Before the Open (Aug 23)

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. China, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines are all up. Europe, Africa and the Middle East are currently mixed and little changed. Poland, Turkey, Greece and Israel are up; Russia and Portugal are down. Futures in the States point towards a flat open for the cash market.
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VIDEO: To Confirm a Rally Attempt…
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The dollar is up. Oil is flat; copper is up. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up.
Overnight Stock Movers from barchart.com…
Aetna (AET -0.29%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Darden Restaurants (DRI -0.21%) reported that a cyberattack incident involving its restaurants in 23 states may have exposed 567,000 payment card numbers.
Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX +1.91%) was rated a new ‘Overweight’ at Cantor Fitzgerald with a price target of $150.
Reata Pharmaceuticals (RETA +4.39%) was rated a new ‘Overweight’ at Cantor Fitzgerald with a price target of $90.
Synopsys (SNPS +0.80%) rose more than 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 95 cents, better than consensus of 92 cents, and then forecast full-year adjusted EPS of $3.89 to $3.93, stronger than consensus of $3.81.
Target (TGT +3.21%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Telsey Advisory Group with a price target of $100.
Nordstrom (JWN -1.27%) gained 3% in after-hours trading after its board authorized a $1.5 billion share buyback program.
Zayo Group Holdings (ZAYO -1.06%) climbed nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 18 cents, double expectations of 9 cents.
Williams-Sonoma (WSM +3.90%) jumped 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 77 cents, better than consensus of 68 cents.
L Brands (LB -0.06%) slid more than 4% in after-hours trading after it forecast Q3 EPS of 0 to 5 cents, well below consensus of 16 cents.
Halozyme Therapeutics (HALO +2.50%) was rated a new ‘Overweight’ at Cantor Fitzgerald with a price target of $27.
Stein Mart (SMRT +1.33%) dropped 6% in after-hours trading after it forecast a Q3 operating loss of -$10 million.
Wednesday’s Key Earnings
Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) +5.8% announcing a turnaround plan.
Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) +1.9% beating expectations.
Target (NYSE:TGT) +3.2% amid soaring comparable sales.
Today’s Economic Calendar
Jackson Hole Annual Economic Symposium
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
9:00 FHFA House Price Index
9:45 PMI Composite Flash
10:00 New Home Sales
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
11:00 Kansas City Fed Mfg Survey
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY