{"id":9525,"date":"2016-03-08T08:50:33","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T13:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=9525"},"modified":"2016-03-08T08:50:33","modified_gmt":"2016-03-08T13:50:33","slug":"before-the-open-mar-8-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=9525","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Mar 8)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the downside. Singapore dropped more than 1%; Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia and South Korea were also weak. New Zealand did okay to the upside. Europe is currently mixed. Greece and Hungary are up more than 1%; Austria and Norway are also doing well. Denmark and Finland are down more than 1%; Germany, London and France are also down. 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 is up, copper is down. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up. <\/span>
\n The S&P has rallied 5 straight days for the first time since the beginning of October. That, or course, was the market’s last rally that lasted more than a week. <\/span>
\n Thanks to commodities, the small caps and micro caps continue to lead. Safe havens (PG, JNJ, T, VZ, WMT, KMB) are also doing well. Big cap tech has been lagging. <\/span>
\n The near term (next week or so) will tell us a lot about the market’s strength. A shallow pullback that doesn’t come with a lot of force likely leads to the market legging up again – possibly to the highs. A more forceful pullback would dampen the enthusiasm of the bulls and at best would likely lead to a continuation of the range that’s been in place for almost two years. <\/span>
\n If the market has strength, a correction will be shallow and short-lived. <\/span>
\n That’s if for now. There isn’t much else to say. Let the market and the indicators tell us what’s likely on the horizon. More after the open. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT +0.64%) was downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Buy’ at Argus.<\/span>
\n Shake Shack (SHAK +0.57%) dropped over 9% in pre-market trading after it lowered its 2016 same-store-sales growth estimate to +2.5% to +3.0%, weaker than consensus of +3.1%.<\/span>
\n Urban Outfitters (URBN +1.81%) jumped 10% in pre-market trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 61 cents, above consensus of 56 cents.<\/span>
\n Fastenal (FAST +0.22%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Argus with a price target of $57.<\/span>
\n Ilumina (ILMN +3.51%) lost almost 2% in after-hours trading after it announced that Chairman and CEO Jay Flatley will assume role of executive chairman and Francis Desouza will be appointed President and CEO on July 5.<\/span>
\n Casey’s General Stores (CASY -3.26%) reported Q3 EPS of 97 cents, better than consensus of 93 cents, although Q3 revenue of $1.57 billion was below consensus of $1.59 billion.<\/span>
\n Quanex Building Products (NX +1.03%) reported a Q1 loss continuing operations of -2 cents, a narrower loss than consensus of -9 cents.<\/span>
\n Actuant (ATU +2.70%) lowered guidance on Q2 preliminary revenue to $263 million, below a December forecast of $270 million-$280 million, and said it will record a net impairment charge of $170 million ($2.86 a share) due to “further weakening of near-term capital spending in the global oil and gas market.”<\/span>
\n ICF International (ICFI -0.96%) slid almost 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 73 cents, below consensus of 75 cents, and then lowered guidance on 2016 adjusted EPS to $2.79-$2.94, weaker than consensus of $3.00.<\/span>
\n Thor Industries (THO +0.02%) gained over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 ongoing revenue of $975.1 million, above consensus of $910.3 million.<\/span>
\n American Midstream Partners (AMID +2.88%) climbed over 2% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance on 2016 adjusted Ebitda to $105 million to $120 million, above consensus of $103.8 million.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Monday’s Key Earnings
\n Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) -8.9% AH on lackluster sales guidance.
\n Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) +12.3% AH after a bottom line beat.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n Today’s Economic Calendar
\n 6:00 NFIB Small Business Optimism Index
\n 8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
\n 1:00 PM Results of $24B, 3-Year Note Auction<\/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