Wednesday, December 3, 2014

"risk is the price we pay for opportunity"

US futures off its overnight highs as markets trade mixed around the world and both gold and oil move into positive territory. US traders await a plethora of economic data this morning and the Beige Book
this afternoon.

ON THE ECONOMIC CALENDAR:
7AM: MBA Mortgage Applications
8:15AM: ADP Jobs Report
8:30AM: Gallup US Job Creation Index
8:30AM: Productivity : forecast is 2.5%
8:30AM: Unit Labor Costs: forecast is -0.9%
9:45AM: PMI Services Index
10AM: ISM Non-Manufacturing Index: forecast is 57.7%
10:30AM: EIA Petroleum Inventories
11AM: Global Composite PMI
11AM: Global Services PMI
12:30AM: Fed's Plosser speaks: US Economic Outlook
2PM : Fed's Reserve Gov Leal Brainard on "Financial Stability"
2PM: Fed's Beige Book

EARNINGS:
ANF earnings: Abercrombie & Fitch: Q3 EPS of $0.42 beats by $0.01.Revenue of $911M (-11.6% Y/Y) misses by $5M : Gross profit rate -80 bps to 62.2% on increased promotional activity : U.S. comp was down 5% and the international comp sank 15%

NEWS: 
Some notable earnings after today's close: ARO, AVGO, GES, NWY, PSUN, PVH, SEAC, SNPS, VRNT

TGT: GOOG: Target announces partnership with Google on Art, Copy and Code project, reports Business Wire

DAL: Delta November traffic results disappoint

POT: Potash conducting strategic review of equity investments worth $4.5B

IBM: WPPGY: IMB strikes $1.5B deal, expands alliance with ad giant WPP

DDD: infringement lawsuit dismissed
DDD: Chairman Walter Lowenbaum has disclosed he bought 4800 shares last Friday: he also bought 26,479 shares in November

SCTY: SUNE: TSL: SPWR: VSLR: Deutsche Bank analyst sees "almost no impact" on solars from low oil prices : recommends 5 solar companies

CYTR: aldoxorubicin trial placed on partial clinical hold by FDA

DDD: SSYS: XONE: Medical applications for 3D printing faces 3 challenges, reports DigiTimes

ARMK: files to sell 22.5M shares of common stock for holders

UPGRADES & DOWNGRADES: 

SPN: upgrade; inline to outperform: Imperial Capital: NOTE: pt cut from $30 to $28
NTLS: upgrade; underperform to market perform: FBR Capital: $6.50
LOCO: upgrade; underperform to equal perform: Morgan Stanley: $25
ROST: removed from Goldman's Conviction Buy list BUT pt raised from $96 to $99AVNR: downgrade: buy to neutral: Mizuho: $17
TASR: downgrade; overweight to neutral: JP Morgan: $20
DISH: downgrade; hold to sell: Wunderlich: $67

WFT: initiated: outperform: Oppenheimer: $19
HAL: initiated: outperform: Oppenheimer: $71
SLB: initiated: outperform: Oppenheimer: $114
BHI: initiated: perform: Oppenheimer: $71
SNDK: initiated: buy: Citigroup: $125

KEG: pt cut from $4 to $2.50: Imperial Capital
UNH: pt raised from $95 to $100: FBR Capital
EMES: pt cut from $130 to $100: Wunderlich
AVGO: pt raised from $100 to $105 : Citigroup
PBYI: pt cut from $292 to $263: Citigroup

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

US futures follow European and Chinese shares higher amid speculation that the country's central bank will ease monetary policy as traders await retail sales data later this morning.  Oil has resumed it's decline as commodity volatility hit a 2 year high. This years Cyber Monday sales slowed from a projected 13-15% to 8%.

ON THE ECONOMIC CALENDAR: 
VARIOUS TIMES: Auto Sales
7:45AM: ICSC Retail Store Sales
8:30AM: Gallup US ECI
8:55AM: Redbook Chain Store Sales
10AM: Construction Spending

NEWS: 
DRYS: DryShips repays 5% convertible notes due 2014

AAPL: opening statements for Apple's antitrust trial are schedules for today

AVNR: Otsuka to acquire Avanir for $17/share

AV: Aviva and Friends Life have agreed on a $8.8B merger, creating the UKs largest insurance, savings and asset management company

FBI warns of 'destructive' malware in wake of Sony attack, reports Reuters

WMT: Wal-Mart planning 250 job cuts in China division, WSJ reports
WMT: reports record online sales on Cyber Monday

BMRN: SPRT: Deutsche Bank says BioMarin is likely to assert its intellectual property in the U.S. to keep Sarepta's Etelipersen off of the market or demand royalty on the drug

HMC: reports sales in China during November fell 12.1% Y/Y to 72,973 vehicles

U.S. ICSC Goldman Sachs chain store sales index declined 1.8%

EARNINGS: 

GWPH earnings: GW Pharmaceuticals: FQ4 EPS of $0.Revenue of $12.03M (+4.4% Y/Y) misses by $2.52M

BMO earnings: Bank of Montreal: FQ4 EPS of C$1.63 misses by C$0.04.Revenue of C$4.34B (+3.6% Y/Y) misses by C$10M : Quarterly dividend boosted by $0.02 to $0.80. Announces 15M share repurchase plan, roughly 2.3% of the float

UPGRADES & DOWNGRADES: 

ACGL: upgrade: neutral to buy: BofA/Merrill: pt raised from $61 to $64
SYK: added to Goldman's Conviction Buy list
MLNX: upgrade: equal weight to overweight: Barclays: pt raised from $50 to $57

PKI: downgrade; conviction buy to neutral: Goldman: $47 (thats a double downgrade): $47
PCLN: downgrade: outperform to market perform: FBR Capital: $1225
APA: downgrade: buy to neutral: Mizuho: $70
PH: downgrade; buy to neutral: Goldman: $131

DATA: initiated: overweight: JP Morgan: $100
DATA: initiated: overweight: Barclays: $97

MSFT: initiated: overweight: JP Morgan: $53
CPE: initiated: buy: Roth Capital: $13.50
CRM: initiated: overweight: JP Morgan: $74

FRPT: initiated: buy: Canaccord: $20
FRPT: initiated; buy: Stifel: $20
FRPT: initiated: buy: Goldman:
FRPT: initiated: outperform: Baird

FANG: coverage resumed: buy: Roth Capital: $87.50
KORS: reiterates; buy: Jefferies: $100

SNA: pt raised from $140 to $160:  Wunderlich
TTWO: pt raised from $25 to $32: Piper Jaffray
EA: pt raised from $44 to $47: Piper Jaffray
FDX: pt raised from $190 to $210: Citigroup
FDX: added to US 1 List at BofA/Merrill
AAPL: pt raised from $120 to $135: Canaccord
AAPL: pt raised from $120 to $130: BofA/Merrill
PHM: pt raised from $25 to $26: Top Pick: BofA/Merrill
AVGO: pt raised from $87 to $105: Brean Capital
GNW: pt cut from $18 to $11: JP Morgan

Monday, December 1.2014

US futures follow the rest of the world markets into negative territory at this 6AM hour  as traders return from a 4 day holiday to a rash of negative headlines, from oil prices collapsing anew, to downbeat data from China, and to weaker Black Friday sales

ON THE ECONOMIC CALENDAR FOR TODAY:
8;30AM: Gallup US Consumer Spending
9:45AM: PMI Manufacturing Index
10AM: ISM Manufacturing Index
11AM: Global Manufacturing PMI

NEWS:
China PMI drops to 50.3, an 8 month low

Moody's downgrades Japan's sovereign debt rating from Aa3 to A1 (one notch)

INTC: Intel will power the next version of Google Glass expected out next year, reports the WSJ

FEYE: Sony has hired FEYE's Mandiant forensics division to help restore the studio's computer network nearly a week after a massive cyber attack paralyzed the company's systems

AAPL: 2015 to see drop in iPad shipments, says DigiTimes

AMZN: Amanzon reports strong Kindle and Fire sales on Black Friday

EBAY: AMZN: Channel Advisor checks find online sales +22% over last year : Amazon was the winner while eBay loses ground

C: BAC: JPM: WFC: GS: USB: US Banks get an upgrade to overweight at UBS 

MYL : GILD: enter into licensing agreement

REGN: FDA accepts diabetes drug, EYLEA,  for priority review

Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reports November gross gaming rev -19.6% YoY

GPS: Wedbush out positive on Gap stores Black Friday sales

TTEK: awarded $216M USAID gender equity contract

POZN: SNY:  Pozen and Sanofi terminate US partnership for PA8140/PA32540

RTN: announces a foreign military sales contract from the U.S. Air Force to design and implement an Air and Missile Defense Operation Center for Qatar

ISR: reports positive brain cancer results of it Cesium-131

UPGRADES & DOWNGRADES: 

AMED: upgrade: underperform to sector perform: RBC Capital: pt raised from $10 to $23
DE: upgrade; underweight to neutral: JP Morgan: pt raised from $83 to $90
SDRL: upgrade: underperform to market perform: Wells Fargo: NOTE pt cut from $20-26 range to $13-16 range
JBLU: upgrade: underperform to buy: BofA/Merrill: pt raised from $10.50 to $17
AAL: upgrade; neutral to buy: BofA/Merrill: $55
GRPN: upgrade: neutral to buy: BofA/Merrill: $9.50


BIG: downgrade: overweight to neutral; JP Morgan: $51
MNST: downgrade; Top Pick to Outperform: RBC Capital: NOTE: pt raised from $118 to $121
DPS: downgrade: sector perform to underperform: RBC Capital: $55
DWA: downgrade: market perform to underperform: FBR Capital: $14


THOR: pt raised from $30 to $36: Canaccord
VRTX: pt raised from $122 to $148: Maxim
AET: pt raised from $87 to $100: Leerink
ULTA: pt raised from $125 to $135: Baird
AAPL: pt raised from $120 to $140: Barclays
MU: pt raised from $36 to $41: JP Morgan
DB: pt cut from $33 to $30: RBC Capital
CDW: pt raised from $37 to $38: RBC Capital