{"id":6687,"date":"2013-05-21T07:38:06","date_gmt":"2013-05-21T12:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=6687"},"modified":"2013-05-21T07:38:06","modified_gmt":"2013-05-21T12:38:06","slug":"before-the-open-may-21-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=6687","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (May 21)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. Australia, Hong Kong, India and Indonesia did poorly; Malaysia did well. Europe is currently trading mixed and with a bearish slant. Austria, Norway and the Czech Republic are doing well; Greece is down 4%. Futures here in the States point towards a slight down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nThe dollar is up. Oil is up, copper down. Gold and silver are down. <\/span>
\nIt’s Tuesday. The market has gained ground 18 consecutive Tuesday’s – that’s the longest Tuesday winning streak in history and the second longest such streak overall (in 1968 the Dow rallied 24 straight Wednesdays).<\/span>
\nI’ve known about the Tuesday streak for several weeks but didn’t want to mention it and jinx it. Now it’s mainstream knowledge. There aren’t many traders out there that are closely tuned in that aren’t aware of it. \ud83d\ude41<\/span>
\nHere’s another interesting stat. The last time the Dow dropped three straight days was the end of December 2012. The number of days that have passed since then and today is the most since 1900. Yesterday was a down day. If the Tuesday streak is broken today, we’ll get to see if the Dow can keep this other stat alive tomorrow.<\/span>
\nWhether these two stats remain in place is fun to follow, but let’s not lose sight of what the market has been doing. Here’s the 10-min SPX chart. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\nStock news from barchart.com…<\/span>
\nHome Depot (HD -0.13%) is up over 4% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 83 cents, better than expectations of 76 cents.<\/span>
\nUBS raised their price target on Microsoft (MSFT unch) to $40 from $33.<\/span>
\nAutoZone (AZO unch) reported Q3 EPS of $7.27, stronger than expectations of $7.21.<\/span>
\nBest Buy (BBY -0.33%) reported Q1 EPS of 32 cents, better than expectations of 24 cents.<\/span>
\nMedtronic (MDT unch) reported Q4 EPS of $1.10, better than expectations of $1.03.<\/span>
\nCarnival (CCL +0.91%) plunged 12% in pre-market trading after it lowered guidance on fiscal 2013 to $1.45-$1.65 from $1.80-$2.10, well below consensus of $1.97.<\/span>
\nGreat Lakes Dredge (GLDD unch) was awarded a $122.2 million U.S. Army contract for dredging services along the Miami Harbor.<\/span>
\nSenator Levin stated in a press conference that Apple (AAPL +2.23%) has used Ireland as a tax-haven for the past five years by creating “No-shore” tax entities.<\/span>
\nLockheed Martin (LMT unch) awarded $111.51M U.S. Navy contract for the development, integration and production of AN\/SQQ-89A15 Surface Ship Undersea Warfare Systems.<\/span>
\nNorthrop Grumman (NOC unch) was awarded $113.72 million U.S. Navy contract for the Full Rate Production of five E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Lot 2 aircraft.<\/span>
\nStandard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered its corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on (DELL) to ‘BBB’ from ‘A- and said its outlook on Dell remains watch negative.<\/span>
\nHasbro (HAS -0.44%) was initiated with an “Overweight” at Piper Jaffray with a price target of $55.<\/span>
\nMattel (MAT -1.33%) was initiated with an “Overweight” at Piper Jaffray with a price target of $53.<\/span>
\nhhgregg (HGG +1.23%) fell over 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 31 cents, better than consensus of 30 cents, although it reported Q4 revenue of $597.6 million, below consensus of $622.57 million, as Q4 same-store-sales fell -9.8%.<\/span>
\nUrban Outfitters (URBN -0.11%) dropped over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 32 cents, better than consensus of 29 cents, although it said Q1 revenue was $648 million, weaker than consensus of $655 million.<\/span>
\nTwo Fed officials give speeches today.<\/span>
\nMore 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>
\n