Before the Open (Sep 17)

Good morning. Happy Thursday. Happy Fed Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. China dropped 2.1%. Japan, Singapore, Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan rallied 0.9% or more. Europe is currently mixed and little moved from its unchanged levels. Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Norway are doing the best. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
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The dollar is down. Oil is down, copper is down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up.
Today has finally arrived. Two months ago it was almost a foregone conclusion the Fed would raise rates today, but with the market plunging last month, odds now favor them staying pat and waiting.
I wish they would raise a little. Sure the market may take a hit in the near term, but the world could stop obsessing over it and focus on things that are more important. I did a podcast with AIREX Market about the Fed and rates. You can listen to it here.
Here’s an update of the 10-min SPX chart I’ve been posting. The index is near the high of its 4-week range. Another trendline to identify a potential upside target in the high 2030’s has been drawn.

News trumps the charts, so anything goes later today and tomorrow. Don’t put yourself in a position where you can lose a lot of money for unknown reasons. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Oracle (ORCL +0.74%) slid over 1% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 53 cents, better than consensus of 52 cents, although Q1 revenue of $8.45 billion was below consensus of $8.53 billion.
Raytheon (RTN +0.04%) was upgraded to ‘Top Pick’ from ‘Outperform’ at RBC Capital.
Hasbro (HAS +1.48%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Goldman Sachs.
NVIDIA (NVDA +0.70%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Jefferies with a $30 price target.
Stanley Black & Decker (SWK +0.44%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at UBS with a price target of $120.
Hanesbrands (HBI +1.17%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.
Cablevision (CVC unch) jumped over 16% in pre-market trading after after Altice announced that it will acquire Cablevision for $34.90 per share in cash.
Clarcor (CLC +0.58%) reported Q3 non-GAAP EPS of 66 cents, weaker than consensus of 84 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS view to $2.70-$2.80 from $3.00-$3.15, below consensus of $3.05.
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC +0.37%) announced that its board has authorized an additional $4 billion for the repurchase of the company’s common stock.
Aetna (AET +0.01%) backs its fiscal 2015 EPS view of at least $7.40, below consensus of $7.51.
Envision Healthcare (EVHC -0.09%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Canaccord with a price target of $51.
Allscripts (MDRX +0.59%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Canaccord with a price target of $18.
Herman Miller (MLHR +1.24%) climbed 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 56 cents, well above consensus of 46 cents.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 Housing Starts
8:30 Current Account
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 Philly Fed Business Outlook
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
2:00 PM FOMC Announcement
2:00 PM FOMC Forecast
2:00 PM Chairman Press Conference
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
Today’s Earnings here
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers