Below is a list of analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations in Wall Street research calls this Friday morning with roughly 45 minutes until the market opens.
Analyst Upgrades:
- QLT Inc (QLTI) upgraded to Outperform at RBC Capital Markets ; price target raised to $6 from $4.50
- RBC Capital Markets raise their price target on Deere (DE) to $51 from $49
- Prudential Plc (PUK) upgraded to Buy at Citigroup
Analyst Downgrades:
- ABB Ltd (ABB) downgraded to Neutral at HSBC Securities
- EuroBancshares (EUBK) downgraded to Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette
- CGI Group (GIB) downgraded to Sector Perform at Scotia Capital
- R&G Financial (RGFC) downgraded to Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette ; price target lowered to $1 from $2.50
- First State Banc (FSNM) downgraded to Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette ; price target lowered to $1 from $3
Coverage Initiated:
- CRH Plc (CRH) initiated with a Sell at ING Group
On the news front this morning:
- The WSJ reports investors sold banking stocks across Europe and Asia and raised the price of insuring against Dubai defaults, a day after the government said it would take charge of restructuring its corporate flagship, Dubai World, and asked creditors to accept delayed payments. A Wednesday announcement of a six-month standstill in debt payments took investors and analysts by surprise. It followed months of positive moves and comments from government officials suggesting Dubai and the federal government of the United Arab Emirates were willing to step in to plug financing holes. Amid a scramble by international bankers and analysts to assess global exposure to Dubai, the co said Thursday that its cash-generating ports division, DP World, wouldn’t be included in the restructuring.
- Reuters: The spectre of a debt default in Dubai is a problem but the world economy is now strong enough to surmount it, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday. “My own view is the world financial system is stronger now and able to deal with the problems that arise,” Brown told reporters on a trip to a summit meeting of leaders from Comonwealth countries. “While it is a setback I think we will find it is not on the scale of previous problems we have dealt with. I think global recovery has depended on monetary action and fiscal stimulus.”
- Reuters reports Bank of Japan stepped closer to currency intervention on Friday than at any time in the last five years by checking exchange rates with commercial banks as the yen rallied to a 14-year high against the dollar. Still, market sources said intervention was highly unlikely in the short term and that authorities were instead aiming to temper the sentiment driving the yen higher. While the central bank made its presence known in the market, Japan’s Finance Minister, Hirohisa Fujii, raised the prospect of a Group of Seven joint statement on currencies to cool the yen’s rally.
-The WSJ reports American International Group Inc. (AIG) and Maurice R. “Hank” Greenberg agreed to lay down their arms in an accord that clears the way for further reconciliation between the insurer and its longtime leader. The agreement effectively ends years of costly legal battles and barbs between AIG and Mr. Greenberg, who left in 2005 amid an accounting investigation.
- Reuters reports Dutch Financial Company ING Group NV (ING)said Friday that has priced a rights issue intended to raise 7.5 billion euros ($11.2 billion) at a steep discount, hoping to reduce its dependence on state aid by tapping shareholders made warier by Dubai’s debt crisis.
