InvestMacro FX

Bemis (BMS) was upgraded today by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch (BAC) to buy from underperform with a $36 price target, as defense stocks are attractive given the current outlook. Shares are higher by about 1.6 percent.

Bargain hunters are wise to pay careful attention to insider buying, because although there are many various reasons for an insider to sell a stock, presumably the only reason they would use their hard-earned dollars to make a purchase, is that they expect to make money. Today we look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

Tri Continental Corporation (TY) announced its quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share, an increase of about 43% over its prior dividend in March of 10.5 cents. The ex-dividend date is June 15, 2012.

Men’s Warehouse in trouble after posting disappointing earnings yesterday. The men’s clothing retailer posted an EPS of $0.52, below the average analyst estimate of $0.55 a share.Revenue for the quarter rose slightly 1.1% to $586.6 million, also below estimates of $ 593.9 million.The company attributes the drop to a timing issue in their UK operations. Instead of rolling out products like they did last year, they are waiting until the second half of this year. They also added that sales in corporate apparel, which dropped in the first quarter, would be picking up in the third and fourth quarters.The second quarter doesn’t look much better than the first though. Men’s Warehouse expects EPS between $1.12-$1.13 a share, below the $1.22 analysts are expecting.Men’s Warehouse fell drastically at the open and has stayed there into mid-morning trading. Its shares are down over 16% to $29.60.

In trading on Friday, hospital & medical practitioners shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.9%. Leading the group were shares of Molina Healthcare (MOH), up about 22.6% and shares of Centene (CNC) up about 9% on the day.

McDonald’s (MCD) announced that global sales at stores open at least 13 months rose 3.3 percent in May. However, sales fell 1.7 percent in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region.

The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task and Henry Blodget discuss the economy, U.S. presidential race

Greece is the hot topic at the annual meeting of the Institute of International Finance in Copenhagen. The world’s leading bankers, policymakers and economists are considering the possibility of Greece leaving the euro.

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance (NASDAQ:ULTA) is seeing positive gains in early trading today over positive earnings results and guidance.The company reported its first quarter earnings yesterday, posting an EPS of $0.54, an almost 50% increase from the prior year period and above the average analyst estimate of $0.48.Revenue for the quarter rose 22.8% year-over-year to $474.1 million, also above analyst estimates of $467.8 million.For the second quarter, the company sees revenue in the range of $466-$473 million with an EPS between $0.49-$0.51 per share. Analysts are expecting $497 million in revenue with an EPS of $0.55 a share.Despite missing estimates for guidance, the positive earning results have sparked investors interests. The company is trading almost 9% higher to $95.05 in early trading.

The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task talks to Joseph Stiglitz on the fate of Europe.