{"id":692,"date":"2009-01-08T06:30:22","date_gmt":"2009-01-08T11:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=692"},"modified":"2009-01-08T06:30:22","modified_gmt":"2009-01-08T11:30:22","slug":"before-the-open-141","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=692","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
\nEvery single world market is down, and most markets are down a bunch.
\nIn Asia\/Pacific<\/b>, Taiwan lost 5.3%, Japan and Hong Kong lost almost 4%, Australia, China and Singapore lost more than 2% and Indonesia and Seoul fell more than 1%.
\nIn Europe<\/b>, Austria, Belgium and Stockholm are down more than 2% and France, Germany, Amsterdam, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and London are down more than 1%.
\nNeedless to say, futures<\/b> here in the States indicate a moderate gap down for the cash market. 30 minutes before the open Nas 100 futures<\/b> are down 6.25 (0.5%) to trade at 1233.25 while SPX futures<\/b> are down 8 (0.9%) to trade at 897.25.
\nThe Bank of England<\/b> today cut its benchmark interest rate by 50 bp to 1.5%, the lowest since the BOE was founded in 1694, as its policy makers try to prevent the credit squeeze from deepening Britain’s recession.
\nFrom Barchart.com<\/b> ->> Negative economic news continues to flow out of Europe with December Euro-Zone economic confidence<\/b> tumbling -7.8 to 67.1, its lowest level since the index began in 1985, while unemployment in the Euro-Zone<\/b> rose to a 2-year high of 7.8% in November. Undercutting the equity markets and also adding pressure on the ECB for more interest rate cuts was the -6.0% m\/m decline in November German factory orders<\/b> which have now declined in 11 of the past 12 months along with -10.6% drop in German exports in Nov, the largest monthly decline since records for a reunified Germany began in 1990. Economic conditions out of Asia are not much better as Lenovo Group<\/b>, China’s biggest personal-computer maker, plunged 26% today after forecasting its first loss in 11 quarters and saying it will cut 11% of its workforce and Macquarie Group Ltd. <\/b>, Australia’s biggest securities firm, losing 3.7% today after saying “exeptionally challenging” conditions will erode earnings. Exports out of Taiwan<\/b> plummeted by a record -41.9% in December on weaker US and Chinese demand for its laptops, mobile phones and computer chips. Confidence in Indian stocks<\/b> may be hard to find after India’s Sensex index tumbled 7.3% yesterday led by the 78% plunge in Satyam<\/b> after Satyam’s Chairman said the company’s profits had been inflated for years. India’s stock markets are closed today for a public holiday.
\nItalian automaker Fiat<\/b> expands layoff scheme to white-collar workers
\nSun Microsystems<\/b> (JAVA) tumbled 3.7% this morning after Goldman Sachs lowered the company’s share-price projection and 2009 earnings estimate and put Sun on its “sell” list, citing “deteriorating fundamentals.
\nWal-Mart Stores<\/b> (WMT) December sales miss analysts’ expectations, and the company is cutting its earnings forecast for the fourth quarter.
\nComputer maker Dell<\/b> (DELL) to cut 1,900 jobs in Ireland, move manufacturing to Poland.
\nGeneral Motors<\/b> (GM) Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said Thursday the Detroit automaker can survive long-term without cutting benefits to retired workers.
\nS&P<\/b> cuts credit ratings on PNC Financial<\/b> (PMC) 1 notch, cites concerns over National City <\/b> (NCC) deal.
\nMacy’s<\/b> (M) will close 11 underperforming stores in 9 states; Dec. same-store sales fall 4 percent. 960 employees will be affected.
\nWolverine World Wide<\/b> (WWW) which makes Merrell and Hush Puppies shoes, said Thursday it will cut 450 jobs in a cost-saving effort..
\nSpecialty apparel retailer New York & Co. <\/b> (NWY) warned Thursday that it will likely report a fourth-quarter same-store sales decline, as quarter-to-date results are down 10.1 percent. They plan to close up to 50 stores.
\nChildren’s Place<\/b> (PLCE) records flat same-store sales in December, beating analysts’ expectations.
\nJ. Crew Group<\/b> (JCG) said Thursday that weaker-than-anticipated sales will lead the apparel retailer to report a fourth-quarter loss.
\nPacific Sunwear<\/b> (PSUN) December same-store sales fall 10 percent. They lowered their Q4 outlook.
\nZale<\/b> (ZLC) reports 22 percent drop in Dec. same-store sales, 19.6 percent decline for holiday season.
\nCoal-mining Peabody Energy<\/b> (BTU) is scaling down its production outlook this year at some of its operations in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin and Australia, citing a global recession.
\nQwest Communications<\/b> (Q), which provides telephone, Internet and video services, said Thursday its business units performed “in line with operating expectations” and maintained cost controls during the fourth quarter.
\nLimited Brands<\/b> (LTD) cuts 4th-quarter guidance after weak December same-store sales.
\nWilliams-Sonoma<\/b> (WSM) says holiday same-store sales fell 24.2 percent; shaves 4th-qtr guidance.
\nWet Seal<\/b> (WTSLA) December same-store sales drop 12.5 percent, hurt by Arden B results.
\nBebe Stores<\/b> (BEBE) lowered its fiscal second quarter forecast on Thursday to reflect heavier-than-expected promotions in November and December as the specialty apparel retailer lowered prices to contend with less mall traffic.
\nStage Stores<\/b> (SSI) says same-store sales slid 4.9 percent in December, less than analysts expected.
\nUrban Outfitters<\/b> (URBN) said Thursday that same-store sales dipped 1 percent for the holiday season, hurt by bigger discounts and softness in its Anthropologie and Free People brands.
\nSears<\/b> (SHLD) December same-store sales drop 7.3 percent on weak results at its domestic Sears stores. They anticipate lower Q4 earnings.
\nChinese PC maker<\/b> Lenovo<\/b> to cut 11 percent (2,500 jobs) of work force, warns of quarterly loss.
\nCostco<\/b> (COST) December same-store sales slip 4 percent, narrowly missing analysts’ estimates.
\nHaverty Furniture<\/b> (HVT) says sales fell 21.3 percent in 4th quarter on weak demand.
\nShaw Group<\/b> (SGR), an engineering and construction company, said Thursday it posted a loss in its first quarter as the Japanese yen gained value against the U.S. dollar, offsetting an 11 percent increase in revenue.
\nGap<\/b> (GPS) books 14 percent same-store sales decline in December as consumer traffic drops and lowers its earnings forecast for fiscal 2008.
\nCardinal Health <\/b> (CAH) cut its fiscal 2009 profit estimates Thursday, saying it expects hospitals to keep delaying equipment purchases.
\nBed Bath & Beyond<\/b> (BBBY) fiscal third-quarter net income fell to $87.7 million, or 34 cents a share, from $138.2 million, or 52 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.
\nHot Topic<\/b> (HOTT) December same-store sales at stores open at least one year rose 4.3%, compared with a fall of 6.2% in December 2007.
\nImmucor<\/b> (BLUD) fiscal second-quarter profit rose to $17.3 million, or 24 cents a share, from $16.2 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
\nManitowoc <\/b> (MTW) is expected to report adjusted 2008 earnings toward the lower end of its estimate.
\nMedical Properties Trust<\/b> (MPW) is selling 10 million shares to the public.
\nMen\u2019s Warehouse<\/b> (MW) says it expects Q4 earnings to come in at the low end of its forecast range because of slow sales in Canada.
\nSonic<\/b> (SONC) fiscal first-quarter profit fell to $7.1 million, or 12 cents a share, from $13.6 million, or 22 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
\nZumiez<\/b> (ZUMZ) sales at stores open at least one year fell 12.3% in December.
\nGold<\/b> is up 1.7% and Silver<\/b> is up 1.6%.
\nCrude oil<\/b> is down 1.15 to trade at 41.48.
\n—————————————————————————————-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UPGRADES<\/b><\/td>\nURBN, MKL, AKS, PODD, CSX, LEN, EPIC, DE, RJF <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DOWNGRADES<\/b><\/td>\nMCRS, WSM, CELG, ISRG, MRO, SGMS, RT, ADS, TCK, IRIS, DTSI, INTC, WFR, MEOH, TE, RGLD, PHM, TER, FORM, CMG, PEET, MRT, MSSR, WATG, ASML, KLAC, EME, GFIG, ICE, PRXI <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

—————————————————————————————-<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
EARNINGS<\/b>
\n<\/tr>\n
before the open<\/td>\n GAP, GBX, HELE, MTRX, MSM, RPM, SCHN, TXI <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
during trading<\/td>\nnone <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
after the close<\/td>\n MDRX, APOL, DMAN, HWAY, IHS, LWSN, NUHC, RBN, SNX, TK <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

—————————————————————————————-
\nECONOMIC RELEASES<\/b>
\n8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
\n14:00 Consumer Credit
\n—————————————————————————————-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Thursday. Every single world market is down, and most markets are down a bunch. In Asia\/Pacific, Taiwan lost 5.3%, Japan and Hong Kong lost almost 4%, Australia, China and Singapore lost more than 2% and Indonesia and Seoul fell more than 1%. In Europe, Austria, Belgium and Stockholm are down more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}