{"id":8325,"date":"2015-02-20T08:21:46","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T13:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=8325"},"modified":"2015-02-20T08:21:46","modified_gmt":"2015-02-20T13:21:46","slug":"before-the-open-feb-20-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=8325","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Feb 20)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Friday.<\/span>
\n A few Asian\/Pacific markets are still closed. Japan and New Zealand moved up today; Australia and India moved down. Europe is currently mixed, but gains and losses are small. France, Italy, Amsterdam and Stockholm are down; Austria, Prague and London are up. Futures in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is up. Oil is up, copper down. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up. <\/span>
\n It’s been mostly a quiet week. The market moved up Monday and then followed through Tuesday, but since midday Tuesday, the indexes have mostly traded in a small range. In fact the S&P’s range for the entire week has been less than 13 points. Lately first-hour ranges have been 10 points and weekly ranges have been 50-60 points, so it’s been a very quiet week. <\/span>
\n Here’s the S&P 500 <\/strong>. First it broke out from its January range; then it took out its December high, which was the all-time high. Now it’s resting. Nothing wrong here. <\/span>
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\n The big star lately has been the Nasdaq<\/strong>. Seven consecutive up days have put the index in new high territory and only about 200 points from its all-time high. <\/span>
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\n Oil<\/strong> remains the market’s most interesting group. It has the potential to offer us a round of breakouts…or it could fizzle and test its lows. Who knows? From a fundamental standpoint, the oversupply should prevent prices from moving up much, but if too many traders get stacked on one side, a squeeze to the upside is very possible. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\n Stock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Deere & Co. (DE -1.12%) reported Q1 EPS of $1.12, higher than consensus of 83 cents.<\/span>
\n Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (LH +0.12%) reported Q4 EPS of $1.44, well below consensus of $1.63.<\/span>
\n Iron Mountatin (IRM -1.77%) reported Q4 EPS of 52 cents, below consensus of 55 cents.<\/span>
\n Consolidated Edison (ED -0.93%) reported Q4 EPS ex-items of 58 cents, higher than consensus of 55 cents.<\/span>
\n Superior Energy (SPN -1.17%) reported Q4 EPS of 48 cents, less than consensus of 49 cents.<\/span>
\n Community Health (CYH +1.29%) reported Q4 EPS of $1.12, weaker than consensus of $1.19.<\/span>
\n Marvell Technology (MRVL +1.05%) fell nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 25 cents, higher than consensus of 24 cents, although Q4 revenue of $857 million was below consensus of $889.88 million.<\/span>
\n Keysight Technologies (KEYS +2.22%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 56 cents, above consensus of 49 cents.<\/span>
\n MRC Global (MRC +0.82%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 33 cents, well below consensus of 46 cents.<\/span>
\n Newmont Mining (NEM -1.13%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS 17 cents, better than consensus of 10 cents.<\/span>
\n Nordstrom (JWN -1.17%) fell 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of $1.32, less than consensus of $1.35, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS to $3.65-$3.80, well below consensus of $4.11.<\/span>
\n Mohawk (MHK +0.58%) gained over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS ex-charges of $2.27, better than consensus of $2.21.<\/span>
\n Brocade (BRCD -0.08%) reported Q1 EPS of 27 cents, higher than consensus of 24 cents.<\/span>
\n Intuit (INTU +1.50%) rose nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q2 EPS loss of -6 cents, a smaller loss than consensus of -13 cents.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 9:45 PMI Manufacturing Index Flash
\n 10:00 Atlanta Fed’s Business Inflation Expectations<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: B, CHH, COG, COMM, DE, ENB, ERF, GOV, HCN, IPGP, IRM, LH, PEG, PNW, SATS, SWC, TC, TFX<\/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