Before the Open (Mar 23)

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the downside, but there was very little movement. Japan, Hong Kong and Australia moved down; China and India moved up. Europe is currently mixed. Germany, Belgium and Greece are up more than 1%; Austria , the Czech Republic and Portugal are down. Futures here in the States point towards a slight up open for the cash market.
The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up.
The market has traded quietly this week. The range has been small, volume has been light and the activity level has been low. It seems the market is correcting with time instead of price. With the market being closed Friday, we have only two more days of trading to go this week. If nothing happens soon, odds significantly increase that nothing happens all week.
I’ve still of the opinion we are late in this cycle, a rest is needed and buying breakouts right now is not likely to bear much fruit. The same set-up in two different environments will yield two different results, so what worked a few weeks ago may not work today…or may work differently.
Perhaps the market shoots up here. Fine. I’d still rather be a little defensive at this time. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Nike (NKE +0.28%) dropped nearly 6% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 revenue of $8.03 billion, well below consensus of $8.20 billion.
Red Hat (RHT +1.08%) slipped 2% in after-hours trading after it said Q4 billings growth was only 10.9% q/q, below the 14.9% q/q growth rate from Q3.
Charles Schwab (SCHW +0.46%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Argus Research.
Merk (MRK +0.44%) rose nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it won a jury verdict that allows it to seek royalties from Gilead Sciences for its Hepatitis C cure. Gilead Sciences (GILD +1.13%) fell almost over 3% on the news.
Steelcase (SCS +1.42%) rallied 5% in after-hours trading after it boosted its dividend to 12 cents a share from 11.25 cents a share.
Five Below (FIVE -1.59%) dropped nearly 5% in after-hours trading after it said it sees fiscal year EPS of $1.27-$1.31, below the midpoint of consensus of $1.31.
Biogen (BIIB +1.32%) slid over 2% in after-hours trading after the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board said Kyle Bass has shown a reasonable likelihood of success to challenge the Biogen patent on Tecfidera.
Cintas (CTAS +0.19%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance on fiscal 2016 EPS continuing operations to $3.98-$4.03 from a prior estimate of $3.83-$3.90, above consensus of $3.92.
Shell Midstream Partners LP (SHLX +2.10%) fell over 4% in after-hours trading after it said it started a 8.5 million-unit secondary offering.
Aratana Therapeutics ({=PETX gained almost 1% in after-hours trading after it said it is seeking FDA approval for its Entyce appetite-stimulation drug for dogs.
Affymetrix (AFFX -0.21%) climbed over 5% in after-hours trading after Origin Technologies increased its all-cash offer to buy Affymetrix for $17 a share.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD -0.90%) slumped 7% in after-hours trading after it said it sees fiscal year adjusted EPS of 87 cents-91 cents, below consensus of 93 cents.
Pieris Pharmaceuticals (PIRS +3.30%) jumped over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q4 loss of -7 cents, a smaller loss than consensus of -12 cents.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Tuesday’s Key Earnings
Krispy Kreme (NYSE:KKD) -5.4% AH on weak sales and outlook.
Nike (NYSE:NKE) -4.4% AH as revenues fell short.
Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) -3.8% AH after billings missed consensus estimates.
Today’s Economic Calendar
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
10:00 New Home Sales
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
11:30 Results of $13B, 2-Year FRN Auction
Today’s Earnings here
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers