Before the Open (Dec 15)

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Options Expiration Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed and with a lean to the downside. South Korea, India and New Zealand did well; Japan, China, Hong Kong and the Philippines were weak. Europe, Africa and the Middle East are currently mostly down. The UAE, Denmark, South Africa, Russia, Norway, Italy, Austria and Sweden are down. Futures in the States point towards a moderate gap up open for the cash market.
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The dollar is up slightly. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Adobe Systems (ADBE -1.03%) gained nearly 3% in pre-market trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $2.01 billion, better than consensus of $1.95 billion, and then raised guidance on full-year revenue to $8.73 billion from a prior view of $8.70 billion, above consensus of $8.71 billion.
Centene (CNC -2.14%) rose over 3% in after-hours trading after it said it sees 2018 total revenue of $60.0 to $60.8 billion, well above consensus of $52 billion.
Oracle (ORCL +0.28%) dropped 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 cloud revenue of $1.52 billion, below consensus of $1.56 billion.
Jabil (JBL -3.79%) gained 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 core EOS of 80 cents, better than consensus of 78 cents, and then said it sees full-year core EPS of $2.60, higher than consensus of $2.57.
Hess Corp (HES -3.24%) rallied 6% in after-hours trading after the WSJ reported that Elliot Management is hoping to remove John Hess as CEO or push him to consider selling all or part of the company due to the company’s continued underperformance.
T-Mobile (TMUS -1.99%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at Macquarie.
Discovery Communications (DISCA +1.26%) climbed nearly 5% in after-hours trading after director John Malone disclosed his purchase pf 332,523 shares of DISCA at a weighted average price of $19.715 on December 13.
Global Blood Therapeutic (GBT +2.74%) slid nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it announced that it intends to offer $100 million in shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering.
FormFactor (FORM -0.33%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after it was upgraded to ‘Strong Buy’ from ‘Buy’ at Needham & Co with a price target of $22.
Retail Properties of America (RPAI -0.53%) gained 1% in after-hours trading after it said it will buy back up $250 million of Class A shares.
DDR Corp. (DDR -1.36%) jumped 10% in after-hours trading after it said it will spin off a portfolio of 50 assets into a publicly traded REIT.
Verastem (VSTM -3.95%) dropped 8% in after-hours trading after it announced that it intends to offer $25 million of its common stock in an underwritten public offering.
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Thursday’s Key Earnings
Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) +0.9% AH on digital media strength.
Costco (NASDAQ:COST) +2.3% AH with strong sales growth.
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) -6.3% AH issuing weak cloud guidance.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Empire State Mfg Survey
9:15 Industrial Production
10:00 Atlanta Fed’s Business Inflation Expectations
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
4:00 PM Treasury International Capital
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY