{"id":9226,"date":"2015-12-28T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2015-12-28T14:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=9226"},"modified":"2015-12-28T09:00:29","modified_gmt":"2015-12-28T14:00:29","slug":"before-the-open-dec-28-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=9226","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Dec 28)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a great weekend. <\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. China dropped 2.6%, followed by South Korea (down 1.3%) and Hong Kong (down 1%). India and Indonesia each rallied about 0.8%. Europe is currently mostly down. Turkey is up more than 1%. Greece and Portugal are down more than 1%, and Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Spain are also weak. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap down open for the cash market. <\/span>
\nThe dollar is up a small amount. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are down. <\/span>
\n—————
\nS&P Select Week in Review<\/strong><\/a> <\/span>
\n—————
\n I don’t have anything new to add to the comments I made over the weekend in the weekly report. The market moved up last week, and a few of the cyclical, intermediate term indicators improved some. The AD line has climbed above 0, and new highs at the NYSE have moved to the top of their 2-month range. <\/span>
\n Some of the longer term indicators have turned neutral. As an example, the S&P is sitting right at its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, and in both cases, approx. 50% of SPX stocks are above their 50- and 200-days too. So there is no beneath-the-surface hint of strength or weakness. <\/span>
\n In the very near term anything goes. That’s typically the case. Perhaps the time of year gives and edge to the bulls, but you still have to go with the price action, not historical tendencies. <\/span>
\n Looking out a month, the indicators will guide us. Since many have neutralized, we’ll look for confirmation or non confirmation going forward. If the market rallies, and the indicators move up, the move may have legs. But if the indicators lag, the rally will get sold into – just like every other rally that has play out this year. <\/span>
\n I sit in the middle of the road right now. I could argue for a move in both directions, so without an obvious trend and momentum, it’s best not to place big bets right now. More after the open. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Exxon Mobil (XOM -1.07%) and Chevron (CVX -1.88%) are both down over 1% in pre-market trading as the price of crude falls over 2%.<\/span>
\n Freeport-McMoRan (FCX +1.61%) is down over 2% in pre-market trading as the price of copper is down over 2% at a 1-week low.<\/span>
\n Amazon.com (AMZN -0.14%) was rated a ‘Buy” at Axiom who raised their price target on the stock to $797 from $727.<\/span>
\n General Electric (GE -0.39%) said it won a contract to supply turbines that account for half of the generation capacity of a 10.2 gigawatt Wudonde hydropower plant being built by China Three Gorges Corp.<\/span>
\n The Disney (DIS +0.28%) film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” rose past $1 billion in sales in 12 days, the first picture to reach that mark so quickly.<\/span>
\n A weekend article in Barron’s says that Solar City (SCTY +0.97%) may climb 34% and First Solar (FSLR +1.13%) may rise 23% after a U.S. budget deal extended tax credits for solar panel makers and installers,<\/span>
\n Hardinge (HDNG -1.32%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Ascendiant Capital Markets with a 12-month price target of $14.<\/span>
\n HCI Group (HCI +1.50%) was rated a new ‘Overweight’ at Piper Jaffray with a 12-month price target of $43.<\/span>
\n Barron’s says that Signet Jewelers (SIG -1.85%) may climb 41% as the company improves operations at Zales, which it acquired last year.<\/span>
\n Barron’s says that shares of Post Holdings (POST +0.47%) look too rich after a 50% advance and investors should take profits given the rich valuation.<\/span>
\n Pep Boys Manny, Moe & Jack (PBY +0.63%) agreed to a $947 million takeover offer from Bridgestone Corp. who made a higher bid for the company than Carl Icahn.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s Economic Calendar
\n 7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
\n 8:30 Durable Goods
\n 10:00 New Home Sales
\n 10:00 Reuters\/UofM Consumer Sentiment
\n 10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
\n 11:30 Results of $13B, 2-Year FRN Auction<\/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