Before the Open (Dec 7)

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the upside. Japan, Hong Kong, China and Australia did well; India was weak. Europe is currently up across-the-board. Greece is up more than 3%; the UK, Germany, Finland and Italy are up more than 1%; Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Denmark and Portugal are also doing well. Futures in the States point towards a slight down open for the cash market.
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My podcast – with Chat With Traders
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The dollar is down a small amount. Oil is down; copper is slightly up. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up.
The Russell 2000 moved to a new high yesterday; thanks to GS, the Dow is not far behind. Volume has been so-so, and while several breadth indicators have improved, a few have work to do to support the price action.
The S&P is 100 points above its 200-day, yet the percentage of SPX stocks above their own 200’s is below average relative to the last eight months. Something has to give. We haven’t gotten broad-based participation on this most recent leg up. Here’s the S&P vs. the percentage of SPX stocks above their 200-day MAs.

I like the market overall and believe we’ll get across-the-board new highs, but in the near term the participation rate must improve.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Discover Financial Services (DFS +1.38%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at Wedbush with a 12-month target price of $78.
Best Buy (BBY +0.23%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Loop Capital with a price target of $58.
ABIOMED (ABMD +2.72%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Guggenheim Securities with a 12-month target price of $150.
MasterCard (MA -1.50%) gained almost 1% in after-hours trading after it boosted its quarterly dividend to 22 cents a share from 19 cents, and then approved a $4 billion stock buyback program, effective upon completion of a previous program that has $1.3 billion remaining.
Western Digital (WDC +2.83%) rallied over 5% in after-hours trading after it renewed a royalty-bearing cross licensing agreement with Samsung through 2024, and then raised guidance on Q2 adjusted EPS to $2.10-$2.15 from an October 26 view of $1.85-$1.95.
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (PLAY -1.70%) jumped 12% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 25 cents, well above consensus of 14 cents, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2017 comparable store sales to up +3.1%-3.6% from a prior view of +2.25%-3.25%.
Bluebird Bio (BLUE +9.42%) fell over 2% in after-hours trading after it proposed a $200 million stock offering.
HealthEquity (HQY -2.76%) dropped over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 10 cents, below consensus of 12 cents.
AeroVironment (AVAV +2.66%) tumbled nearly 10% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q2 loss per share of -18 cents, a much bigger loss than expectations of -1 cent, and then said it sees a Q3 loss per share of -34 cents to -38 cents, more than consensus of -24 cents.
Ensco PLC (ESV +4.55%) declined over 6% in after-hours trading after it started a private placement of $650 million senior notes due 2014.
Sigma Designs (SIGM +1.31%) sank over 10% in after-hours trading after it said it expects Q4 revenue of $42 million-$45 million, weaker than consensus of $57.4 million.
TerraForm Power (TERP +1.83%) slid nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it said it sees completing the rest of its 2016 filings and regaining full compliance by March.
Today’s Economic Calendar
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:30 Gallup U.S. Job Creation Index
10:00 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
3:00 PM Consumer Credit
Today’s Earnings here
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers