WALL STREET JOURNAL: The Wall Street Journal reported that a federal judge said that the government had “sufficient evidence”" for a jury to conclude that a conspiracy to fraudulently boost the financials of American International Group (AIG) began with former CEO Maurice R. “Hank” Greenberg. That led to a transaction that artificially inflated AIG’s loss reserves…Citigroup’s (C) Falcon Strategies fixed income hedge fund is down 75%, the Wall Street Journal reported, bad news for the three U.S. banks that invested in it to help increase returns on employee life insurance. One of the banks, Fifth Third (FITB), is suing Transamerica Life and Smith Barney, both of whom helped to arrange the investment, and some are now questioning whether Citigroup will be forced to give back some of the investments as they have with individual investors…FINANCIAL TIMES: After it stopped offering some mortgages last month because it was swamped by volumes of new applications, the Financial Times reported that First Direct, a unit of HSBC (HBC), has resumed lending to new customers. The bank said it has continued to receive “significant interest” in its mortgages from existing customers…TELEGRAPH: In an effort to raise capital from shareholders, the Telegraph reported that Barclays (BCS) is considering a takeover bid for a rival in the U.S. or UK. According to Barclays’ finance director Chris Lucas, “all options are open” at this point, including launching a large rights issue. Sources believe Barclays may attempt to acquire an investment bank, a struggling bank or a deal in a fast-moving economy.

CNQ upgraded to Outperform from Neutral@FBCO
Watch this for reaction to upgrade.

CEO upgraded to Outperform from Neutral@FBCO

TXI initiated with a Buy@GABE
Gabelli expects cement margins to remain strong and believes the company is a takeover candidate in a consolidating industry.

TGT reports Q1 EPS 74c vs. consensus of 71c
Reports Q1 revenue $14.8B vs. consensus of $14.92B.

Oil Services: Price target raised@LEHM
Lehamn raised price targets for Oil Service stocks based on a strong recovery in 2008 and 2009 for North American natural gas drilling and international growth. The firm’s top picks are: WFT (target to $121 from $98), HAL ($68 from $58), SLB ($142 from $120), TDW ($85 from $75), NBR ($51 from $45), HERO ($44 from $32), CLB ($176 from $143) and IO ($23 from $20).

CRM: Forecast solid quarter, maintain Outperform@WCHV
Wachovia forecasts that Salesforce.com will report revenue of $235.5M and pro-forma EPs of 15c for its April quarter. The firm believes the company’s business trends are strong, and their checks indicate continued strong sales momentum.

BCSI: Expect to meet or beat Q4 estimates@PACS
PacCrest says their checks are coming back positive and as a result they expect the company’s Q4 results to meet or beat their 40c on $90M in revenue estimates. They reiterate a Sector Perform rating.

Boone Pickens says he bough 10M shares of Yahoo-YHOO-CNBC
Pickens also said he expects oil to hit $150 per barrel this year.