{"id":6299,"date":"2013-01-10T08:48:28","date_gmt":"2013-01-10T13:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=6299"},"modified":"2013-01-10T08:48:28","modified_gmt":"2013-01-10T13:48:28","slug":"before-the-open-jan-10-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=6299","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Jan 10)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Thursday.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the upside. Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan did the best; Indonesia performed the worst. Europe is currently mixed. Belgium and Amsterdam are up the most; Austria and the Czech Republic are down the most. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap up open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nThe dollar is down. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are up.<\/span>
\nThe ECB is leaving the benchmark refinancing rate unchanged at 0.75%.<\/span>
\nThe Bank of England is leaving interest rates unchanged at 0.5%, and the size of its asset purchase program will remain unchanged.<\/span>
\nGreek unemployment rose to a record 26.8%, and among the county’s youth, it rose to 56.6%, also a record.<\/span>
\nMolycorp (MCP) is down almost 12% premarket…it warned 2013 revenue will fall short of expectations.<\/span>
\nFord (F) has doubled its dividend from 5 cents to 10 cents.<\/span>
\nAscena (ASNA) is down 11% before the open…it cut earnings estimates for the current fiscal year.<\/span>
\nTiffany (TIF) is down 8%…it steered analysts lower regarding its earnings for the current year which ends Jan 31.<\/span>
\nFisher Communications (FSCI) is up 11% premarket…they’re exploring whether to sell the company or not.<\/span>
\nHerbalife (HLF) is up 3.3%…I’d stay away from this stock…there are too many big hedge funds playing games in the media with it.<\/span>
\nAIG (AIG) says it won’t sue the government for what it thought was unfair conditions of its bailout.<\/span>
\nHere’s the S&P via SPY (because it shows gaps). Other than the gag up on Jan 1, the market has traded quietly in a relatively tight range for the last six days. This is perfectly normal and healthy action for a market in a mini uptrend – it moves, then it rests. With earnings season here, we may get a few more of these range-bound days. Then after an earnings trend begins (are companies beating or falling short of expectations), a new move can begin.<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nI’m also seeing some improvement from some of the indicators which have held the market back lately, so for now, my bias remains to the upside. 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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