{"id":9235,"date":"2015-12-31T08:52:44","date_gmt":"2015-12-31T13:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=9235"},"modified":"2015-12-31T08:52:44","modified_gmt":"2015-12-31T13:52:44","slug":"before-the-open-dec-31-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=9235","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Dec 31)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Thursday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. China dropped almost 1%; India and Taiwan did well. Half of Europe was closed today. Greece is doing very well. Poland and Spain are down more than 1%; London, Turkey, Italy and the Netherlands are also weak. Futures in the States point towards a gap down open for the cash market. <\/span>
\nThe dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up. <\/span>
\n—————
\nVIDEO: Leavitt Brothers Overview<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong><\/span>
\n—————
\n So here we go…last day of the year. The S&P closed 2014 at 2058.90. Yesterday’s close was at 2063.36, so as of now the index is up 4.46 points, or 0.22%, for the year. Here’s the S&P performance chart. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\n To resist being the first year since 1875 (do we even have data before than) that ends in a 5 to close with a loss, the S&P can’t fall by more than 4.46 points today. That’s a pretty small amount, and considering S&P futures are down about 5.50 as of this writing, it’s a toss up. Here’s an image with the performance of all years ending in a 5. <\/span>
\n\"\"
\n What would it mean if 2015 ended with a loss? I have no freaking clue. The presidential cycle makes sense to me. “Sell in May and go away” makes sense. This stat doesn’t make sense, and until someone can give me a decent explanation, I’m going to write it off as random dumb luck. <\/span>
\n January will be active, volatile and very telling. <\/span>
\n Be safe out there tonight. Lots of crazy idiots on the road. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Fidelity National reported that it increased its stake in Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group (DFRG -0.68%) to 9.31% from 8.10%.<\/span>
\n Chimerix (CMRX +13.30%) jumped nearly 5% in after-hours trading after Point72 Asset reported an initial 5.3% passive stake in the company.<\/span>
\n Lockheed Martin (LMT -0.30%) was awarded a $1.06 billion definitization modification pact for 32 C-130J aircraft from the U.S. Department of Defense.<\/span>
\n Spectra Energy Partners (SEP +3.69%) said it shut its 932-mile Platte pipeline that carries 145,000 bpd of crude oil to wood River, Il., from Guernsey, WY., due to flooding along the Mississippi River<\/span>
\n Fairholme Capital Management reported a 26% stake in Sears Holdings (SHLD -3.29%) .<\/span>
\n The Daily Mail reported that “corporate financiers” have been working over the holiday on a possible merger between Vodafone Group Plc (VOD -0.86%) and Liberty Global Plc (LBTYA +0.47%) in early 2016.<\/span>
\n Scorpio Bulkers (SALT -2.78%) announced the sale of 5 vessels, 3 Capesize dry bulk vessels and 2 newbuilding Capesize dry bulk vessels, for $167 million.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s Economic Calendar
\n 8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
\n 9:45 Chicago PMI
\n 9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
\n 10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
\n 1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
\n 4:30 PM Money Supply
\n 4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet<\/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