{"id":6800,"date":"2013-07-02T07:32:49","date_gmt":"2013-07-02T12:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=6800"},"modified":"2013-07-02T07:32:49","modified_gmt":"2013-07-02T12:32:49","slug":"before-the-open-jul-2-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=6800","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Jul 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. Australia rallied 2.6%; Japan, New Zealand and Singapore also did well. Indonesia dropped 1%. Europe is currently mostly down. France, Germany, Switzerland and Greece are down the most. Futures here in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nThe dollar is up. Oil is up, copper down. Gold is up, silver down. <\/span>
\nThe market moved up yesterday (mostly thanks to a big opening gap up), but it closed well off its high. Volume was light, and it most likely will be even lighter today because tomorrow is a half day and Thursday is a day off. <\/span>
\nKey SPX levels I’m watching right now are 1600 to the downside and 1630 to the upside. <\/span>
\nIt will be an important accomplishment for the S&P to hold 1600. Lower highs and lower lows remain in place, and the current bounce off last week’s low is a pretty typical bounce within a downtrend. But if 1600 can hold, the bearishness that has existed over the last six weeks will be neutralized even more. Here’s the chart. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\nTwo things to consider. 1) This is a holiday-shortened week. Volume, price movement and volatility aren’t likely to be robust. 2) We are in the heart of the summer doldrums. If the market can resist legging down again, the odds of a summer range continue to climb. <\/span>
\nHere are stock-specific stories from barchart.com…<\/span>
\nNewmont Mining (NEM +0.77%) was downgraded to “Underperform” from “Hold” at Jefferies.<\/span>
\nDaVita (DVA +0.29%) was downgraded to “Market Perform” from “Outperform” at Raymond James.<\/span>
\nJPMorgan (JPM -0.57%) was upgraded to “Strong Buy” from “Outperform” at Raymond James.<\/span>
\nCME Group (CME +0.74%) was downgraded to “Market Perform” from “Outperform” at Raymond James.<\/span>
\nLas Vegas Sands (LVS +0.08%) was upgraded to “Buy “from “Neutral” at ISI Group.<\/span>
\nDigiTimes reported that Samsung (SSNLF +8.57%) will launch a mini version of its Galaxy S4 in Q3.<\/span>
\nTransocean (RIG +0.60%) was downgraded to “Neutral” from “Buy” at Citigroup.<\/span>
\nRowan Companies (RDC +1.03%) was upgraded to “Buy” from “Neutral” at Citigroup who raised its price target on the stock to $42 from $36.<\/span>
\nAchillion (ACHN +2.20%) plunged nearly 20% in after-hours trading after the FDA placed a clinical hold on development of Achillion’s drug sovaprevir after elevations in liver enzymes were noted in a Phase 1 healthy subject drug interaction study.<\/span>
\nLockheed Martin (LMT -0.37%) was awarded a $295 million government contract modification to provide system engineering and program management services to continue development of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.<\/span>
\nNielsen Holdings (NLSN -0.92%) will replace Sprint Nextel (S +0.71%) in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on July 8.<\/span>
\nA. Schulman (SHLM +3.77%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 50 cents, well below consensus of 65 cents.<\/span>
\nthis week’s Earnings<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Economic Numbers<\/a><\/span>
\ntoday’s upgrades\/downgrades<\/a><\/span>
\n