Before the Open (May 8)

Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a good weekend.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Japan jumped more than 2%; the Philippines gained more than 1%; Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia also did well. China was weak. Europe is currently mostly down. Poland, France, Finland, Hungary, Spain and Sweden are weak. Turkey is doing well. Futures in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
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VIDEO: The Trend is Your Friend
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The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up.
The market traded very quietly last week until the last two hours when it moved up and closed at its high. On a closing basis the S&P finished at a new all-time high.
The indicators are in good shape. Several are acting exactly as they normally while the market is healthy.
The long term trend is solidly up. The shorter term, which has been range-bound for several months, is trying to turn up.
Long is the only side of the market to be on. Very short term traders can go both ways, but otherwise there’s no reason to be anything but long. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Micron (MU +1.48%) is down 3% in pre-market trading after it was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Goldman Sachs.
Tyson Foods (TSN +0.57%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $1.10, slightly below consensus of $1.02.
Varian Medical Systems (VAR +0.60%) is up over 2% in pre-market trading after it was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Citigroup with a price target of $119.
Fluor (FLR -4.78%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Canaccord Genuity with a price target of $55.
Louisiana-Pacific (LPX -3.61%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at DA Davidson & Co.
United Rentals (URI +1.49%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘In-Line’ at Evercore ISI.
NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI -0.19%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Nomura/Instinet.
LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB +3.37%) was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Buy’ at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Temper Sealy International (TPX +2.31%) was upgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Sell’ at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Berkshire Hathaway ({=BRK/B=}) fell slightly in after-hours trading after its Q1 operating EPS was a little below consensus due to disappointing insurance results.
Delta (DAL +0.12%) is reportedly considering a delay in a $3 billion Airbus order.
Williams Cos (WMB +2.44%) was raised to “Outperform” from “Market Perform” by Wells Fargo.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:35 Fed’s Bullard speech
8:45 Fed’s Mester: Monetary Policy and Economic Outlook
10:00 Labor market condition index
12:30 PM TD Ameritrade IMX
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY