Futures Fall on Global Growth Concern. Stocks to Watch: ADI, BAC, CHK, CSTR, JCI, LFL, LOW, RIMM, TAM, VECO

Published on Monday, 16 August 2010 08:38 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, August 16^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock Futures fell as Wall Street took its cue from overseas trading, as investors digested a new round of earnings reports and awaited a new housing data.

European shares were mostly lower with financials leading the decline. Asian stocks ended largely in negative territory with the exception of Chinese stocks, which put in a strong performance. Japanese stocks lost ground after GDP data showed the nation's economy had slowed faster than expected as the relatively strong yen continued to impact its exporting economy.

At 10 am, the U.S. the National Association of Home Builders is due to release the latest figures from its index, which will give a snapshot of the health of the sector in August.

Today’s stocks to watch: Analog Devices (NYSE:ADI), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR), Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE:JCI), Lan Airlines SA (NYSE:LFL), Lowe's (NYSE:LOW), Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM), TAM SA (NYSE:TAM), and Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO).

Analog Devices (NYSE:ADI), the maker of integrated circuits for instrumentation, will have a bearish bias in today’s session after Auriga reiterated its $24 target price and sell rating ahead of its third quarter earnings report scheduled for tomorrow. The firm maintained their Sell rating given the recent correction in semi stocks, as it is apparent that investors are growing increasingly concerned about decelerating fundamentals.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), the largest U.S. lender, fell more than 0.5% in pre-market trading. Investors are pushing shares lower following a decline in financial shares in Europe. Financial shares will be in focus as investors will likely react to the latest housing report due out later in the morning.

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), the onshore natural gas producer, was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital. The firm raised its target price to $30. Shares of Chesapeake gained more than 1% in pre-market trading.

Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR), the owner and operator of the Redbox movie-rental kiosks, gained more than 1% in pre-market trading after a bullish article in Barron’s over the weekend. Barron’s reported that the stock might rise to $60 during the next year as more people rent DVDs at the company’s supermarket and restaurant outlets.

Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE:JCI), the maker of automotive seating and interior systems, jumped more than 2% in pre-market following a bullish article on Barron’s over the weekend. The financial publication cited analysts that believe the stock might rise as U.S. vehicle production rebounds and as demand for its environmentally efficient building equipment grows.

Lan Airlines SA (NYSE:LFL), the Chilean based airline, and TAM SA (NYSE:TAM), the Brazil based airline, announced that they will combine to form Latin America’s biggest carrier by market value. Lan Airlines offered to exchange 0.9 of its shares for each share of Tam, Brazil’s biggest airline. The new company will be called Latam Airlines Group SA.

Lowe's (NYSE:LOW), the second largest home improvement retailer reported worse than expected earnings on revenues that were lower than estimates. The company posted a profit of $0.58 per share, $0.01 worse than consensus; revenues climbed 3.7% year over year to $14.36 billion versus consensus of $14.53 billion. Lowe’s issued mixed guidance for third quarter, it sees EPS of $0.28-0.32 versus consensus of $0.32, on revs below consensus. The company also lowered full year 2011 earnings per share and revenue guidance. Despite the miss, investors pushed the stock more than 1% higher in pre-market trading.

Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM), the Blackberry maker, fell more than 1.5% in pre-market trading. Its new Blackberry Torch has received good reviews, however the sales have more or less just met analysts’ expectations. Kaufman noted sales are going well, but it believes the new device needs to move beyond AT&T to drive upside potential.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO), the provider of process equipment solutions, announced that it will sale it Metrology Business to Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR).  Bruker will acquire a business specialized in scanning probe microscopy and optical industrial metrology scientific instruments.