{"id":6921,"date":"2013-08-14T07:31:40","date_gmt":"2013-08-14T12:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=6921"},"modified":"2013-08-14T07:31:40","modified_gmt":"2013-08-14T12:31:40","slug":"before-the-open-aug-14-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=6921","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Aug 14)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific market closed mixed, but winners moved up more than losers moved down. India, Indonesia and Japan did the best. Europe is currently mixed, but other than Greece (up 1.9%), there are no big movers. Futures here in the States point towards a slight down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nThe dollar is flat. Oil is down, copper is up. Gold is up slightly, silver down slightly.<\/span>
\nDespite news, earnings, worldwide developments and shady hedge fund manager activity<\/a>, the market has sung the same song the last 4+ weeks. Rallies get sold, dips get bought, and in the end the market has gone nowhere. The S&P has traded in a 30-point range. <\/span>
\nZooming in on the near term, the market has been in the habit of moving for 60-90 minutes and then sitting there in a tight range the rest of the day. It seems like there’s pent up pressure from being closed overnight, and once that pressure is released the market settles into a range and goes to sleep. Classic summer doldrums. The market is quiet, the Hamptons are hoping. <\/span>
\nDon’t force trades. If the trend was up, you could buy, use a loose stop and give positions time and space to play out. But in the current environment, you have to lower your expectations. Shoot for 5% gains instead of 10-20%.<\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com….<\/span>
\nAeropostale (ARO -0.53%) was downgraded to “Underweight” from “Hold” at KeyBanc.<\/span>
\nTransocean (RIG -0.21%) was downgraded to “Neutral” from “Strong Buy” at ISI Group.<\/span>
\nDeere & Co. (DE +0.64%) reported Q3 EPS of $2.56, stronger than consensus of $2.18.<\/span>
\nUS Airways (LCC -13.07%) and Delta Air Lines (DAL) were both downgraded to “Neutral” from “Overweight” at JPMorgan.<\/span>
\nUnited Microelectronics (UMC +0.50%) was downgraded to “Sell” from “Neutral” at Goldman.<\/span>
\nCitigroup upgraded (SINA +3.17%) to “Buy” from “Sell” and raised its price target for the stock to $96 from $35.<\/span>
\nTowers Watson (TW +0.52%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.36, better than consensus of $1.27.<\/span>
\nCNBC said David Tepper added 7 million shares of Goodyear Tire (GT -0.88%) to his holdings, which now stand at 22 million shares, making Tepper the largest shareholder of Goodyear Tire.<\/span>
\nJDSU (JDSU unch) dropped over 1% in European trading after it lowered its Q1 revenue estimate to $410 million-$430 million, lower than consensus $432.79 million.<\/span>
\nSeaWorld (SEAS -0.41%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 41 cents, well below consensus of 51 cents, and cut its fiscal 2013 revenue estimate to 1.45 billion-$1.48 billion, below consensus $1.5 billion.<\/span>
\nCree (CREE +1.35%) fell 15% in after-hours trading after it cut its Q1 revenue estimate to $380 million-$400 million, below consensus of $398.4 million, and said its sees Q1 EPS of 36 cents-41 cents, also below consensus of 43 cents.<\/span>
\nPennyMac (PMT -1.57%) files to sell 11.3 million shares of common stock.<\/span>
\nBrocade (BRCD +1.02%) jumped 15% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 19 cents, stronger than consensus of 12 cents.<\/span>
\nEarnings<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\nNotable earnings before today’s open: DE, ELOS, HCLP, JKS, M, OSIS, PF, TW<\/span>
\nNotable earnings after today’s close: A, CACI, CSCO, HIMX, NTAP, NTES, RENN, SLW<\/span>
\nthis week’s Earnings<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s today’s <\/a>upgrades\/downgrades<\/a><\/span>
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