Before the Open (Jan 17)

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. Hong Kong, Indonesia and New Zealand did well; South Korea and Australia were weak. Europe, Africa and the Middle East are currently mixed. Turkey, the UAE, South Africa and Finland are up; Greece, Norway and Spain are down. Futures in the States point towards a relatively big gap up 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 and copper are down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are mixed and flat.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS -3.00%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Buckingham Research Group with a price target of $40.
Boyd Gaming (BYD -0.88%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Argus Research with a 12-month target price of $44.
International Business Machines (IBM +0.44%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Underweight’ at Barclays with a price target of $192.
L3 Technologies (LLL -0.99%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch with a 12-month target price of $240.
Renasant (RNST +0.34%) lost 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 33 cents, well below consensus of 63 cents.
Juno Therapeutics (JUNO -6.46%) surged over 40% in after-hours trading after the WSJ reported Celgene was in talks to buy the company.
Nutanix (NTNX -4.84%) fell 3% in after-hours trading after it announced it will offer $400 million in convertible senior notes due 2023.
Verso (VRS +0.35%) rallied 10% in after-hours trading after it said it expanded its strategic evaluation to include other alternatives, including a merger or sale.
Boot Barn Holdings (BOOT -0.78%) fell 4% in after-hours trading after it announced the launch of a public offering of 5.5 million shares of its common stock held by certain holders.
Intrexon (XON -6.39%) dropped 7% in after-hours trading after it announced an underwritten public offering of shares of its common stock, although no size was given.
Newater Technology (NEWA +21.54%) jumped over 15% in after-hours trading after it said it will form a limited partnership with NW Blockchain to develop blockchain applications.
A10 Networks (ATEN -3.56%) slumped 23% in after-hours trading after it reported preliminary Q4 revenue was $55.5 million to $56.0 million, well below estimates of $65.1 million, as the company cited weaker-than-expected North American demand trends.
Aerohive Networks (HIVE -3.23%) tumbled 16% in after-hours trading after it reported preliminary Q4 net revenue of $37 million, weaker than a prior estimate of $40 million to $42 million, and below consensus of $40.5 million.
Cloud Peak Energy (CLD -4.32%) climbed 6% in after-hours trading after it signed a long-term contract to supply coal to a Japanese IGCC power plant beginning at the end of 2019 and continuing for a period of 30 to 40 months.
Tuesday’s Key Earnings
Citigroup (NYSE:C) +0.4% after topping estimates.
CSX (NYSE:CSX) -1% AH on turnaround plan disruptions.
Today’s Economic Calendar
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
9:15 Industrial Production
10:00 NAHB Housing Market Index
2:00 PM Fed’s Beige Book
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