Before the Open (Mar 20)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. South Korea and Singapore did well; Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the Philippines posted losses. Europe, Africa and the Middle East currently lean to the upside. The UK, Poland, Turkey, Finland, Kenya, Hungary and Italy are up the most. Futures in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
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VIDEO: State of the Market
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The dollar is up. Bitcoin is down. Oil is up; copper is down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are down.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Oracle (ORCL -0.61%) sank 8% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 total cloud revenue of $1.57 billion, below consensus of $1.59 billion.
Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG +2.02%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.
Adobe Systems (ADBE -1.49%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at DZ Bank AG with a price target of $252.
Timken (TKR -0.11%) rose 6% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance in 2018 adjusted earnings per share to $3.50 to $3.60 from a Feb 7 outlook of $3.20 to $3.30.
Group 1 Automotive (GPI +0.18%) slumped nearly 10% in after-hours trading after it said its Q1 earnings may be hurt by weak market conditions, including pressure on used car margins.
HealthEquity (HQY -2.51%) gained 3% in after-hours trading after it forecast full-year Ebitda of $106 million to $111 million, better than consensus of $104.7 million.
Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA -1.97%) surged over 50% in after-hours trading after it reported positive results from a Phase 2 study of its Etrasimod in patients with Ulcerative Colitis.
Glycomimetics (GLYC -5.73%) fell almost 5% in after-hours trading after it said it will offer 4.5 million shares of its common stock via Jeffries and Cowen.
Blackberry Ltd (BB -1.78%) rose nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it said it was collaborating with Microsoft in a strategic partnership on Blackberry Enterprise Bridge, which will provide a secure way for joint customers to use Microsoft apps within Blackberry dynamics.
The corporate credit rating of Rent-A-Center (RCII -3.09%) was downgraded by S&P to CCC+ from B- with a negative outlook citing “heightened execution risk that could lead, longer-term, to an eventual restructuring.”
Proteostasis Therapeutics (PTI -4.12%) dropped over 7% in after-hours trading after it said it will offer 9 million shares of its common stock via Leerink Partners and RBC Capital Markets.
Endologix (ELGX -1.89%) jumped 8% in after-hours trading after it reported positive results from its ENCORE analysis with polymer Endovascular Aneurysm repair using its Ovation Abdominal Stent Graft Systems.
Marinus Pharmaceuticals (MRNS -5.32%) climbed almost 4% in after-hours trading after Mizuho Securities rated the stock as a ‘Buy’ with a price target of $13.
Monday’s Key Earnings
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) -7.6% AH underwhelming with cloud revenue.
Today’s Economic Calendar
FOMC meeting begins
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