Before the Open (Oct 5)

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore did well; India, Indonesia and the Philippines posted losses. Europe, Africa and the Middle East are currently mixed and little changed. Spain is up more than 1%; Poland, South Africa and Norway are also doing well. Greece, Hungary and Saudi Arabia are down. Futures in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
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The dollar is up. Oil is flat; copper is up. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Microsoft (MSFT +0.58%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Canaccord Genuity with a price target of $86.
United Parcel Service (UPS -0.59%) and FedEx (FDX -0.75%) are both down over 2% in pre-market trading after Bloomberg News reported that Amazon.com is currently testing its own delivery service.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH +2.28%) jumped 7% in after-hours trading after it was announced that it will replace Level 3 in the S&P 500 before the open of trading on Friday, Oct 13.
Mallinckrodt (MNK -0.61%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Canaccord Genuity.
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD +0.72%) rallied over 5% in after-hours trading after the FDA granted ‘Breakthrough Therapy Designation’ to its Pimavanserin for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with dementia-related psychosis.
Zumiez (ZUMZ -1.56%) climbed almost 5% in after-hours trading after it reported September comparable sales were up +9.3%, better than consensus of +2.9%, and then raised guidance on Q3 net sales to $241 million-$243 million from a prior estimate of $236 million-$241 million.
Monsanto (MON +0.05%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’ at Macquarie.
SeaWorld Entertainment (SEAS +4.60%) rose almost 4% in after-hours trading after Merlin Entertainment is said to have approached SeaWorld on a deal for part of the company.
Matador Resources (MTDR -1.26%) may open lower today after it announced that it had commenced an underwritten public offering of 8.0 million shares of its common stock.
8Point3 Energy Partners LP (CAFD +1.21%) lost almost 2% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q4 revenue of $12 million-$15 million, the midpoint below consensus of $14.6 million.
ImmunoGen (IMGN +2.35%) dropped 8% in after-hours trading after it announced that it intends to offer 12 million shares of common stock in an underwritten public offering.
MobileIron (MOBL -2.60%) jumped over 9% in after-hours trading after holder Altai Capital reported a 7.63% stake in the company as of Oct 2.
Fairmont Santrol Holdings (FMSA -3.85%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after it was re-initiated an ‘Overweight’ rating at Keybanc Capital Markets with a price target of $6.50.
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Wednesday’s Key Earnings
Resources Connection (NASDAQ:RECN) +1% AH on in-line earnings.
Today’s Economic Calendar
Chain Store Sales
7:30 Challenger Job-Cut Report
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 International Trade
9:10 Fed’s Powell speech
9:30 Fed’s Harker Speech
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 Factory Orders
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
4:30 Money Supply
4:30 Fed Balance Sheet
9:00 Fed’s George speech
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY