{"id":6072,"date":"2012-10-17T07:47:11","date_gmt":"2012-10-17T12:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=6072"},"modified":"2012-10-17T07:47:11","modified_gmt":"2012-10-17T12:47:11","slug":"before-the-open-oct-17-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=6072","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Oct 17)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Japan rallied 1.2%; Australia, Hong Kong and South Korea also did well. Europe is currently mixed. Belgium and Greece are up more than 1%. France and Germany are up slightly. Futures here in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nThe dollar is down. Oil is up, copper down. Gold is flat, silver up.<\/span>
\nObama did well in last night’s debate. Romney held a slim lead going in, so I’m guessing it’s pretty even now. Lots of uncertainty there for the next three weeks. <\/span>
\nU.K. unemployment dropped from 8.1% to 7.9%, a 15-month low. The Bank of England left the size of their current quantitative easing program unchanged.<\/span>
\nMoody’s says a multiple-month downgrade into junk territory for Spain is in the pipeline if the country deteriorates any further. The lack of a downgrade helped push Spanish bond yields to a 15-month low.<\/span>
\nIBM beat earnings estimates but missed on sales estimates. The stock is down 3.8% before the open.<\/span>
\nINTC topped both earnings & sales estimates, but is down 4.5% in premarket trading.<\/span>
\nBank of America (BAC) in unchanged after releasing earnings.<\/span>
\nPepsi (PEP) is barely moved after releasing earnings.<\/span>
\nHalliburton’s (HAL) Q3 profit fell 12%…stock is down 2%.<\/span>
\nAbbott (ABT) is out with earnings…stock hasn’t moved.<\/span>
\nCymer (CYMI) is up 64% in premarket trading. Wow.<\/span>
\nMattel’s (MAT) profit rose 22%…stock is up 5.7%.<\/span>
\nExxon Mobil (XOM) is buying Canadian oil and gas producer Celtic Exploration.<\/span>
\nDover (DOV) did well with earnings but then warned of upcoming revenue concerns. <\/span>
\nQuest Diagnostics (DGX) quarter profit dropped 5.1%…stock is down 2.2%<\/span>
\nSt. Jude Medical (STJ) is down almost 7% after earnings.<\/span>
\nBlackrock’s (BLK) Q3 profit climbed 7.9%…stock hasn’t traded in premarket action.<\/span>
\nCheck Point (CHKP) is down 4%.<\/span>
\nStanley Black & Decker is down 5%.<\/span>
\nAlso out with earnings are TXT, CMA, KCG.<\/span>
\nYesterday the market added to its previous day’s gains. The Dow and SPY both bounced off an uptrend line. The Nas bounced off the support line of its falling rectangle pattern. The Russell bounced off a previous resistance level. The action has given the bulls the chance to breathe. They, no doubt, were a little on edge when the week began. But in the near term I’m still going to classify the situation as being neutral and uncertain because there is no clear trend. More after the open.<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nThe semis put in a solid day yesterday. It’s a good step but there’s lots of resistance overhead. If the market is going to rally, the semis need to improve a bunch.<\/span>
\n\"\"
\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>
\n