{"id":7994,"date":"2014-10-01T07:38:56","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T12:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7994"},"modified":"2014-10-01T07:38:56","modified_gmt":"2014-10-01T12:38:56","slug":"before-the-open-oct-1-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7994","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Oct 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. South Korea dropped 1.4%, and Hong Kong dropped 1.3%. Japan and Singapore also did poorly. Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan did well to the upside. Europe is currently mostly down. Greece is up 1.1%, but Stockholm is down 0.95%, followed by Norway (down 0.67%), France and London (down 0.62%) and Amsterdam (down 0.52%). Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is up. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are flat. <\/span>
\n We entered this week with a lot of ifs – if X and Y and Z, then the market could rally – but nothing of the ifs have happened. The AD and AD volume lines continue to move down, the bullish percent charts continue down, volatility remains high, the PC ratio is moving up, new highs are nowhere to be found while new lows print at a healthy rate. The bears are in control. Period. And since we’ve already reached washout levels on several indicators and have not bounced, we have to entertain the possibility a change in character is underway. <\/span>
\n My first downside target is SPX 1939 – that’s the 125-day MA, a significant level the last year. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\n After that I’m eyeing 1900 even. Besides it being close to the August low, it’s a big, fat, whole number. <\/span>
\n On the way up I tell trader to not over-analyze…just buy breakouts and pullbacks and stop being in a state of denial. I’ll say the same thing on the way down. Go with the trend and stop making “yeah but” excuses. More after the open. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Dean Foods (DF +0.61%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at BB&T.<\/span>
\n Panera Bread (PNRA +2.51%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Wunderlich.<\/span>
\n Tyson Foods (TSN +1.34%) was upgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Underperform’ at Credit Suisse.<\/span>
\n Janus Capital (JNS -1.09%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Jefferies.<\/span>
\n eBay (EBAY +7.54%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Jefferies.<\/span>
\n Allergan (AGN -0.84%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Stifel.<\/span>
\n Freeport McMoRan (FCX +0.77%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Brean Capital with a price target of $39.<\/span>
\n Lockheed Martin (LMT +0.78%) was awarded a $246.61 million modification to a previously awarded government contract to develop, test, and certify two Drag Chute Systems for the Low Rate Initial Production Lot VII F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.<\/span>
\n Tekmira (TKMR +2.22%) surged 20%, Hemispherx BioPharma (HEB unch) climbed 15%, NewLink Genetics (NLNK -7.11%) jumped 14%, and BioCryst (BCRX -6.77%) rose over 10% in after-hours trading after the CDC confirmed that an individual traveling from Liberia has been diagnosed with the Ebola virus in the U.S.<\/span>
\n NRG Energy (NRG +0.23%) was upgraded to ‘Strong Buy’ from ‘Buy’ at ISI Group.<\/span>
\n Dynegy (DYN -1.54%) and Exelon (EXC -0.06%) were both upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at ISI Group.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n Auto sales
\n 7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
\n 8:15 ADP Jobs Report
\n 8:30 Gallup U.S. Job Creation Index
\n 9:45 PMI Manufacturing Index
\n 10:00 ISM Manufacturing Index
\n 10:00 Construction Spending
\n 10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
\n 11:00 Global Manufacturing PMI<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: AYI, AZZ<\/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