Before the Open (Sep 15)

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Options Expiration Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. Japan, South Korea and the Philippines did well; China, New Zealand and Australia were weak. Europe, Africa and the Middle East currently lean to the downside. The UK, Greece and Denmark are down more than 1%; Switzerland and Norway are also weak. Hungary and the Czech Republic are up. Futures in the States point towards a slight down open for the cash market.
—————
WEBINAR (Tues, Sep 19): The Real Keys to Surviving and Making Solid Profits in the Market
—————
The dollar is down. Oil is up; copper is flat. Gold and silver are down small amounts. Bonds are up slightly.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL +0.47%) slid 3% in pre-market trading after it was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’ at Credit Suisse.
Morgan Stanley (MS +0.43%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at HSBC with a price target of $53.
Southwest Airlines (LUV -0.57%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at JP Morgan Chase with a price target of $66
Celgene (CELG -0.46%) was initiated a ‘Top Pick’ at RBC Capital Markets with a 12-month target price of $176.
Caesars Entertainment (CZR +1.28%) rose almost 2% in after-hours trading after it was initiated as a ‘Buy’ at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey with an 18-month target price of $14.
Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT -3.68%) gained almost 1% in after-hours trading after it was rated a new ‘Outperform’ at RBC Capital Markets with a price target of $244.
Oracle (ORCL -0.02%) slid nearly 5% in after-hours trading after it gave guidance for Q2 EPS of 64 cents-68 cents, the midpoint below consensus of 68 cents.
Amicus Therapeutics (FOLD -0.74%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after Health Canada approved the company’s Galafold for long-term treatment of adults with Fabry disease.
Emirati Therapeutics (MRTX -1.04%) soared over 50% in after-hours trading after it said the combination of intravaginal and volume in patients with non-small cell lung cancer demonstrated 3 confirmed partial responses in the first 11 evaluable patients.
T2 Biosystems (TTOO -10.32%) plunged 19% in after-hours trading after it announced that it is commencing an underwritten public offering of 2.5 million shares of its common stock.
Clara (OCLR -2.01%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after it was initiated as a ‘Strong Buy’ at Raymond James with a price target of $12.
Marinus Pharmaceuticals (MRNS +2.56%) lost over 2% in after-hours trading after it announced that it intends to offer $30 million of its common stock in an underwritten public offering.
Genworth Financial (GNW -0.75%) climbed over 5% in after-hours trading after the Virginia Bureau of Insurance approved the proposed acquisition by China Oceanwide Holdings of Genworth’s Virginia based insurance companies.
Flightpath Technologies (LPTH -6.59%) jumped 14% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $9.0 million, better than consensus of $8.8 million.
Thursday’s Key Earnings
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) -3.5% AH forecasting slower cloud growth.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Retail Sales
8:30 Empire State Mfg Survey
9:15 Industrial Production
10:00 Business Inventories
10:00 Consumer Sentiment
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY