Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a nice weekend.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down. China closed up, but Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Indonesia and South Korea suffered decent losses. Europe is down big across-the-board. Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Prague are down more than 2%; Belgium, Switzerland and London are down more than 1%. Russia is down 11% (that’s not a typo). Futures here in the States point towards a big gap down open for the cash market.
The dollar is up. Oil is up 2 bucks, copper is down. Gold and silver are up.
It’s all about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nothing else matters right now. The aggressive action on Russia’s part has sent stocks around the world down. Ukraine is not a NATO member, so there’s no obligation for the US to get involved, but when has the US ever declined an opportunity to get involved in world affairs?
The situation could be long and drawn out. Putin has been dreaming of an opportunity to flex his muscles, so he’s not likely to back down any time soon. Plus the situation is very complex because of Europe’s reliance on oil and gas from Russian. The US doesn’t need Russia, so we can employ all types of diplomacy in an attempt to force Russia’s hand. But Europe needs Russia’s oil, so it’s less likely ruffle Russia’s feathers. It’s complex. There are lots of intertwined parts.
Fun times. The world is never boring. The charts don’t matter now. News from Ukraine will drive prices. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Autodesk (ADSK -3.32%) was downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Neutral’ at Citigroup.
Superior Energy (SPN +2.00%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Guggenheim.
Darden (DRI +2.53%) lowered guidance on Q3 EPS to 82 cents, below consensus of 93 cents, citing severe winter weather that undercut restaurant sales.
Tyco (TYC -0.66%) said it will sell its security business in South Korea to Carlyle Group (CG +0.58%) for $1.93 billion.
Intuit INTU=}) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Citigroup.
U.S. Cellular (USM -3.81%) and Telephone and Data (TDS -2.36%) were both upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at JPMorgan.
Magna (MGA +2.21%) reported Q4 EPS of $2.03, well above consensus of $1.54.
Bloomberg reported that Las Vegas Sands (LVS +0.14%) said customer data was stolen recently in a cyber-attack on systems at its Pennsylvania property.
Raytheon (RTN +0.33%) was awarded $655.41 million government contract for two PATRIOT fire units and associated initial spares for the military of Kuwait.
In a regulatory filing, billionare investor Carl Icahn disclosed the purchase of an additional 33,515 shares of Herbalife (HLF -1.01%) .
VA Partners reported a 6.6% stake in Dresser-Rand (DRC +0.06%) .
Cooper Tire (CTB +0.08%) reported Q3 EPS of 0 cents, well below consensus of 38 cents, as the company said there was unusual items related to the terminated merger agreement with Apollo Tyres.
Moody’s Investors Service raised its outlook on Germany’s Aaa government bond rating to stable from negative.
Michael Weiss reported a 15.0% stake in Coronado (CNDO -3.73%) .
River Road Asset reported a 9.2% stake in Miller Energy (MILL +0.73%) .
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
Auto sales
8:30 Personal Income and Outlays
8:58 PMI Manufacturing Index
10:00 ISM Manufacturing Index
10:00 Construction Spending
11:00 Global Manufacturing PMI
Notable earnings before today’s open: ACW, AKRX, CLDX, DNDN, EVEP, JKS, MGA, MGLN, NUS, PERI, ROC, SSW, SSYS, SWC
Notable earnings after today’s close: AMBC, ASNA, AUQ, BDE, DXPE, GWRE, MBI, MCP, MDR, MR, NUVA, PDLI, SNHY, URS, VIPS
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers
0 thoughts on “Before the Open (Mar 3)”
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Fri morning, they hit target @1860 in the first 15 minutes. Midday they took it up to hit the 1868 tgt. HOD: 1867.92.
Dramatic correction from there (-20 SPX pts in 90 mins), bounced off support @ 1848. News out of Russia spooked the market.
But not as much as it spooked it over the weekend. Last night, the open gapped down huge.
There is support at what equates to SPX 1837 or so. If that holds, expect to move up to 1849 ish, but it’ll be encountering resistance all the way up to Friday’s close 1859.
If 1837 breaks, not much support until 1820s.
They’ll trade this (as they have overnight), but as Jason says, it’s all about Ukraine.
Futures overnight: opened at -10.50, ultimately down to -22.00. Now -16 at 9 am.
Nothing too surprising given the 90 minute phone call Putin/Obama. Retail investors selling, the Traders are buying on my Bloomberg. The Fed put is to be tested? Who knows, but I am holding the indexes PnP and RSK and a few puts as hedges. Up about 5% YTD. Buy grains? I like JJD today. Europe and Japan miserable. My guess is that the Fed is holding its breath. My new mantra : stay humble.
Holding SnP and Russell 2000. Forgot to mention the Personal income fLAT and spending numbers up .3. Consumer savings must be down. Stay humble. The Fed is holding its breath I would guess.
You’re wrong about America’s obligation to Ukraine… in the Clinton Administration, a pact (treaty) was signed that the US would protect Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine giving up nuclear weapons. The US is obligatied to defend Ukraine, though Obama doesn’t keep his word and likely won’t keep our obligations. But the US is committed to defend the Ukraine, even if Ukraine is not in NATO.
Concur, well said. So is the UK obligated. Treaty known as the Budapest Memorandum. Signers: Clinton, John Major (UK), Yeltsin (Russia) and Kuchma (Ukraine).
Thanks…I did not know this.
Take a look at CCJ or the Canadian version of Cameco… CCO.TO. USA imports demobilized weapons uranium from Russia. Obama recommends European countries to sanction Russia by limiting energy imports. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. How about it Obama ? or do we have to wait for a Frosty Friday? Cameco will supply you with your needs in a jiffy.