Before the Open (Feb 28)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. Hong Kong and Singapore moved down; New Zealand, China and South Korea moved up. Europe currently leans to the downside. Russia and Hungary are down more than 1%; Germany, Belgium, Poland, Turkey, Denmark and the Netherlands are also weak. Spain is doing well. Futures in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
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The dollar is flat. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up.
My interest in the market near term continues to decline. It’s not in bad shape, and I’m extremely confident higher prices are coming. But the risk/rewards don’t justify being super aggressive here. Sometimes there are great opportunities, and you have to “press the accelerator” and fully take advantage of them. Other times you have to be content with small gains while being more concerned with protecting your downside. Such is the case right now. The market is in great shape, but this is not a time to push it.
Trump gives the annual State of the Union address tonight. I wouldn’t expect anything unexpected. It’s a scripted speech.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Target (TGT +0.60%) is down 4% in pre-market trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.45, below consesnsus of $1.51, and said it expects full-year adjusted EPS of $3.80 to $4.20, well below expectations of $5.34.
Priceline Group (PCLN +0.02%) rallied over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $14.21, well above consensus of $12.97.
Jabil Circuit (JBL +0.27%) was dowmngraded to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Strong Buy’ at Raymond James.
U.S. Steel (X +3.19%) rose 3% in after-hours trading after it was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from Market Perform’ at Cowen.
Square (SQ +2.87%) slid 2% in after-hours trading after it announced a $350 million offering of convertible senior notes due in 2022.
Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ +0.15%) climbed over 2% in after-hours trading after Gamco said it increased its stake in the company to 6.18% from 5.1%.
EOG Resources (EOG +1.67%) gained 2% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q4 adjusted loss of -1 cent a share, narrower than expectations for a -14 cent a share loss.
Hudson Pacific Properties (HPP +0.83%) lost nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it announced the commencement of a public offering of 8.5 million shares of common stock.
Nutrisystem (NTRI +2.75%) jumped over 15% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 29 cents, better than consensus of 24 cents, and said it sees Q1 revenue of $202 million-$207 million, above consensus of $179.3 million.
Realty Income (O -0.08%) lost nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it announced the commencement of a public offering of 8 million shares of common stock.
Triangle Capital (TCAP -0.60%) dropped 4% in after-hours trading after it announced the commencement of a public offering of 7 million shares of common stock.
Silver Bay Realty Trust (SBY +0.89%) surged 17% in after-hours trading after Tricon Capital bought the company for $1.4 billion, or $21,50 a share, an 18% premium to Monday’s closing price.
58.com (WUBA +1.63%) rose 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 gross margin of 89.9%, below consensus of 90.5%.
Essendant (ESND +1.56%) tumbled 11% in after-hours trading after it reported an unexpected Q4 adjusted loss of -2 cents a share, much weaker than consensus for a 28 cent EPS gain.
Kindred Healthcare (KND +3.29%) rose over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 core EPS of 8 cents, better than consensus of 5 cents, and then said it sees full-year revenue of $7.1 billion-$7.3 billion, above consensus of $6.89 billion.
Fiesta Restaurant Group (FRGI -1.52%) plunged 13% in after-hours trading after it said it will suspend its sale evaluation process due to “softer” company performance and a “weak” industry outlook.
Kona Grill (KONA -3.80%) slumped nearly 10% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q4 adjusted loss of -39 cents a share, wider than consensus for -33 cents a share loss.
Monday’s Key Earnings
EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) +2.4% AH after beating estimates.
Perrigo (NASDAQ:PRGO) -12.9% AH as CFO Judy Brown resigned.
Priceline (NASDAQ:PCLN) +3.4% AH on dazzling growth numbers.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 GDP Q4
8:30 International trade in goods
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
9:00 S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index
9:45 Chicago PMI
10:00 Consumer Confidence
10:00 Richmond Fed Mfg.
10:00 State Street Investor Confidence Index
3:00 Farm Prices
3:00 PM Fed’s Harker: Economic Outlook
3:30 PM Fed’s Williams: Economic Outlook
6:30 PM Fed’s Bullard: U.S. Monetary and Economic Policy
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY