Before the bell: Stocks higher again; TOL, DHI, PG, HPQ, DELL, AAPL, WB …
Posted by: in Latest NewsFiled under: Before the bell, Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Deals, Apple Inc (AAPL), Dell (DELL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), eBay (EBAY), Pfizer (PFE), Market matters, McDonald’s (MCD), ConocoPhillips (COP), D.R.Horton (DHI), Procter and Gamble (PG), KB HOME (KBH), Kimberly-Clark (KMB), Wachovia Corp (WB), Toll Brothers (TOL), UAL Corp (UAUA), Analyst initiations, Economic data, Wells Fargo (WFC), Oil, Housing
U.S. stock futures were higher Tuesday morning, pointing to a continuation of Monday’s strong rally, albeit with more moderate gains, as the government takes over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Investors will eye data on pending home sales and wholesale trade due at 10:00 a.m. this day, and will also be interested in the OPEC meeting as oil resumed its decline.
Meanwhile, British natural gas producer BG Group PLC abandoned its hostile takeover bid for Origin Energy Ltd., Australia’s second-largest power retailer, on Monday, after Origin announced a $7.9 billion coal seam liquefied natural gas joint venture with ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP).
In what seems to be appropriate on a day housing data is on tap, Credit Suisse downgraded four U.S. homebuilders — Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM), D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) and KB Home (NYSE: KBH) — to Neutral from Outperform due to lower traffic and valuation. The broker also stated home prices need to fall 9% further and credit availability must improve to spur sales and restore affordability.
- Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) was downgraded by Merrill Lynch to Neutral from Outperform, citing valuation.
- Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) was upgraded by Bernstein from Market Perform to Outperform.
- Kimberly Clark (NYSE: KMB) was upgraded by Citigroup from Hold to Buy. The target prices was upped from $60 to $71.
- eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) was initiated by Stanford Research with Hold and $26 target price.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a panel of medical experts think Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)’sproposed osteoporosis drug should be restricted to women at high risk of fractures.
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