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.4% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.14%.

Upgrades/Downgrades

• Auriga upgrades Collective Brands (NYSE: PSS) to Buy, $20 PT
• Goldman Sachs upgrades AutoNation (NYSE: AN) to Neutral

• Auriga downgrades Trina Solar (NYSE TSL) to Sell, PT lowered to $3.50
• Bank of America downgrades Dole Foods (NASDAQ: DOLE) to Underperform, PO lowered to $9

On the Economic Calendar

• GDP and Personal Consumption is to be reported at 8:30 a.m. ET.
• Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index is set to report at 10:00 a.m.

Earnings

• Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL) reports Q4 EPS $0.43 vs $0.42 Est; Revenues $2.1B vs $2.11B Est
• Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) reports Q2 EPS $0.84 vs $0.82 Est; Revenues $4.13B vs $4.07B Est
• Campbell Soup (NYSE: CBP) reports Q1 EPS $0.82 vs $0.79 Est; Revenues $2.16B vs $2.21B Est
• Chicos Fas (NYSE: CHS) reports Q3 EPS $0.18 vs $0.20 Est; Revenues $538.50M vs $548.89M Est
• Patterson (NASDAQ: PDCO) reports Q2 EPS $0.45 vs $0.46 Est; Revenues $856.90M vs $887.84M Est
• Cracker Barrel (NASDAQ: CBRL) reports Q1 EPS $1.03 vs $1.05 Est; Revenues $598.40M vs $602.20M Est

Corporate News

• The recent struggles of A123 Systems (NASDAQ: AONE) has investors and market participants asking a very important, and very valid question – Can the company survive?
• KKR, Samson near $7B-plus deal for on-shore assets
• Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) will acquire Excaliard, a privately owned biopharmaceutical company. Specific financial terms are confidential.
• BioLineRx (NASDAQ: BLRX) announced that it has received approval from the Indian regulatory authorities and the Indian local ethics committees to commence the Phase II/III CLARITY clinical trial of BL-1020.
• Shanda Interactive Entertainment (Nasdaq: SNDA) announced the Parent Company will acquire Shanda for $20.675 per ordinary share or $41.35 per American Depositary Share, each representing two ordinary shares.

Commodities

• Precious metals are trading higher, with gold posting gains of about 1%
• Energy futures are trading higher, with crude oil posting gains of about 1.2%
• Natural Gas futures are higher by about 1% and copper is trading higher by about 1.5%

Benzinga's Morning Radar

Technical Levels for Futures and Forex