Before the Open (Feb 27)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets are split. Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines are doing well; China and Hong Kong are down. Europe, Africa and the Middle East currently lean to the downside. Greece, Denmark, Finland and Hungary are down the most. Most markets are close to unchanged. Futures in the States point towards a moderate gap down open for the cash market.
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ESSAY: Three Steps to Epiphany
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The dollar is up. Bitcoin is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are down.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Ingevity (NGVT -0.14%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Loop Capital Markets.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW +2.28%) rose nearly 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 97 cents, higher than consensus of 79 cents, and then said it sees Q3 adjusted EPS of 94 cents to 96 cents, better than consensus of 81 cents.
Qorvo (QRVO +1.68%) was rated a new ‘Overweight’ at Piper Jaffray with a price target of $90.
Pegasystems (PEGA +6.57%) jumped nearly 9% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 27 cents, better than consensus of 14 cents, and then said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of $1.20, well above consensus of 78 cents.
Nutrisystem (NTRI -3.97%) tumbled over 25% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q1 revenue of $204 million to $209 million, weaker than consensus of $240.2 million, and said it sees full-year revenue of $685 million to $705 million, well below consensus of $791.7 million.
Discovery Communications (DSCA) rose 3% in after-hours trading after Francisco Partners acquired majority ownership of Discovery Education from Discovery Communications for $120 million.
Akorn (AKRX +0.53%) plunged over 30% in after-hours trading after Fresnius said it’s conducting an independent investigation into “alleged breaches of FDA data integrity requirements” relating to product development.
Lantheus Holdings (LNTH +1.01%) slumped 11% in after-hours trading after it gave 2018 revenue guidance of $337 million to $342 million, below consensus of $343.3 million.
Tenet Healthcare (THC -1.09%) jumped nearly 7% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance on 2018 adjusted Ebitda to $2.5 billion-$2.6 billion from a Jan 5 estimate of $2.48 billion to $2.58 billion.
NMI Holdings ({=NMIH lost over 2% in after-hours trading after it announced that it had commenced an underwritten registered public offering of 3.7 million shares of common stock.
Veritone (VERI +17.62%) slumped 13% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q4 adjusted loss per share of -84 cents, much wider than consensus of -46 cents.
Selecta Biosciences (SELB +1.23%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after it was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Mizuho Securities USA with a price target of $30.
Fitbit (FIT +4.92%) dropped over 10% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q1 adjusted loss of -18 cents to -21 cents a share, wider than consensus of -9 cents a share.
Monday’s Key Earnings
Fitbit (NYSE:FIT) -13% AH on Q4 loss, downbeat guidance.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Powell to release semiannual monetary policy statement
8:30 Durable Goods
8:30 International trade in goods
8:30 Retail Inventories (Advance)
8:30 Wholesale Inventories (Advance)
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
9:00 S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index
9:00 FHFA House Price Index
10:00 Consumer Confidence
10:00 Richmond Fed Mfg.
10:00 State Street Investor Confidence Index
10:00 Powell to testify before the House of Representatives’ Committee
3:00 PM Farm Prices
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY