Before the bell

PRE-OPEN MOVERS

U.S. stock futures gained Friday after the government reported retail sales
climbed 1.3% in November, better than expected. Futures for the Dow Jones
Industrial Average gained 50 points to 10,393. Those for the S&P 500 Index
climbed 6.8 at 1,104.00. Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 11 points to 1,809.

GLOBAL MARKETS

European shares rose on Friday, with miners lifted by hopes for rising demand
for metals after data indicated that China's economic recovery continues to
strengthen.

Asian shares ended mostly higher Friday after data from China appeared to show
that the economic recovery there is gaining momentum.

BROKER ACTION

Deutsche Bank upgraded Bway Corp. (BWY) to buy from hold Friday, saying the
packaging company's fiscal fourth-quarter results had been helped by strong
margins and that it has managed the downturn well. Deutsche Bank said it was
maintaining its fiscal 2010 earnings forecast of $1.55 a share, but lifting its
target price to $22 a share from $17 a share based on higher expectations for
growth and revised assumptions on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation
and amortization.

Analysts at J.P. Morgan raised their rating Friday on NCR Corp. (NCR) to
overweight from neutral, citing expected 5% revenue growth from the ramp-up of
its Blockbuster Express operations. The broker said it believes the core
business for the maker of automated tellers and related technology products
remains weak, however. "There's still a ton of execution risk in this story,
and company guidance has been poor recently, but we think risks are priced into
the stock," the analysts wrote in a note to clients.

BREAKING NEWS

* French defense-electronics specialist Thales SA (FR:HO) on Friday announced
plans to cut costs by 1.3 billion euros ($1.9 billion) over the next five years
in response to delays on several key programs, government budget constraints
and a weaker dollar.

* The Airbus A400M military transport plane made its long-awaited maiden flight
Friday, in what investors and industry watchers fervently hope is be a
definitive sign Europe's largest defense project is finally off the ground.

* German banks and insurers agree to impose restrictions on bonus payouts a
year earlier than previously planned in a move that followed tough new bonus
taxes in France and the U.K.

* Seattle Genetics Inc. (SGEN) said Friday that Genentech, a division of Roche
Holdings (CH:ROG)(RHHB.Y), has terminated the companies' collaboration
agreement for dacetuzumab, a potential cancer treatment. The decision is a
result of Genentech's ongoing portfolio review process, Seattle Genetics said.
Dacetuzumab is a monoclonal antibody that has been investigated in clinical
trials for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma. "We will evaluate
available data as we consider possible next steps for the dacetuzumab program,"
said CEO Clay Siegall.

* U.S. retail sales rose a better-than-expected 1.3% in November, the third
increase in the past four months, the Commerce Department estimated Friday. The
sales gains were widespread across most kinds of retail outlets.
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IWAN CAHYO SURYADI, "The Trend is Your Friend"