{"id":7421,"date":"2014-02-27T08:31:04","date_gmt":"2014-02-27T13:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7421"},"modified":"2014-02-27T08:31:04","modified_gmt":"2014-02-27T13:31:04","slug":"before-the-open-feb-27-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7421","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Feb 27)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Thursday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. Hong Kong rallied 1.7%; Indonesia also did well. Australia is up the most but not posting a huge gain. Europe is currently mostly down. Austria, Russia, Greece, Italy, Spain and Germany are posting sizable losses; Belgium is up 2.3%. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is up a little. Oil is flat, copper is down. Gold is flat, silver is down. <\/span>
\n On the daily chart, the market has formed two consecutive inside days. That’s where a day’s movement fits within the high and low of the previous day. It implies a day of rest, a day to restore previously spent energy. It also builds pressure because intraday rallies get sold and dips get bought – the market doesn’t move far enough in either direction to exhaust buying or selling demand.<\/span>
\n We have two of these such days in a row…and given they took place right at the S&P’s all-time highs, the odds of a forceful move are heightened. <\/span>
\n In fact I’d say the bulls need to take control soon and push prices up or else or the bears will take control. I don’t think prices just sits here. <\/span>
\n Be on your toes. We’ve had many good trades lately, but much of the easy money has been made. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Chico’s FAS (CHS +2.27%) reported Q4 EPS of 4 cents, well below consensus of 15 cents.<\/span>
\n Wendy’s (WEN +0.39%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 11 cents, stronger than consensus of 9 cents.<\/span>
\n Kohl’s (KSS +2.31%) reported Q4 EPS of $1.56, higher than consensus of $1.54.<\/span>
\n Baidu (BIDU +1.62%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Stifel.<\/span>
\n Windstream Holdings (WIN -0.75%) reported Q4 EPS of 20 cents, double consensus of 9 cents.<\/span>
\n Best Buy (BBY +2.02%) reported Q4 EPS of $1.24, better than consensus of $1.01.<\/span>
\n Transocean (RIG -0.94%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 73 cents, right on consensus, but reported Q4 revenue of $2.332 billion, below consensus of $2.36 billion.<\/span>
\n American Water (AWK -0.18%) reported Q4 EPS of 33 cents, well below consensus of 45 cents.<\/span>
\n Senator Investment reported a 5.0% passive stake in Brookdale Senior Living (BKD +5.62%) .<\/span>
\n L Brands (LB +4.01%) reported Q4 EPS of $1.65, higher than consensus of $1.61.<\/span>
\n PetroChina (PTR +1.24%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Goldman.<\/span>
\n Greif (GEF +1.97%) reported Q1 EPS with items of 51 cents, below consensus of 55 cents.<\/span>
\n Cree (CREE +2.95%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ at Piper Jaffray.<\/span>
\n Autodesk (ADSK +0.11%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 40 cents, better than consensus of 34 cents.<\/span>
\n Roundy’s (RNDY -0.15%) reported Q4 adjsuted EPS of 25 cents, above consensus of 17 cents.<\/span>
\n Whiting Petroleum (WLL -1.69%) reported Q4 EPS of 88 cents, right on expectations, but reported Q4 revenue of $720.5 million, better than consensus of $683.45 million.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 8:30 Durable Goods
\n 8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
\n 9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
\n 10:00 Yellen testimony before Senate Banking Committee
\n 10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
\n 11:00 Kansas City Fed Mfg Survey
\n 1:00 PM Results of $29B, 7-Year Note Auction
\n 4:30 PM Money Supply
\n 4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: ACAD, ALKS, AMCX, ANSS, BBEP, BBY, BDBD, CECO, CHS, CIE, CNSL, CQB, CWH, DANG, DATE, DYN, EPL, FIG, FRO, FWLT, GCAP, GTI, HII, IQNT, IRDM, ITC, KSS, LAMR, LKQ, LPI, LTXC, LXU, MYL, NRF, NTI, NTLS, NXTM, OCN, PLL, PQ, RDC, RTI, SFY, SNAK, SRE, SRPT, TD, VAC, VRX, WAC, WEN, WIN, WNR, WPX, YRCW<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: ACAD, AHT, AIRM, AL, ALIM, AMRN, APEI, ARNA, ATLS, AVD, BAGL, BCEI, BID, BIO, CEMP, CHUY, CLNE, CRM, DCO, DECK, ELGX, EPR, EVC, GPS, HALO, HTGC, KBR, KOG, LINE, MDVN, MELI, MENT, MNST, MTZ, NGD, NMBL, NOG, OLED, OVTI, PKT, PODD, REGI, ROST, SD, SFM, SLXP, SPLK, SPNC, SQNM, SWN, TESO, TUMI, UHS, WES, WG, WTR, XTEX, YOKU<\/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