{"id":7538,"date":"2014-04-15T07:56:40","date_gmt":"2014-04-15T12:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7538"},"modified":"2014-04-15T07:56:40","modified_gmt":"2014-04-15T12:56:40","slug":"before-the-open-apr-15-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7538","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Apr 15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. Hong Kong, China and India dropped; Singapore, Taiwan, Australia and Japan moved up. Europe is currently mixed. Russia, Austria, Greece and Stockholm lead to the downside; Italy leads to the upside. Futures here in the States point towards a gap up open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are getting clobbered. <\/span>
\n Yesterday turned out to be more of the same movement we’ve seen the last month – the Dow and S&P 500 did well while the Nas, small caps and mid caps pulled up the rear. Two of the developments I’m looking for to signal a potential bottom is the Nasdaq out-performing the NYSE and the small caps doing better than the large caps. Neither are happening, so I’m maintaining my bearish bias in the intermediate term. Short term anything goes – especially during a holiday-shortened week – but over the next several weeks, I see more downside coming. <\/span>
\n Also, several technical indicators are pointing down but are still far from oversold levels. <\/span>
\n If you’re a long only trader or someone who plays the bigger picture, patience is needed. If you buy too soon, you’ll get caught holding a basket of down stocks. Hold off, wait for more intense selling and for the indicators to hit extreme levels. Then do some buying. <\/span>
\n If you’re shorter term, then trade…expect volatility…expect big moves in both directions. Have a plan and don’t dig your feet in and defend a position. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Morgan Stanley (MS +2.07%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at BofA\/Merrill.<\/span>
\n International Business Machines (IBM +1.32%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Citigroup.<\/span>
\n Coca-Cola (KO +0.26%) reported Q1 EPS of 44 cents, right on consensus, although Q1 revenue of $10.58 billion was higher than consensus of $10.55 billion.<\/span>
\n Jeffries keeps its ‘Buy’ rating on Google (GOOG +0.36%) as it raises its price target on the stock to $700 from $650.<\/span>
\n International Paper (IP +0.31%) downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Longbow.<\/span>
\n PetSmart (PETM +2.23%) was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at BofA\/Merrill.<\/span>
\n Comerica (CMA +0.70%) reported Q1 EPS of 74 cents, higher than consensus of 72 cents.<\/span>
\n Sensient (SXT +1.02%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 71 cents, better than consensus of 66 cents, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2014 adjusted EPS to $2.92-$3.00 from $2.86-$2.94, above consensus of $2.92.<\/span>
\n WebMD (WBMD +16.46%) was reinstated with a ‘Strong Buy’ at Raymond James wit a price target of $54.<\/span>
\n Dean Foods (DF +0.53%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at BB&T with a proce target of $21.<\/span>
\n OZ Management reported a 7.32% stake in Genco Shipping (GNK -3.65%) .<\/span>
\n Pep Boys (PBY +0.67%) fell over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q4 EPS loss of -6 cents with charge, well below consensus of a 5 cent profit.<\/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 Consumer Price Index
\n 8:30 Empire State Mfg Survey
\n 8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
\n 9:00 Treasury International Capital
\n 10:00 Business Inventories
\n 10:00 NAHB Housing Market Index<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: CMA, INFY, JNJ, KO, NTRS<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: ADTN, CSX, IBKR, INTC, LLTC, YHOO<\/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