Before the Open (Dec 19)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the upside. China, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and Thailand did well while Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines posted losses. Europe, Africa and the Middle East currently lean to the upside. Turkey, South Africa, Norway, Austria, Romania and the Czech Republic are up while the UAE, Greece, Russia and Kenya are down. Futures in the States point towards a mixed open for the cash market.
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VIDEO: There’s a Bull Market Somewhere
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The dollar is down. Oil is up; copper is down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are down.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Darden Restaurants (DRI +2.41%) may move higher this morning after it reported Q2 comparable sales rose +3.1%, better than consensus of +1.3%, and then said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of $4.45 to $4.53, higher than consensus of $4.44.
Cimarex (XEC +1.18%) was initiated with a recommendation of ‘Outperform’ at Baird with a 12-month target price of $137.
Macerich (MAC +0.31%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Wells Fargo Securities with a price target of $72.50.
Aerie Pharmaceuticals (AERI -1.19%) lost 2% in after-hours trading after it said it will launch the use of its Rhopressa for treatment of elevated intraocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension by mid-Q2, later than an earlier projection of late-Feb.
Michael Kors (KORS +2.50%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ recommendation at Needham & Co with a 12-month target price of $69.
Mindbody (MB +1.09%) fell over 1% in after-hours trading after 8 holders of the stock were offering 1.76 million of the shares via Morgan Stanley.
Agree Realty (ADC +1.93%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Wells Fargo Securities with a price target of $56.
Sucampo Pharmaceuticals (SCMP -1.47%) jumped nearly 6% in after-hours trading after Nomura Instinet initiated a ‘Buy’ recommendation of Sucampo with a 12-month target price of $43.
National Storage Affiliates Trust (NSA +2.48%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Wells Fargo Securities with a price target of $30.
Akebia Therapeutics (AKBA +1.33%) was initiated with a recommendation of ‘Overweight’ at Piper Jaffray with a 12-month target price of $26.
City Office REIT (CIO +0.31%) lost almost 4% in after-hours trading after it announced it had commenced an underwritten public offering of 4 million shares of its common stock.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS unch) gained nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it received a contract from a U.S. government agency related to unmanned drone systems with a $27 million ceiling.
McDermott International (MDR +2.15%) lost slid more than 1% in after-hours trading after it said it will merge with Chicago Bridge & Iron where shareholders of McDermott will control 53% of the resulting company and the rest going to Chicago Bridge & Iron investors.
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VIDEO: The Decennial Pattern – With a Focus on Years Ending in 7, 8 and 9
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Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Housing Starts
8:30 Current Account
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY