Stock Market Briefs: Microsft Shares Rise On Morgan Stanley, UBS Recomendation, Saks Reports Surprise Profit

• TJX (TJX) posted a larger-than-anticipated profit as demand for discounted consumer products continued. The firm said it sees fourth-quarter earnings of 65 cents to 71 cents a share from continuing operations
• Saks (SKS) reported a surprise quarterly profit
• Microsoft (MSFT) shares rose 3.0%, and led the gainers on the DJIA, after Morgan Stanley (MS) and UBS (UBS) recommended the shares. Morgan Stanley’s analyst raised the price target on the stock due to encouraging demand for Windows 7 and upbeat expectations for holiday season demand. UBS’ analyst placed a $34 price target on the shares
• Barclays Capital (BCS) raised ExxonMobil (XOM) to “overweight”
• Autodesk (ADSK) offered a slightly downside fourth-quarter guidance of 24 cents a share ex-items
• Salesforce.com (CRM) said it sees fourth-quarter earnings of 14 cents to 15 cents a share, versus Street estimates of 15 cents a share
• BMO Capital downgraded Research in Motion (RIMM) to “market perform” from “outperform,” cutting the price target to $64 from $100
• A counter-offer to Kraft’s (KFT) hostile, $16 billion Cadbury (CBY) offer may be in the works from Hershey (HSY) and Ferrero

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