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WLP’s earnings disappointment last night is affecting the whole industry as they all gap down this morning. WLP, a health benefits company, lowered its full-year financial outlook. Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on WLP to Neutral from Buy. Goldman say’s “WLP’s problems reflect company-specific underwriting error, but also reflect industry-wide pricing pressures that are now combined with upward pressure on underlying cost trends.”
Those affected include AET, CI, CVH, UNH, HNT, HUM and WCG.
Look for continued weakness as the problems are fundamental within the sector.

TXN lowered guidance last night and got some downgrades this morning as Nokia or ERIC has cut back orders. Nokia is one of their largest customers. Watch for sympathy plays on ERIC and NOK on this news. Watch for weakness in the semis or SOXX componenets. JPM defending QCOM this morning with an upgrade. JP Morgan believes TXN’s guidance reflects more a return to a normal seasonal order pattern than a downtick in either the overall 3G market or to Nokia specific demand. They do not believe the 3G market is weak in Q1 and reiterate an Overweight on QCOM shares.

LEH- JP Morgan expects the challenging credit environment to drive further write-downs of fixed income inventory, primarily in Alt-A. They estimate additional write-downs of $750M in LEH’s $15B Alt-A portfolio and lowered their Q1 estimate to 74c.

PXD upgraded to Outperform by RAJA.

DO reiteration Outperform, given the rising cash flows, FBRC anticipates the company’s special dividend to increase by $0.25 by quarter this year, and expects this amount to modestly increase to $0.30 per quarter in 2009 with the shares yielding either 10% more in a year or nearing the firm’s $166 target price.

Research in Motion’s (RIMM) Indian market may be threatened after the government announced plans to investigate whether RIM’s BlackBerry device poses a security risk and could be used for purposes related to terrorism. The government is exploring whether the device’s security features could help terrorists evade authorities. BlackBerry service may be shut down in the country by the end of the month if a resolution is not met.

ISRG: Data from SGO conf bodes well for da Vinci@COWN
Cowen said data presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists meeting showed superiority and outcomes of da Vinci-based hysterectomy vs. traditional open surgery and/or laparoscopy. Shares are Outperform rated.

Crude oil is pushing for $110 and US equities are pointing higher as the Fed has stepped in once again to add liquidity to the system. Futures are up 201 right now and it looks strong.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has authorized increases in its existing temporary reciprocal currency arrangements (swap lines) with the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB).