{"id":7911,"date":"2014-08-28T07:35:49","date_gmt":"2014-08-28T12:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7911"},"modified":"2014-08-28T07:35:49","modified_gmt":"2014-08-28T12:35:49","slug":"before-the-open-aug-28-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7911","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Aug 28)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Thursday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed with a bearish bias. Japan, Hong Kong, China and Australia dropped 0.5% – 0.7%. Europe is currently down across-the-board. Austria is down 2%; Germany, Spain, Italy, Stockholm, Prague, Russia and Greece are down more than 1%. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\nLast chance to sign up for me 45-min Trader Planet webinar…here<\/a>.
\n<\/strong><\/span>
\n The dollar is up slightly. Oil is flat, copper is down. Gold and silver are up. <\/span>
\n The reason for today’s premarket weakness goes straight to Eastern Europe where tensions between Russia and Ukraine have escalated. I guess talks between the countries haven’t gone anywhere, and now there are reports of Russian military incursions into Ukraine. I’ve said this before…Russia is major military power and Putin cannot be trusted. What’s going on in Eastern Europe is far more combustible that the Middle East. <\/span>
\n If Wall St. could pick a time where escalating tensions overseas caused the market to drop, this would be a good time. The S&P hit a new all-time high two days ago and has closed above 2000 two consecutive days. It has moved up about 100 points since bottoming earlier this month and has barely corrected in three weeks. A rest is needed before attempting to rally again. <\/span>
\n I still like the market overall, but how you manage positions depends on your trading style. When the market gets over-bought, you can keep doing what you’re doing because you look into the future long enough that a minor correction doesn’t bother you. Or you could lighten up and look to re-enter and lower levels…at the risk of missing upside should the market not correct. Have a plan and stick to it. Personally I lighten up. <\/span>
\n We have a 3-day weekend ahead of us, and with the volume and volatility already falling off, unless things continue to escalate in Eastern Europe, the next two days are likely to be slow. More after the open. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Dollar General (DG +0.28%) reported Q2 EPS of 83 cents, right on consensus, although Q2 revenue of $4.72 billion was below consensus of $4.77 billion.<\/span>
\n Pall Corp. (PLL -0.48%) reported Q4 EPS of $1.14, better than consensus of $1.06.<\/span>
\n Signet Jewelers (SIG -0.36%) reported Q2 organic EPS of $1.00, better than consensus of 98 cents.<\/span>
\n British Petroleum (BP +0.37%) was downgraded to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’ at Morgan Stanley.<\/span>
\n Brown Forman (BF) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Deutsche Bank.<\/span>
\n Visa (V +0.18%) was downgraded to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ at Raymond James.<\/span>
\n Genuine Parts (GPC -0.02%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at SunTrust.<\/span>
\n Advance Auto Parts (AAP +1.01%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at SunTrust with a price target of $181 and O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY +0.23%) was also initiated with a ‘Buy’ at SunTrust with a price target of $193.<\/span>
\n Williams-Sonoma (WSM +0.05%) slid 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 53 cents, right on consensus, although Q2 revenue of $1.04 billion was below consensus of $1.05 billion. The company then lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS to $3.07-$3.17, below consensus of $3.20.<\/span>
\n Guess (GES -0.74%) fell 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 26 cents, weaker than consensus of 29 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS to $1.05-$1.20, well below consensus of $1.46.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
\n 8:30 GDP Q3
\n 8:30 Corporate Profits
\n 10:00 Pending Home Sales
\n 10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
\n 11:00 Kansas City Fed Mfg Survey
\n 1:00 PM Results of $29B, 7-Year Note Auction
\n 3:00 PM Farm Prices
\n 4:30 PM Money Supply
\n 4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: ANF, COTY, CSTM, DATE, DG, FRO, GCO, IKGH, PLL, SIG, TD<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: ANFI, AVGO, FRED, OVTI, PSUN, RALY, SPLK, UEPS, VEEV, ZOES<\/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