Upgrades and Downgrades This Morning

Upgrades

EMC: Storage momentum continues – Oppenheimer

F5 Networks: Complicated March, better June – Oppenheimer

Chesapeake Midstream Partners initiated with a Buy at Wunderlich; tgt $32.50

Schlumberger and Weatherford (WFT) initiated with Buy at Madison Williams

Las Vegas Sands upgraded to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus; tgt $55; DOJ/SEC sell-off presents long-term oppty

US Airways upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan

Downgrades

Baidu.com downgraded to Hold from Buy at Mizuho

Mosaic downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at Scotia

OpenTable downgraded to Hold from Buy at ThinkEquity

AU Optronics: The iPad 2 panel win that wasn’t – Kaufman

AMR downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan

Ross Stores initiated with a Hold at Soleil

Global Payment downgraded to Hold from Buy at Lazard

Medifast target lowered to $29 from $44 at Northland Securities; as growth rate is slowing down from unsustainable levels

Nokia target lowered to $12 from $14 at RBC Capital Mkts

Full article – Business Insider

Full article – CNBC

Full article – Reuters

“At the height of the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve allowed the world’s largest banks to turn more than $118 billion in junk bonds, defaulted debt, securities of unknown ratings and stocks into cash.”

Full article – Bloomberg

Full article – Bloomberg

“Every two to six years, they dress up in full makeup pretending to … change, vowing to correct what hasn’t been corrected, promising discipline as opposed to profligate overspending and under-taxation, and striving to balance the budget when all others have failed,”

Full Article – CNBC

Full article – Bloomberg

“Japanese earthquake will begin to affect volumes later this month as dockside stockpiles are depleted and ships that left Tokyo soon after the disaster arrive in harbor…..Cargo volumes may hold up even after ships start to arrive in Europe as Japanese companies tap inventories to meet export demand, then will decline when reduced production depletes stocks. That may lead to lighter loads, quieter ports and manufacturers running short of auto-parts and electronics, the biggest classes of container goods carried from Japan.”

Full article – Bloomberg

“Wheat crops in China, the world’s biggest producer, and the U.S. are threatened by continuing drought as La Nina persists, weather forecasters said.

The countries will be the last to emerge from the dry weather linked to La Nina, a cooling of the Pacific Ocean, and the conditions may linger for two more months, said British Weather Services and Telvent DTN Inc. Wheat may average $8.50 a bushel in Chicago from now to June 30, said Abah Ofon, an agricultural commodity analyst at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. That’s 12 percent more than the price today.”

Full article – Bloomberg

Full article – Bloomberg

“South Africa’s purchasing managers’ index rose to a 13-month high in March as interest rates at a 30-year low spurred consumer demand and exports picked up, Kagiso Securities Ltd. said.”

Full article – Bloomberg

Full article – Bloomberg

Full article – Bloomberg

“Oil rose to a 30-month high in New York as economic data from China spurred hope of growing demand in the world’s biggest energy user and fighting in Libya fanned concern that output cuts may spread to Middle East producers.”

Full article – Bloomberg

“A joint venture between Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley will likely report an extraordinary loss of about ¥80 billion ($956 million) for the just-ended fiscal year, due to unrealized losses from bond trading, people familiar with the matter said Friday.”

Full article – WSJ

“I’m not sure that it’s going to be enough and putting all the losses of the banks on the balance sheet of the government and eventually breaking the back of the government … it’s not the right solution,”

Full article – CNBC

“Despite everything, Portugal can still find investors who believe it will be able to settle its debts,” said Filipe Silva, debt manager at Banco Carregosa. “With this bond auction Portugal has managed to buy some time.”

Full article – Yahoo

Corn is up another 5.5%, following yesterday’s limit up extravaganza. And, Asia is very strong, led by gains in the Heng Seng, now up 1.24%. European markets are following suit, up anywhere from 0.5-1%, with Germany leading the way.

Crude is up 0.6% and S&P futures are up 3, ahead of the all important employment report.