{"id":7054,"date":"2013-10-01T07:25:36","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T12:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7054"},"modified":"2013-10-01T07:25:36","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T12:25:36","slug":"before-the-open-oct-1-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7054","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Oct 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mostly up. India, Indonesia and Singapore did the best. Europe is currently mostly up. London is down 0.5%, but Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Czech Republic are doing well. Futures here in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is down. Oil is flat, copper down. Gold and silver are down. <\/span>
\n For the first time in 17 years the government has partially shutdown. All nonessential employees (~ 800K) were told not to show up for work today. It’s not the first time, but it is the first time in a while. The longest shutdown lasted 21 days. The average is 7.<\/span>
\n The market will be held somewhat hostage until Congress agrees on a budget. As I’ve said many times, Wall St is agnostic. It doesn’t take sides; in fact it routinely donates money to both parties. Wall St can handle anything thrown its way, but it doesn’t like to be left in limbo; it doesn’t like uncertainty. Until this mess passes, uncertainty is what we’ll have. <\/span>
\n The technicals don’t matter as much right now, but let’s keep them in mind. The S&P is sitting right at my first target (1680). I still consider the recent action to be a normal pullback within an uptrend.<\/span>
\n\"\"
\n Long and intermediate term I like the market. Short term anything goes – especially with what’s going on in Washington. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Nike (NKE -1.36%) was upgraded to “Buy” from “Hold” at Argus.<\/span>
\n Agilent (A -0.74%) was downgraded to “Hold” from “Buy” at Stifel.<\/span>
\n T-Mobile (TMUS -0.38%) was upgraded to “Outperform” from “Perform” at Oppenheimer.<\/span>
\n Walgreen (WAG -1.30%) reported Q4 EPS of 73 cents, right on expectations.<\/span>
\n Wells Fargo (WFC -0.65%) announced that it will pay Freddie Mac (FMCC +0.80%) $780 million in a loan settlement that resolves all repurchase liabilities related to loans sold to Freddie Mac prior to Jan. 1, 2009.<\/span>
\n The FDA approved the drug Brintellix, co-marketed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals (TKPYY +0.59%) and Lundbeck, to treat adults with major depressive disorder.<\/span>
\n Pratt & Whitney (UTX -1.41%) was awarded a $2.5 billion government contract for various weapons systems spare parts.<\/span>
\n Raytheon (RTN -2.12%) was awarded a $230 million government contract modification for operation and sustainment efforts of the X-Band radar in support of the Missile Defense Agency\u2019s Sensors Program.<\/span>
\n Clarcor (CLC +0.87%) boosted its quarterly dividend to 17 cents from 13.5 cents per share.<\/span>
\n Mercury Systems (MRCY +1.94%) was awarded a $3.9 million contract from the U.S. Navy for advanced Digital RF Memory jammers.<\/span>
\n Diamond Foods (DMND -2.57%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 9 cents, better than consensus for a -3 cent loss.<\/span>
\n Paychex (PAYX +0.72%) reported Q1 EPS of 44 cents, better than consensus of 43 cents.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n Auto sales
\n 7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales
\n 8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
\n 9:00 PMI Manufacturing Index
\n 10:00 ISM Manufacturing Index
\n 10:00 Construction Spending<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: WAG<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: GPN<\/span>
\nOther<\/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