{"id":7883,"date":"2014-08-15T07:32:50","date_gmt":"2014-08-15T12:32:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7883"},"modified":"2014-08-15T07:32:50","modified_gmt":"2014-08-15T12:32:50","slug":"before-the-open-aug-15-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7883","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Aug 15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Options Expiration Day. <\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mostly up. China, Hong Kong and Singapore led with gains in the 0.6% – 0.9% range. Europe is currently up across-the-board. Russia is up 1%; Germany, France, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Spain are also doing well. Futures here in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is down. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are down. <\/span>
\n Coming off a big up day last Friday the market has rallied 3 of 4 days this week, and as of now has its biggest weekly gain in six weeks. Things get tougher from here. Volume has been light and one-by-one the indexes will bump up against overhead resistance. <\/span>
\n Many breadth indicators have reversed to support the market’s recent strength. The AD line and AD volume line are above 0, new highs have expanded, new lows have contracted, the ATR is now pointing down and the bullish percent indexes are in the process of curling up. <\/span>
\n Despite all that’s going on in the world, the recent move off the high doesn’t look any different than other corrections. Here’s the daily S&P 500 chart. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\n I’m not all in, but my up bias remains. More after the open.<\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Ultra Petroleum (UPL +2.89%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at UBS.<\/span>
\n Perrigo (PRGO) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at B. Riley with a price target of $180.<\/span>
\n bebe stores (BEBE +1.42%) were downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Janney Capital.<\/span>
\n DaVita (DVA +0.94%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Deutsche Bank.<\/span>
\n Starwood (HOT +0.50%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’ at Barclays.<\/span>
\n SuperValu (SVU +0.52%) says its computer network experienced a criminal intrusion.<\/span>
\n Mallinckrodt (MNK +1.82%) will replace Rowan Companies (RDC -0.82%) in S&P 500 as of the close of trading on August 18.<\/span>
\n Gannett (GCI +0.06%) climbed 6% in after-hours trading after billionare activist investor Carl Icahn reported a 6.63% stake in the company.<\/span>
\n Monster Beverage (MNST +0.70%) surged over 20% in after-hours trading after Coca-Cola reported a 16.7% stake in the company.<\/span>
\n Berkshire Hathaway reported a 6.0% passive stake in Dow Chemical (DOW -0.70%) .<\/span>
\n Autodesk (ADSK +0.88%) rose 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 35 cents, stronger than consensus of 29 cents.<\/span>
\n Agilent (A +1.53%) reported Q3 EPS of 78 cents, higher than consensus of 74 cents.<\/span>
\n Nordstrom (JWN +0.84%) dropped over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 95 cents, right on consensus, but reported Q2 revenue of $3.3 billion, less than consensus of $3.39 billion.<\/span>
\n Applied Materials (AMAT +0.86%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 28 cents, better than consensus of 27 cents.<\/span>
\n J.C. Penney (JCP +4.17%) rallied over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q2 adjusted EPS loss of -75 cents, a smaller loss than consensus pf -93 cents.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 8:30 Producer Price Index-FD
\n 8:30 Empire State Mfg Survey
\n 9:00 Treasury International Capital
\n 9:15 Industrial Production
\n 9:55 Reuters\/UofM Consumer Sentiment
\n 10:00 E-Commerce Retail Sales<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: EL, JD<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: none<\/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