{"id":6864,"date":"2013-07-29T07:37:16","date_gmt":"2013-07-29T12:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=6864"},"modified":"2013-07-29T07:37:16","modified_gmt":"2013-07-29T12:37:16","slug":"before-the-open-jul-29-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=6864","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Jul 29)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a nice weekend. <\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mostly down. Japan dropped 3.3%, China and Indonesia more than 1%. Europe is currently mixed. Greece and Spain are doing well. Otherwise there no big movers. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nThe dollar is down. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are up.<\/span>
\nI don’t have much to add to the video<\/a> posted yesterday. The overall trend is rock solid, but the near term is less clear. There has a handful of indicators suggesting the market is due for a rest, whether it be in the form of a pullback or just some sideways trading. For now, a less aggressive stance is warranted.<\/span>
\nEarnings season is in full swing. If you’re a trader, don’t hold into a report. If you’re collecting dividends, fine. But if you trade in and out, it’s not a risk you want to take.<\/span>
\nThe economic calendar is packed; the highlight of the week will be Friday’s employment report.<\/span>
\nThere are 3 more days of trading this month, so perhaps some window dressing is in order. There are no doubt funds that are lagging the market, and these funds will feel pressure to chase performance higher. They may add winners to their portfolio and cut some laggards. But like options expiration, the last few days of a month are known and anticipated, so things don’t happen like clockwork like they used to.<\/span>
\nHere are headline stories from barchart.com…<\/span>
\nLoews (L -0.15%) reported Q2 EPS of 71 cents, weaker than consensus of 73 cents.<\/span>
\nWhole Foods (WFM +1.54%) was downgraded to “Hold” from “Buy” at Cantor.<\/span>
\nRoper Industries (ROP -0.27%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.31, better than expectations of $1.30.<\/span>
\nSimon Property Group (SPG +0.46%) reported Q2 EPS of $2.11, better than onsensus of $2.07.<\/span>
\nHormel Foods (HRL +0.31%) was upgraded to “Outperform” from “Neutral” at Credit Suisse who also raised their price target on the stock to $46 from $39.<\/span>
\nWynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN +0.63%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.51, lower than consensus of $1.57.<\/span>
\nNorwegian Cruise Line (NCLH +2.31%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 29 cents, higher than consensus of 27 cents.<\/span>
\nHertz Global (HTZ +0.11%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 45 cents, right on consensus, although Q2 revenue of $2.71 billion was slightly better than consensus of $2.7 billion.<\/span>
\nWESCO (WCC +1.71%) was upgraded to “Buy” from “Hold” at Wunderlich who also raised its price target for the stock to $94 from $79.<\/span>
\nCNBC reported that Saks (SKS +0.86%) will be acquired for $16 per share by Hudson’s Bay.<\/span>
\nRF Micro Devices (RFMD -2.13%) was downgraded to “Equal Weight” from “Overweight” at Barclays.<\/span>
\nOmnicom (OMC) and French-based Publicis Groupe (PUB FP) over the weekend announced a merger of equals of the two large advertising and communications companies.<\/span>
\nSiemens (SI) is reevaluating its China operations due to the failure of orders and sales to increase, according to Reuters.<\/span>
\nThe EU and China over the weekend announced an agreement to resolve their solar trade dispute.<\/span>
\nthis week’s Earnings<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Economic Numbers<\/a><\/span>
\ntoday’s upgrades\/downgrades<\/a><\/span>
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