{"id":9018,"date":"2015-09-17T07:35:57","date_gmt":"2015-09-17T12:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=9018"},"modified":"2015-09-17T07:35:57","modified_gmt":"2015-09-17T12:35:57","slug":"before-the-open-sep-17-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=9018","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Sep 17)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Thursday. Happy Fed Day.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mostly up. China dropped 2.1%. Japan, Singapore, Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan rallied 0.9% or more. Europe is currently mixed and little moved from its unchanged levels. Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Norway are doing the best. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.<\/span>
\nSubscribe to Leavitt Brothers today<\/a>.<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe dollar is down. Oil is down, copper is down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up. <\/span>
\n Today has finally arrived. Two months ago it was almost a foregone conclusion the Fed would raise rates today, but with the market plunging last month, odds now favor them staying pat and waiting.<\/span>
\n I wish they would raise a little. Sure the market may take a hit in the near term, but the world could stop obsessing over it and focus on things that are more important. I did a podcast with AIREX Market about the Fed and rates. You can listen to it here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span>
\n Here’s an update of the 10-min SPX chart I’ve been posting. The index is near the high of its 4-week range. Another trendline to identify a potential upside target in the high 2030’s has been drawn. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\n News trumps the charts, so anything goes later today and tomorrow. Don’t put yourself in a position where you can lose a lot of money for unknown reasons. More after the open. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Oracle (ORCL +0.74%) slid over 1% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 53 cents, better than consensus of 52 cents, although Q1 revenue of $8.45 billion was below consensus of $8.53 billion.<\/span>
\n Raytheon (RTN +0.04%) was upgraded to ‘Top Pick’ from ‘Outperform’ at RBC Capital.<\/span>
\n Hasbro (HAS +1.48%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Goldman Sachs.<\/span>
\n NVIDIA (NVDA +0.70%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Jefferies with a $30 price target.<\/span>
\n Stanley Black & Decker (SWK +0.44%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at UBS with a price target of $120.<\/span>
\n Hanesbrands (HBI +1.17%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.<\/span>
\n Cablevision (CVC unch) jumped over 16% in pre-market trading after after Altice announced that it will acquire Cablevision for $34.90 per share in cash.<\/span>
\n Clarcor (CLC +0.58%) reported Q3 non-GAAP EPS of 66 cents, weaker than consensus of 84 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS view to $2.70-$2.80 from $3.00-$3.15, below consensus of $3.05.<\/span>
\n Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC +0.37%) announced that its board has authorized an additional $4 billion for the repurchase of the company’s common stock.<\/span>
\n Aetna (AET +0.01%) backs its fiscal 2015 EPS view of at least $7.40, below consensus of $7.51.<\/span>
\n Envision Healthcare (EVHC -0.09%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Canaccord with a price target of $51.<\/span>
\n Allscripts (MDRX +0.59%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Canaccord with a price target of $18.<\/span>
\n Herman Miller (MLHR +1.24%) climbed 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 56 cents, well above consensus of 46 cents.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s Economic Calendar
\n 8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
\n 8:30 Housing Starts
\n 8:30 Current Account
\n 9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
\n 10:00 Philly Fed Business Outlook
\n 10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
\n 2:00 PM FOMC Announcement
\n 2:00 PM FOMC Forecast
\n 2:00 PM Chairman Press Conference
\n 4:30 PM Money Supply
\n 4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\nToday’s Earnings here<\/a><\/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