EmailThe consumer discretionary group is in-line with the broader market in early trade. The retail group is mixed with the Retail HOLDRS Trust (RTH) 0.1% and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) -0.1%.
Trading lower following earnings/guidance: AERL -2.9%. Other notable mentions: GET flat (priced secondary offering of 5.64 mln shares of common stock held by TRT Holdings at a price of $40.00 per share),FMCN halted (received non-binding proposal letter with $27.00 in cash per American depositary share, or $5.40 in cash per ordinary share proposed transaction), NLS flat (Linda Pearce joined the co as Chief Financial Officer).... Leaders: DF 0.5% (CEO exercised options with intent to hold shares), ORLY 0.3% (announces additional $500 mln share repurchase authorization ), SHLD 5.8% (higher following positive Barron's mention), GME 4.3% (Barron's reviews positive view on Gamestop), CHEF 0.6% (acquires Michael's Finer Meats for ~ $54.3 mln)... Laggards: JCP -1.4% (Barron's discusses cautious view on JC Penney, downgraded at Piper), EKDKQ -9% (Eastman Kodak received only low bids for its patents, according to reports), PH -0.6% (reaches agreement to sell automotive air conditioning business to ContiTech AG of Germany), TSN -0.5% (announces establishment of a new $1 billion credit facility that is expected to reduce the company's annual interest expense).
Analyst related: Upgrades: BBBY 0.5% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity), SJM 1.2% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman), CPB 3.3% (upgraded to Buy from Sell at Goldman; also added to Conviction Buy list), ROST 0.2% (upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray)... Downgrades: KO -0.7% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman; also removed from Conviction Buy List), JCP -1.4% (downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray), P -2.9% (downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley), LMCA -1.2% (downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley), TWX -0.9% (downgraded to Average at Caris & Company)... Misc: SODA -0.8% (initiated with a Hold at Canaccord), KORS 1.5% (initiated with an Overweight at Barclays), GMCR 1.6% (strength attributed to positive analyst comments),
