Before the Open (Dec 21)

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed and perhaps with a slight lean to the downside. China, Hong Kong and Indonesia moved up; South Korea and Singapore moved down. Europe, Africa and the Middle East leaned to the upside. The UK, Turkey, South Africa, Switzerland, Norway and Austria moved up; Russia moved down. Futures in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
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VIDEO: The 25-Year Tech Cycle
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The dollar is up. Bitcoin is down. Oil is down; copper is up. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
JPMorgan Chase (JPM -0.35%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Buckingham Research Group with a price target of $135.
Darden Restaurants (DRI -1.05%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Argus Research.
RBC Bearings (ROLL +2.41%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Drexel Hamilton LLC with a 12-month target price of $140.
PG&E (PCG -1.79%) tumbled 9% in after-hours trading after it said it will suspend its dividend payment on common stock starting in the current quarter due to uncertainty related to liabilities from wildfires in California.
Varex Imaging (VREX +4.86%) was upgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Underweight’ at JPMorgan Chase
Aimmune (AIMT +2.14%) was rated a new ‘Outperform’ at Baird with a 12-month target price of $64.
Veritone (VERI -1.93%) jumped 8% in after-hours trading after acquired Data Analytics Software and the IP assets of Atigeo. Veritone said it will incorporate some of Atigeo’s technology into Veritone aiWARE.
Mustang Bio (BIO -0.76%) was rated a new ‘Outperform’ at Oppenheimer with an 18-month target price of $18.
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY +2.50%) slid 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 gross margin of 35.2%, below consensus of 35.8%.
Vocera Communications (VCRA +0.90%) was rated a new ‘Outperform’ at Baird with a 12-month target price of $35.
Etsy (ETSY +2.02%) gained 1% in after-hours trading after it was rated a new ‘Overweight’ at KeyBanc Capital Markets with a 12-month target price of $26.
Kura Oncology (KURA +1.42%) was rated a new ‘Outperform’ at Wedbush with a 12-month target price of $19.
Advaxis (ADXS +12.21%) dropped 3% in after-hours trading after it reported a fiscal 201 net loss of -$93.4 million versus a loss of -$73.6 million in 2016.
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Wednesday’s Key Earnings
Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) +3.8% AH topping estimates.
General Mills (NYSE:GIS) +2% with steady sales growth.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 GDP Q3
8:30 Philly Fed Business Outlook
8:30 Chicago Fed National Activity Index
8:30 Corporate profits
9:00 FHFA House Price Index
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 Leading Indicators
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY