Before the Open (Mar 8)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the downside. Singapore dropped more than 1%; Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia and South Korea were also weak. New Zealand did okay to the upside. Europe is currently mixed. Greece and Hungary are up more than 1%; Austria and Norway are also doing well. Denmark and Finland are down more than 1%; Germany, London and France are also down. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap down open for the cash market.
The dollar is up a small amount. Oil is up, copper is down. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up.
The S&P has rallied 5 straight days for the first time since the beginning of October. That, or course, was the market’s last rally that lasted more than a week.
Thanks to commodities, the small caps and micro caps continue to lead. Safe havens (PG, JNJ, T, VZ, WMT, KMB) are also doing well. Big cap tech has been lagging.
The near term (next week or so) will tell us a lot about the market’s strength. A shallow pullback that doesn’t come with a lot of force likely leads to the market legging up again – possibly to the highs. A more forceful pullback would dampen the enthusiasm of the bulls and at best would likely lead to a continuation of the range that’s been in place for almost two years.
If the market has strength, a correction will be shallow and short-lived.
That’s if for now. There isn’t much else to say. Let the market and the indicators tell us what’s likely on the horizon. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT +0.64%) was downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Buy’ at Argus.
Shake Shack (SHAK +0.57%) dropped over 9% in pre-market trading after it lowered its 2016 same-store-sales growth estimate to +2.5% to +3.0%, weaker than consensus of +3.1%.
Urban Outfitters (URBN +1.81%) jumped 10% in pre-market trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 61 cents, above consensus of 56 cents.
Fastenal (FAST +0.22%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Argus with a price target of $57.
Ilumina (ILMN +3.51%) lost almost 2% in after-hours trading after it announced that Chairman and CEO Jay Flatley will assume role of executive chairman and Francis Desouza will be appointed President and CEO on July 5.
Casey’s General Stores (CASY -3.26%) reported Q3 EPS of 97 cents, better than consensus of 93 cents, although Q3 revenue of $1.57 billion was below consensus of $1.59 billion.
Quanex Building Products (NX +1.03%) reported a Q1 loss continuing operations of -2 cents, a narrower loss than consensus of -9 cents.
Actuant (ATU +2.70%) lowered guidance on Q2 preliminary revenue to $263 million, below a December forecast of $270 million-$280 million, and said it will record a net impairment charge of $170 million ($2.86 a share) due to “further weakening of near-term capital spending in the global oil and gas market.”
ICF International (ICFI -0.96%) slid almost 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 73 cents, below consensus of 75 cents, and then lowered guidance on 2016 adjusted EPS to $2.79-$2.94, weaker than consensus of $3.00.
Thor Industries (THO +0.02%) gained over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 ongoing revenue of $975.1 million, above consensus of $910.3 million.
American Midstream Partners (AMID +2.88%) climbed over 2% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance on 2016 adjusted Ebitda to $105 million to $120 million, above consensus of $103.8 million.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Monday’s Key Earnings
Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) -8.9% AH on lackluster sales guidance.
Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) +12.3% AH after a bottom line beat.
Today’s Economic Calendar
6:00 NFIB Small Business Optimism Index
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
1:00 PM Results of $24B, 3-Year Note Auction
Today’s Earnings here
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers