{"id":7807,"date":"2014-07-10T08:28:25","date_gmt":"2014-07-10T13:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7807"},"modified":"2014-07-10T08:28:25","modified_gmt":"2014-07-10T13:28:25","slug":"before-the-open-jul-10-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7807","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Jul 10)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Thursday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific market closed with a lean to the upside. Indonesia led with a 1.5% gain followed by Taiwan (up 0.8%). Japan dropped the most (down 0.6%). Europe is posting stiff, across-the-board losses. Spain, Italy, Austria, Amsterdam, Norway and Greece are down more than 2%; Belgium, Stockholm, Switzerland, Prague, Russia, London, France and Germany are down more than 1%. Futures here in the States point towards a huge gap down open for the cash market (S&P futures are down 21).
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are up.<\/span>
\n The market sold off with some intensity on Monday and Tuesday and then bounced yesterday. Today the market is set to fall hard…at least at the opening bell. Renewed concerns about some of the EU’s financially weakest members has resurfaced. Portuguese bonds got crushed on concerns debt payments may be missed by a company linked to the country’s second largest bank. With this news, memory of Greece, Spain and Italy quickly surface and the reality that the European economy isn’t as nearly as strong as the US economy, which is only do pretty good. <\/span>
\n I’ve been laying low the last week, wanting to see what shakes out. It’s unknown whether the recent weakness is the beginning a legit pullback or just another minor dip within a long extended uptrend. Plus with leaving Costa Rica in two days, I have a lot of loose ends to tie up, so I’ve been more of a spectator than a participant. <\/span>
\n Perhaps the news from Portugal will blow over. Perhaps it’s a canary in a coal mine. We’ll see. For now I’m still laying low and not interested in doing much in the near term. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Family Dollar Stores (FDO -0.22%) reported Q3 EPS of 85 cents, below consensus of 89 cents.<\/span>
\n UnitedHealth (UNH +0.99%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Jefferies.<\/span>
\n Starwood (HOT +1.90%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at MLV & Co.<\/span>
\n Allscripts (MDRX -0.39%) was upgraded to ‘Strong Buy’ from ‘Buy’ at ISI Group.<\/span>
\n Alcoa (AA +5.66%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’ at Morgan Stanley.<\/span>
\n Billionare activist investor Carl Icahn reported a 9.98% stake in Seventy Seven Energy (SSE -2.30%) .<\/span>
\n PrivateBancorp (PVTB -0.82%) and MB Financial (MBFI -0.49%) were both upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Sterne Agee.<\/span>
\n Lumber Liquidators (LL -8.06%) slumped 16% in after-hours trading after it cut guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS view to $2.65-$3.00 from $3.25-$3.60, well below consensus of $3.34.<\/span>
\n Republic Airways (RJET -1.87%) raised guidance on Q2 EPS view to 35 cents-40 cents from 30 cents-35 cents, above consensus of 34 cents.<\/span>
\n Potbelly (PBPB -2.92%) sank 18% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on Q2 adjusted EPS to approximately 6 cents, only half of consensus of 12 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 adjusted EPS to 18 cents-21 cents, well below consensus of 34 cents.<\/span>
\n Ruta Zandman reported a 7.6% stake in Vishay (VSH +0.26%) .<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n Chain Store Sales
\n 8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
\n 10:00 Wholesale Trade
\n 10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
\n 1:00 PM Results of $13B, 30-Year Note Auction
\n 1:15 PM Fed’s George: Monetary Policy
\n 4:30 PM Money Supply
\n 4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: FDO, PGR<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: CUDA, EOPN, PSMT, VOXX<\/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