Financial Breakfast: Morning News Summary for January 12, 2012
Posted in: Earnings, News, Futures, Guidance, Upgrades, Commodities, Downgrades, Forex, Technicals, Management, Events, Global, Econ #s, Economics, Pre-Market Outlook, Markets, Analyst Ratings, Trading Ideas
Thursday, January 12, 2012
This is your Benzinga news summary and trader's outlook covering headlines from overnight and today's pre-market session.
• It took almost three years for the DOW to hit bottom after the stock market crash in 1929.
Benzinga's Top News
- Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) increases dividend 29% and new $225 million stock repurchase program; lowers Q4 EPS guidance to $1.10-1.15 from $1.15-1.20 prior.
- Cache (NASDAQ: CACH) updates Q4 guidance to $0.16-0.18 vs $0.24 est; expects comparable store sales to increase 12%
Domestic Pre-Market Trading
- U.S. Equity Markets trade higher as Dow futures trade up about 55 points.
- U.S. Dollar trades about 0.35% lower.
To see more pre-market news, click here.
Overseas Trading
- European markets are higher in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.35%, Germany's DAX gained 1.47% and France's CAC 40 advanced 1.28% on the session.
- Asian stocks ended the session lower. China's Shanghai lost 0.41%, Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 0.74%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.3%
To see more overseas news, click here.
Upgrades/Downgrades
- Jefferies upgrades Qlik Technologies (NYSE: QLIK) to Buy
- JP Morgan upgrades Graphic Packaging (NYSE: GPK) to Overweight
To see more of today's upgrades, click here.
- Citigroup downgrades Stryker (NYSE: SYK) to Neutral
- Jefferies downgrades ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) to Hold
To see more of today's downgrades, click here.
On the Economic Calendar
- Advance Retail Sales, Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims are due at 8:30 a.m. ET
- Business Inventories are set to report at 10:00 a.m.
- Monthly Budget Statement is due at 2:00 p.m.
To see more economic news, click here
Earnings
-
No Major Earnings this Morning
To see more earnings announcements, click here.
Corporate News
- Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) increases dividend 29% and new $225 million stock repurchase program; lowers Q4 EPS guidance to $1.10-1.15 from $1.15-1.20 prior.
- Cache (NASDAQ: CACH) updates Q4 guidance to $0.16-0.18 vs $0.24 est; expects comparable store sales to increase 12%
To see more corporate news, click here.
Commodities
- Precious metals are trading higher, with gold posting gains of about 1.16%
- Energy futures are trading higher, with crude oil posting gains of about 1.43%
- Natural Gas futures are lower by about 1.9% and copper is trading higher by about 2.2%
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 Dow | 12445 | 12418 | 12378 | 12347 | 12307 |
| E-Mini S&P 500 | 1296 | 1291 | 1285 | 1281 | 1275 |
| Gold | 1655 | 1649 | 1642 | 1636 | 1628 |
| Crude | 103.24 | 102.10 | 101.33 | 100.19 | 99.42 |
| Natural Gas | 2.95 | 2.86 | 2.80 | 2.70 | 2.64 |
| EUR/USD | 1.2846 | 1.2780 | 1.2718 | 1.2648 | 1.2590 |
| US Dollar Index | 82.16 | 81.86 | 81.48 | 81.17 | 80.79 |
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