Before the Open (Apr 20)

Good morning. Happy Friday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan dropped more than 1%; New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore were also weak. Europe, Africa and the Middle East currently lean to the downside. Sweden and Saudi Arabia are up. Greece and Hungary are down more than 1%; Turkey, Russia and the Czech Republic are also weak. Futures in the States point towards a flat-to-down open for the cash market.
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VIDEO: State of the Market
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The dollar is up. Oil is down; copper is up. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are flat.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
General Elecrtic (GE +2.42%) rose 3% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 16 cents, better than consensus of 12 cents.
Wells Fargo (WFC +2.28%) may open lower this morning after the Washington Post reported late Thursday afternoon that federal regulators are preparing to fine the bank $1 billion for auto insurance and mortgage lending abuses.
Pinnacle Foods (PF -2.63%) climbed almost 7% in after-hours trading after Jana Partners reported a 9.5% stake in the company and urged it to explore alternatives, including a sale of the company.
Herc Holdings (HRI -1.94%) was downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Neutral’ at Goldman Sachs with a price target of $66.
Signature Bank (SBNY -3.10%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Wells Fargo Securities with a price target of $160.
Atlassian Corp PLC (TEAM +0.32%) tumbled over 10% in after-hours trading after it forecast Q4 non-IFRS EPS of 12 cents, below consensus of 14 cents.
Werner Enterprises (WERN -1.05%) climbed nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 operating revenue of $562.7 million, higher than consensus of $554.3 million.
Skechers (SKX -0.31%) plunged 16% in after-hours trading after it forecast Q2 net sales of $1.12 billion to $1.15 billion, weaker than consensus of $1.16 billion.
Clearwater Paper (CLW +0.25%) slid nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 31 cents, well below consensus of 65 cents.
Marten Transport Ltd (MRTN -2.10%) fell over 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 operating revenue of $187 million, below consensus of $188.5 million.
Seaspan (SSN +2.00%) rose almost 5% in after-hours trading after it was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Deutsche Bank with a price target of $13.
Limelight Networks (LLNW -3.30%) rallied almost 9% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 6 cents, well above consensus of 2 cents, and then raised guidance on full-year adjusted EPS to 13 cents to 17 cents from a prior view of 11 cents to 15 cents, above consensus of 12 cents.
Turtle Beach (HEAR -2.32%) jumped over 10% in after-hours trading after it announced a new partnership with Knicks Gaming as the organization’s official gaming peripherals partner for the 2018 NBA 2K League season.
Thursday’s Key Earnings
Blackstone (NYSE:BX) +1.1% boosting its buyback.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS) -3.3% weighed down by Cosentyx jitters.
Philip Morris (NYSE:PM) -15.6% amid a cigarette slump.
Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM) -5.7% trimming its revenue outlook.
Today’s Economic Calendar
9:40 Fed’s Evans: Monetary Policy
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY