EmailThe consumer discretionary group is outperforming the broader market in early trade. The retail group is also in the green with the Retail HOLDRS Trust (RTH) 0.2% and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) 0.1%. Trading higher following earnings/guidance: FDO +4.6%, HBI +0.9%... Trading lower following earnings/guidance/SSS: WTSLA -1.6%, WAG -1.5%, BEBE -0.4%... Near unchanged mark following earnings/guidance: AN Other notable mentions: SVU flat (potential PE interest in SVU business segments), VOLVY flat (Volvo consolidates manufacture of complete buses in Europe), ACOM flat (acquires 1000memories; does not expect the acquisition to have a material impact on its financial guidance), EGT flat (Entertainment Gaming Asia announces update on civil action complaint)...Leaders: IGT 0.8% (Intl Game Tech extends partnership with Olympic Entertainment Group)... Laggards: BEBE -0.5% (retained Russell Reynolds associates for CEO Search ), CQB -1.3% (appoints Edward F. Lonergan as President and Chief Executive Officer), PSO -0.5% (announced that Marjorie Scardino has decided to step down as co's chief executive at the end of 2012 ), MMM -0.4% (announced a realignment of its major business groups).
Analyst related: Upgrades: AXL 2.2% (upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital), DIN 4.8% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Janney)... Downgrades: ANN 0.5% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at SunTrust), EXPR -1.1% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at SunTrust), UA -1.8% (Hearing OTR Research downgrading to Mixed from Positive)... Misc: PCLN -0.2% (Hearing positive mention at Lazard; comfortable with estimates), LNKD flat (Hearing positive mention at Barclays), MHP -0.2% (initiated with a Buy at UBS), DLTR -0.7% ( Hearing cautious mention at ITG Majestic Research), KORS 0.4% (initiated with an Outperform at William Blair)
