{"id":6046,"date":"2012-10-09T07:35:39","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T12:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=6046"},"modified":"2012-10-09T07:35:39","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T12:35:39","slug":"before-the-open-oct-9-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=6046","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Oct 9)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. China rallied 2%, and Japan dropped 1.1%. Nothing else moved much. Europe is currently mixed, but none of the indexes moved much from their unchanged levels. Futures here in the States point towards an up open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nThe dollar is up slightly. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are mixed and flat.<\/span>
\nRadio Shack (RSH) has been upgraded. The stock is up 12.5% in premarket trading. Hmmm. The stock is near the top of my “won’t be around much longer” list.<\/span>
\nOwens Corning (OC) is down almost 3% before the open. They said weakness in their roofing materials business will cause them to miss revenue expectations.<\/span>
\nJNJ was cut to a sell by Goldman. LLY was upped to neutral. <\/span>
\nSpectrum Brands (SPB) is acquiring the hardware & home improvement business of Stanley Black & Decker (SWK). <\/span>
\nVDSI cut its full-year guidance. <\/span>
\nApollo Commercial Real Estate (ARI) is selling 7 million shares in a secondary offering.<\/span>
\nDEST raised its earnings estimates for Q4.<\/span>
\nMy biggest concern heading into this week was the movement of the small and mid caps relative to the large caps. Divergences between the groups almost always lead to a reversal, and although the large caps did not make a higher high last week – so technically a divergence did not form – the upside progress of the small and mid caps lagged enough to be noticeable. Here’s a chart comparing the $SPX, $RUT and $MID. If the small and mid caps do not participate in a rally, the upside will be very limited. <\/span>
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\nOtherwise the action is mostly pretty slow, and the number of good set ups we have to choose from is on the lighter side. Be conservative out there – especially as earnings season gets started. More after the open.<\/span>
\nheadlines at Yahoo Finance<\/a><\/span>
\nheadlines at MarketWatch<\/a><\/span>
\ntoday’s upgrades\/downgrades<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Earnings<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Economic Numbers<\/a><\/span>
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