Courtesy of Benzinga.
Wednesday, February 15, 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
- Kellogg (NYSE: K) Announces Agreement to Acquire Procter & Gamble’s (NYSE: PG) Pringles Business for $2.695B
- Comcast Increases Dividend by 44% and $6.5B in Share Repurchases
- Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Reports Q4 EPS $0.47 vs $0.41 Est; Revenues $15.04B vs $14.87B Est
- Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) Reports Q4 EPS $1.12 vs $1.12 Est; Revenues $1.33B vs $1.33B Est
- Deere (NYSE: DE) Reports Q1 EPS $1.30 vs $1.23 Est; Revenues $6.77B vs $6.49B Est
Domestic Pre-Market Trading
- U.S. Equity Markets trade higher as Dow futures trade up about 71 points.
- U.S. Dollar trades about 0.36% lower.
Overseas Trading
- European markets are higher in afternoon trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.18%, Germany’s DAX gained 1.15% and France’s CAC 40 advanced 1.05% on the session.
- Asian stocks ended the session higher as well. China’s Shanghai added 0.96%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 2.3%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2.14%.
Upgrades/Downgrades
- Benchmark Upgrades Rackspace Hosting (NASDAQ: RAX) to Buy
- Citigroup Upgrades Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) to Neutral
- Citigroup Downgrades Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) to Neutral
- Bank of America Downgrades Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) from Neutral to Underperform
On the Economic Calendar
- Empire Manufacturing is Set to Report at 8:30 a.m. ET
- Total TIC Flows are due at 9:00 a.m.
- Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization are set for 9:15 a.m.
- FOMC Minutes are to be released at 2:00 p.m.
Earnings
- Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Reports Q4 EPS $0.47 vs $0.41 Est; Revenues $15.04B vs $14.87B Est
- Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) Reports Q4 EPS $1.12 vs $1.12 Est; Revenues $1.33B vs $1.33B Est
- Deere (NYSE: DE) Reports Q1 EPS $1.30 vs $1.23 Est; Revenues $6.77B vs $6.49B Est
Corporate News
- Kellogg (NYSE: K) Announces Agreement to Acquire Procter & Gamble’s (NYSE: PG) Pringles Business for $2.695B
- Comcast Increases Dividend by 44% and $6.5B in Share Repurchases
Commodities
- Precious metals are trading higher, with gold posting early gains of about 0.68%
- Energy futures are trading higher, with crude oil posting early gains of about 1.15%
- Natural Gas futures are lower by about 0.63% and copper is trading higher by about 0.61%
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 | 1360 | 1353 | 1345 | 1339 | 1331 |
Gold | 1738 | 1730 | 1722 | 1714 | 1706 |
Crude | 102.59 | 101.75 | 101.03 | 100.23 | 99.47 |
Natural Gas | 2.65 | 2.60 | 2.51 | 2.46 | 2.38 |
EUR/USD | 1.3278 | 1.3205 | 1.3140 | 1.3069 | 1.3006 |
US Dollar Index | 80.17 | 79.83 | 79.42 | 79.08 | 78.67 |
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