Wall Street's China Boost; Hasbro gains from boys' toys; Target's Lilly Pulitzer sales craze

Stocks (^GSPC) set to bounce back from Friday's ugly session thanks to another new stimulus plan-- this time coming from China.

Yahoo Finance's Aaron Task says it's a pretty clear sign the world's second-biggest economy needs a lift.

"We were probably taking that 7% GDP number with a grain of salt," he notes.  "I think you need a bigger grain of salt. The amount of action and rhetoric coming out of the Chinese government right now suggests to me that the Chinese economy is slowing a lot sharper than even official data suggests."

Task adds U.S. investors are also continuing to follow first-quarter earnings reports.  And he's been noticing a somewhat unsettling pattern emerging.

"What's getting people nervous is that revenues are falling short of estimates," he says.  "We're going to get positive earnings numbers, but a lot of that is because of accounting games and buybacks.  People are asking 'Where are the sales'--  and we're not seeing them yet."

Among the big S&P 500 companies reporting later this week:  Amazon.com (AMZN), Facebook (FB) and Microsoft (MSFT).

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Morgan Stanley's strong quarter

Earnings are also in focus for the stocks the Yahoo Finance team will be watching for you today.

Morgan Stanley (MS) shares are jumping as the bank reports what it calls one of its strongest quarters in years.  Both Morgan Stanley's first quarter profit and revenue topped expectations, boosted by gains from trading of fixed-income securities, currencies and commodities. Separately, various reports say the company is in talks with the New York Attorney General to pay half a billion dollars in penalties for selling bad mortgage securities that crashed during the financial crisis

Halliburton (HAL) shares are also on the move this morning. The provider of drilling services to oil and gas producers reported better-than-expected adjusted earnings and revenue in the first quarter as Latin America, the Middle East and Asia helped drive sales. However, the company said it expects the oil sector to remain "challenged."  The oil industry has been slashing spending to cope with lower prices. Last year, Halliburton announced it was buying Baker Hughes (BHI) to better position itself in the wake of pricing pressures due to more oil supply and a decline in crude prices.

Hasbro (HAS) shares are soaring after the toymaker reporting earnings and revenue that topped forecasts for the first three months of 2015.  Sales jumped 5% from a year earlier thanks to strength in its boys and preschool brands, which offset weakness in sales of girls' toys

IBM (IBM) in the spotlight this morning.  Big Blue gets set to report quarterly results after the close of trading today. Analysts are looking for IBM to earn $2.82 a share in the first quarter. Revenue is expected to decline 12% year-over-year to $19.7 billion. IBM has been struggling to improve sales as it transitions from a traditional hardware business to a cloud and software company.

Raytheon (RTN) also grabbing headlines. The defense contractor is getting into the cyber security business. Raytheon is buying cyber security provider Websense from private equity firm Vista Equity Partners in a deal valued at $1.9 billion.

Target's boffo Lilly Pulitzer sale

Here's a product that did almost too well.  Target's (TGT) Lilly Pulitzer product line debuted Sunday, and sold out within hours, leaving many customers frustrated and angry. Heavy demand overwhelmed the retailer's website, causing it to shut down briefly. A Target spokesman said the retailer does not plan to replenish supplies of the line.

Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (TWC) are reportedly meeting with Justice Department officials this week, in hopes of keeping the $45 billion dollar merger on track.  Bloomberg reports the Justice Department is leaning toward blocking the deal, citing antitrust concerns.

And Jon Corzine, former head of MF Global and Goldman Sachs (GS), may be seeking to launch his own hedge fund. The Wall Street Journal reports that his new hedge fund would initially manage $150 million in assets.  In 2011 his firm was accused of misusing customer funds shortly before it declared bankruptcy.