{"id":7262,"date":"2013-12-24T08:28:12","date_gmt":"2013-12-24T13:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7262"},"modified":"2013-12-24T08:28:12","modified_gmt":"2013-12-24T13:28:12","slug":"before-the-open-dec-24-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7262","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Dec 24)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday. Merry Christmas. I’m just going through the motions here…not really expecting anyone to read this. <\/span>
\n A few of the Asian\/Pacific markets were closed today. Of the ones that opened, they closed mostly up, but gains were small. Most of Europe is closed. Small gains are posted by the open exchanges. Futures here in the States are flat.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is up a small amount. Oil and copper are up. Gold is up, silver down. <\/span>
\n Today’s a half-day. Tomorrow is a day off. In my opinion, when Christmas falls mid week like this, they should just close the market the day before anyways. What’s the point? Only the true addicts show up to work. \ud83d\ude42<\/span>
\n This is what I like about the market. Steady steady steady uptrend…<\/span>
\n\"\"
\n This is what concerns me. The rate of accent has increased twice, and I don’t think I can draw another trendline at a steeper slope without the market going parabolic. At some point, the market will have gone too far too fast, and it will have to correct – even if the economy is improving. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\n See ya. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Heartland Express (HTLD +3.99%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Stifel due to valuation.<\/span>
\n Enbridge (ENB +0.70%) was upgraded to ‘Conviction Buy’ from ‘Buy’ at Goldman with a price target of $52 based on its superior organic growth profile, visible cash flows, and above average earnings and dividend growth.<\/span>
\n Allergan (AGN -0.32%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Wells Fargo.<\/span>
\n AAR Corp. (AAR) jumped over 8% in after-hours trading after Northrop Grumman said the companies entered into a 5-year partnership where AAR will supply airframe parts and accessories to Northrup’s Hawkeye plane fleet in Japan.<\/span>
\n United Technologies’ (UTX +0.14%) Sikorsky Aircraft unit was awarded a $724 million government contract modification fund for program year three for 33 UH-60M helicopters and 24 HH-60M helicopters along with associated program management and integrated logistics support.<\/span>
\n Raytheon (RTN +0.79%) has been awarded a $134.4 million government contract for the design and development of Global Aircrew Strategic Network Terminals.<\/span>
\n Tesla (TSLA +0.22%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reaffirmed the 5-star safety rating of the Tesla Model S in all subcategories for model Year 2014.<\/span>
\n Och-Ziff Capital reported a 6.16% passive stake in American Airlines (AAL -0.57%) .<\/span>
\n Great Point Partners reported a 9.985% passive stake in Bovie Medical (BVX +1.85%) .<\/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 Durable Goods
\n 8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
\n 9:00 FHFA House Price Index
\n 10:00 Richmond Fed Mfg.
\n 10:00 New Home Sales<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: none<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: none<\/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