Before the Open (Apr 13)

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the downside. South Korea did well; Singapore, Japan, Australia, India and Indonesia were weak. Europe is currently mostly down. The UK, France, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy and Portugal are weak; Poland, Norway and Denmark are doing well. Futures in the States point towards a moderate gap down open for the cash market.
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The dollar is down. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up.
The market is closed tomorrow, so it’s the last day of the week. If the S&P fails to post a 10.61-point gain, consecutive down weeks will be in place for the first time since the beginning of the year and for only the second time since prior to the election.
Bearish signals are mounting. Besides many weakening indicators, which have been pointing down side, individual groups are starting to lose key moving averages. Financials lost their 50 last month and are now not far from a 4-month low. Semiconductors lost their 50 two days ago. Energy remains below its 50, which it lost in January.
Be careful out there. Don’t be a hero. This is not a time to place big bets – you know this; I’ve said it numerous times the last few weeks.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
JPMorgan Chase (JPM -0.38%) rose over 1% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.57, better than consensus of $1.52.
Abbott Laboratories (ABT -0.23%) lost over 1% in after-hours trading after it received a warning letter from the FDA who said that Abbott failed to provide evidence of corrections over faulty device batteries.
Wells Fargo (WFC -1.92%) dropped almost 1% in after-hours trading after Berkshire Hathaway said it sold 7.13 million shares of Wells Fargo this week and plans to divest an additional 1.87 million shares in the future to keep its stake in the bank below 10% to avoid Federal Reserve regulations.
Ultimate Software (ULTI -0.30%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ rating at Guggenheim with a price target of $230.
Six Flags Entertainment (SIX -0.31%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at SunTrust with a price target of $66.
Energen (EGN -2.05%) was resumed with a ‘Buy’ rating at Stifel with a price target of $80
Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI -3.68%) surged 18% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance for Q1 adjusted EPS to $1.00-$1.02 from a February 23 estimate of 80 cents-88 cents, well above consensus of 83 cents, citing “robust” demand for datacenter products.
Zendesk (ZEN -0.14%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ rating at Guggenheim with a price target of $33.
Hanesbrands (HBI +1.25%) jumped 7% in after-hours trading after it reaffirmed 2017 financial guidance and announced the retirement of CFO Richard Moss at the end of the year.
Entellus Medical (ENTL -0.44%) rose 4% in after-hours trading after it was granted 510k clearance from the FDA for use of its XprESS ENT dilation system in patients with persistent Eustachian tube dysfunction.
Pier 1 Imports (PIR -0.14%) slid over 3% in after-hours trading after it said it sees a Q1 adjusted loss per share of -3 cents to -7 cents, a wider loss than consensus of -2 cents.
Adecoagro (AGRO -0.17%) fell nearly 2% in after-hours trading after a 9.3 million block of shares was offered at $11.40-$11.50 via Morgan Stanley, a person familiar with the process said.
Sorrento Therapeutics (SRNE unch) plunged over 20% in after-hours trading after it announced that it intends to offer shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering, although no size was given.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 Producer Price Index
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 Consumer Sentiment
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY