{"id":7026,"date":"2013-09-17T07:24:10","date_gmt":"2013-09-17T12:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7026"},"modified":"2013-09-17T07:24:10","modified_gmt":"2013-09-17T12:24:10","slug":"before-the-open-sep-17-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7026","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Sep 17)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed, but China (down 2.1%) was the only big loser. Europe is currently mostly down, but only Spain and Greece are down much. Futures here in the States are flat.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is down. Oil is down, copper flat. Gold and silver are up.<\/span>
\n The 2-day FOMC meeting begins today and will end tomorrow with the Fed’s latest statement where they’re expected to decrease their bond purchasing activity. The key word there is “decrease.” Notice I did not say “end.” The market has priced in a $10 billion reduction. More than that could bring sellers to the table because although the market is doing well, the economy is muddling along. <\/span>
\n At any given time, something – the technicals, news, earnings, the Fed, something – dominates. Right now it’s the Fed. Put all other analysis techniques to the side for now. The Fed is in control. <\/span>
\n Once the Fed is done, focus will turn back to the technicals. Unless things escalate in Syria, we’ll have a couple weeks off before earnings season starts and debt ceiling talks ramp up. <\/span>
\n For now, the Fed is in charge. <\/span>
\n Stock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n ConAgra (CAG +0.66%) was downgraded to “Neutral” from “Overweight” at JPMorgan.<\/span>
\n Kellogg (K +0.56%) was downgraded to “Underweight” from “Neutral” at JPMorgan.<\/span>
\n US Airways (LCC +1.12%) and Delta Air Lines (DAL +3.03%) were both pgraded to “Overweight” from “Neutral” at JPMorgan.<\/span>
\n Verizon (VZ +1.13%) was upgraded to “Outperform” from “Sector Perform” at RBC Capital.<\/span>
\n The WSJ report that JPMorgan (JPM +1.05%) is expected to pay $800 million in ‘London Whale’ fines.<\/span>
\n Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB +0.60%) was downgraded to “Neutral” from “Buy” at Goldman.<\/span>
\n Huntsman (HUN -0.67%) will acquire Rockwood (ROC +0.94%) TiO2 business for $1.1 billion.<\/span>
\n Chico’s FAS (CHS +1.98%) was upgraded to “Buy” from “Hold” at KeyBanc.<\/span>
\n Altria Group (MO +0.83%) raised guidance on fiscal 2013 EPS view to $2.57-$2.62 from $2.51-$2.56, well above consensus of $2.39.<\/span>
\n Pandora (P unch) filed to sell 14 million shares of common stock.<\/span>
\n Outerwall (OUTR -2.32%) plunged over 17% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on fiscal 2013 EPS view to $4.72-$5.12 from $5.76-$6.26, well below consensus of $5.91.<\/span>
\n Earnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:<\/span>
\n FOMC meeting begins
\n 7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales
\n 8:30 Consumer Price Index
\n 8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
\n 9:00 Treasury International Capital
\n 10:00 NAHB Housing Market Index<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: FDS<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: ADBE<\/span>
\n Other<\/strong>…<\/span>
\ntoday’s upgrades\/downgrades<\/a> from briefing.com<\/span>
\nthis week’s Earnings<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Economic Numbers<\/a><\/span>
\n