Before the Open (Feb 22)

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Hong Kong and China are up almost 1%. Europe is currently mostly down. Russia and Greece are down almost 1%; Austria, Hungary, Spain, Italy and Norway are also weak. Futures in the States point towards a slight down open for the cash market.
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VIDEO: LeavittBrothers.net Overview
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The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are flat. Bonds are up.
The market is on a heck of a run. Every index is at an all-time high. The S&P has moved up 12 of 14 days…the Nas 9 of 10 days…the Dow 8 in a row.
Today we get minutes of the last FOMC meeting. A few Fed officials have stated the March meeting is in play for a hike – that’s not a definite…just that it’s a possibility. I’ve gone on the record saying they should raise. Why not? They want to get rates back to a normal level, so why not take advantage of the high stock market…they have a huge “price cushion” to work with.
Otherwise I’m just a broken record here. The trend is up…the market is making new highs virtually every day. There’s no reason to be anything but long.
The market will top at some point. It’ll consolidate…it’ll drift down…it’ll chop and churn. But the overall trend will remain in place, even if there are disruptions along the way.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Ralph Lauren (RL -0.26%) was downgraded to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at Atlantic Equities LP with a price target of $68.
Cavium (CAVM +0.19%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at MKM Partners with a 12-month price target of $77.
XPO Logistics (XPO -1.71%) rallied over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 24 cents, higher than consensus of 20 cents.
Texas Roadhouse (TXRH -0.93%) sank 9% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $484.7 million, weaker than consensus of $497.4 million.
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (RRGB -0.63%) climbed over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 35 cents, above consensus of 31 cents.
Cirrus Logic (CRUS -0.29%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at MKM Partners with a 12-month target price of $65.
Tribune Media (TRCO +2.21%) moved up over 2% in after-hours trading after Starboard Value LP said it raised its stake in the company to 6.6% from 2.3%.
First Solar (FSLR +5.11%) climbed 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.24, higher than consensus of 98 cents, and then said it sees full-year net sales of $2.8 billion-$2.9 billion, above consensus of $2.53 billion.
Terex (TEX +0.41%) slid over 3% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on full-year adjusted EPS to 60 cents to 80 cents, weaker than consensus of $1.05.
Wright Medical Group NV (WMGI -0.37%) gained nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 net sales of $193 million, better than consensus of $183.5 million, and then said it sees full-year revenue of $755 million-$765 million, better than consensus of $755.5 million.
CSRA Inc. (CSRA +2.03%) raised guidance on full-year adjusted EPS to $2.00-$2.04 from a prior view of $1.98-$2.02.
Yum! Brands (YUM -1.07%) dropped over 1% in after-hours trading after a block trade of 12 million shares was said to be offered via Morgan Stanley
Papa John’s (PZZA -0.44%) fell over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $439.6 million, below consensus of $447.4 million.
Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT +5.95%) dropped 10% in after-hours trading after it announced a $75 million public offering of common stock.
Copart (CPRT +2.19%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 58 cents, better than consensus of 57 cents.
Tuesday’s Key Earnings
First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) -2.4% AH margins down, expenses up.
Home Depot (NYSE:HD) +1.4% with strong comparable sales.
Macy’s (NYSE:M) flat on mixed results.
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) +2.1% beating expectations.
Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) -1.3% AH missing profit estimates.
Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) +3% as e-commerce sales impressed.
Today’s Economic Calendar
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
10:00 Existing Home Sales
11:30 Results of $13B, 2-Year FRN Auction
1:00 PM Results of $34B, 5-Year Note Auction
1:00 PM Fed’s Powell: Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy
2:00 PM FOMC minutes
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY