Markets Little Changed As Ukraine Uncertainty And Fears Persist

U.S. stocks were little changed as uncertainty in Ukraine remains as comments out of Poland's government suggest that the likelihood of a Russian invasion of Ukraine has increased over the past day. NATO's deputy secretary general shared similar sentiments and stated that Russia has amassed around 20,000 troops along its border with eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, investors were left with the fallout of two large M&A deals that fell apart. 21st Century Fox rescinded its offer to acquire Time Warner while Sprint announced it will no longer pursue an acquisition of T-Mobile U.S. Recommended: Gain An Inside Edge In Your ETF Portfolio The Dow gained 0.08 percent, closing at 16,443.34. The S&P 500 gained 0.00 percent, closing at 1,920.24. The Nasdaq gained 0.05 percent, closing at 4,355.05. Gold gained 1.78 percent, trading at $1,308.20 an ounce. Oil lost 0.41 percent, trading at $96.98 a barrel. Silver gained 1.27 percent, trading at $20.08 an ounce. News of Note MBA Mortgage Composite Index rose 1.6 percent after declining 2.2 percent last week. MBA Mortgage Purchase Index declined one percent after rising 0.2 percent last week. MBA Mortgage Refinance Index rose four percent after declining four percent last week. June Trade Balance improved to -$41.5 billion from -$44.7 billion in May. Imports totaled $237.4 billion while exports totaled $195.9 billion. July Gallup US Job Creation Index rose to 28 from 27 in June. EIA Crude Inventories declined 1.8 million, more than a decline of 1.7 million barrels expected. EIA Gasoline Inventories declined 4.4 million barrels when a gain of 0.3 million barrels was expected. EIA Distillates declined 1.8 million barrels when a gain of 0.9 million barrels was expected. The U.S. Treasury plans to auction $67 billion in paper next week. $27 billion will be in three-year notes, $24 billion in ten-year notes and $16 billion in thirty-year notes. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades of Note Analysts at Credit Suisse maintained an Outperform rating on AbbVie ABBV with a price target raised to $63 from a previous $60. Shares lost 1.40 percent, closing at $52.05. Analysts at Barclays maintained an Overweight rating on Activision Blizard ATVI with a price target raised to $27 from a previous $24. Also, analysts at Macquaries maintained an Outperform rating on Activision Blizzard with a price target raised to $26 from a previous $25. Shares hit new 52-week highs of $23.79 before closing the day at $22.95, up 2.64 percent. Analysts at Deutsche Bank maintained a Hold rating on American International Group AIG with a price target raised to $59 from a previous $58. Shares gained 0.57 percent, closing at $52.50. Analysts at Jefferies downgraded Bloomin' Brands BLMN to Hold from Buy with a price target lowered to $18 from a previous $26. Also, analysts at JPMorgan maintained an Overweight rating on Bloomin' Brands with a price target lowered to $18 from a previous $26. Meanwhile, analysts at Barclays also maintained an Overweight rating on Bloomin' Brands with a price target lowered to $21 from a previous $30. Shares gained 6.11 percent, closing at $15.98. Analysts at JPMorgan maintained an Overweight rating on CVS CVS with a price target raised to $91 from a previous $82. Also, analysts at Barclays maintained an Overweight rating on CVS with a price target raised to $87 from a previous $85. Shares lost 0.31 percent, closing at $77.03. Recommended: $3 Per Gallon Could Be Coming Soon Analysts at Citigroup maintained a Neutral rating on Coach COH with a price target raised to $38 from a previous $36. Also, analysts at Macquarie maintained a Neutral rating on Coach with a price target lowered to $36 form a previous $38. Shares lost 1.96 percent, closing at $35.10. Analysts at Global Hunter downgraded Dresser-Rand Group DRC to Accumulate from Buy with a price target lowered to $68 from a previous $71. Shares lost 3.28 percent, closing at $57.80. Analysts at Raymond James maintained an Outperform rating on EOG Resources EOG with a price target raised to $133 from a previous $130. Shares lost 1.83 percent, closing at $106.64. Analysts at Nomura maintained a Buy rating on FireEye FEYE with a price target lowered to $48 from a previous $55. Shares lost 11.43 percent, closing at $30.78. Analysts at Wunderlich downgraded Groupon GRPN to Hold from Buy with a price target lowered to $6 from a previous $10. Also, analysts at Deutsche Bank maintained a Buy rating on Groupon with a price target lowered to $7 from a previous $8. Meanwhile, analysts at Credit Suisse maintained a Neutral rating on Groupon with a price target lowered to $6.50 from a previous $10. Shares lost 12.72 percent, closing at $6.17. Analysts at JPMorgan maintained an Overweight rating on MGM Resorts MGM with a price target lowered to $31 from a previous $32. Shares lost 2.86 percent, closing at $25.14. Analysts at Credit Suisse maintained an Outperform rating on Motorola MSI with a price target lowered to $65 from a previous $70. Shares lost 0.28 percent, closing at $61.21. Analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded Target TGT to Neutral from Buy with a price target lowered to $59 from a previous $65. Also, analysts at Deutsche Bank maintained a Hold rating on Target with a price target lowered to $57 from a previous $58. Meanwhile, analysts at JPMorgan maintained a Neutral rating on Target with a price target lowered to $60 from a previous $62. Shares lost 0.12 percent, closing at $57.97. Analysts at Pacific Crest initiated coverage of Tesla Motors TSLA with an Outperform rating and $316 price target. Shares gained 4.38 percent, closing at $248.93. Analysts at Nomura maintained a Buy rating on Walt Disney Company DIS with a price target raised to $97 from a previous $95. Also, analysts at JPMorgan maintained an Overweight rating on Disney with a price target raised to $100 from a previous $90. Shares lost 0.18 percent, closing at $86.59. Analysts at Barclays maintained an Overweight rating on Zillow Z with a price target raised to $150 from a previous $115. Also, analysts at Canaccord Genuity maintained a Buy rating on Zillow with a price target raised to $150 from a previous $130. Meanwhile, analysts at Deutsche Bank maintained a Hold rating on Zillow with a price target raised to $115 from a previous $78. Shares lost 1.94 percent, closing at $138.32. Equities-Specific News of Note Freeport McMoRan FCX confirmed it resumed copper concentrate exports out of Indonesia with a 10,000 metric ton shipment to China. Shares lost 0.62 percent, closing at $36.70. CVS Caremark CVS noted during its quarterly conference call that its decision to exit the tobacco business resulted in a 110 bps decline in front store comp sales during the quarter. The company also said it expects to lose out on $2 billion in annual sales from lost tobacco sales. Shares lost 0.31 percent, closing at $77.03. WebMD WBMD plans to tend up to two million shares of its common stock at a price of $48.50 per share. Shares gained 2.25 percent, closing at $49.03. Recommended: 6 Impressive Technology Innovations From Domino's The Federal Reserve approved Bank of America's BAC capital plan which will boost the quarterly dividend to $0.05 from $0.01. Separately, the bank appears to be near a $16 billion to $17 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. Shares gained 1.33 percent, closing at $15.20. According to the New York Times, Kellogg K is considering a two billion pound offer for U.K. based United Biscuits. Shares of Kellogg gained 2.25 percent, closing at $62.78. 3D Systems DDD has acquire Laser Reproductions, a 3D printing service bureau that targets industrial design firms for an undisclosed sum. Shares gained 1.92 percent, closing at $47.79. Google GOOG acquired Emu, a mobile messaging app that integrates a virtual assistant service. Shares gained 0.23 percent, closing at $566.37. Amazon.com AMZN added New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Dallas, Indianapolis and Washington D.C. to a metro areas where it will offer same-day delivery for over one million items. Prime subscribers will pay a flat fee of $5.99 for a same-day order while non Prime subscribers will pay $9.98 for the first item and $0.99 for each additional item. Shares gained 0.50 percent, closing at $313.89. American International Group AIG has agreed to acquire Ageas Protect, a U.K. life protection carrier for $305 million. Shares gained 0.57 percent, closing at $52.50. Winners of Note This morning, Tim Hortons THI reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.92, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86. Revenue of C$874.3 million beat the consensus estimate of C$839.70 million. Net income for the quarter slightly rose to C$123.8 million from C$123.7 million in the same quarter a year ago as the company saw same-store sales growth of 5.9 percent in the U.S. and 2.6 percent growth in Canada. Total revenue in Canada rose to C$721.6 million from C$657.68 million a year ago while U.S. sales rose to C$51.88 million from C$41.22 million a year ago. Operating income in Canada grew 8.1 percent to C$188.9 million while operating income in the U.S. improved to $9.3 million from $6.7 million a year ago Shares gained 7.90 percent, closing at $59.12. According to the Wall Street Journal, Tibco Software TIBX is reaching out to potential buyers and is in early stage talks. Shares gained 7.51 percent, closing at $20.75. Decliners of Note This morning, Time Warner TWX reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.98, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84. Revenue of $6.80 billion missed the consensus estimate of $6.87 billion. Net income for the quarter rose to $850 million from $771 million in the same quarter a year ago as the company saw higher domestic ad rates and a strong performance from HBO. HBO subscription revenue rose ten percent to $101 million and content revenue rose 56 percent to $98 million. As a whole, HBO's segment revenue rose 16.5 percent to $1.42 billion; Warner Brothers segment revenue declined 2.4 percent to $2.87 billion while Turner's segment revenue rose 4.7 percent to $2.75 billion. The company also authorized an additional $1.5 billion in share buybacks. However, investors appeared to be more focused on Tuesday's announcement that 21st Century Fox withdrew its offer to acquire Time Warner. Shares of Time Warner lost 12.85 percent, closing at $74.24. This morning, Nu Skin Enterprises NUS reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $1.13, missing the consensus estimate of $1.27. Revenue of $650 million missed the consensus estimate of $709.03 million. Net income for the quarter fell to $19.51 million from $74.44 million in the same quarter a year ago as the company was hit by a $50 million write-down of Mainland China inventory and a $25 million charge due to transition to the SICAD II exchange rate in Venezuela. Operating margin fell 870 bps to 8.4 percent on higher expenses and issues in its China where revenue declined 12 percent to $229.9 million. Revenue in the Americas rose eight percent to $89.9 million while North Asian revenue rose one percent to $196.0 million and South Asia/Pacific revenue declined five percent to $81.7 million. Nu Skin issued guidance and sees its third quarter revenue being in a range of $620 million to $640 and its EPS being in a range of $0.90 to $0.95. The company also anticipates its fourth quarter revenue to be $650 million to $675 million and EPS being $1.00 to $1.05. Shares hit new 52-week lows of $43.50 before closing the day at $46.52, down 19.68 percent. Recommended: Morgan Stanley Dissects FireEye's 'Complex' Second Quarter Results Walgreen WAG confirmed it will purchase the remaining 55 percent of Alliance Boots it already doesn't own. Walgreen also confirmed that the corporate headquarters will be in the Chicago area and Alliance Boots will be run out of the United Kingdom. Walgreen stated that it will accelerate cost-reduction initiatives and sees its fiscal 2016 EPS being in a range of $4.25 to $4.60. Separately, the rating agency Moody's placed some of Walgreen's commercial paper and debt on review for a potential downgrade following the company's announcement of a new $3 billion share repurchase program. Shares lost 14.34 percent, closing at $59.21. Last night that Sprint S will scrap its plans to acquire T-Mobile U.S. TMUS due to regulatory issues. At the same time, reports began to surface that Sprint will name a new CEO as early as today. This morning, Sprint confirmed that its CEO Dan Hesse will be leaving the company will be replaced by Marcelo Claure, a member of Sprint's board and the current founder and CEO of Brighstar. Shares of Sprint hit new 52-week lows of $5.83 before closing the day at $5.90, down 18.96 percent. Shares of T-Mobile U.S. lost 8.40 percent, closing at $31.06. Earnings of Note This morning, DISH Network DISH reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.46, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51. Revenue of $3.69 billion was in-line with the consensus estimate. Net income for the quarter rose to $213 million from a net loss of $11 million in the same quarter a year ago as subscriber-related revenue rose 5.6 percent to $3.65 billion. During the quarter, 656,000 gross new pay-TV subscribers were activated and the company bringing its count to 14.053 million versus 14.014 million a year ago. Pay-TV average revenue per user improved to $84.15 from $80.81 a year ago while the churn rate declined to 1.66 percent from 1.67 percent a year ago. During the quarter, DISH added 36,000 net broadband subscribers, bringing its total subscriber base to approximately 525,000 users. Shares gained 1.71 percent, closing at $63.21. This morning, Chesapeake Energy CHK reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.36, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45. Revenue of $5.10 billion beat the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. Net income for the quarter fell to $145 million from $374 million in the same quarter a year ago due the repurchase of debt securities associated with the company's April debt refinancing. Oil and natural gas production in the quarter totaled 694,650 barrels of energy per day which was 13 percent higher year over year. Production of natural gas liquids rose 72 percent in the quarter but the average price the company received for natural gas declined 13 percent to $21.03 per barrel. The company raised the midpoint of its 2014 production outlook by ten thousand barrels of energy to 685,000 to 705,000 barrels of energy per day due to better production trends in the first half of 2014 and an expected increase in well connections in the second half of 2014. Shares gained 0.50 percent, closing at $26.19. After the market closed, Keurig Green Mountain GMCR reported its third quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.99, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88. Revenue of $1.02 billion missed the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. Shares were trading lower by 3.03 percent at $114.55 following the earnings report. After the market closed, Symantec SYMC reported its first quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.45, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42. Revenue of $1.74 billion beat the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Shares were trading higher by 1.14 percent at $24.00 following the earnings report. After the market closed, Prudential Financial PRU reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $2.49, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35. Revenue of $11.11 billion fell short of the consensus estimate of $11.12 billion. Shares were trading flat at $86.57 following the earnings report. Quote of the Day "We're not going to guess what's on Russia's mind, but we can see what Russia is doing on the ground – and that is of great concern. Russia has amassed around 20,000 combat-ready troops on Ukraine's eastern border." - Oana Lungescu, a NATO spokesman said on Wednesday.