{"id":8372,"date":"2015-03-10T07:41:48","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T12:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=8372"},"modified":"2015-03-10T07:41:48","modified_gmt":"2015-03-10T12:41:48","slug":"before-the-open-mar-10-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=8372","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Mar 10)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the downside. Hong Kong (down 0.9%), Japan (down 0.7%) and China and India (down 0.5%) dropped the most. Europe is posting relatively big losses. Russia is down 2.7%, followed by Austria and Norway (down 1.4%), London (down 1.3%), Italy (down 1.2%) and Stockholm (down 1%). Futures here in the States point towards a big gap down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is up. Oil is down, copper is down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up. <\/span>
\n The correction we started anticipating 1-1\/2 weeks ago is playing out nicely. Several breadth indicators diverged from the indexes, and now they’re heading straight down. When such happens, you never know if a pullback will start right away, a couple days later or a week later, but you do know the upside is limited in terms of both time and price.<\/span>
\n Now prices are falling, and the indicators still have room to move down before being considering over-sold. So far I’d consider the action to be pretty typical. That doesn’t mean I’m holding – it just means what I see is fairly normal price action for a market which is pulling back within an uptrend. <\/span>
\n Here’s the S&P 500 vs. the 10-day MA of the NYSE AD line as an example of what I was looking at two weeks ago. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\n If you can go short, go for it. If not, that’s fine. Be patient. You’ll get some good charts to trade in the next week or two…or who knows, maybe a little longer. Whatever you do, don’t force your trading style on a market that has changed. That’s death for any trader – to trade in a vacuum without recognition of context. More after the open. <\/span>
\n Stock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Peabody Coal (BTU -0.78%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Jefferies.<\/span>
\n AutoZone (AZO +0.88%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Argus.<\/span>
\n NVIDIA (NVDA +0.27%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at BofA\/Merrill Lynch.<\/span>
\n Hewlett-Packard (HPQ -0.69%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at UBS.<\/span>
\n Qihoo 360 (QIHU -1.88%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 75 cents, better than consensus of 71 cents.<\/span>
\n Skyworks (SWKS +1.50%) will replace PetSmart (PETM +0.06%) in the S&P 500 as of the close of trading on Wednesday.<\/span>
\n Mindray Medical (MR -1.90%) reported Q4 non-GAAP EPS of 49 cents, less than consensus of 52 cents.<\/span>
\n Guggenheim Partners reported a 10.9% stake in Merge Healthcare (MRGE -9.19%).<\/span>
\n Illumina (ILMN -0.04%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at UBS with a price target of $240.<\/span>
\n OrbiMed reported a 13.57% passive stake in Synergy Pharmaceuticals (SGYP +2.57%).<\/span>
\n Titan Machinery (TITN -5.90%) slid over 8% in after-hours trading after it reported preliminary a Q4 ex-items EPS loss of -18 cents to -23 cents, well below consensus of 9 cents. The company also said it will reduce its workforce by 14%.<\/span>
\n United Natural Foods (UNFI +2.18%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 65 cents, below consensus of 67 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 revenue to $8.19 billion-$8.29 billion, less than consensus of $8.33 billion.<\/span>
\n Casey’s General Stores (CASY +3.72%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.01, well above consensus of 82 cents.<\/span>
\n Qualcomm (QCOM +1.69%) authorized a repurchase of $15 billion in common stock.<\/span>
\n Urban Outfitters (URBN +1.59%) reported Q4 EPS of 60 cents, better than consensus of 58 cents.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
\n 9:00 NFIB Small Business Optimism Index
\n 10:00 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
\n 10:00 Wholesale Trade
\n 1:00 PM Results of $24B, 3-Year Note Auction<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: BKS, BPI, JW.A, LINC, LMIA, MVIS, SUP, TCPC, YORW<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: EOX, FCEL, HABT, HRZN, HTHT, MPO, NCS, ONTY, PAY, SINA, SUPN, SURG, TCRD, WB, ZGNX<\/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