{"id":8380,"date":"2015-03-13T07:43:54","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T12:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=8380"},"modified":"2015-03-13T07:43:54","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T12:43:54","slug":"before-the-open-mar-13-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=8380","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Mar 13)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Friday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the downside. Japan rallied 1.4%, followed by South Korea (up 0.8%) and China (up 0.7%). India fell 1.5%, followed by Australia (down 0.5%). Europe currently leans to the downside, but other than Russia and Greece (down 1.7% and 1.2%), movement is minimal. Prague is up; London, Germany and France are down. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
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\n The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold is up, silver is flat. Bonds are down. <\/span>
\n The biggest up days take place within downtrends. That’s what happened yesterday. A moderate gap up got follow through buying, and the biggest up day since the beginning of February was recorded. Such days are relatively easy because the supply\/demand imbalance shifts too far to one side. Short covering and momentum buying can easily push the market up for a few days. Now the question is whether 1) it was a 1-day move, 2) the beginning of a dead cat bounce within a newly-established short term downtrend or 3) the beginning of a rally that takes us to new highs. <\/span>
\n Charts of individual stocks improved yesterday, and most of the indicators would be supportive of a move up…although not all of them hit extreme levels. Health care providers in particular look good. <\/span>
\n Yesterday oil penetrated a support level…today it’s down another buck. Many oil stocks have been struggling. <\/span>
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\n I wouldn’t consider today to be extremely important (unless we get a big move), but early next week will tell us if yesterday was just a 1-day blip or the beginning of something meaningful. More after the open. <\/span>
\n Stock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Intel (INTC -4.73%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Canaccord.<\/span>
\n Genesco (GCO -7.79%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Sterne Agee.<\/span>
\n Children’s Place (PLCE +8.81%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Citigroup.<\/span>
\n Worldwide PC shipments are expected to drop 4.9% in 2015, compared to a previous forecast of 3.3%, reports DigiTimes, according to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.<\/span>
\n Piper Jaffray said February video game software sales rose 7% y\/y and maintains its ‘Overweight’ ratings on Activision Blizzard (ATVI -0.09%) , Electronic Arts (EA -0.05%) , GameStop (GME +0.51%) and Take-Two (TTWO +0.20%) .<\/span>
\n General Motors (GM +1.72%) will recall approximately 64,000 2011-13 Chevrolet Volts for a software update to limit how long the car can be left idling.<\/span>
\n Kronos Worldwide (KRO +1.76%) reported Q4 EPS of 17 cents, better than consensus of 14 cents.<\/span>
\n Mobileye (MBLY +0.75%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.<\/span>
\n Laurene Powell Jobs Trust reported a 7.7% passive stake in Disney (DIS +4.16%) .<\/span>
\n Ulta Salon (ULTA +2.01%) jumped 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of $1.35, higher than consensus of $1.27.<\/span>
\n Aeropostale (ARO -6.80%) slid 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 1 cent, better than consensus of a -3 cent loss, but then lowered guidance on Q1 EPS to a loss of -61 cents to -53 cwnts, a larger loss than consensus of -36 cents.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 8:30 Producer Price Index
\n 9:55 Reuters\/UofM Consumer Sentiment<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: ANN, BKE, EBIX, HIBB, PETX, RGEN, SPPI, TA<\/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