{"id":7714,"date":"2014-06-04T07:31:09","date_gmt":"2014-06-04T12:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7714"},"modified":"2014-06-04T07:31:09","modified_gmt":"2014-06-04T12:31:09","slug":"before-the-open-jun-4-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7714","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Jun 4)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mostly down. Australia, Hong Kong, China and Singapore suffered the biggest losses. There were no noticeable winners. Europe currently leans to the downside. Norway, Italy and Spain are down the most; Russia is up 0.4%. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is flat. Oil is up, copper down. Gold is up, silver down. <\/span>
\n Yesterday the Russell undercut its previous day’s low, the mid caps push above its previous day’s high and the Dow, Nas and SPX formed inside days – that’s where all the movement takes place within the high and low of the previous day. <\/span>
\n The market is very noncommittal right now. Some signs point up, others point down. It’s typical for there to be a few non-confirming indicators, but right now there are more indicators sitting in neutral than are hinting at a directional move. <\/span>
\n This is the market we’ve been dealt. Surprisingly we’ve had quite a few good trades (virtually every stock on the Long List which has triggered is posting a gain right now), but we’re not exactly getting robust follow through. Without a strong wind at our backs, swinging for singles and doubles (as opposed to home runs) is the only way to go. More after the open. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Barclays (BCS -0.79%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ at HSBC.<\/span>
\n Broadcom (BRCM +2.99%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Standpoint Research.<\/span>
\n The WSJ reports that NRG Energy (NRG +1.21%) is close to buying Alta Wind Energy Center (EIX +0.97%) , the largest wind farm in North America, for $800 million.<\/span>
\n Coach (COH -0.20%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Sterne Agee.<\/span>
\n Credit Suisse (CS -0.74%) was upgraded to ‘Conviction Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.<\/span>
\n Deutsche Bank (DB -0.22%) was upgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Sell’ at Goldman Sachs.<\/span>
\n Under Armour (UA -0.72%) gained 1.4% in pre-market trading after the stock was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Jeffries.<\/span>
\n Northrop Grumman (NOC -0.39%) was awarded a $9.9 billion government contract for B-2 modernization and sustainment.<\/span>
\n ABM Industries (ABM -1.79%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 33 cents, well below consensus of 40 cents.<\/span>
\n Ascena Retail (ASNA -0.79%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 27 cents, well ahead of consensus of 19 cents.<\/span>
\n Mattress Firm (MFRM -0.74%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 31 cents, below consensus of 36 cents.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
\n 8:15 ADP Jobs Report
\n 8:30 Gallup U.S. Job Creation Index
\n 8:30 International Trade
\n 8:30 Productivity and Costs
\n 9:45 PMI Services Index
\n 10:00 ISM Non-Manufacturing Index
\n 10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
\n 2:00 PM Fed’s Beige Book<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before Wednesday\u2019s open:BF.B, CYBX, HOV, IXYS, LDOS<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after Wednesday\u2019s close BV, FIVE, GEF, PVH, RLD, VRNT<\/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