{"id":7903,"date":"2014-08-25T07:41:20","date_gmt":"2014-08-25T12:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7903"},"modified":"2014-08-25T07:41:20","modified_gmt":"2014-08-25T12:41:20","slug":"before-the-open-aug-25-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7903","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Aug 25)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a good weekend.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed, but there weren’t any big movers. Japan did relatively well (up 0.5%); China and Malaysia dropped around 0.5%. Europe is currently posting solid, across-the-board gains. Germany, France, Italy and Spain are up more than 1%; Austria, Amsterdam and Prague are also doing well. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap up open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is up. Oil and copper are up. Gold is down a little, silver up a little. <\/span>
\n Last week we got a solid week of gains and some high prints from some indicators (AD line, AD volume line), but several indicators are still lagging (new highs, bullish percent). Plus the small caps are lagging big time – the large caps and Nas are at new highs, the Russell is not close. I continue to like the upside, but I don’t love it due to the extent of the vertical move the last three weeks and the divergences just mentioned. <\/span>
\n Another cause for concern is the lack of quality set-ups. Typically when the market is strong, I have a hard time narrowing the list to a workable number. Today, despite the Nas and SPX being at new highs, I don’t see very many good set-ups to trade. There’s a few, but the low number makes me wonder why more stocks aren’t participating.<\/span>
\n I saw many sources pinpoint Yellen’s speech as a turning point. When that happens, when an opinion gains momentum and becomes the consensus, it never happens when expected. Even if the speech is to act as a turning point, the turn won’t come for a couple extra days – just long enough frustrate the believers. <\/span>
\n I’ve been very clear in this morning right up the last three weeks that my bias was to the upside. It remains there, but I’m backing off a little. The risk\/rewards isn’t there any more, and I’m a little concerned with the lack of participation. More after the open. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Burger King Worldwide (BKW +1.01%) is up over 5% in pre-market trading after saying it is in talks to acquire Tim Hortons Inc.<\/span>
\n Texas Roadhouse (TXRH +1.12%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’ at Stephens.<\/span>
\n Foot Locker (FL +2.95%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ at Piper Jaffray.<\/span>
\n Boeing (BA -0.03%) announced an order by BOC Aviation for 82 airplanes worth $8.8 billion.<\/span>
\n CBOE Holdings (CBOE +0.10%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Raymond James.<\/span>
\n U.S. Steel (X +2.66%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Underperform’ at Credit Suisse.<\/span>
\n Goldman Sachs (GS +0.18%) announced an agreement with FHFA to repurchase $3.15 billion in residential mortgage-backed securities, or RMBS, purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the 2005-2007 period to resolve all federal and state securities law claims brought by FHFA with respect to RMBS.<\/span>
\n Zilkha Investments reported a 5.38% passive stake in Higher One (ONE -1.99%) .<\/span>
\n JAT Capital reported a 6.73% stake in Madison Square Garden (MSG +2.28%) .<\/span>
\n OrbiMed Advisors reported an 11.1% stake in Otonomy (OTIC +5.58%).<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 8:30 Chicago Fed National Activity Index
\n 9:45 PMI Services Index Flash
\n 10:00 New Home Sales
\n 10:30 Dallas Fed Manufacturing Outlook<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: OSIS, QIHU<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: ADEP, FN, PSEC, RENN<\/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