Before the Open (Oct 14)

Good morning. Happy Friday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Indonesia rallied more than 1%; Japan and Hong Kong also did well. Europe is currently posting solid gains. Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Italy, and Portugal are up more than 1%; Greece is up more than 2%. Futures in the States point towards a moderate gap up open for the cash market.
—————
Join our email list – get technical research reports sent directly to you.
—————
The dollar is up. Oil is up; copper is flat. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are down.
As of today’s open, the market will be posting its biggest weekly loss in five weeks, but most of the movement has taken place within the range that’s been in place for 3+ months. Yesterday the S&P tested the lower part of its range and bounced (closed 18 points off the intraday low). Today it’ll start the day with an 8-point gap up. Here’s the daily chart. Support has successfully been tested (for now), but the now-declining 50-day MA looms overhead.

At best I’d consider the market to be in consolidation mode. At worst it’s deteriorating. The internals have weakened…5 of the 9 S&P Select groups are below their declining 50’s…and we’ve gotten little follow through from some decent set ups.
I don’t think the market falls hard in front of the election, but I also don’t see a strong case for a leg up.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
JPMorgan Chase (JPM -0.57%) is up over 1% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 EPS of $1.58, higher than consensus of $1.39.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -1.96%) gained nearly 3% in pre-market trading after it said Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to provide cloud-computing services based on AMD’s graphic semiconductors.
HP Inc. (HPQ -1.30%) slipped over 1% in pre-market trading after it said it will eliminate as many as 4,000 jobs in the next 3 years to bring costs in line with slumping demand for personal computers and printers.
Estee Lauder (EL -0.03%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ at Piper Jaffray with a 12-month target price of $90.
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings (OLLI -1.89%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at MKM Partners with a 12-month target price of $33.
Zumiez (ZUMZ -2.54%) rose 3% in after-hours trading after it was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at Piper Jaffray with a price target of $28.
Restaurant Brands International (QSR -1.09%) was rated a new ‘Outperform’ at BMO Capital Markets with a target price of $52.
Under Armour (UA -0.88%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after it was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at Piper Jaffray.
Natural Health Trends (NHTC -3.10%) fell over 12% in after-hours trading after it announced preliminary Q3 revenue of $70.7 million versus $80.8 million q/q.
Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP (LMRK -1.15%) dropped 5% in after-hours trading after it filed to sell 3 million common units and use the proceeds to repay debt.
Reed’s Inc. (REED +1.74%) jumped over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q3 loss of -2 cents per share, narrower than consensus of -4 cents.
Enzo Biochem (ENZ -0.39%) rose over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q4 adjusted loss of -4 cents per share, a narrower loss than consensus of -6 cents.
Scorpio Bulkers (SALT +0.26%) climbed nearly 3% in after-hours trading after the president of the company, Robert Bugbee, bought 30,000 shares of the stock.
Aerohive Networks (HIVE -2.26%) tumbled over 15% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on Q3 adjusted EPS to a net loss of -6 cents to -7 cents, weaker than an August 3 view of -1 cent to -7 cents.
Smith Micro Software (SMSI +0.91%) plunged 20% in after-hours trading after it said preliminary Q3 revenue will be $6.5 million, well below a prior view of $7.9 million-$8.4 million, citing several large deals that were not closed as expected.
Thursday’s Key Earnings
Delta (NYSE:DAL) +0.4% AH with plans to curb flight capacity.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Producer Price Index
8:30 Retail Sales
8:30 Fed’s Rosengren: “The Elusive Recovery”
10:00 Business Inventories
10:00 Consumer Sentiment
12:30 PM Janet Yellen speech
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
2:00 PM Treasury Budget
Today’s Earnings here
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers