Shares of Office Max (OMX) and Staples (SPLS) are jumping after JP Morgan Chase analyst Christopher Horvers raised his rating on both stocks to “Overweigh” from “Neutral,” raising his target on OMX to $20 from $13 and to $30 from $27 for Staples. Both firms have a high correlation to the improvement in labor markets, he writes, and they can have high earnings power coming out of depressed sales levels during the downturn. OMX is up $1.31, almost 10%, at $15.15, while Staples is up 46 cents, or 2%, at $25.46.
Shares of card issuers are down across the board with reports of higher delinquencies and charge-offs, pretty much as expected. Capital One Financial (COF) shares are off 53 cents, or 1.3%, at $41.14, while Discover Financial Services (DFS) is off 32 cent, or 2%, at $14.65. Discover said December charge-offs actually fell to 8.68% of its portfolio from 8.98% in November. Bank of America (BAC) was down 48 cents, or 3%, at $16.34.
Duke Energy (DUK) is off 30 cents, or 1.8%, at $16.77, after Goldman Sachs utility analyst Michael Lapides did the utility-stock shuffle, cutting Duke to “Sell” from “Neutral” and raised Edison International (EIX) and Portland General Electric (POR) to “Buy” from “Neutral.”
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