{"id":6910,"date":"2013-08-12T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-12T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=6910"},"modified":"2013-08-12T07:30:00","modified_gmt":"2013-08-12T12:30:00","slug":"before-the-open-aug-12-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=6910","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Aug 12)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a nice weekend. <\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Australia, China and Hong Kong did well, Indonesia and Japan lagged. Europe is currently trading mixed. Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic are down, Belgium and Greece are up. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nThe dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are up.<\/span>
\nI don’t have anything new to add to my weekend report. The market is in consolidation mode. It’s correcting with time, not price. This could change, but for now, this is the case. Most indicators are moving and pointing in the bear’s direction, and more time is needed before they reach oversold levels. From a trading perspective, there have been fewer good set ups to work with. This is just that way it’s been. Just like a hitter can’t force a pitcher to throw him a perfect strike, we can’t demand the market hand us good set ups. We either swing at what’s thrown our way or we stand there with the bat on our shoulder and be patient.<\/span>
\nHere’s the S&P 60-minute chart. That lower trendline will be tested at today’s open. My target on a downside break is still 1650.<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nOverall the market is in good shape, so there’s no reason to believe the trend will not eventually continue to the upside. But in the near term things are much less clear. Do not force trades. A better environment is ahead. <\/span>
\nStock stories<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\nTesla (TSLA -0.31%) was downgraded to “Neutral” from “Buy” at Lazard Capital.<\/span>
\nCablevision (CVC +0.67%) was upgraded to “Buy” from “Neutral” at Guggenheim.<\/span>
\nLowe’s (LOW -1.04%) was upgraded to “Hold” from “Sell” at Canaccord who also raised their price target on the stock to $48 from $28.<\/span>
\nBroadcom (BRCM -0.91%) was downgraded to “Neutral” from “Buy” at Goldman.<\/span>
\nJuniper (JNPR -5.60%) was downgraded to “Sector Perform” from “Outperform” at RBC Capital.<\/span>
\nThe U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman (NOC -0.13%) a $617 million contract for five full-rate production Lot 1 E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft.<\/span>
\nDaVita (DVA +0.62%) declares a two-for-one split of its common stock for stockholders of record on August 23.<\/span>
\nKrispy Kreme (KKD +1.71%) upgraded to “Buy” from “Neutral” at Janney Capital.<\/span>
\nLazard reported a 5.22% passive stake in Advance Auto Parts (AAP +1.86%) .<\/span>
\nBloomberg reported that Apple (AAPL -1.42%) won a patent infringement suit against Samsung (SSNLF -3.25%) , with the U.S. International Trade Commission saying Samsung violated Apple’s patent rights and would be blocked from importing Samsung smartphones into the U.S. However, the ban is subject to a review by President Barack Obama on public policy grounds, which will allow Samsung to import phones during the review.<\/span>
\nCubist CBST reported a 27.5% stake in Trius Therapeutics (TSRX -0.29%) .<\/span>
\nHealth Management (HMA -0.15%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 7 cents, well below consensus of 16 cents.<\/span>
\nEarnings<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\nNotable earnings before today’s open: CRNT, GSS, PERI, SPR, SRT<\/span>
\nNotable earnings after today’s close: ALIM, APP, HMIN, IAG, IOC, NQ, SINA, TRQ, WX<\/span>
\nthis week’s Earnings<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s today’s <\/a>upgrades\/downgrades<\/a><\/span>
\n