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

Friday, November 28. 2014

US futures down at this hour with oil and energy stocks getting crushed after a decision yesterday from  OPEC to maintain its production target sent oil prices collapsing. With a 1 PM EST closing, this is an historically low volume day today on the US market with nothing on the economic calendar

NEWS:

PFE:AZN:Pfizer's  attempt to gain control of AstraZeneca  through a £69.4B ($110B) takeover bid in May would have collapsed on changes to U.S. tax inversion laws, announced Astrazeneca's chief exec, cooling off speculation of another bid for the U.K. pharmaceutical company

RIO:After years of heavy spending, Rio Tinto says it is committing to give significantly more money back to shareholders in 2015 despite a sharp slide in iron-ore prices

AMZN: Thanksgiving online shopping +18.6%, led by Amazon

AMZN: Amazon launches marketplace for service providers

EBAY: monthly users drops to 3 year low

BABA: Foxconn to cooperate with Alibaba, 21 Vianet to set up Wi-Fi network in southwestern China, reports DigiTimes

CREE: LEDS: API: Digitimes reporting that global LED lighting production value in 2015 to grow 30%, say Taiwan makers

VMW: VMware tying up with China Telecom to offer hybrid cloud services, reports Digitimes

MU: SNDK: DRAM market to grow 34% in 2014, says JP Morgan

LMT: The DoD has awarded Lockheed Martin three contracts with a total value of $626.3M

NVS: The European Medicines Agency's CHMP grants accelerated assessment to Novartis' LCZ696, an investigational drug for the treatment of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction

NVS: Italian drug regulator suspends two batches of Novartis flu vaccine after deaths


UPGRADES & DOWNGRADES:

AMZN: pt raised from $350 to $400: Piper Jaffray
WGL: pt raised from $48 to $52: Brean Capital
SBUX: pt raised from $90 to $100: Piper Jaffray

CTRP: downgrade: overweight to equal weight: Morgan Stanley: $57
CTRP: downgrade: overweight to neutral: JP Morgan: $57

Thanksgiving 2014

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." - G. K. Chesterton 

GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL ! 


Oil futures sank to new four-year lows overnight ahead of an OPEC meeting in Vienna

Shanghai shares hit a three-year high today, extending their rally after a surprise interest rate cut last week

GSK: Ebola vaccine from Glaxo passes early safety test, reports reuters

TKMR: files to sell  $150M worth of shares through future offerings

BABA:Renewing its push into the Internet TV market, Alibaba and partner Haier Electronics have launched new TVs in China that provide users with access to the e-commerce company’s Taobao and Tmall online marketplaces as well as movies and video games

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

US futures move higher with overseas markets mostly in positive territory as traders await a deluge of economic reports out today, including home sales data and durable goods report. 

US markets, including the bond market are closed tomorrow for the Thanksgiving holiday. The stock market will have a shortened day on Friday. Closing will be at 1PM EST.

NEWS:

NFLX: YHOO: Netflix sues Yahoo CIO for alleged kickbacks

TWTR: Twitter has reportedly held talks with Shots, a Justin Bieber backed developer of IOS/Android apps for taking and sharing selfies, reports Business Insider

SDRL: suspends dividends to help reduce debt

HTZ: Icahn ups Hertz stake to 10.8%

"OPEC leader Saudi Arabia signaled on Wednesday it was unlikely to push for a major change in oil output at the producer group's meeting this week" reports Reuters

GS: HSBC: Complaint filed in the US accusing Goldman, BASF and HSBC of price fixing in the metals, report Reuters

MBA mortgage applications : Composite Index: -4.3% vs. +4.9% last week : Purchase Index: -10% vs. +12%

ON THE ECONOMIC CALENDAR FOR TODAY:

7AM: MBA Mortgage Applications
8:30AM: Durable Goods : expecting -0.7%
8:30AM: Initial Jobless Claims : analysts expecting 288K
8:30AM: Personal Income and Outlays : expecting 0.4%
8:30AM: Consumer Spending: expecting 0.3%
9:45AM: Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
9:45AM: Chicago PMI
9:55AM: Reuters/UofMichigan Consumer Sentiment : expecting 90.1
10AM: Pending Home Sales
10AM: New Home Sales: expecting 469K
10:30AM: EIA Petroleum Inventories
12PM: EIA Natural Gas Inventory
1PM: $29B 7 Year Note Auction
3PM: USDA Ag Prices

EARNINGS:

SOL earnings: ReneSola : Q3 EPS of -$0.06 misses by $0.11.Revenue of $372.46M (-11.2% Y/Y) misses by $45.6M

SDRL earnings: Seadrill:  Q3 EPS of $0.31 may not be comparable to consensus of $0.67.Revenue of $1.29B (+0.8% Y/Y) beats by $60M : suspends dividends

DE earnings: Deere: FQ4 EPS of $1.83 beats by $0.26. Revenue of $8.97B (-5.1% Y/Y) : Q4 Agriculture & Turf sales down 13% to $682M

UPGRADES & DOWNGRADES:

ZAYO: initiated: overweight: Barclays: $30
ZAYO: added to Goldman's Conviction Buy list
ZAYO: initiated: buy: Citigroup: $30
ZAYO: initiated: overweight: Morgan Stanley: $28

ACT: assumes coverage: equal weight: Barclays: $268
DSW: pt raised from $34 to $37: Telsey Advisory Group
KEYS: initiated: outperform: Baird: $41
CTRP: pt cut from $88 to $49: Piper Jaffray
VEEV: pt raised from $32 to $35: JPMorgan
CNK: downgrade: buy to hold: Topeka Capital: $39
LPX: downgrade: sector perform to underperform: RBC Capital: $13
AVGO: pt raised from $99 to $109: RBC Capital
GPRO: Piper Jaffray positive on the company into the holiday season
AGU: downgrade: neutral to underperform: BofA/Merrill: $99

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

US futures up slightly at this hour following europe into positive territorry as traders are closely watching for surprises in US GDP data today, while keeping an eye on the oil market ahead of OPEC's meeting in Vienna later this week

on the economic calendar for today:
7:45AM: ICSC Retail Store Sales
8:30AM: GDP Q3 revision
8:3AM: Corporate Profits
8:55AM: Rebook Chain Store Sales
9AM: FHFA Home Price Index
9AM: S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index
10AM: Consumer Confidence Index
10AM: Richmond Fed  Manufacturing
1PM $13B, 2 Year FRN Auction
1PM: $35B, 5 Year Note Auction

EARNINGS:
FRO earnings: Frontline : Q3 EPS of -$0.15 beats by $0.05.Revenue of $65.94M (+28.5% Y/Y) beats by $3.58M

DANG earnings: E-Commerce China Dangdang: Q3 EPS of $0.05 misses by $0.01.Revenue of $326.3M (+30.9% Y/Y) beats by $2.86M

TIF earnings: Tiffany: Q3 EPS of $0.76 misses by $0.01.Revenue of $959.59M (+5.3% Y/Y) misses by $10.43M : guides  FY14 EPS $4.20-$4.30 ex-items, consensus $4.34 : Sees worldwide net sales increasing by a mid-to-high-single-digit percentage versus the previous high-single-digit forecast.

DSW earnings: DSW : Q3 EPS of $0.56 beats by $0.04.Revenue of $669.87M (+7.2% Y/Y) beats by $8.86M: :authorized additional $50M  share repurchase program

CPB earnings: Campbell Soup : FQ1 EPS of $0.74 beats by $0.02.Revenue of $2.26B (+4.1% Y/Y) beats by $40M

MOV earnings: Movado: Q3 EPS of $0.87 beats by $0.01.Revenue of $188.56M (-0.6% Y/Y) in-line:  announces it will increase its share buyback program to $100M from $50M

CHS earnings: Chico's FAS : Q3 EPS of $0.17 in-line.Revenue of $665.57M (+1.5% Y/Y) misses by $7.84M

CBRL earnings: Cracker Barrel : FQ1 EPS of $1.42 beats by $0.13.Revenue of $683.43M (+5.3% Y/Y) beats by $17.93M

-----
NEWS:

LO:PM:MO:VGR: RAI: China is considering a broad ban on smoking, including tobacco advertising, smoking in public places, prohibiting vending machine sales of cigarettes and cutting smoking scenes in film and TV

TWX: NFLX:  Looking to expand its audience in China, HBO  has signed a deal with Tencent to distribute its TV dramas and movies through the Chinese Internet giant’s online video site

VRX: announces FDA approval of Onexton gel

CSG: Chambers Street sells two more non-core assets (Orlando and the UK)

AMZN: MakerBot offering 3D printed products

GDP revision: U.S. growth in third quarter raised to 3.9% from 3.5%

WTSL: the company announces it was exploring strategic alternatives

FDA to Require Calorie Counts at Restaurants: Final Labeling Rules, to be Unveiled today, Will Apply to Movie Theaters, Convenience Stores, reports the WSJ

September FHFA Housing Price Index: flat M/M at 213.9 vs. consensus +0.5%, +0.4% prior (revised from +0.5%)

S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index: +0.3% M/M in line with consensus,  -0.1% prior

SCOK:  SinoCoking announced that its aboveground facility for the conversion of carbon dioxide into clean-burning syngas has achieved its initial production target of 25,000 cubic meters per hour, reports briefing investor

UPGRADES & DOWNGRADES:

PANW: pt raised from $105 to $121: FBR
PANW: pt raised from $100 to $125: Deutsche Bank
PANW; pt raised from $125 to $130: Stephens
PANW: pt raised from $110 to $135: Credit Suisse
PANW: momentum appears sustainable, says Roth Capital

WDAY: pt cut from $110 to $100: FBR
WDAY: pt cut from $100 to $94: Jefferies
WDAY: A buy on weakness, says JMP Securities
WDAY: Workday guidance likely conservative, says UBS

BMRN: pt raised from $67 to $103: RBC Capital
BMRN: pt raised from $87 to $100: Jefferies

AAPL: raises pt from $115 to $130: Stifel
MDT: pt raised from $73 to $81: RBC Capital
NFLX: downgrade: buy to hold: Stifel: better risk/reward in low 300s
CYBR: downgrade; buy to neutral: Normura: $36 pt
CYBR: initiated: underperform: Imperial Capital: $40
BBW: pt raised from $18 to $23: Piper Jaffray
LEN: pt raised from $43 to $54: RBC Capital
BRCD: downgrade; buy to hold: Wunderlich: $12
GE: initiated: outperform: RBC Capital: $30
CFX: initiated: sector perform: RBC Capital: $58
CR: initiated: outperform: RBC Capital: $75
TJX: upgrade: neutral to overweight: JPMorgan: pt raised from $63 to $75
URI; pt raised from $117 to $135: Jefferies
NLNK: pt raised from $41 to $48: Cantor
JACK; pt raised from $77 to $85: Wunderlich
RFMD: pt raised from $15 to $20: Pacific Crest
CMCSA: Comcast is added to the U.S. 1 List of best investment ideas at Bank of America