Before the Open (Mar 11)

Good morning. Happy Friday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed up across-the-board. Hong Kong rallied 1.1%; Singapore, Japan and Taiwan also did well. Europe is currently up across-the-board. Germany, Italy and Spain are up more than 3%; France, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal are up more than 2%. Futures here in the States point towards a relatively big gap up open for the cash market.
The dollar is up. Oil and copper are up. Gold is up, silver is down. Bonds are down.
So far this week has been one of the smallest-range weeks going back several months. It’s been noticeably slower than previous weeks, and volume has been a little lighter. Today’s open will be near the high of the week, and unless this becomes a “sell the news” situation (sell the ECB news), the forth consecutive up week will be registered.
Oil continues to look good. I consider this a bounce within a downtrend…but we know from past downtrends 50% bounces are not uncommon. Great trading opportunities.
The dollar got hit hard yesterday. It fell 2.50 off its high. This certainly helps commodities.
I like the market in the near term, but let’s not get carried away here. It’s come a long way since bottoming last month and in my eyes continuing up much further would constitute “too much, too soon.” The FOMC looms next week and is positioned to be a “sell the news” situation if prices press much higher.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Morgan Stanley (MS +0.16%) and Goldman Sachs Group (GS +0.74%) are both up over 1% in pre-market trading.
Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance (ULTA +2.75%) rallied over 12% in pre-market trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.69, above consensus of $1.54, and then raised guidance on Q1 EPS to $1.25-$1.30, higher than consensus of $1.22.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN +3.07%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Sterne Agee CRT.
Arctic Cat (ACAT +2.85%) was downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Hold’ at Wunderlich Securities.
Zumiez (ZUMZ +2.10%) fell 8% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on Q1 sales to $172 million-$175 million, below consensus of $176.7 million.
Finisar (FNSR +0.07%) jumped over 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 25 cents, higher than consensus of 22 cents, and said it sees Q4 adjusted EPS of 22 cents-28 cents, above consensus of 21 cents.
El Pollo Loco Holdings (LOCO +1.54%) declined nearly 6% in after-hours trading after it said it sees 2016 pro-forma EPS of 70 cents-74 cents, at the lower end of consensus of 74 cents.
BioDelivery Sciences International (BDSI -8.11%) dropped over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 19 cents, well below consensus of 55 cents.
Bojangles’ (BOJA -0.20%) gained 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 22 cents, better than consensus of 19 cents, and then raised guidance on 2016 adjusted Ebitda to $83.5 million-$86.5 million, higher than consensus of $80.2 million.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS -2.90%) jumped over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 ongoing adjusted EPS of 2 cents, better than consensus of a -4 cent loss.
Sunrun (RUN +7.52%) plunged over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $99.6 million, below consensus of $101.8 million.
Bonanza Creek Energy (BCEI -2.42%) slipped 5% in after-hours trading after it elected to draw down $209 million on its credit facility.
Strata Skin Sciences (SSKN +2.80%) catapulted up over 30% in after-hours trading after the FDA approved Strata’s PMA supplement for the MelaFind System that aids in detection of melanoma.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Import/Export Prices
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
Today’s Earnings here
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers