{"id":7844,"date":"2014-07-28T07:48:20","date_gmt":"2014-07-28T12:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7844"},"modified":"2014-07-28T07:48:20","modified_gmt":"2014-07-28T12:48:20","slug":"before-the-open-jul-28-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7844","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Jul 28)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning from San Diego, where I’ll be spending the next week. Happy Monday. Hope you had a nice weekend. <\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. China rallied 2.4%, followed by Hong Kong (up 0.9%) and Taiwan (up 0.7%). India fell 0.5%. Europe is currently mostly down. Russia is down 2.1%, followed by Austria (down 1.05%), Amsterdam and Norway (down 0.6%). Futures here in the States point towards a flat-to-down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is flat. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down. <\/span>
\n We start the new week similarly to how we started last week…with a lot of unanswered questions. <\/span>
\n Earnings season is ramping up. So far companies that beat are doing ok, while companies that miss are getting hit hard.<\/span>
\n We have a lot of econ news this week, highlighted by an FOMC statement on Wednesday and the latest employment figures Friday.<\/span>
\n Tensions in the Middle East and Eastern Europe continue. On any given day the market could gap up or down a bunch based on a sudden development. <\/span>
\n Technical indicators have neutralized so aren’t offering a strong signal in either direction.<\/span>
\n The quality of trading set ups right is ok – not horrible, but certainly not as good as when the market is solidly trending. <\/span>
\n Taken together, swing traders would be wise to be conservative. More after the open. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Tyson Foods (TSN -0.58%) reported Q3 EPS of 75 cents, weaker than consensus of 78 cents.<\/span>
\n PG&E (PCG -0.57%) was downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.<\/span>
\n Pfizer (PFE -0.49%) was downgraded to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ at BMO Capital.<\/span>
\n Time Warner Cable (TWC -1.09%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Wunderlich.<\/span>
\n Semtech (SMTC -4.26%) was upgraded to ‘Strong Buy’ from ‘Outperform’ at Raymond James.<\/span>
\n Reynolds American (RAI -0.75%) was upgraded to ‘Top Pick’ from ‘Outperform’ at RBC Capital.<\/span>
\n Cal-Maine Foods (CALM +0.66%) reported Q4 EPS $1.30, better than consensus of $1.15.<\/span>
\n Citigroup raised its price target for Chipotle (CMG +2.03%) to $793 from $648 and keeps its ‘Buy’ ratng on the stock.<\/span>
\n Dollar Tree (DLTR -1.33%) agreed to buy Family Dollar (FDO -0.79%) for $74.50 per share in cash and stock.<\/span>
\n Cisco (CSCO +0.54%) was downgraded to ‘Sector Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ at Pacific Crest.<\/span>
\n CIT Group (CIT +0.59%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’ at Morgan Stanley who also raised their price target on the stock to $57 from $46.<\/span>
\n Cummins (CMI -0.43%) reported Q2 EPS of $2.43, higher than consensus of $2.39.<\/span>
\n Roper Industries (ROP -0.14%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.56, better than consensus of $1.50.<\/span>
\n The U.S Commerce Department proposed expanded duties on some Chinese solar-energy imports, according to Bloomberg, potentially affecting Chinese solar companies such as Trina (TSL +0.71%), Yingli (YGE +0.57%) and JinkoSolar (JKS +2.17%), among others.<\/span>
\n Amazon.com (AMZN -9.65%) is likely to remain range-bound as costs escalate, according to Barron’s.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 9:00 PMI Services Index Flash
\n 10:00 Pending Home Sales
\n 10:30 Dallas Fed Manufacturing Outlook
\n 1:00 PM Results of $29B, 2-Year Note Auction<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: ACW, AHGP, ARLP, AWI, CALM, CMI, CMP, CRNT, CYOU, DCIX, EDR, LECO, MCY, NTLS, ONB, ROP, RPM, SIR, SOHU, STNG, TEN, TSN<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: ADVS, AFG, AFOP, AGNC, AMKR, ARE, BOH, CGNX, CR, DCO, DENN, EMN, EXAC, GGP, GHL, HLF, HLIT, HLS, IDTI, IPHS, JEC, JJSF, KN, LMNX, MAS, MERU, MSTR, NCLH, OMI, PCL, PRE, PSMI, RRC, SIMO, SSW, TTS, WRB, XL<\/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