Before the Open (Aug 30)

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Japan, Hong Kong, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are doing well. Europe, Africa and the Middle East are posting moderate gains. Poland, France, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Sweden and the Czech Republic are doing well. Futures in the States point towards a flat-to-positive open for the cash market.
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VIDEO: There’s a Bull Market Somewhere
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The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
MDC Holdings (MDC -0.13%) was upgraded to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Underperform’ at Wells Fargo Securities.
Ciena (CIEN +0.55%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Citigroup with a price target of $29.
Vornado (VNO -0.39%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Stifel.
Coty (COTY +2.61%) was downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Hold’ at Berenberg with a target price of $15.
Universal Display (OLED -0.13%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Deutsche Bank with a price target of $135.
Reata Pharmaceuticals (RETA -1.52%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Jeffries with a price target of $44.
Arc Logistics Partners (ARCX +14.80%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Stifel.
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings (OLLI -1.25%) fell 2% in after-hours trading despite forecasting full-year adjusted EPS of $1.16 to $1.19, the midpoint above consensus of $1.17.
Aerovironment (AVAV +0.74%) jumped 9% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q1 adjusted loss per share of -19 cents, narrower than expectations of -34 cents.
ScanSource (SCSC +3.59%) dropped 4% in after-hours trading after it forecast Q1 adjusted EPS of 74 cents-80 cents, below consensus of 81 cents.
H&R Block (HRB -1.28%) fell 4% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q1 adjusted loss per share from continuing operations of -62 cents, right on consensus.
Vitamin Shoppe (VSI -4.76%) is indicated to open 4% higher Wednesday after director John Bowlin reported a purchase of 40,000 shares of VSI on Aug 25.
DryShips (DRYS +11.33%) slid over 5% in after-hours trading after it announced a rights offering to buy up to 36.4 million shares of common stock as it seeks to raise up to $100 million.
Tuesday’s Key Earnings
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) -11.9% warning about gross margins.
Today’s Economic Calendar
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:15 ADP Jobs Report
8:30 GDP Q2
8:30 Corporate profits
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
3:00 PM Farm Prices
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY