A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower, this morning following the strong rise in stocks last week. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 11 points to 11,353 and S&P 500 futures slipped 3.4 points to 1,220. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 7 points at 2,180. A Peek Into Global Markets Positive sentiments ruled the European markets today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has increased 0.02%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.34%. Mostly Asian markets ended in the negative territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average adding 0.11%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.02% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.53%. Broker Recommendation Auriga has published a research report on Leap Wireless International LEAP and has downgraded the company from Buy to Hold. In the report, Auriga writes "Competition in the U.S. wireless industry appears to be accelerating on the very low end (and the very high end). We think increased competition on the very low end will pressure net adds as well as margins for LEAP. We are lowering our estimates to below consensus. Our new $13 price target is based on a 2011 EV/EBITDA multiple of 4.7x. Our previous target multiple was 5.0x on higher estimates. We are lowering our target multiple slightly to reflect more risk to 2011 estimates." Auriga has also lowered the price target from $16 to $13 on Leap Wireless, which closed Friday at $11.55. Breaking news

• 3M MMM is set to acquire Switzerland's Winterthur for $448 million. To read the full news, click here.
• Synovus Financial Corp. SNV today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a dividend of $0.01 per share on the company's common stock. To read the full news, click here.
• MetLife, Inc. MET earlier today announced several financial targets for 2011 as well as its expected results for the fourth quarter and full year 2010. To read the full news, click here.
• Kellogg Company K announced earlier today that David Mackay advised the Kellogg Board of Directors that he plans to retire as president, chief executive officer and director of the Company. To read the full news, click here.

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