Блог компании DayTraderClub | Америка сегодня. Изменение числа занятых, уровень производительности, запасы на оптовых складах и запасы нефти.

 

UDR upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill  (36.23)

 

Michaels Stores upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill  (21.00)

 Asian Markets Close: Nikkei -0.5%, Hang Seng +0.4%, Shanghai -0.1%

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the midweek session on a mostly lower note, but losses were limited. In Australia, rate hike expectations were on the rise, but the latest trade data from China disappointed, inviting some concerns about economic strength in the region.

• In economic data:
  • China's February trade deficit $9.15 billion (expected surplus of $25.75 billion; last surplus of $51.35 billion). February Imports +38.1% year-over-year (expected 20.0%; last 16.7%) and February Exports -1.3% year-over-year (consensus 12.3%; last 7.9%)
  • Japan's Q4 GDP +0.3% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.4%; last 0.2%); +1.2% year-over-year (consensus 1.6%; last 1.0%). February Economy Watchers Current Index 48.6 (expected 49.9; last 49.8). January Leading Index 0.6% month-over-month (last 1.9%) and January Coincident Indicator -0.7% month-over-month (last -0.1%)
  • New Zealand's Q4 Manufacturing Sales Volume -1.8% quarter-over-quarter (last 2.1%)

---Equity Markets---

• Japan's Nikkei lost 0.5%. Nissan Chemical Industries, Nitto Denko, Advantest, Trend Micro, Alps Electric, and Konami lost between 1.6% and 2.7%. On the upside, Suzuki Motor, Yamaha, and Toshiba gained between 1.4% and 1.9%.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.4%. Geely Automobile, which recently replaced Li & Fung in the index, led the way with an 8.0% spike. Financials like Hang Seng Bank, ICBC, Bank of China, BoC Hong Kong, and Ping An Insurance climbed between 0.2% and 1.3%. On the downside, CNOOC lost 0.6% and Cathay Pac Air fell 1.5%.
• China's Shanghai Composite settled just below its flat line. Nanning Chemical Industry, Jiangxi Changjiu Biochemical Industry, China Resource & Environmental, and Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store lost between 2.6% and 3.2%.
• India's Sensex ended lower by 0.3% amid losses in most components. Tata Steel, Oil & Natural Gas, Mahindra&Mahindra, Infosys, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, and Larsen & Toubro lost between 0.6% and 1.9%. Financials were mixed with ICICI Bank and AXIS Bank losing near 0.4% apiece while HDFC Bank added 0.4% and SBI climbed 0.6%.

---FX---

• USDJPY UNCH at 114.02
• USDCNY +0.1% to 6.9104
• USDINR +0.1% to 66.725

 

Cytokinetics initiated with a Buy at Rodman & Renshaw; tgt $25  (11.50)Rodman & Renshaw initiates CYTK with a Buy and price target of $25. Firm believes CYTK represents a core long-term holding for investors. Co has strong clinical data in hand for its two lead assets (omecamtiv mecarbil and tirasemtiv), two pharma partners, strong cash, and has reached a critical execution phase in co's history, in their view. The valuation of omecamtiv mecarbil alone warrants purchasing the shares, in their belief.

 

Navistar upgrade details — to Hold at Stifel; tgt $24  (24.85)Stifel upgrades NAV to Hold from Sell and sets target price at $24 after co reported Q1 results yesterday which disappointed, with adjusted EBITDA of $55 mln below firm's Street-low estimate of $58 mln and consensus $78 mln. But, the company nonetheless reiterated its 2017 guidance for EBITDA to be above prior-year levels. They believe there is significant risk to co achieving that goal, even in an improving market, as EBITDA will likely need to triple from the 1Q level by year-end; still, co seems confident in the guidance and indicated (several times) during its analyst call that the 1Q results actually exceed its internal projections. Even more importantly though, as fundamentals in the N. Am. truck market (especially Class 8) continue to improve, and considering firm's outlook for significant growth in industry production (after a trough year in 2017) over the next two-three years, NAV (while still relatively expensive) has perhaps the most leverage to the upside in an improving market.

 

Quanex target lowered to $23 from $24 at Wedbush following generally in line Q1; strategic actions yielding faster results  (19.30)

 

Nimble Storage downgraded to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna  (12.58)

 

Bojangles' target lowered to $20 at RBC Capital Mkts  (19.75)RBC Capital Mkts lowers their BOJA tgt to $20 from $21. Despite strong 4Q16 EPS results, we are lowering their estimates based on weaker sales trends (slightly negative SSS declines) to start the year and higher labor and operating costs through 2017. Despite near-term constraints, they are optimistic that operational initiatives and technological investments can help bolster sales trends over time. BOJA -5% premarket.

 

Bellatrix Exploration upgraded to Speculative Buy at Canaccord Genuity  (0.79)

 

Nimble Storage downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley  (12.58)

 

European Markets Update: DAX -0.1%, CAC -0.2%, FTSE -0.2% Major European indices trade just below their flat lines. In the UK, Finance Minister Philip Hammond is presenting the spring budget. The pound has retreated modestly, trading lower by 0.4% against the dollar at 1.2151. For its part, the euro (1.0560) is down 0.1% versus the greenback. There is growing skepticism that an agreement between Greek and Eurogroup officials will be reached in time for the March 20 deadline. Greek officials remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached. In economic data: Germany's January Industrial Production +2.8% month-over-month (expected 2.5%; last -2.4%) France's January trade deficit EUR7.00 billion (expected deficit of EUR1.20 billion; last deficit of EUR1.20 billion) Spain's January Industrial Production +2.5% year-over-year (consensus 2.4%; last 2.0%) Swiss February CPI +0.5% month-over-month (expected 0.2%; last 0.0%); +0.6% year-over-year (last 0.3%) ---Equity Markets--- Germany's DAX is lower by 0.1% amid broad weakness. Deutsche Post, Merck, HeidelbergCement, Bayer, and Thyssenkrupp show losses between 0.5% and 2.6% with Deutsche Post leading the slide after releasing disappointing results. On the upside, Adidas has jumped 7.5% to a fresh record high after beating earnings expectations. France's CAC has given up 0.2%. Consumer names like Danone, Carrefour, Klepierre, L'Oreal, and Pernod Ricard are down between 0.4% and 1.2%. Financials trade mostly higher with BNP Paribas and Societe Generale showing respective gains of 0.5% and 1.9% while Credit Agricole is off 0.1%. UK's FTSE shows a loss of 0.2% with drug makers displaying relative weakness. Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Shire, and GlaxoSmithKline are down between 1.5% and 2.1%. Energy names Royal Dutch Shell and BP hold respective losses of 0.7% and 0.3% while homebuilders outperform. Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments, and Persimmon are up between 1.1% and 2.0%.

 Early premarket gappersGapping up: PRKR +61%, MFIN +35.1%, BIOC +19.5%, PRSS +19.2%, SHIP +15.8%, EKSO +11.1%, XTLB +10.7%, REXX +9.7%, AVAV +9%, YIN +8.2%, SCMP +8%, HRB +7.8%, CLNE +7%, EXTR +6.6%, ZAGG +6.6%, PLCE +6.6%, TSL +5.5%, SDRL +3.6%, NCS +3.4%, TLGT +3.1%, CCE +3%, NWL +3%, REGI +2.8%, OPTT +2%, REVG +1.8%, RIGL +1.5%, GTT +1.5%, RAD +1.4%, RIO +1.4%, OA +1.4%, MT +1.3%, STM +1%, TISI +1%, CBIO +0.9%, AMD +0.8%, AUY +0.8%, FCX +0.8%, CERS +0.8%

Gapping down: EXPR -17.6%, HIIQ -13.5%, ARA -10.9%, ALQA -10.3%, HYGS -8.9%, PQ -8.7%, GEO -6.3%, URBN -5.5%, BOJA -4.8%, EDIT -4.6%, CIEN -4.3%, LAND -3.8%, CAT -3.8%, FOXF -3.7%, BOBE -3.6%, LADR -3.4%, SBGL -3.4%, GFI -3.2%, AERI -2.6%, RGNX -2.6%, SHPG -2.5%, KODK -2.5%, FCSC -1.9%, GSK -1.7%, BHP -1.6%, GOLD -1.3%, AZN -1.3%, BUD -1.3%, APC -1.2%, VRX -1.2%, RDS.A -1.1%, RIG -0.6%, ABX -0.6%, TOT -0.6%, BP -0.6%, MRO -0.5%

 

Patriot National downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Compass Point  (3.39)

 

Urban Outfitters: Color On Quarter  (25.41) FBR stays at Market Perform; tgt of $28. The firm likes URBN's growth opportunities through new categories, e-commerce, international expansion, and omni-channel and supplychain presence, but the firm remains on the sidelines, given continued women's weakness at Anthro and UO now cycling tougher margin compares. RBC lowers tgt to $24 from 29; maintains Sector Perform. The firm notes 'Even URBN's more diverse product/channel mix can't combat the secular traffic headwinds and AUR deflationary pressures hitting the sector.' The firm was surprised by management's bearish tone on the sector's harsh realities. The firm questions Anthro's apparel turn being pushed to 2H17 Wedbush stays at Neutral; PT to $26. The firm believes the co sees lower IMU and higher markdowns at U.O. and Anthro, continued margin pressure from channel shift to direct-to-consumer, and continued outperformance of non-apparel categories continuing into at least 1H17. The firm notes 1Q17 margin commentary below consensus, but the firm believes largely expected. After initially trading up as much as 6% higher following the release, shares started selling off and were barely above yesterday's close heading into the earnings call. Shares are currently trading down ~5.5% at the 24 level.

 

Extreme Networks target raised to $7 from $6.25 at Needham after announcing it intends to acquire Avaya's networking assets  (6.10)

 

Aerie Pharma target raised to $58 from $52 at Needham following the Q4 results, to reflect a model and valuation update  (49.95)

 On The Wires

• Petrobras (PBR) informs that it received today a Letter No. 33/2017/CVM/SEP/GEA-5, following a meeting of the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) that took place today, in which CVM's Collegiate decided to publish the Letter No. 30/2017/CVM/SEP/GEA-5 («Letter No. 30»), dated March 3, 2017, through which CVM's technical area determined «the re-making, re-presentation and re-statement of the complete annual financial statements for the periods ending on December 31, 2013, December 31, 2014, and December 31, 2015, and the re-making and re-presentation of the respective DFP Forms, as well as the restatement and re-presentation of the ITR Forms presented in the course of the fiscal years of 2013 (2nd and 3rd), 2014, 2015 and 2016, considering the reversals of recognized accounting effects arising from the application of hedge accounting.»
• BerGenBio ASA, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel, selective Axl kinase inhibitors for multiple cancer indications, announces it has entered into a collaborative agreement with Merck & Co. (MRK), through a subsidiary, focused on the clinical evaluation of BGB324 with KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Under the terms of the collaboration with MSD, BerGenBio will conduct two international Phase II studies to evaluate the potential clinical synergy of combining BGB324 with MSD's anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA.
• Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) announced enrollment is now open for 3DHEART, an investigator initiated trial. 3DHEART, which stands for 3D Hearts Enabling ARandomized Trial, is a randomized, single-blind clinical trial to study the use of patient-specific 3D printed models in pre-operative planning for pediatric heart surgery.

 

Sterling Bancorp target raised to $30 from $28 at Maxim Group in light of AF deal  (23.85)

 

Overnight Treasury Summary Treasuries Continue Lower Ahead of ADP Employment Change U.S. Treasuries are losing ground this morning after data from China showed a trade deficit for the first time in three years. The data may have been affected by the timing of the Lunar New Year, which landed in February this year. Industrial production growth in Germany and France beat expectations in January while France's current account deficit unexpectedly widened. Japan's GDP growth for Q4 2016 was revised up to 0.3% q/q. ADP will release its February Employment Change this morning and there is a $20 bln 10-year Treasury auction at 13:00 ET. The European Central Bank will release its monetary policy decision on Thursday and the U.S. February jobs report is due out on Friday. The U.S. Dollar Index is up 0.14% to 101.95 and the S&P 500 is set to open down 0.1% to 2,366.2. WTI crude is losing 1.04% to $52.59/bbl. and gold is down 0.26% to $1,212.9/troy oz. Yield Check: 2-yr: +2 bps to 1.35% 5-yr: +2 bps to 2.07% 10-yr: +2 bps to 2.54% 30-yr: +1 bp to 3.14% International News: Japan's GDP growth for Q4 was finalized at 0.3% q/q (1.2% y/y), missing expectations for a larger upward revision from the preliminary reading of 0.2%. Q3 growth was also 0.3% Capital expenditures were up 2.0% q/q in the fourth quarter, beating estimates after 0.9% growth in Q3 Separately, Japan's adjusted current account deficit narrowed more than expected to JPY1.26 tln in January from JPY1.66 tln in December Bank lending grew by 2.8% y/y in February (2.5% in January) Japan's Leading Index rose more than expected in January to 105.5 (104.8 in December) The Economy Watchers Current Index unexpectedly fell to 48.6 for February (49.8 in December) China's trade balance unexpectedly swung to a deficit of $9.15 bln in February from a surplus of $51.35 bln in January Exports were down just 1.3% y/y (+7.9% prior) Imports soared by 38.1% y/y (+16.7% prior) German industrial production jumped by 2.8% m/m in January, beating estimates and reversing December's 2.4% slide Spanish industrial production rose by 2.5% m/m in January, also beating expectations after 2.0% growth in December France's current account deficit unexpectedly widened to EUR7.00 bln in January from EUR1.20 bln in December Switzerland's consumer price index was up 0.5% m/m in February (0.6% y/y), beating forecasts after no change in January In Brazil, industrial production fell by 0.1% m/m in January (+1.4% y/y), exceeding estimates after a 2.4% jump in December Data out Today: MBA Mortgage Index for the week ending 3/4: Actual 3.3% w/w, Prior 5.8% MBA 30-Year Mortgage Rate: Actual 4.36%, Prior 4.30% February ADP Employment Change (08:15 ET) Q4 Productivity and Unit Labor Costs — Revised (08:30 ET) January Wholesale Inventories (10:00 ET) Crude Inventories for the week ending 3/4 (10:30 ET) Treasury Auction: $20 bln 10-year Treasury auction (reopening, results at 13:00 ET)

 

iShares U.K.: U.K. raises 2017 GDP Outlook but lowers 2018-20 in Spring Budget Statement 2017 increased to 2.0% from 1.4% in November. 2018 lowered to +1.6% from +1.7%. 2019 lowered to +1.7% from +2.1% 2020 lowered to +1.9% from +2.1%.

 

Sterling Bancorp upgraded to Outperform at Hovde Group; tgt $27  (23.85)Hovde Group upgrades STL to Outperform from Market Perform and sets target price at $27. The AF story has had its share of drama in recent months, with the break-up of co's prior agreement to be acquired by NYCB. The new tie-up with STL doesn't come as a huge surprise to firm (nor does firm think it was all that surprising to the market), given several considerations, including (a) the widely-held view that AF wasn't all that viable as a stand-alone entity and would again be sold; (b) the ongoing involvement of an activist investor; © the perceived limited number of eligible and capable buyers — which they think was due to unusual circumstances in most cases rather than a lack of interest in the franchise; and (d) STL management's cagey response to questions regarding its potential interest in the AF franchise — including most recently on the company's 4Q earnings call — which led us to believe that it would indeed be a suitor (and the most logical one at that).

 

Jagged Peak Energy initiated with a Sector Perform at Scotia Howard Weil; tgt $17  (13.36)

 

ManTech upgraded to Buy at Maxim Group; tgt $44  (35.11)Maxim Group upgrades MANT to Buy from Hold and sets target price at $44 noting shares were off nearly 11% following the release of lower-than-expected 2017 EPS guidance in late February. However, firm believes co's contract awards over the last two years are the first sign that demand is strengthening and MANT will gain market share. Furthermore, co's 2-6% rev growth guidance range for 2017 is mostly organic and accounts for a 2% headwind from lost business with the Army. This suggests to firm that underlying growth is understated and that Trump administration policies will likely lead to strong market growth in 2018 and 2019, in their opinion. Furthermore, 2017 is considered a light year for re-competes at just 10% of rev compared to the average of 20-25% annually, implying less fundamental risk. Firm believes the pressure on the recent stock is the result of MANT's contract wins being driven by low price, which will result in a lack of margin expansion in 2017. However, mgmt indicated that the pipeline has a slightly better mix and expects to average 10-30 basis points of margin expansion annually of the next three to five years.

 S&P futures vs fair value: -0.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +0.10.

Wall Street is ripe for a relatively flat open on Wednesday as investors lack a clear market-moving catalyst again this morning. The S&P 500 futures trade one point below fair value.

Crude oil has dropped 1.1% following the latest American Petroleum Institute (API) reading on Tuesday evening. The data showed a crude oil inventory build of 11.6 million barrels, which is much higher than the build of 1.6 million that the consensus anticipated. WTI crude trades at $52.57/bbl.

The Treasury market shows a modest loss this morning as investors eye Friday's Employment Situation Report, which is widely considered the last potential barrier to the newly anticipated March rate hike. The benchmark 10-yr yield trades two basis points higher at 2.54%.

The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index, which was released earlier this morning, increased 3.3% to follow last week's 5.8% uptick.

Wednesday will also see February ADP Employment Change (Briefing.com consensus 180,000) at 8:15 ET, fourth quarter Productivity (Briefing.com consensus 1.5%) & Unit Labor Costs (Briefing.com consensus 1.6%) at 8:30 ET, and January Wholesale Inventories (Briefing.com consensus -0.1%) at 10:00 ET.

In U.S. corporate news:

• Caterpillar (CAT 93.60, -2.33): -2.4% following a NY Times report discussing allegations of tax fraud.
• Urban Outfitters (URBN 24.00, -1.41): -5.6% despite reporting in-line earnings results.
• H&R Block (HRB 21.90, +1.06): +5.1% after beating on the top and bottom lines. The company also noted that its tax season results outperformed the industry average with market share gains in both the Assisted and Do-It-Yourself categories.
• The Children's Place (PLCE 107.00, +7.10): +7.1% after reporting better than expected earnings and issuing upbeat guidance. Also of note, the company announced a new stock buyback and a dividend increase.

Reviewing overnight developments:

• Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the midweek session on a mostly lower note, but losses were limited. Japan's Nikkei -0.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.4%, China's Shanghai Composite unch, India's Sensex -0.3%.
  • In economic data:
    • China's February trade deficit $9.15 billion (expected surplus of $25.75 billion; last surplus of $51.35 billion). February Imports +38.1% year-over-year (expected 20.0%; last 16.7%) and February Exports -1.3% year-over-year (consensus 12.3%; last 7.9%)
    • Japan's Q4 GDP +0.3% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.4%; last 0.2%); +1.2% year-over-year (consensus 1.6%; last 1.0%). February Economy Watchers Current Index 48.6 (expected 49.9; last 49.8). January Leading Index 0.6% month-over-month (last 1.9%) and January Coincident Indicator -0.7% month-over-month (last -0.1%)
    • New Zealand's Q4 Manufacturing Sales Volume -1.8% quarter-over-quarter (last 2.1%)
  • In news:
    • In Australia, rate hike expectations were on the rise, but the latest trade data from China disappointed, inviting some concerns about economic strength in the region.

• Major European indices trade just below their flat lines. Germany's DAX -0.1%, France's CAC -0.2%, UK's FTSE -0.2%.
  • In economic data:
    • Germany's January Industrial Production +2.8% month-over-month (expected 2.5%; last -2.4%)
    • France's January trade deficit EUR7.00 billion (expected deficit of EUR1.20 billion; last deficit of EUR1.20 billion)
    • Spain's January Industrial Production +2.5% year-over-year (consensus 2.4%; last 2.0%)
    • Swiss February CPI +0.5% month-over-month (expected 0.2%; last 0.0%); +0.6% year-over-year (last 0.3%)
  • In news:
    • In the UK, Finance Minister Philip Hammond is presenting the spring budget. The pound has retreated modestly, trading lower by 0.4% against the dollar at 1.2151.
    • There is growing skepticism that an agreement between Greek and Eurogroup officials will be reached in time for the March 20 deadline. Greek officials remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached.

 Ocera Therapeutics shares halted for news pending

 

On The Wires Mitek (MITK) announced that a top crowdfunding platform selected Mitek's Mobile Verify to improve their new user on-boarding experience and help the company meet Know Your Customer and anti-money laundering requirements. Chevron Corporation (CVX) announced that its subsidiary, Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited, has commenced oil and gas production from the main production facility of the Mafumeira Sul project offshore Angola. As previously reported, on July 27, 2016, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed the suit brought by Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (AMPH) and its wholly-owned subsidiary International Medication Systems Ltd. against Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (MNTA) and Sandoz Inc. (Novartis (NVS) unit) alleging that, in connection with filing the September 2011 patent infringement suit against Amphastar and Actavis (Teva (TEVA) unit), the Company and Sandoz sought to prevent Amphastar from selling generic Enoxaparin Sodium Injection and thereby exclude competition for generic Enoxaparin Sodium Injection in violation of federal and California anti-trust laws and California unfair business laws. Also as previously reported, on August 25, 2016, Amphastar filed a notice of appeal from the dismissal with the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. On March 6, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed the District Court's dismissal and remanded the suit to the District Court for further proceedings.

 

Fox Factory Holding target raised to $26 from $23 at Stifel after Compass announces the liquidation of remaining FOXF position in secondary; Hold  (28.40)

 

Ocera Therapeutics to resume trading at 08:35

 S&P futures vs fair value: -0.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -1.50.

The S&P 500 futures trade one point below fair value.

Just in, the ADP National Employment Report showed an increase of 298,000 in February (Briefing.com consensus 180,000) while the January reading was revised to 261,000 from 246,000. The ADP reading precedes Friday's more influential Employment Situation Report for February, which the Briefing.com consensus expects will show the addition of 188,000 nonfarm payrolls. The Employment Situation Report for January indicated that nonfarm payrolls increased by 227,000.

 8x8 acquires LeChat; terms not dsiclosed  (14.85)LeChat, Inc. is the maker of Sameroom, an interoperability platform that enables cross-team messaging and collaboration in the enterprise.

 European Summary

European Sovereign Debt Drops

• European sovereign debt is seeing losses across the board this morning in sympathy with the weakness in Treasuries. At the 10-year tenor, the biggest loser is Spain, whose yield has matched a one-year high. With the euro remaining weak and the eurozone recovery continuing, traders are starting to think about 2017 rate hikes from the European Central Bank. The ECB's Governing Council releases its next rate decision on Thursday and is widely expected to keep monetary policy on its current course. The monthly asset purchases will taper to EUR60 bln (currently EUR80 bln) on April 1. Economic data out this morning showed that industrial production in Germany and Spain beat forecasts during January, but the real force pushing up rate in the eurozone is the huge ADP number for U.S. employment. The report that the U.S. economy added 298K nonfarm payrolls in February (180K Briefing.com consensus) will weigh on sovereign bonds in all developed economies
• The U.K. revised down up its growth forecast for 2017 to 2.0% (from 1.4% in November) while revising down its 2019 growth forecast to 1.7% (from 2.1% in November)
• New Issuance:
  • Germany sold EUR3.15 bln of five-year bobls with an average yield of -0.45% and a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.08
• European Economic Data:
  • German industrial production jumped by 2.8% m/m in January, beating estimates and reversing December's 2.4% slide
  • Spanish industrial production rose by 2.5% m/m in January, also beating expectations after 2.0% growth in December
  • France's current account deficit unexpectedly widened to EUR7.00 bln in January from EUR1.20 bln in December
  • Switzerland's consumer price index was up 0.5% m/m in February (0.6% y/y), beating forecasts after no change in January
• Yield Check:
  • France, 10-yr OAT: +6 bps to 1.02%
  • Germany, 10-yr bund: +4 bps to 0.36%
  • Greece, 10-yr note: -5 bps to 7.06%
  • Italy, 10-yr BTP: +7 bps to 2.26%
  • Portugal, 10-yr PGB: +3 bps to 2.98%
  • Spain, 10-yr ODE: +7 bps to 1.79%
  • U.K., 10-yr gilt: +1 bp to 1.13%

 Gain Capital target raised to $10 from $7 at Jefferies  (7.71)

 

Masonite International target raised to $92 from $87 at RBC Capital Mkts — remains top idea for SMID cap investors with a high-quality bias looking to own an improving ROIC story  (80.15)

 

Splunk initiated with a Buy at Rosenblatt; tgt $75  (60.70)

 On The Wires

• Zayo Group Holdings (ZAYO) will open its fourth Paris metro area data center at 16-18 Avenue de l'Europe in Vélizy. The 55,000-square-foot facility strengthens the company's data center footprint in Paris and is connected to Zayo's dense fiber backbone in Paris, which spans more than 600 miles. The site's unique location and ability to tether to zColo's central Paris facility at 19/21 Rue Poissonnière creates a differentiated value proposition.
• A major wireless carrier has selected Zayo (ZAYO) for a small cell solution to densify its network in Napa Valley, California. The solution will consist of 23 new route miles of network that will connect more than 50 new small cell sites.
• Accenture (ACN), Avanade, and Microsoft (MSFT) announced moves designed to extend their leadership in the market and commitment to maximizing the value of the Microsoft ecosystem for clients. The actions include the appointment of Debra (Debbie) Polishook, group chief executive — Accenture Operations, to the Avanade board of directors and greater investments in new technology capabilities to accelerate the digital transformation of clients.
• ACI Worldwide (ACIW) announced that Jack Henry & Associates (JKHY) will use ACI's UP Immediate Payments to connect its more than 10,000 financial institution clients and their customers to real-time payments networks — including The Clearing House Real-time Payments System and Zelle networks — to accelerate real-time payments in the U.S.
• Teekay Corporation (TK) and Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. (TOO) announced the following changes to their respective Boards of Directors: C. Sean Day will be stepping down from his role as Chairman of both Teekay and Teekay Offshore effective June 15, 2017. Mr. Day will remain as a Board member of both Teekay and Teekay Offshore. Current Teekay director, William P. Utt, will replace Mr. Day as Teekay's Chairman. Mr. Utt will also join and serve as Chairman of the Teekay Offshore Board of Directors, effective June 15, 2017.

 Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:

• MFIN +35.1%, HH +31.7%, PRSS +19.2%, REXX +17.5%, BIOC +17.3%, EKSO +11.1%
• AVAV +7.1%, YIN +7.1%, PLCE +6.8%, ZAGG +6.7%, SCMP +6.7%, CLNE +6.6%, HRB +6%
• TLGT +3.8%, NCS +3.4%, REGI +2.8%, OPTT +2%, GTT +2%, AERI +1.8%, RIGL +1.5%
• OA +1.4%, TISI +1%, CERS +0.8%, CBIO +0.7%

M&A news:

• TSL +5.7% (still checking, potentially related to pending to «go private» soon)
• RH +1.9% (UK Betaville blogger suggests Williams-Sonoma is 'stalking Restoration Hardware')

Select EU financial names showing strength:

• ING +2%, CS +1.8%, DB +1.4%, LYG +1%

Other news:

• PRKR +50.2% (continued strength following favorable patent ruling)
• XTLB +14.4% (continued strength)
• SHIP +12.6% (enters into a definitive agreement with one of its senior lenders for the early termination of a credit facility, which is expected to result into a material gain and equity accretion; the gain to the Company is estimated to be approximately $11.4 million after completion)
• EXTR +7.4% ( to acquire Avaya's networking business for approximately $100 million )
• NTLA +5.1% (presents updated data showing increased levels of genome editing efficiency in vivo and durability results with its CRISPR/Cas9 technology)
• CLRB +4.5% (enters into a licensing agreement with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation for intellectual property rights covering the method of use for CLR 131), TLGT +3.8% (receives approval of the Co's abbreviated new drug application from the FDA of Clobetasol Propionate Gel)
• KERX +3.3% (FDA has accepted for review the supplemental New Drug Application for Auryxia)
• OPK +2.8% (receives notification from the EC designating its oligonucleotide-based AntagoNAT)
• FCSC +1.9% (Fibrocell Science entered into securities purchase agreement with existing investors for sale of $8.0 mln Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and accompanying warrants )
• DKS +0.9% (slightly rebounding following yesterday's 9% decline, also several analysts defending stock this morning)

Analyst comments:

• MIK +2.6% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill)
• IPXL +2.2% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank)
• MWA +1.6% (initiated with a Buy at Goldman)
• SWKS +1% (initiated with a Outperform at Wells Fargo)
• AVB +1% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill)

 S&P futures vs fair value: -2.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -6.60.

The S&P 500 futures trade three points below fair value.

Just in, the revised unit labor costs increased 1.7% during the fourth quarter, which was higher than the 1.6% increase that had been anticipated by the Briefing.com consensus. The preliminary reading also showed an increase of 1.7%.

The revised productivity reading showed an increase of 1.3%. The Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 1.5% while the preliminary reading showed an uptick of 1.3%.

 Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:

• GNE -14.7%, VRA -14.2%, EXPR -11.9%,
• ALQA -11.5%, (also initiated a process of identifying strategic alternatives for the contract manufacturing business )
• ARA -10.9%, HYGS -8.9%, PQ -8.7%, URBN -6.7%, BOJA -6.1%, CIEN -3.9%, BOBE -3.6%
• RGNX -2.6%, (also announces that the first patient in a Phase I/II clinical trial of REGENXBIO's investigational gene therapy RGX-501 for the treatment of homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia has been dosed)
• KODK -2.5%, RRR -1.4%

Select metals/mining stocks trading lower:

• GFI -3.5%, SBGL -3.4%, AG -2.6%, HMY -2.3%, BHP -1.9%, AUY -0.8%, ABX -0.7%

Select oil/gas related names showing early weakness:

• RIG -1.4%, RDS.A -1.2%, MRO -1%, BP -0.8%, TOT -0.8%

Other news:

• HIIQ -15% (launches a secondary underwritten public offering of shares of its Class A common stock )
• GEO -6.3% (prices its previously announced public offering of 6,000,000 shares at $41.75/share)
• LADR -4.8% (prices 3 mln common stock offering by selling stockholders for gross proceeds of approx. $42 mln)
• FOXF -4.2% (announces secondary offering of 5,108,718 shares by one of its existing stockholders)
• LAND -3.9% (to sell approx. 1.4 mln shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering)
• CAT -2.1% (NY Times report discussing allegations of tax fraud)
• COTV -2% (prices offering of 8.42 mln shares of common stock, by certain stockholders at a $36.00 per share)
• NVO -1.2% (Bloomberg details that Novo Nordisk (NVO) might miss its diabetics treatment targets)

Analyst comments:

• GOLD -2.1% (downgraded to Underperform at RBC Capital Mkts)
• BT -1.4% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman)

 Gapping up/down: AVAV +7%, PLCE +7%, HRB +6% and OA +1% after earnings, MIK +2% after upgrade, SWKS +1% after OP initiation at Wells Fargo; VRA -14%, EXPR -12%, URBN -7% and CIEN -4% after earnings

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:

• MFIN +35.1%, HH +31.7%, PRSS +19.2%, REXX +17.5%, BIOC +17.3%, EKSO +11.1%
• AVAV +7.1%, YIN +7.1%, PLCE +6.8%, ZAGG +6.7%, SCMP +6.7%, CLNE +6.6%, HRB +6%
• TLGT +3.8%, NCS +3.4%, REGI +2.8%, OPTT +2%, GTT +2%, AERI +1.8%, RIGL +1.5%
• OA +1.4%, TISI +1%, CERS +0.8%, CBIO +0.7%

M&A news:

• TSL +5.7% (still checking, potentially related to pending to «go private» soon)
• RH +1.9% (UK Betaville blogger suggests Williams-Sonoma is 'stalking Restoration Hardware')

Select EU financial names showing strength:

• ING +2%, CS +1.8%, DB +1.4%, LYG +1%

Other news:

• PRKR +50.2% (continued strength following favorable patent ruling)
• XTLB +14.4% (continued strength)
• SHIP +12.6% (enters into a definitive agreement with one of its senior lenders for the early termination of a credit facility, which is expected to result into a material gain and equity accretion; the gain to the Company is estimated to be approximately $11.4 million after completion)
• EXTR +7.4% ( to acquire Avaya's networking business for approximately $100 million )
• NTLA +5.1% (presents updated data showing increased levels of genome editing efficiency in vivo and durability results with its CRISPR/Cas9 technology)
• CLRB +4.5% (enters into a licensing agreement with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation for intellectual property rights covering the method of use for CLR 131), TLGT +3.8% (receives approval of the Co's abbreviated new drug application from the FDA of Clobetasol Propionate Gel)
• KERX +3.3% (FDA has accepted for review the supplemental New Drug Application for Auryxia)
• OPK +2.8% (receives notification from the EC designating its oligonucleotide-based AntagoNAT)
• FCSC +1.9% (Fibrocell Science entered into securities purchase agreement with existing investors for sale of $8.0 mln Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and accompanying warrants )
• DKS +0.9% (slightly rebounding following yesterday's 9% decline, also several analysts defending stock this morning)

Analyst comments:

• MIK +2.6% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill)
• IPXL +2.2% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank)
• MWA +1.6% (initiated with a Buy at Goldman)
• SWKS +1% (initiated with a Outperform at Wells Fargo)
• AVB +1% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill)

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:

• GNE -14.7%, VRA -14.2%, EXPR -11.9%,
• ALQA -11.5%, (also initiated a process of identifying strategic alternatives for the contract manufacturing business )
• ARA -10.9%, HYGS -8.9%, PQ -8.7%, URBN -6.7%, BOJA -6.1%, CIEN -3.9%, BOBE -3.6%
• RGNX -2.6%, (also announces that the first patient in a Phase I/II clinical trial of REGENXBIO's investigational gene therapy RGX-501 for the treatment of homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia has been dosed)
• KODK -2.5%, RRR -1.4%

Select metals/mining stocks trading lower:

• GFI -3.5%, SBGL -3.4%, AG -2.6%, HMY -2.3%, BHP -1.9%, AUY -0.8%, ABX -0.7%

Select oil/gas related names showing early weakness:

• RIG -1.4%, RDS.A -1.2%, MRO -1%, BP -0.8%, TOT -0.8%

Other news:

• HIIQ -15% (launches a secondary underwritten public offering of shares of its Class A common stock )
• GEO -6.3% (prices its previously announced public offering of 6,000,000 shares at $41.75/share)
• LADR -4.8% (prices 3 mln common stock offering by selling stockholders for gross proceeds of approx. $42 mln)
• FOXF -4.2% (announces secondary offering of 5,108,718 shares by one of its existing stockholders)
• LAND -3.9% (to sell approx. 1.4 mln shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering)
• CAT -2.1% (NY Times report discussing allegations of tax fraud)
• COTV -2% (prices offering of 8.42 mln shares of common stock, by certain stockholders at a $36.00 per share)
• NVO -1.2% (Bloomberg details that Novo Nordisk (NVO) might miss its diabetics treatment targets)

Analyst comments:

• GOLD -2.1% (downgraded to Underperform at RBC Capital Mkts)
• BT -1.4% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman)

 

Impax Labs downgraded to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna  (9.10)

 

Boingo Wireless target raised to $14 at Lake Street; Buy  (11.20)Lake Street raises their WIFI tgt to $14 from $12 after co posted another solid quarter driven by growth its Military and DAS businesses. Q4 capped a strong 2016, as momentum built across its businesses. This strength appears to be carrying into 2017 as co provided better than consensus guidance for Q1'17 and FY'17. Its DAS business has very strong demand as mobile data growth leaves carriers, and venue operators, looking for bandwidth solutions. Military subs penetration grew to over 34% and revs grew 60% Y/Y as this business stars to generate significant free FCF. Boingo has proven it can grow its business while also generating cash flow, especially as its military deployment capex wanes and penetration grows.

 S&P futures vs fair value: -0.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -1.40.

The S&P 500 futures trade in line with fair value.

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the midweek session on a mostly lower note, but losses were limited. In Australia, rate hike expectations were on the rise, but the latest trade data from China disappointed, inviting some concerns about economic strength in the region.

• In economic data:
  • China's February trade deficit $9.15 billion (expected surplus of $25.75 billion; last surplus of $51.35 billion). February Imports +38.1% year-over-year (expected 20.0%; last 16.7%) and February Exports -1.3% year-over-year (consensus 12.3%; last 7.9%)
  • Japan's Q4 GDP +0.3% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.4%; last 0.2%); +1.2% year-over-year (consensus 1.6%; last 1.0%). February Economy Watchers Current Index 48.6 (expected 49.9; last 49.8). January Leading Index 0.6% month-over-month (last 1.9%) and January Coincident Indicator -0.7% month-over-month (last -0.1%)
  • New Zealand's Q4 Manufacturing Sales Volume -1.8% quarter-over-quarter (last 2.1%)

---Equity Markets---

• Japan's Nikkei lost 0.5%. Nissan Chemical Industries, Nitto Denko, Advantest, Trend Micro, Alps Electric, and Konami lost between 1.6% and 2.7%. On the upside, Suzuki Motor, Yamaha, and Toshiba gained between 1.4% and 1.9%.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.4%. Geely Automobile, which recently replaced Li & Fung in the index, led the way with an 8.0% spike. Financials like Hang Seng Bank, ICBC, Bank of China, BoC Hong Kong, and Ping An Insurance climbed between 0.2% and 1.3%. On the downside, CNOOC lost 0.6% and Cathay Pac Air fell 1.5%.
• China's Shanghai Composite settled just below its flat line. Nanning Chemical Industry, Jiangxi Changjiu Biochemical Industry, China Resource & Environmental, and Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store lost between 2.6% and 3.2%.
• India's Sensex ended lower by 0.3% amid losses in most components. Tata Steel, Oil & Natural Gas, Mahindra&Mahindra, Infosys, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, and Larsen & Toubro lost between 0.6% and 1.9%. Financials were mixed with ICICI Bank and AXIS Bank losing near 0.4% apiece while HDFC Bank added 0.4% and SBI climbed 0.6%.

Major European indices trade near their flat lines. In the UK, Finance Minister Philip Hammond is presenting the spring budget. The pound has retreated modestly, trading lower by 0.2% against the dollar at 1.2172. For its part, the euro (1.0550) is down 0.2% versus the greenback. There is growing skepticism that an agreement between Greek and Eurogroup officials will be reached in time for the March 20 deadline. Greek officials remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached.

• In economic data:
  • Germany's January Industrial Production +2.8% month-over-month (expected 2.5%; last -2.4%)
  • France's January trade deficit EUR7.00 billion (expected deficit of EUR1.20 billion; last deficit of EUR1.20 billion)
  • Spain's January Industrial Production +2.5% year-over-year (consensus 2.4%; last 2.0%)
  • Swiss February CPI +0.5% month-over-month (expected 0.2%; last 0.0%); +0.6% year-over-year (last 0.3%)

---Equity Markets---

• Germany's DAX is higher by 0.2%. Deutsche Post, Merck, HeidelbergCement, Bayer, and Thyssenkrupp show losses between 0.3% and 2.2% with Deutsche Post showing the heaviest loss after releasing disappointing results. On the upside, Adidas has jumped 7.7% to a fresh record high after beating earnings expectations. Meanwhile, select financials show relative strength with Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank adding 1.6% and 2.3%, respectively.
• France's CAC has added 0.2%. Consumer names like Danone, Carrefour, Klepierre, and L'Oreal are down between 0.2% and 0.7%. Financials trade mostly higher with BNP Paribas and Societe Generale showing respective gains of 1.3% and 2.3% while Credit Agricole trades higher by 0.3%.
• UK's FTSE trades flat with drug makers displaying relative weakness. Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Shire, and GlaxoSmithKline are all down around 1.1% apiece. Energy names Royal Dutch Shell and BP hold respective losses of 0.8% and 0.3% while homebuilders outperform. Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments, and Persimmon are up between 0.2% and 0.6%. Worldpay Group leads all components with a gain of 4.6%.

 Filings, Offerings and Pricings

Filings:

• C&J Energy (CJ) files for $1 bln mixed securities shelf and 30 mln share offering by selling selling shareholders
• LSC Communications (LKSD) files for 6,242,802 common stock offering by RR Donnelley & Sons (RRD)
• Paramount Gold Nevada (PZG) files for offering of 3.135 mln shares of common stock — including 1.045 mln shares issuable upon exercise of warrants — by certain selling stockholders 
• Superior Energy (SPN) files for mixed securities shelf offering; size not disclosed

Offerings:

• Equinix (EQIX) commences public offerings of $1.75 bln of its common stock and $1.125 billion in aggregate principal amount of its senior notes due 2027 
• Fox Factory Holding (FOXF) announces secondary offering of 5,108,718 shares by Compass Diversified (CODI)
• Health Insurance Innovations (HIIQ) launches a secondary underwritten public offering of shares of its Class A common stock by certain stockholders
• Gladstone Land (LAND) to sell approx. 1.4 mln shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering

Pricings:

• Cotiviti (COTV 37.67) prices offering of 8.42 mln shares of common stock by certain stockholders at a $36.00 per share
• Fibrocell Science (FCSC 0.78) enters into securities purchase agreement with existing investors for sale of $8 mln Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and accompanying warrants -- agreed to sell an aggregate of 8,000 units for a purchase price of $1,000 per Unit, with each Unit consisting of (i) one share of Preferred Stock with an initial stated value of $1,000 convertible into shares of the Company's common stock at a conversion price of $0.7757, and (ii) Warrants to purchase 10,313,263 shares of Common Stock.
• Geo Group (GEO 44.73) prices its previously announced public offering of 6 mln shares at $41.75/share 
• JBT Corp (JBT 85.70) prices 2 mln share of common stock at $85.00 per share 
• Ladder Capital (LADR 14.91) prices 3 mln common stock offering by selling stockholders for gross proceeds of approx. $42 mln; implies price at $14.00/share 
• Pacira Pharma (PCRX 48.65) prices offering of $300 mln of convertible senior notes due 2022 

 

Armstrong World Industries lower ahead of the open following block trade pricing  (45.90)

 

On The Wires CGI (GIB) announced its selection by the State of Colorado for a multi-year contract to modernize outdated, legacy payroll systems that serve more than 30,000 public employees across 21 state agencies and departments. The contract, with optional years, is valued at US$66.2 million over 20 years. As part of an ongoing process to overhaul Colorado's enterprise resource planning system, CGI will provide IT services and solutions to replace various manual payroll processes with a unified human resource information system that is efficient, reliable and cost-effective. Diana Shipping (DSX) announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Koch Shipping Pte. Ltd., Singapore, for one of its Newcastlemax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Philadelphia. The gross charter rate is US$15,500 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum ten months to about thirteen months. The charter is expected to commence on March 14, 2017. Partner Comms (PTNR) announced that Mr. David (Dudu) Mizrahi will replace Mr. Ziv Leitman as CFO on April 2, 2017. American International Group (AIG) announced plans to locate an insurance company in Luxembourg to ensure continued smooth operation of its business across the European Economic Area and Switzerland once the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. Sequential Brands Group (SQBG) announced that it has entered into a long-term license agreement with SPR Indústria de Confecção Ltda, a leading sports manufacturer and distributor to bring its basketball brand AND1, active lifestyle brand AVIA, and skate brand DVS to Brazil. MOVADO GROUP (MOV) announced a partnership with Google to launch Movado Connect, a smartwatch collection powered by Android Wear 2.0, Google's newly redesigned platform. Movado Connect is one of the first watches designed specifically for Android Wear 2.0 and will launch fall of 2017 introducing five men's styles with a starting price of $495 available in the US, the Caribbean, Canada and the UK. The collection will be unveiled at Baselworld 2017. GE (GE) and Caithness Energy announced an exclusive agreement with the intent to pursue development of multiple new HA combined-cycle power plants in the United States. The equipment package that GE will deliver as part of the agreement has a total value that could exceed $1 billion. The package is configured to include up to six high-efficiency HA gas turbines, six steam turbines, six heat recovery steam generators and other equipment — known as the power island. The agreement is expected to be effective March 31, and the plants are projected to be developed throughout 2017 and 2018. Camping World Holdings (CWH) announced plans for further expansion in the state of Virginia, with the acquisition of the Safford RV dealership in the Fredericksburg market.

 

Zendesk resumed with a Buy at Rosenblatt; tgt $34  (26.68)

 

China Lodging: Accor affirms 10.8% active stake, discloses entry into support agreement   (58.33)On February 28, 2017, AAPC Hong Kong Limited (the «Shareholder»), a shareholder of the Issuer, and Mr. Qi Ji entered into a Support Agreement. The Agreement provides that the Shareholder and Mr. Ji agree to notify each other of and discuss any Acquisition Proposal of which each may become aware. In such case, each such party agreed to use their commercially reasonable efforts to reach a common decision with respect to such Acquisition Proposal. The Agreement further provides that the Shareholder agrees to appear at any shareholder meeting and to vote (or cause to be voted) all of the shares that the Shareholder has the power to vote or to direct the vote of in the manner designated by Mr. Ji against any resolution supporting or seeking to assist any Acquisition Proposal that the board of directors of the Issuer has adopted a resolution to oppose or reject.

 

S&P futures vs fair value: +0.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -0.60. After pointing to a lower open earlier this morning, equity futures now indicate a slightly higher start for the stock market on Wednesday following a hotter than expected ADP National Employment Report. The S&P 500 futures trade one point above fair value. The ADP National Employment Report showed an increase of 298,000 in February (Briefing.com consensus 180,000) while the January reading was revised to 261,000 from 246,000. The ADP reading precedes Friday's more influential Employment Situation Report for February, which is widely considered the last potential barrier to a rate hike in March. U.S. Treasuries slipped to fresh overnight lows in the wake of the release. The benchmark 10-yr yield trades five basis points higher at 2.57%. Crude oil also hovers near its fresh low, down 1.4%, following the latest American Petroleum Institute (API) reading on Tuesday evening. The data showed a crude oil inventory build of 11.6 million barrels, which was much higher than the anticipated build of 1.6 million. WTI crude trades at $52.39/bbl ahead of today's crude oil inventory report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which will be released at 10:30 ET. On the corporate front, Caterpillar (CAT 93.80, -2.13) is down 2.2% in pre-market action following a New York Times article indicating that the company has been accused of tax fraud in a report to federal investigators. Elsewhere, on the earnings front, The Children's Place (PLCE 108.50, +8.60) has spiked 8.6% after reporting better than expected earnings and issuing upbeat guidance. Also of note, the company announced a new stock buyback and a dividend increase. Today's last economic report will be January Wholesale Inventories (Briefing.com consensus -0.1%). The report will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.

 

Amaya: David Baazov lowers active stake to 12.1% (Prior 17.2%)  (14.95)

 

Anadarko Petroleum provides FY17 guidance on the Investor's Conference call; sees FY17 total volume growth between +12 to +13.9% y/y between 644-655 mln boe/d  (63.16) Co sees FY17 total volume between 644-655 MBOE/D, vs 575 MBOE/D in 2016. Sees FY17 oil volumes between 357-362 MBOPD, vs 287 MBOPD in 2016. Reaffirms total capex between $4.5-4.7 bln, vs $2.8 bln in 2016. Sees FY17 discretionary cash flow between $4.3-4.5 bln, vs $3.2 bln in 2016. Co sees 25% margin improvement to adj EBITDAX per BOE y/y. Sees +15% CAGR in oil volume over the next 5 years. Co plans to operate 5-6 rigs in the DJ Basin, 10-14 rigs in the Delaware basin, & 2 rigs in the Deepwater gulf of Mexico. Sees 75+% liquids composition by the end of 2017. By 2021, co expects to produce over 1 mln BOE per day. Co also noted they are waiting for more color on production cuts from OPEC and remain flexible with adding rigs. — Shares of APC -0.8% pre-market.

 

Dick's Sporting Goods defended, target lowered to $67 at Canaccord Genuity after Q4 print  (48.08)Canaccord Genuity lowers their DKS tgt to $67 from $70 noting, "We believe yesterday's 8.6% share price decline was overdone given that initial fears around continued investments (and deleverage) were quelled on the conference call, in our view. DKS is one of few retailers that is growing both comps and gross margin and should continue to do so through the balance of the year.... We see limited downside risk and believe the stock can rebound into the mid-50's over the coming months as comp trends remain robust."

 On The Wires

• Southeast Asia's online-to-offline (O2O) e-commerce market leader Fave announced its acquisition of Groupon Singapore (GRPN), the city-state's top deals and discounts platform. The acquisition is set to solidify the company's efforts in helping consumers save, while driving growth for local businesses across SEA.  The acquisition of the Groupon Singapore's business follows similar acquisitions of Groupon Indonesia and Malaysia in 2016. Thus far, Groupon Malaysia has been fully integrated into Fave, while Groupon Indonesia is set to follow suit in the coming months. Groupon Singapore will see a similar integration into Fave by mid-2017. The transaction is expected to close later this week.  
• AGCO Corporation (AGCO) announced the company has been granted a new multi-year, statewide contract with the State of Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget. Effective immediately, all eligible agencies will have access to purchase Massey Ferguson tractors and implements through a pre-negotiated contract.
• GE Aviation (GE) announced that it has been awarded a $4.1 mln contract from the U.S. Army to develop and demonstrate silicon carbide-based power electronics supporting high-voltage next generation ground vehicle electrical power architecture.
• Streamline Health Solutions (STRM) announced an agreement to provide new services and technology to long-time client Nebraska Medicine. Nebraska Medicine provides its patients with access to more than 1,000 physicians with a total of 661 licensed beds at its hospitals in Omaha and Bellevue, along with nearly 40 specialty and primary care clinics in Omaha and the surrounding area. Nebraska Medicine is the clinical partner for the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
• Today, Thales, SES S.A. and Hughes Network Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (SATS), announced a set of strategic agreements to enhance the delivery of FlytLIVE — Thales' connected inflight experience solution, offering the most advanced and efficient aeronautical connectivity solution available in the Americas. Under the agreements, SES contracts capacity on Hughes EchoStar XVII and EchoStar XIX high throughput  Ka-band satellites to complement its AMC-15 and AMC-16 network giving FlytLIVE the only redundant coverage network in North America. SES will also purchase multiple JUPITER System gateways from Hughes to qualify Thales to deploy its FlytLIVE service on Hughes JUPITER Aeronautical platform. This will allow Thales to initiate its next-generation connected inflight experience offering in North America this year.
• AGCO Corporation (AGCO) has been granted a new multi-year, statewide contract with the State of Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget. Effective immediately, all eligible agencies will have access to purchase Massey Ferguson tractors and implements through a pre-negotiated contract.

 Economic Summary: February ADP blows past estimates

Economic Data Summary:

• Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications 3.3% vs Briefing.com consensus of; Last Week was 5.8%
• February ADP Employment Change 298K vs Briefing.com consensus of 180K; January was revised to 261K from 246K
  • Goods-producing: 106,000
  • Service-providing: 193,000
• Q4 Productivity — Rev 1.3% vs Briefing.com consensus of 1.5%; Q4 Prelim was 1.3%
• Q4 Unit Labor — Costs 1.7% vs Briefing.com consensus of 1.6%; Q4 Prelim was 1.7%

Upcoming Economic Data:

• February Challenger Job Cuts due out Thursday at 7:30 (January was -38.8%)
• February Export Prices — Ag due out Thursday at 8:30 (January was 0.1%)
• February Import Prices — Oil due out Thursday at 8:30 (January was -0.2%)
• Weekly Initial Claims due out Thursday at 8:30 (Briefing.com consensus of 240K; Last Week was 223K)
• Weekly Continuing Claims due out Thursday at 8:30 (Briefing.com consensus of; Last Week was 2.066 M )

Upcoming Fed/Treasury Events:

• The Treasury is expected to auction off new debt this week.
  • $20 bln in 10 Year Treasury Notes
  • $12 bln in 30 Year Treasury Bonds

Other International Events of Interest

• China's February trade deficit $9.15 billion (expected surplus of $25.75 billion; last surplus of $51.35 billion). February Imports +38.1% year-over-year (expected 20.0%; last 16.7%) and February Exports -1.3% year-over-year (consensus 12.3%; last 7.9%)

 Opening Market Summary: Financials Jump Higher Out of the Gate on Wednesday

The S&P 500 opened Wednesday's session just above its flat line with a slim gain.

Out of the gate, the financial sector (+1.1%) leads all of its peers by a wide margin. Conversely, the utilities space holds the bottom spot on today's leaderboard with a loss of 1.1%.

The top four sectors by weight--technology, financials, health care, and consumer discretionary--have held at or above their flat lines in early action to keep their peers' losses in check. Together, the four groups comprise over 60.0% of the broader market.

 Sector Summary: Technology (XLK +0.27%) trading higher today, modestly ahead of the broader market

The tech sector — XLK — trades modestly ahead of the broader market. Semiconductors, meanwhile, display relative strength as the SOX index trades +0.85%. Within the SOX index, AMD (+2.67%) outperforms, while INTC (-0.05%) lags. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.22% higher, while the QQQ +0.30% and the NASDAQ +0.25% trade modestly higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, AMX (+0.75%) is showing relative strength, while VZ (-0.77%) lags.

Notable gainers following earnings:

• PCTI (+6.8%) reported better than expected Q4 EPS and revs

Notable laggards following earnings:

• CIEN (-8.0%) reported worse than expected Q1 EPS and revs; also guided Q2 revs in-line, TECD (-3.9%)

Gainers on news:

• PRKR (+22.8%) co confirmed a favorable PTAB ruling vs. Qualcomm (QCOM).
• EXTR (+11.5%) co to acquire Avaya's networking business for ~$100 million.
• AMZN (+0.5%) co's AWS has acquired meeting productivity startup Do.com, according to TechCrunch.
• MSFT (+0.1%) co to shutter its So.cl social network project effective March 15.

Laggards on news:

• EQIX (-1.1%) co commenced a public offerings of $1.75 bln of its common stock and $1.125 billion in aggregate principal amount of its senior notes due 2027.

Among notable analyst upgrades:

• SWKS (+1.1%) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Mizuho
• MANT (+5.9%) to Buy from Hold at Maxim Group

Among notable analyst downgrades:

• NMBL (-0.4%) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo
• NMBL (-0.4%) to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley
• NMBL (-0.4%) to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna
• NMBL (-0.4%) to Sector Weight from Overweight at Pacific Crest
• BT (-0.9%) to Neutral from Buy at Goldman

Scheduled to report earnings after the bell:

• VNET RATE CMTL KEYW NCIT SMTC TTEC XTLY

Scheduled to report earnings tomorrow morning:

• ACTA CRCM INAP SSYS TSL

 Hearing Tortoise Energy Infrastructure was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel  (33.37 -0.26)

 Himax Tech shares higher by 8% in early trade — move appears to be technical  (7.70 +0.62)

• The stock broke above resistance that was near the $7.35-7.45 area. The 50 day moving average sits near the $8.10/area.
• The company will present at a Roth conference next week, March 14.

 

Orbotech upgraded to Buy from Hold at Standpoint Research  (29.40 +0.25)

 Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data for the Week Ending Mar 3, 2017

Production: U.S. crude oil refinery inputs avgd 15.5 mln barrels per day during the week ending March 3, 2017, 172,000 barrels per day less than the previous week's avg. Refineries operated at 85.9% of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging over 9.8 mln barrels per day. Distillate fuel production increased last week, averaging 4.8 mln barrels per day.

Imports: U.S. crude oil imports avgd just about 8.2 mln barrels per day last week, up by 561,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports avgd 7.9 mln barrels per day, 1.7% below the same four-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week avgd 242,000 barrels per day. Distillate fuel imports avgd 266,000 barrels per day last week.

Inventory: U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 8.2 mln barrels from the previous week. At 528.4 mln barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are above the upper limit of the avg range for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 6.6 mln barrels last week, but are near the upper limit of the avg range. Both finished gasoline inventories and blending components inventories decreased last week. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 2.7 mln barrels last week but are near the upper limit of the avg range for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories fell 4.1 mln barrels last week but are in the middle of the avg range. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased by 2.4 mln barrels last week.

Demand: Total products supplied over the last four-week period avgd 19.6 mln barrels per day, down by 1.3% from the same period last year. Over the last four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied avgd about 8.8 mln barrels per day, down by 6.1% from the same period last year. Distillate fuel product supplied avgd over 4.0 mln barrels per day over the last four weeks, up by 12.6% from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied is down 7.7% compared to the same four-week period last year.

 Early Options Activity

Taking an early look at the options market, we found the following names that may be worth watching throughout the day for further indication of investor expectations given their options volume and implied volatility movement.

Stocks seeing volatility buying (bullish call buying/bearish put buying):

Calls:

• HIG Mar 48.5 calls are seeing interest with 5340 contracts trading vs. open int of 140, pushing implied vol up around 3 points to ~20% — 4500 contracts traded on the offer. Co reported earnings early February and is expected to report its next quarterly earnings report late April.

Puts:

• SLAB Apr 65 puts are seeing interest with 1280 contracts trading vs. open int of 120, pushing implied vol up around 2 points to ~32% — nearly all the volume occurred in a single transaction. Co is scheduled to present at a Embedded World Conference next week, March 14.  Co is expected to report late April (likely outside of expiration).

Stocks seeing volatility selling:

• EXPR, PLCE, VRA, HRB, UBRN implied vol is lower following earnings/guidance

Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 0.96… VIX: (11.41, -0.04, -0.4%).
March 17 is options expiration — the last day to trade March equity options.
*Please use the Talk to Us link at the top of the page to provide feedback on this comment as well as the OPTNX comments.

 

Rubicon Project: Clearstone Venture Partners lowers passive stake to 6.27% (Prior 8.76%)  (8.70 +0.15)

 Morning Commodities: Crude rallies off of session lows after EIA reported a larger-than-expected draw in gasoline inventories; gold continues its 7-day slide to a 5-week low on a continuation rally in the dollar index following jobs data

• Crude rallied off of session lows after EIA reported a larger-than-expected draw in gasoline inventories; crude still on track to extend yesterday's losses
  • After the EIA release, April crude oil futures were down about $0.46 (-0.9%) around the $52.72/barrel level.
  • Ahead of the EIA release, crude oil futures were down about $0.72 (-1.4%) around the $52.43/barrel level
  • EIA petroleum data highlights:
    • Crude oil inventories had a build of +8.2 mln barrels (consensus called for a build of about +1.967 mln barrels).
    • Gasoline inventories had a draw of -6.6 mln barrels (consensus called for a draw of -1.400 mln barrels).
    • Distillate inventories had a draw of -2.7 mln barrels.
  • Other contributing factors affecting the price of oil:
    • Yesterday after the close, API reported a build of 11.6 mln barrels in US crude, vs expectations for a 1.4-1.66-mln barrel build. The build in crude oil inventories was almost 10 times greater than Consensus & marks yet another new all-time high for US crude inventories. According to API data, 35 mln barrels of crude have been added since the beginning of 2017.
    • Yesterday afternoon, the OPEC Secretary General Barkindo discussed it is still too early to talk about extending the production cut agreement, this stance was also reiterated by the Saudi minister in a presentation at Ceraweek, taking place from Mar 6-10. — see yesterday's comments under USO for Ceraweek coverage.
    • Yesterday morning, The EIA reported they now expect U.S. crude production in 2017 to rise by 330k barrels per day, more than previously forecast.
    • Lastly, yet another contributing factor pressuring crude to the downside this morning is continued strength in the dollar index.
• In precious metals, gold continued its 7-day slide to a fresh 5-week low on a continuation rally in the dollar index following the release of the jobs report
  
  • April gold futures were down about $7.10 (-0.6%) around the $1209.00/oz level.
  • May silver futures were down about $0.22 (-1.3%) around the $17.32/oz level.
  • Reminder: U.S. ADP national employment report for Feb showed 298k jobs, vs market expectations for a rise of ~190k.
• The dollar index was +0.2% around the 102.03 level, weighed on precious metals
  
  • Commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, were -0.2% around the 86.15 level
• Natural gas surged near Monday's 3-week high ahead of tomorrow's inventory data release
  • April natural gas futures were up about $0.08 (+3.0%) around the $2.91/MMBtu level
  • Contributing factors affecting the price of natural gas:
    • EIA natural gas data will be released tomorrow at 10:30 am ET.
    • EIA data is expected to show a draw of about -59 bcf, compared to last week's build of +7 bcf.
    • Total natural gas in storage as of last week's data stands at 2.363 trillion cubic feet, according last week's EIA data. This figure is 7.3% lower than levels at this time a year ago and 12.5% above the 5-year avg for this time of year.
    • Weather forecasts for the next 8-15 days showed that rain, snow, & relatively cooler temps will track across the northern & eastern US, raising natural gas demand expectations.

 

Stone Energy: MacKay Shields discloses 19.74% passive stake  (19.80 -0.61)

 

Citizens, Inc. ticking toward lows in recent trade, down 7% on the session; weakness attributed to cautious research report  (7.75 -0.70)

 

Fifth Street Finance: S&P lowers rating to BB (junk) from BBB-  (4.38 -0.01)

 

SAExploration Holdings: John P. Pecora discloses 6.67% passive stake  (5.73 +0.13)

 

Rumor Round Up Rumor Activity was active today. UK Betaville blogger suggested Williams-Sonoma (WSM 48.82 +1.12) was 'stalking Restoration Hardware (RH 33.63 +1.23).' RPX (RPXC 12.37 +1.35) M&A chatter circulated. WSJ reported that Samsung (SSNLF) is planning a 'major investment' to expand its US home-appliance production facilities. Tempur Sealy Int'l (TPX 45.21 +0.36) vague M&A chatter circulated. Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT 32.70 +4.38) strength followed Reuters report suggesting that Novo Nordisk (NVO) might be interested in the company. Hershey Foods (HSY 107.81 -0.37) M&A speculation made the rounds. Reuters reported that Sanofi (SNY 43.43 +0.34) might sell Europe generic unit. While many rumors circulate during the day, and the validity of the source of these rumors can be questionable, the speculation may increase volatility in the near term

 

Impax Labs upgrade details — to Buy at Deutsche Bank; tgt $11  (9.45 +0.35)Deutsche Bank upgrades IPXL to Buy from Hold and sets target price at $11 as they believe patient investors could be rewarded if business trends improve, or if strategic options (such as a sale) are pursued. Firm raised this possibility in a previous note, and a recent Reuters article (from 3/7/17) suggested that IPXL hired an investment bank to help it explore strategic options which could include an acquisition or sale of co. Firm likes the set up for the stock from here, and are moving to a Buy rating as tgt based on stand-alone assumptions (not without risks) supports material upside, while a potential M&A scenario based on historical acquisition multiples could support much higher prices.

 New Supply

Treasury Auction Preview

• $20 bln 10-year Treasury auction (reopening, results at 13:00 ET)
  • Prior auction results:
    • High yield: 2.333% (when-issued 2.314%)
    • Bid-to-cover: 2.29
    • Indirect bid: 65.1%
    • Direct bid: 4.4%
  • Average results of prior 12 auctions:
    • High yield: 1.897%
    • Bid-to-cover: 2.48
    • Indirect bid: 63.4%
    • Direct bid: 8.2%

 Sector Summary: The Healthcare sector (+0.40%) is trading higher today, outperforming the S&P 500 (+0.08%)Gainers on news:

• Ocera Therapeutics (OCRX +73.13%) says will report additional 'encouraging results' from its Phase 2b STOP-HE study of intravenous OCR-002 in hospitalized patients with Hepatic Encephalopathy at the Cowen and Company 37th Annual Healthcare Conference today
• Capnia (CAPN +20%) closes merger w/ Essentialis; concurrently, prior investors in Essentialis, as well as new investors, invested $10 mln in newly-issued Capnia shares of common stock at $0.96/share
• Fibrocell Science (FCSC +14.68%) entered into securities purchase agreement with existing investors for sale of $8.0 mln Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and accompanying warrants

Decliners on news:

• Health Insurance Innovations (HIIQ -10.66%) prices 3 mln common stock offering by selling stockholders at $14.00/share

Gainers on earnings:

• Sucampo Pharma (SCMP +12%) beats by $0.20, beats on revs; reaffirms FY17 EPS guidance, revs guidance; CFO leaving the company
• Rigel Pharma (RIGL +9.58%) beats by $0.01, misses on revs
• Teligent (TLGT +7.79%) beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides FY17 revs in-line

Decliners on earnings:

• Alliqua (ALQA -22.92%) beats by $0.01, misses on revs; guides FY17 revs below consensus
• Flex Pharma (FLKS -13.96%) reports Q4 EPS of ($0.48) vs ($0.74) Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; revs $291K vs zero last year
• Natera (NTRA -14.79%) misses by $0.18, misses on revs; guides FY17 revs below consensus

Upgrades/Downgrades:

• Bellicum Pharma (BLCM +15.22%) initiated with a Outperform at Wells Fargo
• Cytokinetics (CYTK +7.83%) initiated with a Buy at Rodman & Renshaw; tgt $25
• Evolent Health (EVH +4.46%) added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman

 Today's biggest point gainers/losersBiggest point gainers: PLCE 116.2(16.3), JBT 90.85(5.15), BLUE 86.65(4.35), PBYI 39.93(4.33), INCY 137.4(4.01), IBB 298.99(3.96), GBT 31.8(3.5), HRB 23.98(3.14), MGPI 47.69(3.01), ABM 42.62(2.4), TRIP 43.61(2.3), RDUS 44.41(2.23), MOMO 32.19(2.19), ESPR 33.49(2.16), KITE 76.38(2.01), BLCM 13.82(1.93), EXPE 124.16(1.77), YY 46.8(1.75), SRPT 34.04(1.75), IONS 48.26(1.75), VRSN 85.37(1.71), VRTX 93.01(1.69), BITA 23.7(1.62), FL 77.32(1.6), MDCO 51.47(1.53)

Biggest point losers: TISI 28.4(-3.3), TECD 90.95(-2.85), DLR 105.13(-2.35), GOLD 84.95(-2.31), FANG 102.37(-2.21), THO 101.81(-2.2), CIEN 24.06(-2.12), SPG 175.41(-1.88), HIIQ 15.53(-1.83), GEO 43(-1.73), BUD 106.07(-1.62), REN 41.08(-1.57), BOJA 18.23(-1.52), O 58.34(-1.5), EOG 98.08(-1.45), CRC 16.06(-1.45), REG 64.27(-1.45), NSM 16.5(-1.44), ACIA 50.42(-1.4), PNW 81.18(-1.36), ETR 73.67(-1.33), EGN 51.98(-1.31), VTR 61.39(-1.29), AMT 113.43(-1.27), RSPP 39.44(-1.25)

 Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session — New highs (88) outpacing new lows (84)Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ACRS, ACSF, AERI, AF, AFAM, ANET, ASX, ATVI, BAX, BCRX, BLKB, BRSS, BWEN, C, CARB, CAVM, CCS, CETV, CPRT, CRTO, CWST, CYD, CYOU, EA, ENLC, EPZM, ERI, ESPR, ETO, EVR, EXTR, FMI, GBT, GLBL, GLNG, GLPG, GOF, GPM, GPRK, GSIT, HOMB, HTLF, INCY, INFO, IRWD, ISLE, KBH, LBAI, LEN, LMOS, MAN, MASI, MDC, MOMO, MRCY, MS, MSG, NCV, NOVT, NSP, OA, PCLN, PFN, PH, PHM, PLCE, PTY, QBAK, QQQX, QUIK, RPXC, SGBK, SIGI, SKM, SPGI, SUNS, SYMC, TCPC, TECD, TGS, TMK, TOL, TRU, TSC, TSL, V, VCYT, WMGI

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ADPT, AKR, ANFI, AZO, BBG, BKE, BPTH, BRX, CATO, CDR, CERC, CERS, CHMA, CIE, CNIT, DAC, DCTH, DDR, DRWI, ESND, EXPR, FI, FRT, FTR, GBSN, GEC, GGP, GLF, GMAN, HGGGQ, HK, KIM, KRG, LFVN, MAC, MAT, MAV, MHI, MPVD, NADL, NDLS, NQP, ORPN, OXY, PEI, PMF, PN, QUMU, RAD, REG, RPAI, RPT, RRD, RWLK, SBH, SKT, SMRT, SNAK, SPH, SPRT, SPWH, SRNE, SUNW, TANH, TCO, TDW, TRIB, TROV, TRVN, TUES, UAA, ULTRQ, URBN, VGSH, VNCE, VNRSQ, VRA, WIN, WMIH, WPG, WRI, XCOMQ, XNET, YGE

Thinly-Traded Stocks (ADV below 45k) that traded to 52 week highs on High Volume: ACV, ASMB, BCBP, CHMG, CLCT, CMFN, GCH, HEQ, MRLN, MSBF, NBN, OFED, PBNC, SGF, SMCP, TUTT

Thinly-Traded Stocks (ADV below 45k) that traded to 52 week lows on High Volume: AEMD, ALJJ, BUR, CNTF, CSS, DHXM, FMN, GNMA, NTC, PNI, RAND, SGOC, SRSC, TNH, TWMC

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: EZU, ITB

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: USCI

 Today's biggest % gainers/losersThe following are today's top 20 percentage gainers and top 20 percentage losers, categorized by sectors (over $300 mln market cap and 100K average daily volume).

Today's top 20 % gainers

• Healthcare: BLCM (13.8 +16.06%), GBT (31.9 +12.72%), PBYI (40 +12.36%), SCMP (12.63 +12.22%), TLGT (7.14 +9.05%), NTLA (14.14 +8.52%), LXRX (17.44 +8.43%), NKTR (15.45 +8.35%), CYTK (12.38 +7.61%), CLLS (22.91 +6.91%), IMMU (5.08 +6.72%)
• Industrials: RPXC (12.43 +12.79%)
• Consumer Discretionary: PLCE (116.55 +16.67%), HRB (24 +15.16%)
• Information Technology: EXTR (7.03 +15.25%), MOMO (32.34 +7.81%), BITA (23.64 +7.07%), HIMX (7.57 +6.87%)
• Energy: SDRL (1.26 +13.51%)
• Consumer Staples: MGPI (48 +7.43%)

Today's top 20 % losers

• Healthcare: NTRA (8.44 -14.54%), TRVN (3.67 -8.02%), CERS (3.82 -7.95%)
• Materials: GGB (3.83 -7.26%), TROX (16.73 -6.01%)
• Industrials: TISI (28.48 -10.17%), RRTS (7.02 -6.4%)
• Consumer Discretionary: EXPR (9.44 -11.53%), BOJA (18.23 -7.72%), HOV (2.28 -5.99%)
• Information Technology: CIEN (23.91 -8.64%)
• Financials: NSM (16.55 -7.75%)
• Energy: CRC (15.73 -10.17%), DNR (2.48 -8.49%), CIE (0.48 -7.05%), WLL (9.7 -6.91%), EMES (15.35 -6.17%)
• Telecommunication Services: IDT (14.1 -8.5%)
• Utilities: CIG (3.45 -6.76%), DYN (7.33 -6.04%)

 Today's most active stocksThe following are today's most active stocks ranked by volume and relative volume, categorized by sectors (over $300 mln market cap and 100K average daily volume).

Today's top 20 volume

• Healthcare: VRX (9.49 mln -0.26%), PFE (8.44 mln -0.1%)
• Materials: VALE (12.5 mln -3.83%), GGB (11.92 mln -7.26%)
• Consumer Discretionary: F (13.86 mln +0.88%), URBN (9.04 mln -4.88%)
• Information Technology: AMD (33.14 mln +2.41%), TSL (24.56 mln +5.8%), CIEN (9.15 mln -8.64%), INTC (9.02 mln -0.39%), MU (8.89 mln -0.11%)
• Financials: BAC (54.72 mln +0.62%), C (17.43 mln +2.16%)
• Energy: WFT (20.21 mln -1.73%), CHK (16.36 mln -2.85%), SDRL (11.72 mln +13.51%), WLL (9.51 mln -6.91%), PBR (8.63 mln -5.04%)
• Consumer Staples: RAD (22.36 mln -5.59%)
• Telecommunication Services: FTR (10.81 mln -1.68%)

Today's top relative volume (current volume to 1-month average daily volume)

• Healthcare: COTV (10.83x -2.76%), NTRA (4.9x -14.54%), GBT (4.54x +12.72%), BLCM (3.47x +16.06%), TLGT (2.85x +9.05%)
• Industrials: AFI (7.92x -5.27%), JBT (6.06x +5.19%), TISI (4.65x -10.17%), RPXC (2.84x +12.79%)
• Consumer Discretionary: FOXF (7.36x -4.05%), PLCE (6.67x +16.67%), URBN (3.87x -4.88%), EXPR (3.43x -11.53%)
• Information Technology: TSL (17.35x +5.8%), CIEN (3.73x -8.64%), MOMO (3.08x +7.81%), NMBL (2.72x -0.68%)
• Financials: LADR (3.23x -2.65%), STL (2.77x +3.77%)

 Notable movers of interest: HRB +15.1% on Q3 EPS and revenue beats

The following are some of today's most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).

Large Cap Gainers

• SNAP (21.95 +2.38%): David Tepper on CNBC says Appaloosa bought shares on the IPO; likes the company; will buy more if it gets back to the offering price.
• NVDA (100.2 +1.48%): BBC details that Nintendo (NTDOY) Switch sales might be near records. 

Large Cap Losers

• EQIX (367.75 -2%): Commences public offerings of $1.75 bln of its common stock and $1.125 billion in aggregate principal amount of its senior notes due 2027.
• CAT (94.62 -1.36%): NY Times report discussing allegations of tax fraud. 

Mid Cap Gainers

• HRB (24 +15.14%): Reports Q3 EPS and revenue beats.
• MOMO (32.26 +7.53%): Shares continue to rise after reporting Q4 EPS and revenue beats yesterday before the open.
• ABM (42.34 +5.27%): Reports Q1 EPS and revenue beats.

Mid Cap Losers

• CIEN (23.94 -8.52%): Reports Q3 EPS and revenue misses.
• RAD (4.73 -5.69%): NY Post reports that Walgreens (WBA) is considering measure to force FTC to vote on Rite Aid deal.
• URBN (24.17 -4.88%): Shares down despite reporting EPS and sales in-line with the preannouncement.

 European Markets Closing PricesEuropean markets are now closed; stock markets across Europe performed as follows:

• UK's FTSE: -0.1%
• Germany's DAX: + 0.0%
• France's CAC: + 0.1%
• Spain's IBEX: + 0.6%
• Portugal's PSI: 0.0%
• Italy's MIB Index: + 0.1%
• Irish Ovrl Index: + 0.7%
• Greece ASE General Index: + 1.0%

 Currency Commentary: ADP Drives Greenback Higher

• The Dollar Index has rallied above the 102 level. A strong ADP number provided a boost to the greenback as yields jumped higher. The news will set up high expectations for the Friday jobs number and pretty much clears the deck for the Fed to hike rates next week. The May high of 102.26 will set up as a key level of resistance for the DXY ahead of next weeks event.
• The euro has slipped below the 1.06 level on the dollar strength. Market focus will move to Mario Draghi who will be speaking tomorrow. The ECB is not expected to move on rates so the bigger interest will surround Mr. Draghi and his press conference. There is some belief that Mr. Draghi will take a slightly more hawkish stance in order to ease some pressure on the Fed and the dollar. But we would not expect him to move to far from his position ahead of key Dutch elections and a potential Brexit.
• The pound slumped to a multi-month low on the Summer Budget headlines. The U.K. raised its 2017 growth outlook but cut its 2018-20 GDP forecasts. Also headlines regarding a higher issuance weighed on sterling. The pound is finding some support at the low end of the 1.21 area as some of the headline risk has passed. But the invocation of Article 50 still remains a headwind for cable.
• The yen broke below the 114 as the dollar rallied. Yen was under pressure ahead after another weak round of economic data from the country. Q4 GDP was revised to +0.3% which was up from the preliminary +0.2% but still below the forecast +0.4%.
• The yuan dipped to 6.92, hitting its lowest level since we opened up the 2017 calendar year. The dip came after the country posted a surprise deficit in Trade. This was the first time in three years a deficit was recorded. Imports jumped 38% compared to expectations of 20% and Imports fell 1% compared to expectations of a 12% increase. The data is discounted as it falls during the Chinese New Year period. Still the headline was enough to drop the yuan through a key support level and will have market participants on watch (BONDX, FOREX). 

Now Director disclosed purchase of 5,264 shares worth about $100K (transaction date 3.7)  (18.11 -0.24)

 Tomorrow's Earnings Squeeze Candidates

The following are 11 highly shorted stocks that may be susceptible to a short squeeze tomorrow. These cos are reporting earnings after the bell today or before the market opens tomorrow.

Ticker	Float	% of float short as of 2/15	Change in % shorts from 1/31
BETR	32,228,954	28.8%	-1%
TLRD	48,167,647	26.7%	4%
RUN	65,491,900	24.5%	0%
PLUG	188,996,527	17.6%	-1%
KEYW	44,311,120	17.0%	-1%
SIG	69,290,099	13.6%	1%
ERII	31,687,040	10.7%	-1%
BPMC	27,589,400	10.1%	1%
FMSA	153,849,168	9.6%	2%
SSYS	49,155,275	9.4%	0%
UNFI	50,164,077	9.3%	2%

 

SPY trading flat; Real Estate is the worst performing sector and Healthcare is the best performing sector Sector Ticker % Change YTD % Change Real Estate XLRE -1.2% 2% Utilities XLU -1.1% 5% Energy XLE -1.1% -6% Telecom IYZ -0.5% -7% Cons. Staples XLP -0.2% 6% Industrials XLI -0.1% 6% Technology XLK 0.1% 9% Materials XLB 0.3% 5% Financials XLF 0.3% 7% Cons. Disc. XLY 0.3% 7% Healthcare XLV 0.4% 9%

 

Market Internals The broader market is split at this point in the session, with only the Nasdaq Composite, which gains 11 points (+0.18%)% to 5844 holding about flat lines; the Dow Jones Industrial Average is the worst performer, down about 23 (-0.11%) to 20901, and the S&P 500 sheds less than a point (-0.03%) to 2367. Action has come on mixed average volume (NYSE 308 vs. avg. of 307; NASDAQ 783 mln vs. avg. of 785), with decliners outpacing advancers (NYSE 1027/1942, NASDAQ 1354/1356) and mixed new highs and new lows (NYSE 40/61, NASDAQ 56/38). Relative Strength: US Nat Gas-UNG +3.7%, Coffee-JO +1.4%, Biotech-IBB +1.2%, US Home Constr.-ITB +0.8%, Homebuilders-XHB +0.8%, Social Media-SOCL +0.7%, Retail-XRT +0.6%, Greece-GREK +0.5%, Hong Kong-EWH +0.3%, Chinese Yuan-CYB +0.2%, Indian Rupee-ICN +0.1%, Austria-EWO +0.1%, Spain-EWP +0.1%. Relative Weakness: Turkey-TUR -3.8%, US Oil-USO -2.9%, Brazil-EWZ -2.7%, Oil&Gas E&P-XOP -2.6%, Latin Am. 40-ILF -2.1%, S. Africa-EZA -1.8%, Oil Svcs.-OIH -1.8%, Rare Earth Metals-REMX -1.8%, Short-Term Futures-VXX -1.7%, Steel-SLX -1.7%, Russia-RSX -1.4%, US Energy-IYE -1.4%, Colombia-GXG -1.1%.

 

Hearing Casey's General was downgraded earlier to Buy from Strong Buy at Feltl & Co.  (109.65 -0.13)

 Sector Summary: S&P Consumer Discretionary Index 0.4%, outperforming the broader marketThe consumer discretionary group is outperforming the broader market. The retail group is also in the green with the Retail HOLDRS Trust (RTH) 0.6% and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) 0.6%.

Notable earnings/guidance: 

• Trading higher following earnings/guidance: PLCE +18.3%, HRB +15.5%, ADDYY +8.8%
• Trading lower following earnings/guidance: EXPR -12.2%, KODK -9.6%, URBN -5.9%, HOV -5.4%, BPI -4%, VRA -2.5%, SMRT -2%

Earnings/guidance secondary plays:

• Bridgepoint Education (BPI -4%) is leading for profit education names lower: STRA -1.4%, APEI -1.2%, CECO -0.5%, NORD -0.5%, CPLA -0.4%, EDU -0.4%, DV -0.3%
• Carter's, Inc. (CRI +1.2%) higher following Childrens Place Inc (PLCE) earnings.

In the news:

• Leaders: RCL 1.2% (Royal Caribbean commits to a multi-year agreement with the island nation of The Bahamas; financial details not disclosed), TWX 0.5% (Time Warner's Turner and Warner Bros. partnered with standalone domestic premium video subscription service Boomerang — subscription video service will launch in the Spring), NUS 0.2% (appoints Mark Lawrence as CFO), OMC 1.1% (upgraded to Outperform at RBC Capital Mkts), DKS 2.4% (rebounding from yesterday's earnings related decline; also getting boost from upside Adidas earnings/guidance), LGIH +2.2% (continued strength)
• Laggards: RYCEY -1.4% (announces investment in Research & Development for Ship Intelligence), HST -0.4% (acquires the W Hollywood for $219 million), BID -1.6% (adopts Rule 10b5-1 plan for the purpose of repurchasing shares of its Common Stock to offset shares recently granted by the Company as equity compensation for executive and other officers), NFLX -0.6% (Time Warner's Turner and Warner Bros. partnered with standalone domestic premium video subscription service Boomerang — subscription video service will launch in the Spring), BWLD -0.5% (5.6% holder Marcato Capital released a detailed presentation highlighting 'the fact that not a single executive and only one director on one occasion have ever executed an open-market purchase of BWLD stock')
• Nearly unchanged:  TACO (Del Taco is continuing to build brand presence while aggressively driving unit growth in the Southeastern U.S.), HAIN (UK's CMA says investigating the anticipated acquisition by Hain Frozen Foods UK Limited of the Yorkshire Provender)
• M&A related:
  • RH 1.7% and WSM 2.1% (UK Betaville blogger suggests Williams-Sonoma is 'stalking Restoration Hardware')
  • HSY 0.3% (M&A speculation)
  • RAD -5.6%, FRED -2.1% (after closing near lows amid ongoing FTC concerns regarding WBA/RAD merger; also Fred's shareholder Alden Global responds to Fred's appointment of new directors; expresses 'concerns with the Company's unacceptable operating performance, unwarranted dilutive equity issuance to A.T. Kearney')

Other notable trends:

• Dept store retail names are outperforming today: SHLD +2.8% (ahead of earnings), JCP +2.6%, DDS +2.6%, M +2.2%, JWN +1.7% (presented at conference), SHOS +0.7%

Looking ahead:

• On the earnings front: TLRD / UNFI report today after teh close; IGT, SHLD, SPLS report tomorrow before the open.

 

Eros International ticking lower on cautious blog mention  (10.45 -0.60)

 

Midday Market Summary: Investors Display Caution in the First Half of Wednesday's Session Investors have remained cautious in the first half of Wednesday's range-bound session, leaving the major averages near their unchanged marks at midday. The S&P 500 (unch) and the Dow (-0.1%) trade relatively flat while the Nasdaq (+0.3%) holds a modest gain. The latest ADP National Employment Report gave equity futures a little bump this morning after clobbering consensus estimates. The reading showed that a whopping 298,000 private-sector jobs were added in February (Briefing.com consensus 180,000). In light of the hotter than expected reading, economists will surely readjust their estimates for nonfarm payroll gains (Briefing.com consensus 188,000) in Friday's Employment Situation Report for February, which is regarded as the last potential barrier for a rate hike in March. The CME Fed Watch Tool now assigns an implied probability of 86.4% to a March rate hike, up from 81.9% on Tuesday. The U.S. Dollar Index (102.13, +0.32) has responded accordingly, up 0.3%, as traders prepare for higher U.S. interest rates. In the same breath, Treasuries saw an uptick in selling interest following the latest ADP reading. U.S. sovereign debt hovers near its session low with the benchmark 10-yr yield trading five basis points higher at 2.57%. The energy space (-1.7%) has plunged alongside crude oil, which is down by 3.4% following the latest inventory report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The reading far surpassed consensus estimates (+2.0 million) by showing a build of 8.2 million barrels. The energy component trades at $51.32/bbl, its lowest level in a month. Just above the energy group are the rate-sensitive utilities (-1.3%) and real estate (-1.2%) sectors. The two spaces are suffering amid today's jump in interest rates. On the flip side, the financial (+0.5%), health care (+0.5%), consumer discretionary (+0.3%), and technology (+0.2%) sectors outperform. Retailers have added 0.6% to the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 42.20, +0.25) after the latest batch of earnings reports. Most notably, The Children's Place (PLCE 118.00, +18.10) has surged 18.0% after reporting better than expected earnings and issuing upbeat guidance earlier this morning. The company also announced a new stock buyback and a dividend increase. Aside from earnings, corporate news has been relatively light. However, Caterpillar (CAT 94.34, -1.59) has generated some buzz following a NewYorkTimes article indicating that the company has been accused of tax fraud in a report to federal investigators. CAT's 1.7% tumble has put a lid on the industrial sector's (+0.1%) advance. Today's economic data included February ADP Employment Change, fourth quarter Productivity & Unit Labor Costs, January Wholesale Inventories, and the weekly MBA Mortgage Index: The ADP National Employment Report showed an increase of 298,000 in February (Briefing.com consensus 180,000) while the January reading was revised to 261,000 from 246,000. The ADP reading precedes Friday's more influential Employment Situation Report for February, which is widely considered the last potential barrier to a rate hike in March. The unit labor costs were left unrevised during the fourth quarter, showing an increased 1.7%, which was higher than the 1.6% increase that had been anticipated by the Briefing.com consensus. The productivity reading was also left unrevised, showing an increase of 1.3%. The Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 1.5%. The key takeaway from the report is that productivity is low, with the average annual rate of productivity growth from 2011 to 2016 being 0.6% versus the long-term rate of 2.1% from 1947 to 2016. Low productivity gets in the way of a rising standard of living. January Wholesale Inventories decreased 0.2%, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a downtick of 0.1%. The prior month's reading was left unrevised at +1.0%. The market doesn't typically pay much attention to this release since the full business inventories report is usually released a few days later. The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index increased 3.3% to follow last week's 5.8% uptick.

 Auction Out

Treasury Auction Results

• $20 bln 10-year Treasury auction (reopening)
  • Auction results:
    • High yield: 2.56% (when-issued 2.58)
    • Bid-to-cover: 2.66
    • Indirect bid: 65.8%
    • Direct bid: 15.7%
  • Average results of prior 12 auctions:
    • High yield: 1.897%
    • Bid-to-cover: 2.48
    • Indirect bid: 63.4%
    • Direct bid: 8.2%

 Sector Summary: Industrials trade slightly lower than the broader market

The Industrials sector (XLI) is trading flat today, lower than the broader market (SPY +0.1%). In the Industrial Sector, Caterpillar (CAT -1.8%) shares fall following NY Times article discussing the allegations of tax fraud, and Air France (AFLYY +3%) reports February traffic.

Earnings/Guidance

• Union Pacific (UNP -0.4%) highlights comments made by CFO Robert M. Knight, Jr at the Raymond James 38th Annual Institutional Investors Conference:
  Expects the recent weather challenges on the western part of its network to reduce earnings in Q1 by approximately three to four cents per share through a combination of lost revenue and increased operating expense.
• Deutsche Post (DPSGY -2.4%) reports FY16 EBIT of EUR3.49 bln, in-line with guidance of EUR3.4-3.7 bln; Group revenue fell by 3.2% y/y to EUR57.3 bln
  • For 2017, Deutsche Post DHL Group is projecting a rise in Group EBIT to around EUR 3.75 billion. The PeP division is expected to contribute approximately EUR 1.5 billion to this figure. For the DHL divisions, the company anticipates an EBIT contribution of around EUR 2.6 billion.
• Orbital ATK (OA +2.4%) reports Q4 earnings of $1.26 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.20 worse than the consensus of $1.46; revenues rose 11.1% year/year to $1.27 bln vs the $1.19 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
  • Co issues in-line guidance for FY17, sees EPS of $5.80-6.20 vs. $5.98 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY17 revs of $4.55-4.625 bln vs. $4.59 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Additional Industrials reporting earnings/guidance: GFSZY +7.3% ABM +5.5% NCS +1.4% TISI -11.2% AVAV +4.7% PKOH -8.6% BBSI -9.4% TAX +5.6% HYGS -6.9% OPTT -8.6%

News

• Air France-KLM (AFLYY +3%) reports Feb traffic increased 2.7% y/y.
• Caterpillar (CAT -1.8%) shares lower following NY Times report discussing allegations of tax fraud.

Caterpillar NY Times Article

Broker Research

Upgrades

• Navistar (NAV +2.3%) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Stifel; $24 tgt.

Other

• Mueller Water (MWA +1.4%) initiated with a Buy at Goldman; tgt $15.
• Xylem (XYL -1.5%) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman; tgt $52.
• Watts Water Tech. (WTS -0.6%) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman; tgt $66.
• Int'l Consolidated Airlines (ICAGY -0.3%) initiated with an Outperform at MainFirst.
• easyJet (ESYJY -0.7%) initiated with an Underperform at MainFirst.
• Quanex (NX -0.3%) target lowered to $23 from $24 at Wedbush following generally in line Q1; strategic actions yielding faster results

 

Hearing Vodafone PLC was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral, and BT Group plc (BT) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Macquarie  (25.09 +0.05)

 Earnings Calendar for Wednesday, March 8th

• Today after the close look for the following companies to report:
  • UNFI, CSTM, SFS, TLRD, CWH, TTEC, LHCG, HIL, SMTC, CMTL, VNET, RUN, RATE, BETR, ELF, KEYW, VVUS, JONE, NWPX, SPPI, BKCC, XTLY, TNDM, ERII, OMED, TVIA, TTPH, CDI
• Tomorrow before the open look for the following companies to report:
  • SPLS, SIG, GLP, ERJ, IGT, PRTY, FGP, GMS, EGL, APFH, CMD, SSYS, HZN, STRL, FMSA, ORN, MYE, CECE, FLY, INAP, SGM, SKIS, RVLT, CRCM, PLUG, ACTA, FCEL, NGS, BPMC, EGLT, PGNX, CRIS, SNSS

 

BMC Stock Holdings target raised to $26 at FBR & Co.; Outperform  (21.55 +0.75)FBR & Co. raises their BMCH tgt to $26 from $21 following the Q4 print. Results were ahead of firm's est and mostly in line with those of the consensus on modestly lower net sales. As BMCH passed the one-year mark of the merger of BMC and Stock Building Supply, integration efforts have resulted in cost synergies in line with mgmt's expectations. While co remains focused on driving additional savings through 2018, it will begin to shift gears toward increasing investments to drive growth (organic and acquisitive), given its strong balance sheet and available liquidity.

 

Unusual Options Activity The following options are exhibiting notable trading, potentially indicating changing sentiment toward the underlying stocks, and/or potentially representing positioning for increased volatility. Bullish Call Activity: CHK Mar 5.5 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock down 4% (volume: 4450, open int: 8630, implied vol: ~61%, prev day implied vol: 53%) — co reported earnings late February and is expected to report its next quarterly earnings report.  Company was mentioned favorably on Mad Money last night. Co is expected to report earnings early May. AUY Jan19 2 calls (volume: 2010, open int: 1320, implied vol: ~70%, prev day implied vol: 65%) — 1500 contracts traded in a single transaction. Co reported earnings early May. HAIN May 36 calls (volume: 2820, open int: 10.2K, implied vol: ~38%, prev day implied vol: 36%) — 2500 contracts traded on the offer. The UK's CMA said it is investigating the anticipated acquisition by Hain Frozen Foods UK Limited of the Yorkshire Provender. Co is expected to report earnings mid-to-late March. HIG Mar 48.5 calls (volume: 6100, open int: 140, implied vol: ~18%, prev day implied vol: 17%)   — 4500 contracts traded on the offer. Co reported earnings early February and is expected to report its next quarterly earnings report late April. Bearish Put Activity: SLAB Apr 65 puts (volume: 1360, open int: 120, implied vol: ~30%, prev day implied vol: 29%)  — nearly all the volume occurred in a single transaction. Co is scheduled to present at a Embedded World Conference next week, March 14. Co is expected to report late April (likely outside of expiration). iShares iBoxx $ HiYld Cor (HYG) Mar 90 calls (volume: 46.0K, open int: 50, implied vol: ~12%, prev day implied vol: 11%) — nearly all the volume occurred in a single 45K contract transaction. Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 0.99… VIX: (11.30, -0.15, -1.3%). March 17 is options expiration — the last day to trade March equity options. *Please use the Talk to Us link at the top of the page to provide feedback on this comment as well as the OPTNX comments.

 

Events and conferences of interest for tomorrow Events and conferences of interest for tomorrow, March 9th include: Susquehanna Annual Semi, Storage and Tech Conference 2017 Scheduled to appear: NVMI, MXL, CHKP, SIMO, OLN, JCOM, HDP, CTXS, MSCC, MU, IMPV, GLW CleanEquity Monaco 2017 Emerging Cleantech Conference (March 9-10th) Scheduled to appear: LTBR, MNGA BD Boston (March 9-10th) Notable cos to present: AFMD, CLLS, BIIB, ARIA, PFE, TEVA, ABBV, OTSKY, VSTM, AGN, NVS Conference in progress: Natural Products Expo West 2017 (March 8-12th) Scheduled to appear: RIBT, ANFI, CVSI, VRTV

 

Geo Group target lowered to $50 at Canaccord Genuity  (42.98 -1.75)Canaccord Genuity lowers their GEO tgt to $50 from $52 after GEO announced a $288M common stock offering (6.9M shares at $41.75) with proceeds formally aimed at reducing debt, but also expanding GEO's ability to capture a share of the seemingly robust external growth pipeline that firm expects to start delivering in the near term. With the government finalizing budget details over the next month, they believe the fundamentally driven need for additional ICE contracts will result in contract announcements shortly thereafter. This, in addition to a growing number of states looking to relieve overcrowded systems as well as several other known RFPs, should result in outsized FFO and EBITDA growth should GEO win the contracts. Also, given the high quality use of proceeds and with potential catalysts evolving in the near term, firm remains positive about this offering's objectives and accordingly reiterate BUY rating, but lower tgt given the near-term dilution from the trade-off between the cost of revolver debt and equity.

 Sector Summary: Energy drops while the broader market sees gains, crude plummets to a fresh low of 2017 on news crude inventories have surged to new all-time highs, & natural gas rallies ahead of tomorrow's inventory data release

The Energy Sector (XLE, -2.0%) drops while the broader market (SPY, +0.1%) rallies in afternoon trading. Crude oil (USO, -4.0%) futures plummet to fresh lows of 2017 after EIA reported a notably larger-than-expected build in crude oil inventories, bringing US crude inventories to a fresh-all time high for the second week in a row (data summarized below). Lastly, natural gas (UNG, +3.2%) futures see a notable rally ahead of tomorrow's inventory number, which is expected to show a draw of about -59 bcf, vs last week's unseasonable +7 bcf build.

EIA petroleum data highlights:

• Crude oil inventories had a build of +8.2 mln barrels (consensus called for a build of about +1.967 mln barrels).
• Gasoline inventories had a draw of -6.6 mln barrels (consensus called for a draw of -1.400 mln barrels).
• Distillate inventories had a draw of -2.7 mln barrels.

Other contributing factors affecting the price of oil:

• Yesterday after the close, API reported a build of 11.6 mln barrels in US crude, vs expectations for a 1.4-1.66-mln barrel build. The build in crude oil inventories was almost 10 times greater than Consensus & marks yet another new all-time high for US crude inventories. According to API data, 35 mln barrels of crude have been added since the beginning of 2017.
• Yesterday afternoon, the OPEC Secretary General Barkindo discussed it is still too early to talk about extending the production cut agreement, this stance was also reiterated by the Saudi minister in a presentation at Ceraweek, taking place from Mar 6-10. — see yesterday's comments under USO for Ceraweek coverage.
• Yesterday morning, The EIA reported they now expect U.S. crude production in 2017 to rise by 330k barrels per day, more than previously forecast. Lastly, yet another contributing factor pressuring crude to the downside this morning is continued strength in the dollar index.

Contributing factors affecting the price of natural gas:

• EIA natural gas data will be released tomorrow at 10:30 am ET.
• EIA data is expected to show a draw of about -59 bcf, compared to last week's build of +7 bcf.
• Total natural gas in storage as of last week's data stands at 2.363 trillion cubic feet, according last week's EIA data. This figure is 7.3% lower than levels at this time a year ago and 12.5% above the 5-year avg for this time of year.
• Weather forecasts for the next 8-15 days showed that rain, snow, & relatively cooler temps will track across the northern & eastern US, raising natural gas demand expectations.

Upcoming data reminder:

• Baker Hughes (BHI, -8%) rig count data will be released Friday at 1 pm ET.

Notable Gainers:

• Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration: Seadrill (SDRL, +8%)
• Equipment and services: Synergy Resources (SYRG, +1%)
  
• Independent oil & gas: Houston American Energy (HUSA, +35%)
• Major-integrated: Petrobras Argentina (PZE, +1%)
• Refining & Marketing: Renewable Energy Group (REGI, +4%)
• Pipelines: Martin Midstream Partners (MMLP, +3%)

Notable Laggards:

• Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration: Whiting Petroleum (WLL, -9%)
• Equipment and services: Willbros Group (WG, -12%)
• Independent oil & gas: PetroQuest Energy (PQ, -13%)
• Major-integrated: Encana (ECA, -6%)
• Refining & Marketing: BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (BPT, -7%)
• Pipelines: SemGroup (SEMG, -3%)

In current trade:

• April WTI crude oil futures: down $2.27 around $50.88/barrel (-4.3%%)
• April natural gas futures: up about $0.10 around $2.92/MMBtu (+3.3%)
• April RBOB gasoline futures: down about $0.02 around $1.66/gallon (-0.9%)
• April heating oil futures: down about $0.04 around $1.59/gallon (-2.6%)

Earnings/News

• PetroQuest Energy (PQ, -14%) missed by $0.09, missed on revs
  • Reported a Q4 loss of $0.46 per share, $0.09 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.37); revenues fell 29.0% year/year to $16.4 mln vs the $16.63 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Willbros Group (WG, -10%) reported Q4 results, missed on revs
  • Reported a Q4 loss of $0.23 per share, may not be comparable to the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.11); revenues fell 24.5% year/year to $164.4 mln vs the $174.3 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Pembina Pipeline (PBA, -1%) suspended their dividend reinvestment plan
  • Board suspended, until further notice, its premium dividend and dividend reinvestment plan, effective April 25, 2017. Accordingly, the Mar 2017 dividend will be the last dividend to be reinvested through the DRIP and dividends starting in respect of the April 2017 dividend, payable on May 15, 2017 to shareholders of record on April 25, 2017, will not be reinvested through the DRIP.
• SemGroup (SEMG, -3%) commenced a $325 mln offering of senior unsecured notes due 2025.

Broker Calls

• Jagged Peak Energy (JAG, -2%) initiated with a Sector Perform at Scotia Howard Weil
• Bellatrix Exploration (BXE, -3%) upgraded to Speculative Buy at Canaccord Genuity
• Weatherford (WFT, -3%) upgraded to Neutral at Clarkson Platou

 Currency Market Summary

Dollar Rallies on Strong ADP Data; Oil Plunges

• The U.S. Dollar Index rallied 0.30% to 102.11 today as the greenback gained against all of the majors. The strong ADP data, which estimated that the U.S. economy added 298K jobs in February, helped to push the buck higher while lower oil and metals prices weighed on the commodity currencies. The Aussie, kiwi, and loonie are all trading at one-month lows. The British pound fell to its worst level since January as Chancellor Philip Hammond released the spring budget, which included a fiscally conservative plan for the U.K. budget. The 2017 growth outlook was revised up to 2% from 1.4% back in November but growth forecasts for the subsequent three years were revised lower. The European Central Bank's Governing Council will release its latest monetary policy decision on Thursday. No change in course is expected so the language of the statement will be scrutinized for any hawkish shifts
• EUR/USD: -0.19% to 1.0547
  • German industrial production jumped by 2.8% m/m in January, beating estimates and reversing December's 2.4% slide
  • Spanish industrial production rose by 2.5% m/m in January, also beating expectations after 2.0% growth in December
• GBP/USD: -0.32% to 1.2162
• USD/CHF: +0.11% to 1.0147
  • Switzerland's consumer price index was up 0.5% m/m in February (0.6% y/y), beating forecasts after no change in January
• USD/JPY: +0.40% to 114.42
  • Japan's GDP growth for Q4 was finalized at 0.3% q/q (1.2% y/y), missing expectations for a larger upward revision from the preliminary reading of 0.2%. Q3 growth was also 0.3%
    
    • Capital expenditures were up 2.0% q/q in the fourth quarter, beating estimates after 0.9% growth in Q3
  • Separately, Japan's adjusted current account surplus narrowed more than expected to JPY1.26 tln in January from JPY1.66 tln in December
• USD/CNY: +0.13% to 6.911
  • China's trade balance unexpectedly swung to a deficit of $9.15 bln in February from a surplus of $51.35 bln in January
    
    • Exports were down just 1.3% y/y (+7.9% prior)
    • Imports soared by 38.1% y/y (+16.7% prior)
• USD/RUB: +1.04% to 58.78
  
• USD/TRY: +1.52% to 3.737
• USD/BRL: +1.37% to 3.162
  • In Brazil, industrial production fell by 0.1% m/m in January (+1.4% y/y), exceeding estimates after a 2.4% jump in December
• USD/MXN: +0.75% to 19.64 
  
• USD/CAD: +0.63% to 1.3498
  • In Canada, housing starts ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 210.2K in February, unexpectedly increasing from January's 208.9K
    • Building permits rose by 5.4% m/m in January, reversing December's 4.4% slide
• AUD/USD: -0.69% to 0.7536
  
• NZD/USD: -0.66% to 0.6909

 Agriculture Closing Prices

• May corn closed $0.03 lower (-0.8%) at $3.73/bushel
• May wheat closed $0.10 lower (-2.2%) at $4.47/bushel
• May soybeans closed $0.05 lower (-0.5%) at $10.21/bushel