Before the Open (Jul 19)

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the upside. China, Hong Kong, India, Australia and Singapore did well. Europe, Africa and the Middle East currently lean to the upside, but most markets are quiet. Turkey, South Africa, Switzerland and the Netherlands are doing the best; Finland is down. Futures in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
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The dollar is up. Oil is up slightly; copper is down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are down.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Morgan Stanley (MS -0.42%) is up over 2% in pre-market trading after it reported Q2 net revenue of $9.5 billion, above consensus of $9.13 billion.
Lululemon (LULU -0.60%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ recommendation by Needham & Co. with a 12-month target price of $67.
The Financial Times reported that McCormick (MKC -0.14%) will buy the Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc’s food business for $4 billion.
International Business Machines (IBM +0.65%) lost over 2% in pre-market trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $19.29 billion, below consensus of $19.47 billion.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX +2.28%) surged over 20% in after-hours trading after it said that Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies show its VX-152 and VX-440 drugs, in combination with tezacaftor/Kalydeco, showed mean absolute improvements in lung functions of cystic fibrosis patients.
United Continental Holdings (UAL -1.10%) slipped nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it said it sees passenger revenue for each seat mile flown (PRASM) as up or down 1% this quarter, weaker than a recent forecast by Delta Airlines for an increase of at least 2.5%. Other airlines fell on the news with American Airlines Group (AAL -1.34%) , Southwest Airlines (LUV -0.92%) , and JetBlue Airways (JBU) all down at least 1% in after-hours trading.
Wintrust Financial (WTFC -0.01%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of $1.11, well above consensus of 99 cents.
CSX Corp. (CSX +0.04%) lost almost 4% in after-hours trading after the company kept its full-year EPS view in place even after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 64 cents, better than consensus of 59 cents.
Exponent (EXPO +0.43%) jumped nearly 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 51 cents, well above consensus of 41 cents.
Hortonworks (HDP -0.70%) tumbled over 7% in after-hours trading after CFO Scott Davidson was said to assume the COO role immediately as COO Rajnish Verma steps down upon mutual agreement with the company “in light of the changes to its leadership structure.”
Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF +0.11%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after holder SLS Management sends a letter to the ANF board recommending steps to maximize shareholder value including a $200 million stock buyback via a Dutch tender offer and or cutting the annual dividend to 18 cents per share from 80 cents.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO +0.77%) dropped nearly 8% in after-hours trading after it announced that it intends to offer $75 million of its common stock in an underwritten public offering.
Tuesday’s Key Earnings
BofA (NYSE:BAC) -0.5% posting a drop in net interest income.
CSX (NYSE:CSX) -1.9% AH following disappointing guidance.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) -2.6% stung by its trading division.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) -2.7% AH with revenue down for another quarter.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) +1.8% raising its profit forecast.
Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) -0.6% on strong F-35 sales.
United Continental (NYSE:UAL) -3.6% AH issuing flat guidance.
UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) +0.3% beating earnings estimates.
Today’s Economic Calendar
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:30 Housing Starts
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY