Before the Open (Aug 17)

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the upside. China, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia did the best. Europe, Africa and the Middle East currently lean to the downside. Hungary and Saudi Arabia are doing well; Poland, Switzerland, Kenya, Norway, Spain and Sweden are down. Futures in the States point to a moderate gap down open for the cash market.
—————
VIDEO: The Decennial Pattern – With a Focus on Years Ending in 7, 8 and 9
—————
The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are down.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Wal-Mart (WMT +0.26%) fell 2% in pre-market trading after it said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of $4.30-$4.40, the midpoint below consensus of $4.39.
Target (TGT +3.61%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at MKM Partners with a price target of $69.
Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd (BABA +1.11%) climbed almost 3% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 revenue of $7.40 billion, better than consensus of $7.19 billion.
Cisco Systems (CSCO +0.78%) slid nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it predicted Q1 net income will be 48 cents-53 cents, the midpoint below consensus of 52 cents.
L Brands (LB +1.28%) dropped almost 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 comparable sale were down -8%, weaker than consensus of -7%, and then said it sees Q3 EPS of 25 cents-30 cents, below consensus of 36 cents.
Aerie Pharmaceuticals (AERI -0.38%) rose 4% in after-hours trading after Valeant Pharmaceuticals, a third-party manufacturer for AERI’s Rhopressa and Roclatan drugs, said the FDA confirmed that “manufacturing uncertainties” related to Valeant’s facility in Tampa, FL, have been resolved. Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX +1.80%) gained 1% in after-hours trading as well.
NetApp (NTAP +1.05%) lost over 1% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q2 adjusted EPS of 64 cents-72 cents, the midpoint below consensus of 69 cents.
Financial Engines (FNGN -0.29%) slid almost 4% in after-hours trading after it announced that selling stockholder, Warburg Pincus LLC, had agreed to sell 4.1 million shares of FNGN’s common stock in a registered underwritten secondary public offering.
Briggs & Stratton (BGG +1.22%) lost over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 46 cents, weaker than consensus of 53 cents, and then said it sees full-year EPS of $1.31-$1.48, below consensus of $1.62.
Vipshop Holdings Ltd (VIPS -0.63%) dropped 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $2.58 billion, less than consensus of $2.59 billion.
Immunomedics (IMMU -3.23%) fell over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q4 loss per share of -48 cents, wider than consensus of -12 cents.
Lakeland Industries (LAKE -1.57%) tumbled 10% 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.
Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR +1.05%) rallied nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it was raised to a new ‘Outperform’ at Evercore ISI with a price target of $21.
TherapeuticsMD (TXMD +2.06%) rose over 2% in after-hours trading after it announced the publication of the manuscript detailing results of the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study of vaginal estrogen use in postmenopausal women.
Thursday’s Key Earnings
Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) -3.2% AH on declining sales, profits.
Target (NYSE:TGT) +3.6% lifting its earnings guidance.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 Philly Fed Business Outlook
9:15 Industrial Production
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 E-Commerce Retail Sales
10:00 Leading Indicators
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
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