Before the Open (Feb 21)

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Hong Kong and Taiwan rallied more than 2%; South Korea, New Zealand and Singapore did better than 1%. The Philippines were weak. Europe, Africa and the Middle East currently lean to the downside. Turkey is up more than 2%, and Russia and South Africa are also doing well. Poland, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy and Israel are weak. Futures in the States point towards a flat open for the cash market.
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Podcast: with Chat With Traders
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The dollar is up. Bitcoin is down. Oil is down; copper is down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN -2.74%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Canaccord Genuity.
Mosaic (MOS +5.23%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at JPMorgan Chase.
Verisk Analytics (VRSK -1.77%) rose 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted Ebitda from continuing operations of $275.7 million, above consensus of $272.0 million.
Texas Roadhouse (TXRH -1.85%) slid almost 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $545.1 million, right on consensus.
Fluor (FLR +0.71%) may move higher this morning when it reported after the close Tuesday that it sees full-year EPS of $3.10 to $3.50, well above consensus of $2.76.
Boyd Gaming (BYD +0.70%) dropped almost 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 22 cents, weaker than consensus of 27 cents.
Aimmune Therapeutics (AIMT -6.02%) fell over 2% in after-hours trading after it announced that it had commenced an underwritten public offering of up to $150 million of shares of its common stock.
La-Z-Boy (LZB -0.69%) may move higher this morning when it reported after the close Tuesday that its Q3 sales were $413.6 million, better than consensus of $401.3 million.
Cardtronics PLC (CATM -2.33%) tumbled 10% in after-hours trading after it said it sees 2018 adjusted EPS between $1.35 to $1.55, well below consensus of $2.07.
Halozyme Therapeutics (HALO -0.32%) gained nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 85 cents, better than consensus of 75 cents.
LivePerson (LPSN +5.22%) rallied over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $57.4 million, better than consensus of $56.5 million, and said it sees Q1 revenue of $56.8 million to $57.8 million, above consensus of $55.5 million.
Cyberoptics (CYBE +5.61%) climbed 5% in after-hours trading after it reported an unexpected Q4 EPS profit of 7 cents, higher than consensus of a -4 cent loss.
LendingClub (LC +4.56%) dropped nearly 9% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q1 net revenue of $145 million to $155 million, weaker than consensus of $161 million.
Tuesday’s Key Earnings
Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) -1.3% with forecasts dented by tax reform.
Home Depot (NYSE:HD) flat despite shining comparable sales.
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) -2.1% after profit margins declined.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) -10.2% on slowing e-commerce growth.
Today’s Economic Calendar
1:00 PM Results of $28B, 2-Year Note Auction
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY