{"id":8664,"date":"2015-06-02T07:39:07","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T12:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=8664"},"modified":"2015-06-02T07:39:07","modified_gmt":"2015-06-02T12:39:07","slug":"before-the-open-jun-2-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=8664","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Jun 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mostly down. India dropped 2.4%, and Singapore, Australia and South Korea fell more than 1%. China rallied 1.7%. Europe is currently mixed. Italy, Spain and Russia are up more than 1%; Germany, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Prague are down about 0.5%; Greece is down 0.9%. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.<\/span>
\nFREE ebook -> Powerful Stock Setups<\/a> <\/strong>(I wrote one of the chapters)<\/span>
\n The dollar is down. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are down. <\/span>
\n The market was all over the place yesterday but still contained within the high and low boundaries established a week ago when the market sold off hard on Tuesday and then rallied back on Wednesday. In fact the S&P has traded within the range the last three days and has made no progress in either direction. <\/span>
\n The small caps haven’t improved [relative to the large caps], and the breadth indicators are worse off. So if anything, while the market has traded range bound, beneath the surface, things have deteriorated some. <\/span>
\n My bias remains to the downside. Until these items improve (the small caps and the internals), rallies should be sold. <\/span>
\n I saw an interesting note on Seeking Alpha. M&A activity in May hit an all-time high. The previous two high water marks? May 2007 and January 2000 – both just a couple months before major tops were put in place. <\/span>
\n I saw this<\/a> chart posted recently. The percentage of unprofitable IPOs has exceeded the 2000 and 2007 highs – the two previous highs. <\/span>
\n Be careful out there. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Intel (INTC -1.63%) was downgraded to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ at BMO Capital.<\/span>
\n Big Lots (BIG +2.26%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’ at Barclays.<\/span>
\n Iron Mountain (IRM +0.99%) was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Hold’ at Jefferies.<\/span>
\n Medtronic PLC (MDT +0.50%) reported Q4 EPS of $1.16, higher than consensus of $1.12.<\/span>
\n Dollar General (DG +0.30%) reported Q1 EPS of 84 cents, better than consensus of 81 cents.<\/span>
\n Glenview Capital reported a 7.06% stake in Manitowoc (MTW +2.33%) .<\/span>
\n Whiting Petroleum (WLL -1.55%) was initiated with a Buy at Evercore ISI with a price target of $45.<\/span>
\n Prudential (PRU -0.34%) was initiated with an ‘Overweight’ at Piper Jaffray with a price target of $106.<\/span>
\n AIG (AIG +0.12%) was initiated with an ‘Overweight’ at Piper Jaffray with a price target of $73.<\/span>
\n Anadarko (APC +0.28%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Evercore ISI with a price target of $100.<\/span>
\n Palo Alto (PANW +0.60%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Guggenheim with a price target of $200.<\/span>
\n Point72 Asset reported a 5.1% passive stake in Renewable Energy (REGI +16.46%) .<\/span>
\n PVH Corp. (PVH +0.04%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.50, better than consensus of $1.38, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2015 adjusted EPS view to $6.85-$6.95 from $6.75-$6.90, above consensus of $6.86.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n Auto sales
\n 8:30 Gallup US ECI
\n 8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
\n 10:00 Factory Orders<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: CBRL, CONN, DAKT, DG, MDT, SOL<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: ABM, AMBA, ASNA, GES, GIII, GWRE, NCS, VMEM<\/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