Before the Open (Mar 24)

Good morning. Happy Friday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the upside. China, Singapore, Japan and Australia led. Europe is currently mostly down. France, Belgium, Russia, Finland, and Greece are weakest. Futures in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
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The dollar is down a small amount. Oil is up, copper is down. Gold is down, silver is up. Bonds are flat.
If the market doesn’t post a big gain today, i’ll register its biggest weekly loss of the year and possibly biggest since the election. In the grand scheme of things it’s just a down week within a rock-solid up trend, but if you’re a shorter term trader, it’s not something you can just sit through. Individual positions must be managed. Given the warnings issued the last month, this isn’t a time to sit back and let things play out.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Adobe Systems (ADBE +0.52%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at Credit Suisse with a price target of $150.
FirstEnergy (FE -0.67%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.
Micron Technology (MU +1.57%) jumped over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 90 cents, better than consensus of 86 cents, and then said it sees Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.43 to $1.57, well above consensus of 95 cents.
Entergy (ETR +0.14%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Goldman Sachs.
Macy’s (M -0.35%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Citigroup.
Oxford Industries (OXM +1.85%) slumped nearly 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS continuing operations of 63 cents, well below consensus of 93 cents, and said it sees Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.00 to $1.10, below consensus of $1.35.
KB Home (KBH +1.10%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 revenue of $818.6 million, better than consensus of $806.6 million.
GameStop (GME -0.54%) tumbled 11% in after-hours trading after it said it sees full-year EPS of $3.10 to $3.40, weaker than consensus of $3.70.
Mylan NV (MYL -0.24%) slid nearly 4% in after-hours trading after a person familiar with the process said that 44 million shares of Mylan stock were being offered via Morgan Stanley.
Tronc (TRNC -1.72%) lost 1% in after-hours trading after holder Oaktree Tribune said it liquidated its 10.3% stake in the company.
Quotient Ltd (QTNT -1.96%) climbed 5% in after-hours trading after it said the FDA licensed 8 of its blood typing reagent products for sale in the U.S., and said it expects the FDA to license 5 more of its blood typing products later this year.
Ignyta (RXDX +5.33%) rose 3% in after-hours trading after it said it was exploring strategic options for its cancer treatment taladegib and amended a pact with Ely Lilly for its taladegib oncology program.
Sportsmans’ Warehouse Holdings (SPWH +7.94%) sold-off 9% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 net sales of $221.4 million, weaker than consensus of $227.6 million, and said it sees Q1 sales of $150 million to $155 million, below consensus of $163.8 million.
Inventure Foods (SNAK +1.25%) surged 10% in after-hours trading after it sold its Fresh Frozen Foods to Pictsweet for $23.7 million.
Thursday’s Key Earnings
Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) -0.3% as sales declined.
GameStop (NYSE:GME) -11.3% AH after weak guidance.
Micron (NASDAQ:MU) +10.3% AH on strong NAND demand.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:00 Fed’s Evans speech
8:05 Fed’s Bullard speech
8:30 Durable Goods
9:45 PMI Composite Flash
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY