Before the Open (Dec 20)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. Japan and Australia moved up; Hong Kong, China and Indonesia moved down. Europe currently leans to the upside. France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey, Italy and Russia are doing well; Greece and Norway are down. Futures in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
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The dollar is up. Oil is up; copper is down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are down.
The market is getting wound up – three consecutive inside days for the S&P – but ’tis not the season for big breakouts and rallies. Volume will taper off as the week progresses, and the prices could certainly move directionally if either buyers or sellers stay home, but the odds of a very forceful move are not great. Here’s the daily S&P.

The major themes remain in place, and remember themes tend to stay put for several months, not just a few weeks.
Financials are holding up. Airlies are doing well. Semiconductors remain in uptrends. Oil is near a high. Gold and silver remain off limits.
Trading is not easy but it’s made much easier if you look beneath the surface and find the bull markets.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN -1.87%) was upgraded to ‘Outperfom’ from ‘Neutral’ at Credit Suisse with a target price of $485.
Alcoa (AA -0.37%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at Macquarie Research with a 12-month target prce of $39.
Salesforce.com (CRM -0.50%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Drexel Hamilton LLC with a 12-month target price of $100.
Arch Coal (ARCH +1.05%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at MKM Partners with a 12-month target price of $103.
Hubbell (HUBB -0.23%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equalweight’ at Morgan Stanley with a 12-month target price of $131.
Amgen (AMGN -1.09%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’ at Credit Suisse with a target price of $180.
Teck Resources (TECK +0.59%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at MKM Partners with a 12-month target price of $29.
Donegal Group (DGICA +4.45%) was downgraded to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
Sucampo Pharmaceuticals (SCMP +6.03%) sank 8% in after-hours trading after it said it plans to offer $225 million of convertible senior notes due 2021.
Worthington Industries (WOR +0.92%) dropped almost 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 72 cents, weaker than expectations of 84 cents.
Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS -0.26%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after its subsidiary Akcea Therapeutics said a Phase 3 Compass study met its primary endpoint in patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia,
NeoPhotonics (NPTN -0.87%) plunged over 15% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on Q4 adjusted EPS to 3 cents-11 cents from a November 3 view of 13 cents-21 cents, citing delayed shipments and higher manufacturing costs.
Resolute Energy (REN +4.81%) fell over 5% in after-hours trading after it announced a public offering of 3.8 million shares of common stock.
Canatus Pharmaceuticals (CNAT +2.62%) exploded over 150% higher in after-hours trading after it entered into a license agreement with Novartis for the liver disease drug Emricasan.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
Today’s Earnings here
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers