Before the Open (Jun 23)

Good morning. Happy Thursday. Happy Brexit Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the upside. Japan gained more than 1%; India and New Zealand also did well. China, Indonesia and Taiwan led to the downside. Europe is currently posting across-the-board gains. Spain and Italy are up more than 2%; London, Germany, France, Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, the Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey, Denmark, Belgium and Portugal are up more than 1%. Futures here in the States point towards a relatively big gap up open for the cash market.
—————
Join our email list – get technical research reports sent directly to you.
—————
The dollar is down. Oil and copper are up. Gold is down; silver is up. Bonds are down.
Today is a potentially huge day…or an overrated meaningless day. Voters in Britain vote whether to “stay” or “leave” the EU. Polls show an even split, but the market strongly believes voters will vote to “stay.” The pound is up; the dollar is down; and most markets around the world are posting solid gains.
The polls don’t close until late tonight, and we probably won’t have an official answer until after the US market closes.
There’s the potential for some sudden moves today based on exit polling, etc. Or today could be a dud just like the last three days.
Tomorrow is the big day for the market to react to the results. Many brokerage firms have increased their margins to protect themselves. Given the market has been range bound for three months, I’m not sure why anyone would be on margin. A strong case could be made for a big move in either direction, so being stacked on one side doesn’t seem wise. Oh well.
Seat belts buckled. No big bets right now. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Herman Miller (MLHR -0.86%) climbed over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 56 cents, higher than consensus of 52 cents, and said it sees Q1 adjusted EPS of 60 cents-64 cents, above consensus of 60 cents.
Amazon.com (AMZN -0.73%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Maxim Group with a 12-month price target of $825.
Home Depot (HD -0.11%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Nomura with a price target of $155.
Intuit (INTU -1.34%) was added to America’s ‘COnviction Buy List’ at Goldman Sachs.
CACI International (CACI -0.57%) said it sees fiscal 2017 EPS of $6.02-$6.43, below consensus of $6.50.
Steelcase (SCS -0.87%) slid 4% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q2 adjusted EPS of 29 cents-33 cents, below consensus of 37 cents.
Apogee Enterprises (APOG -4.22%) jumped over 9% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 61 cents, well above consensus of 49 cents, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2017 EPS to $2.70-$2.85 from an April 6 view of $2.65-$2.80.
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY -0.35%) fell nearly 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 80 cents, below consensus of 86 cents.
Red Hat (RHT -0.80%) dropped over 5% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on fiscal 2017 adjusted EPS to $2.19-$2.23 from a March 22 view of $2.22-$2.26.
H.B. Fuller (FUL -0.45%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 67 cents, weaker than consensus of 68 cents.
CubeSmart (CUBE +0.57%) was rated a new ‘Outperform’ at FBR Capital Markets with a 12-month price target of $35.
The U.S. Department of Defense said Harris Corp. (HRS -0.13%) won a $1.7 billion army contract for radios, ancillaries, spare parts and services for Afghanistan.
Weyerhaeuser (WY +0.14%) said it will close 2 of its 3 lumber and plywood mills in Columbia Falls, Montana this summer and approximately 100 positions will be eliminated.
SolarCity (SCTY +3.26%) fell over 2% in after-hours trading after Citron Research founder Andrew Left said that SolarCity “is not even technology. It’s a subprime lender” and that he sees the stock price going to zero.
Wednesday’s Key Earnings
Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) +4.9% AH looking to new products, marketing.
Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) -4.3% AH after missing expectations.
Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) -6.7% AH on downbeat guidance.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 Chicago Fed National Activity Index
9:45 PMI Manufacturing Index Flash
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 New Home Sales
10:00 Leading Indicators
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
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