Futures Higher After Intel Earnings. Stocks to Watch: ALL, AMD, AMR, AAPL, KEY, MDT, NVDA, OPEN, STJ, TXN, and YUM

Published on Wednesday, 14 July 2010 08:41 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, July 14^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures pointed to a higher open, as Wall Street seems poised to extend its sixth day rally. Intel better than expected earnings and forecast helped boost confidence on the strength of the economic recovery.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), jumped more than 6% in pre-market after it reported, yesterday, record second- quarter sales, with better than expected profit and topped analysts’ estimates with its forecast for this period, signaling that concern that a rebound in technology spending is losing steam, is overdone.

On economic news, June retail sales and import price data are due to be released at 8:30 am. At 10 am, business inventory data for May will be released with economists expecting a decline of 0.2%.

Also on the economic agenda, the Federal Open Market Committee will released the minutes from its last rate-setting meeting.

Today’s stocks to watch: Allstate (NYSE:ALL), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), AMR Corp (NYSE:AMR), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY), Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), OpenTable (NASDAQ:OPEN), St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ), Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), and Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM).

Allstate (NYSE:ALL), the car and homeowners insurance company was initiated with a Perform at Oppenheimer. The analysts noted that the company’s success would be in its ability to leverage its exclusive agency network while staying focused on its core customer.

Chipmakers will be in focus after the stellar earnings results from Intel, the largest chipmaker in the world. Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), the second largest chipmaker in the world, which is due to report results tomorrow, jumped more than 4% in pre-market trading. Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), which will be reporting next week, also gained more than 1.5%, and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), the maker of visual computing technologies, moved to the upside in pre-market trading, as shares climbed 3.75%.

AMR Corp (NYSE:AMR), the parent of American Airlines, will be in focus, after the airline together with British Airways, and Iberia won EU antitrust clearance for their tighter alliance, deepening their already existing Oneworld alliance on trans-Atlantic routes in order to better compete with rivals and taking advantage of the Open skies agreement between the U.S. and the European Union. American, had looked to broaden and deepen their alliance with British Airways and it had been blocked on competitive concerns, this time the airlines agreed to give up some lucrative slots in a bid to win approval. A deepen relationship will be a benefit for American, which could see a boost in traffic as the airlines align their flights to supplement each other.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the maker of the iPhone and the iPad, fell 0.87% in pre-market trading, despite technology strength after Intel’s earnings report. The stock traded to the downside, as clearly the news that consumer reports would not recommend its subscribers to buy the iPhone 4, due to the antenna design flaw, continue to be an overhang in the stock.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY), the regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, was initiated with a Negative at Susquehanna and a $6 target price.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), the medical device maker, was initiated with Outperform at Oppenheimer, and a $48 target price. The analysts believe the shares reflect investor concerns surrounding the health of the ICD and spine markets as well as the macroeconomic environment. However what are not yet reflected, are the numerous new pipeline products poised to contribute to the bottom line beginning this fiscal year and over the next few years

OpenTable (NASDAQ:OPEN), the operator a website for online dinning reservations, was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Morgan Keegan.

St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ), the maker of cardiovascular devices, like heart valves, was initiated with a Perform at Oppenheimer. The firm notes near term, they believe euro stabilization and the impact of BSX's ICD shipment halt last spring should be catalysts.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM), the owner of Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell restaurant chains, fell more than 3.25% in pre-market trading. The company boosted a per-share profit forecast to $2.43 after markets closed yesterday, falling short of the $2.48 expected by analysts.