{"id":8028,"date":"2014-10-17T07:31:24","date_gmt":"2014-10-17T12:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=8028"},"modified":"2014-10-17T07:31:24","modified_gmt":"2014-10-17T12:31:24","slug":"before-the-open-oct-17-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=8028","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Oct 17)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Options Expiration Day.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Japan and Taiwan dropped 1.4%; South Korea dropped 0.95%. Everything else closed up, led by Indonesia (up 1.56%) and Malaysia (up 0.97%). Europe is curretly posting very big, across-the-board gains. Greece is up almost 7%; Norway is up better than 3%; Spain and Italy are up better than 2%; Austria, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Switzerland, Prague, Russia, Germany and France are up more than 1%. Futures here in the States point towards a big gap up open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is down. Oil is up, copper down. Gold and silver are flat. <\/span>
\n Two days ago I switched my short term bias to the up direction. We got a little scare at yesterday’s open with a big gap down, but all was good by the close. Now we’re going to get a big gap up, so as of today’s open, the S&P will be almost 60 points off its low. <\/span>
\n This is my official stance ->> short term I favor the upside but longer term I favor the downside until\/unless the bulls definitely take control. The bulls no longer deserve the benefit of the doubt, and I simply don’t trust them. Things could change. Almost every bottom over the last 5 years has been a V bottom and what started as an innocent bounce within a downtrend kept going and going and going…and before traders could get long, they were shaking their heads at the fact that the S&P was 100 points off its low and closing in on new highs. If the bulls want to do this again, fine, but until they definitely take control, I won’t trust any move. <\/span>
\n I’m long, but I’m not giving positions a lot wiggle room. I’m in momentum trades off depressed levels, and I will not give profits back. More after the open. <\/span>
\n Stock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Morgan Stanley (MS -0.25%) reported Q3 EPS of 65 cents, much better than consensus of 54 cents.<\/span>
\n Comerica (CMA +1.23%) reported Q3 EPS of 74 cents, less than consensus of 79 cents.<\/span>
\n Honeywell International (HON +1.50%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.47, higher than consensus of $1.41.<\/span>
\n General Electric (GE -0.12%) reported Q3 EPS of 38 cents, better than consensus of 37 cents.<\/span>
\n Kindred Healthcare (KND +0.73%) reported a 14.6% stake in Gentiva Health (GTIV +0.36%) .<\/span>
\n Crown Holdings (CCK +2.33%) reported Q3 ex-items EPS of $1.36, stronger than consensus of $1.21.<\/span>
\n Urban Outfitters (URBN -0.37%) tumbled over 10% in after-hours trading after it said that its Q3 gross profit margin may weaken due to lower than expected sales.<\/span>
\n Xilinx (XLNX +2.42%) gained 4% in European trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 62 cents, better than consensus of 55 cents.<\/span>
\n Advanced Micro Devices (AMD +1.15%) fell over 6% in after-hours tradig after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 3 cents, less than consensus of 4 cents.<\/span>
\n Point72 Asset reported a 5.2% passive stake in Lumber Liquidators (LL +0.93%) .<\/span>
\n Capital One (COF -0.86%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.86, weaker than consensus of $1.94.<\/span>
\n SanDisk (SNDK +1.14%) declined nearly 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of $1.45, higher than consensus of $1.33, but reported Q3 revenue of $1.75 billion, below consensus of $1.77 billion.<\/span>
\n Google (GOOG -1.04%) fell almost 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of $6.35, below consensus of $6.53.<\/span>
\n Stryker (SYK -0.35%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.15, better than consensus of $1.14.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 8:30 Housing Starts
\n 9:55 Reuters\/UofM Consumer Sentiment
\n 8:35 Janet Yellen speech<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: BK, CMA, FHN, GE, HON, HBAN, KSU, MTB, MS, STI, TXT<\/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