{"id":7164,"date":"2013-11-19T08:19:09","date_gmt":"2013-11-19T13:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7164"},"modified":"2013-11-19T08:19:09","modified_gmt":"2013-11-19T13:19:09","slug":"before-the-open-nov-19-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7164","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Nov 19)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan did well; Australia and New Zealand lagged. Europe is currently mostly down. France, Italy and Spain are down 1% or more. Futures here in the States point towards a gap down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is down slightly. Oil is down, copper is up. Gold and silver are up small amounts. <\/span>
\n Yesterday the market traded quietly in a tight range…until Carl Icahn said he was cautious on equities because so much of earnings have been due to low interest rates, not the companies themselves or management. Icahn is hot right now. Wall St. is listening\/clinging to his every word, so the market immediately sold off on the news. The losses weren’t great, and at the end of the day, the closing numbers weren’t anything out of the ordinary. The question now is whether the selling pressure was just a short-term blip or if the bears have some legs. <\/span>
\n Overall there isn’t much to dislike about the market. The indexes are in good shape. The groups are in good shape. Indicators are doing fine. The Fed isn’t going to raise rates or taper any time soon. Seasonality is favorable. <\/span>
\n As I’ve stated a couple times recently, the most bearish observation I can make is that everyone and everything seems bullish, so you gotta wonder who is left on the sidelines to buy. Because absent buying, stocks can’t move up. <\/span>
\n My stance remains the same…the trend is up. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS +0.97%) reported Q3 EPS of 40 cents, better than consensus of 39 cents.<\/span>
\n Best Buy (BBY -0.30%) jumped 3% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 18 cents, well ahead of consensus of 12 cents.<\/span>
\n Valspar (VAL -1.09%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 97 cents, stronger than consensus of 92 cents.<\/span>
\n Medtronic (MDT -0.41%) reported Q2 EPS of 91 cents, higher than consensus of 90 cents.<\/span>
\n Campbell Soup (CPB -1.44%) reported Q1 EPS of 66 cents, well below consensus of 86 cents.<\/span>
\n Home Depot (HD -0.45%) reported Q3 EPS of 95 cents, better than consensus of 90 cents.<\/span>
\n Greenlight Capital reported that it lowered its stake in Einstein Noah (BAGL -3.28%) to 38.3% from 53.1%.<\/span>
\n ING Group (ING -0.46%) said it will sell its 11.3% direct stake in Brazilian insurer SulAm\u00e9rica to Swiss Re.<\/span>
\n Salesforce.com (CRM -3.14%) fell 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 9 cents, right on consensus, but then gave guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS of 33 cents-34 cents, on the low end of consensus of 34 cents.<\/span>
\n Brocade (BRCD +0.12%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 24 cents, well ahead of consensus of 18 cents.<\/span>
\n Urban Outfitters (URBN -1.32%) reported Q3 EPS of 47 cents, better than consensus of 45 cents.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales
\n 8:30 Employment Cost Index
\n 8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
\n 2:15 PM Fed’s Evans: U.S. Economy and Monetary Policy
\n 7:00 PM Bernanke Press Conference<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: AMAP, BBY, CPB, DAKT, DKS, DSX, HD, LEDS, LITB, MDT, QIWI, TJX, TSL, VAL<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: LZB<\/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