{"id":7989,"date":"2014-09-29T07:47:56","date_gmt":"2014-09-29T12:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7989"},"modified":"2014-09-29T07:47:56","modified_gmt":"2014-09-29T12:47:56","slug":"before-the-open-sep-29-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7989","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Sep 29)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a good weekend. <\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the downside. Hong Kong dropped 1.9%, and Australia dropped 0.9%. India, Korea and Taiwan posted small losses. Japan rallied 0.5%, followed by China (up 0.43%) and Malaysia (up 0.32%). Europe is currently mostly down. Greece is down 2.36%, followed by Spain (down 1%), Italy (down 0.9%), Austria (down 0.7%) and Germany and France (down 0.5%). Prague is up 0.94%. Futures here in the States point towards a big gap down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is down. Oil and copper are down. Gold is up slightly, silver is down. <\/span>
\n Last week the market posted its biggest down week since July. It dropped big Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and rallied Wednesday and Friday. Everyday was a trend day. Once the momentum built, there were no reversals – just steady movement in one direction. The S&P and Nas broke down from consolidation patterns, and the Russell dropped all the way to a previous low. <\/span>
\n Several indicators have moved far enough to extremes to support a bounce (AD line and AD volume lines have fallen to low levels, new lows have spiked, the TICK down, etc.) but a few others haven’t (bullish percent charts are not oversold yet). The market could continue Friday’s bounce, but many indicators would have to immediately reverse to support the attempt. <\/span>
\n Headlines seem to be more bullish than they should be. MarketWatch is anticipating great employment numbers Friday. CNBC.com had a story about how good Q4 could be. I’d feel better about the upside if major news outlets weren’t so bullish. <\/span>
\n My target for the S&P 500 remains at the 125-day MA per the chart below. That level has brought buyers to the market many times, so until it’s rendered irrelevant, let’s keep an eye on it. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\n Bias remains to the downside until the bulls retake control. More after the open.<\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Ferrellgas Partners LP (FGP +1.44%) reported a Q4 EPS loss of -58 cents, wider than consensus of a -31 cent loss.<\/span>
\n Mattel (MAT -1.25%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at MKM Partners.<\/span>
\n Baidu (BIDU +0.68%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at UBS.<\/span>
\n FedEx (FDX +1.67%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Cowen.<\/span>
\n Rent-A-Center (RCII +0.03%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at KeyBanc.<\/span>
\n Janus Capital (JNS +43.02%) was upgraded to ‘Equal Weight’ from ‘Underweight’ at Morgan Stanley.<\/span>
\n Encana (ECA +0.86%) acquires Athlon Energy (ATHL +2.61%) for $58.50 per share or $5.93 billion.<\/span>
\n Nike (NKE +12.23%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at Credit Suisse.<\/span>
\n Allianz (AZSEY -6.14%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’ at Credit Suisse.<\/span>
\n The U.S. Navy awarded Raytheon (RTN +1.33%) a $251 million contract to procure Tomahawk Block IV tactical cruise missiles for fiscal year 2014 with an option for 2015 for the U.S. Navy and for the U.K. Royal Navy.<\/span>
\n HealthCor Management reported a 4.0% stake in Allscripts (MDRX +1.04%) .<\/span>
\n Point72 Asset reported a 5.1% passive stake in Stage Stores (SSI +1.95%) .<\/span>
\n Meritage Group reported a 5.0% passive stake in Sally Beauty Supply (SBH +0.47%) .<\/span>
\n Alimera Sciences (ALIM -3.90%) soared over 25% in after-hours trading after it announced that the FDA has approved its Iluvien drug for the treatment of diabetic macular edema.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 8:30 Personal Income and Outlays
\n 10:00 Pending Home Sales
\n 10:30 Dallas Fed Manufacturing Outlook
\n 3:00 PM Farm Prices<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: CALM, CMN, FGP<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: CTAS, SNX<\/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