A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures wiped its previous losses and are currently trading higher after the successful bond auction by the government of Portugal. This latest development has compensated for the weak German economic data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were recently up 25.00 points to 10,363. S&P 500 futures gained 2.10 points to 1,093 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 7.50 points to 1,865. A Peek Into Global Markets Positive sentiments ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has advanced 0.77%, London’s FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.17%. All of the Asian markets ended in the negative territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average losing 2.18%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.75% and China's Shanghai Composite losing 0.11%. Broker Recommendation J.P. Morgan is out with a research report this morning, where it reiterates its Neutral rating on Animal Health International Inc. AHII; it did not provide a price target for the stock. The JPM analysts cited the company’s recent earnings report, which was better than expected due to lower SG&A costs and lower interest expense. However, gross margins were weak. The analysts noted that company management noted on the call that there is a tight supply in the beef markets and any improvement in demand could be meaningful to the company. Economics for dairy farmers appear to have stabilized but remain challenging. As for valuation, the JPM analysts remarked, “We maintain our Neutral recommendation. AHII shares trade at 7.2x our CY10 EPS estimate of $0.32, a 50% discount to the rest of our healthcare distribution coverage universe, which we believe factors in low visibility around earnings going forward.” Breaking news

• NEI NENG OEMs and service providers worldwide, today announced that Intel® selected NEI to become an affiliate member of its Embedded Alliance Program. To read the full news, click here.
• Chevron Corporation CVX today announced that it has been granted approval by the Liberian government to acquire a 70 percent interest and operatorship in three deepwater concessions in Liberia. To read the full news, click here.
• Sara Lee SLE announced today the results of the previously announced cash tender offer for any and all of its 6 ¼% Notes due 2011. To read the full news, click here.
• Mediware Info Systems MEDW reports its Q4 EPS at $0.12, beating the consensus of $0.11. To read the full news, click here.

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