Before the Open (Aug 3)

Greetings from Atlanta, where I spent the night because the airport decided not to have any of their immigration officers on the schedule. There were easily 1000 passengers here needing to get through immigration and very few airport employees. The picture below is not photo-shopped. What a freaking nightmare! I’m guessing hundreds of people missed their connecting flights.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the upside. South Korea, India, the Philippines and Taiwan did well; China and Singapore were weak. Europe, Africa and the Middle East are mostly up. The UK, Turkey, Germany, Greece, South Africa, Hungary, Italy, Austria and Sweden led the way. Prior to the release of the latest employment figures, futures in the States pointed towards a slight up open for the cash market.
The dollar is down. Oil is down; copper is up. Gold and silver are flat. Bonds are up.
Here are the employment figures.
unemployment rate: 3.9% (was 4.0% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: +157K
private payrolls:
average workweek: drops 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours
hourly wages: up 7 cents to $27.05
labor participation rate:
June job gain raised from 213K to 248K.
May job gain raised from 244K to 268K.
Here’s a shot of the immigration desks at the Atlanta airport. With 1000 passengers in the room, this is how they were staffed. Needless to say, I have another travel day ahead of me and will miss part of today’s market.

Overnight Stock Movers from barchart.com…
Motorola Solutions (MSI +0.51%) was downgraded to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at JPMorgan Chase.
Allergan (AGN +0.16%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Mizuho Securities with a price taarget of $210.
Medifast (MED +3.27%) surged 18% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $1.16, stronger than consensus of 98 cents, and then raised its full-year earnings outlook per diluted share to $4.35-$4.45 from a prior estimate of $3.55-$3.65.
Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO +0.89%) jumped 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted revenue of $288.3 million, well above consensus of $258.7 million.
Stericycle (SRCL +0.50%) slumped 15% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $883.3 million, below consensus of $897.3 million, and then forecast full-year revenue of $3.45 billion to $3.54 billion, weaker than consensus of $3.57 billion.
Cerner (CERN +1.70%) gained more than 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $1.37 billion, above consensus of $1.33 billion, and then forecast full-year revenue of $5.33 billion to $5.45 billion, the midpoint above consensus of $5.38 billion.
Fluor (FLR +1.19%) rose 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $4.88 billion, higher than consensus of $4.58 million.
American International Group (AIG +0.31%) fell nearly 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $1.05, weaker than consensus of $1.21.
Shake Shack (SHAK +2.78%) dropped more than 5% in after-hours trading after it forecast full-year revenue of $446 million to $450 million, below consensus of $452.1 million.
Wingstop (WING +2.49%) climbed more than 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $37.0 million, better than consensus of $36.9 million.
Acacia Communications (ACIA +3.86%) jumped 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $65 million, higher than consensus of $63.4 million, and forecast Q3 revenue of $86 million to $94 million, well above consensus of $73.7 million.
Tesaro (TSO +1.70%) tumbled 10% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q2 loss per share of -$3.04, wider than consensus of -$2.61.
Symantec (SYMC +2.20%) dropped more than 9% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q2 adjusted EPS of 31 cents to 35 cents, weaker than consensus of 38 cents, and then forecast full-year adjusted EPS of $1.47 to $1.57, the midpoint below consensus of $1.56.
Cardtronics PLC (CATM -3.07%) rallied 16% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $341 million, well above consensus of $324 million.
Immersion (IMMR +2.52%) dropped nearly 9% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q2 adjusted loss per share of -18 cents, wider than expectations of -9 cents.
El Pollo Loco Holdings (LOCO +0.44%) slid almost 5% in after-hours trading after it forecast full-year proforma EPS of 68 cents to 70 cents, the midpoint below consensus of 70 cents.
Thursday’s Key Earnings
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) -0.4% AH on soft guidance.
Aetna (NYSE:AET) +0.1% beating expectations.
AIG (NYSE:AIG) -4.9% AH slumping after a Q2 miss.
CBS (NYSE:CBS) -1.2% AH with Moonves silent on allegations.
DowDuPont (NYSE:DWDP) -2.2% warning of higher costs.
Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) -0.7% on rising expenses.
EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) -1% AH despite an easy Q2 beat.
GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) -6.3% AH despite upside guidance.
GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) +3.7% AH on renewed camera demand.
MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) +1.6% posting light EBITDA.
Regeneron Pharma (NASDAQ:REGN) +7% amid strong drug sales.
Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) -4.8% AH keeping FY forecast unchanged.
Teva Pharma (NYSE:TEVA) -9.5% on turnaround speculation.
Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) +1.5% improving operating margins.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Non-farm payrolls
8:30 International Trade
9:45 PMI Services Index
10:00 ISM Non-Manufacturing Index
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