Блог компании DayTraderClub | Америка сегодня. Предварительные данные по продажам недвижимости и запасы нефти.

Asian MarketsNikkei...19217.5...+14.60...+0.10%.  Hang Seng...24392...+46.20...+0.20%.

 European MarketsFTSE...7341.76...-1.70...0.00%.  DAX...12205...+56.00...+0.50%.

 

S&P futures vs fair value: -3.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -3.10.

 

Shanghai...-11.63 (-0.36%)

 

Sunshine Heart granted Nasdaq Listing Extension through May 10, 2017  (2.31)

 

On The Wires Swiss cable network operator The Quickline Group has raised the bar on personal television excellence with its introduction of Quickline TV, based on an end-to-end suite of integrated software and services from SeaChange International (SEAC) spanning multiplatform content management and delivery, monetization and subscriber experience, including RDK-V-based set-top box software. China Yuchai International (CYD) announced that further to their joint-release on Feb 19, 2016 on the entry into of a joint-venture agreement by its main operating subsidiary, Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Company, with MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH, a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce Power (RYCEY) Systems, the joint-venture entity has been established. The name of the 50/50 joint-venture entity is MTU Yuchai Power Co who will produce, under license from MTU, the latter's diesel engines in China.

 Amazon FB, BABA, GOOGL, EBAY, MELI, WB, GDDY, WIX all initiated with Overweight ratings at Barclays  (856.00)

 Baidu.com, SNAP, SHOP, WEB all initiated with Equal Weight ratings at Barclays  (169.79)

 

Twitter and Groupon (GRPN) both initiated with Underweight ratings at Barclays  (14.94)

 

Athersys initiated with an Outperform at William Blair  (1.18)

 

Imprimis Pharmaceuticals: Longboard Capital discloses 6.58% passive stake  (3.85)

 

Lennar: GAMCO Investors discloses 11.22% active stake following recent share transactions, intends to vote in favor of maintaining the existing voting structure and will vote with the Board of Director's recommendation 'Against' the stockholder proposal requesting all of the Issuer's outstanding stock have one-vote per share  (51.36)GAMCO has reviewed the Issuer's proxy statement for its upcoming 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. GAMCO, on behalf of its investment advisory clients, intends to vote in favor of maintaining the existing voting structure and will vote with the Board of Director's recommendation «Against» the stockholder proposal requesting all of the Issuer's outstanding stock have one-vote per share. GAMCO plans on having conversations with directors, management and other Class B stockholders to discuss a proposal for inclusion in the Issuer's proxy statement for its 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders providing the holders of Class B common stock, at their option, with the right to convert their shares into Class A common stock. GAMCO believes, in this case, the mechanics of the market place are inefficient. GAMCO may also discuss with the Issuer other alternatives to eliminate the discount between LEN.B and LEN.

 

F5 Networks downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank  (147.13)

 

Vertex Pharma upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital  (89.67)

 

Morgan Stanley upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank  (42.49)

 

Pacific Coast Oil Trust upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel  (1.60)

 

Dunkin Brands downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman  (56.11)

 

NRG Energy upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman  (18.11)

 Criteo downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman  (51.10)

Early Research Calls

Misc

• DepoMed (DEPO 14.23) target lowered to $13 from $16 at Mizuho. Firm notes they expect weakness in the stock as investors digest the soft 1Q:17 guidance and consensus estimates come down. However, they also expect the stock to stabilize around some expectation of a company sale at a materially lower valuation. With Starboard remaining involved, they have raised their expected probability of takeout from 30% to 50%, but at a much lower EV/Sales multiple of 3.5x, applied to 2017 sales. The firm also assigns a lower probability to this outcome (50% vs. 70% previously). An equally weighted blend of these two methodologies generates the lowered PT
• Restoration Hardware (RH 38.00) target raised to $41 from $33 at Telsey Advisory Group. Firm notes the better sales growth in 1Q17, when retail has been challenging, points to improvement in underlying demand for RH products. However, with SKU rationalization still high, it is difficult to know how much of the sales growth is driven by clearance activity and what the true run-rate will be once the effort is completed. Their Market Perform rating is based on their view that the business remains in transition, given still large investments underway, and the company needs to demonstrate better execution and more stable profitability for the firm to get more positive
• Barclays initiates coverage on multiple Consumer Internet names. Firm Believes the next five-plus years for consumer internet stocks could be the «Golden Years» for mobile, whereby most companies have transitioned their business and monetization is rapidly improving, and the next disruptive technologies to take users away from smartphones have yet to gain traction. They highlight there are structural differences and at the same time common trends across fiestern markets, China and emerging internet economies, which we explore at length below. overall and have thus, have a favorable outlook, supporting their positive industry view. As such, they initiate coverage on the following:
  • Amazon (AMZN) initiated with a Overweight
  • eBay (EBAY) initiated with a Overweight at Barclays
  • MercadoLibre (MELI) initiated with a Overweight at Barclays
  • Alphabet A (GOOGL) initiated with a Overweight at Barclays
  • Facebook (FB) initiated with a Overweight at Barclays
  • Snap (SNAP) initiated with a Equal Weight at Barclays
  • Twitter (TWTR) initiated with a Underweight at Barclays
  • Groupon (GRPN) initiated with a Underweight at Barclays
  • GoDaddy (GDDY) initiated with a Overweight at Barclays
  • Shopify (SHOP) initiated with a Equal Weight at Barclays
  • Wix.com (WIX) initiated with a Overweight at Barclays
  • Web.com (WEB) initiated with a Equal Weight at Barclays
  • Tencent (TCEHY) initiated with a Overweight at Barclays
  • Alibaba (BABA) initiated with a Overweight at Barclays
  • Baidu.com (BIDU) initiated with a Equal Weight at Barclays
  • Weibo (WB) initiated with a Overweight at Barclays

 

S&W Seed initiated with a Buy at B. Riley & Co.  (4.50)

 Methanex upgraded to Sector Outperform from Sector Perform at CIBC  (45.35)

 Quad/Graphics upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie  (22.22)

 

NextEra Energy Partners downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman  (33.15)

 

USG downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie  (33.75)

 Agnico-Eagle Mines upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan  (43.09)

 

Fortive upgraded to Buy from Hold at SunTrust  (59.59)

 CyberArk initiated with a Buy at Needham; tgt $62  (49.04)

 

Capital One upgraded to Buy at Instinet  (84.17)

 

Fifth Third, Zions Bancorp (ZION) both upgraded to Buy at Compass Point  (25.24)

 

Synchrony Financial initiated with a Outperform at Wells Fargo  (33.66)

 

Chemours upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies  (36.28)

 Key Energy upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray  (22.62)

 Flowers Foods among stocks with favorable commentary on Tuesday's Mad Money  (19.41)

Stocks with favorable mention: AAPL, CCL, DRI, EL, FLO, GIS, GM, PEP, PNRA, RHT, RTN, TSLA

Stocks with unfavorable mention: PFE, TWNK

 

Pacific Coast Oil Trust upgrade details — to Buy at Stifel; tgt $2  (1.60)Stifel upgrades ROYT to Buy from Hold and sets target price at $2 following the February production update. After the market close, the trust provided its monthly operations update for February (April distribution). While production saw a modest monthly sequential decline, the trust disclosed it will exceed $2 million of proceeds in 2017 and therefore will not be at risk of dissolution at year end.

 CyberArk upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore ISI  (49.04)

 

Skechers USA downgraded to Negative from Positive at Susquehanna; tgt lowered to $25 from $30  (29.96)

 

Overnight Summary — World markets sleep tight overnight The global equity markets have reverted back to the uneventful tone seen during most of 2017's overnight sessions. The ranges have been tight and net changes are small, with most of the majors straddling the flat line all night. With that said, S&P Futures have retreated from being up as much as 5 points during the Asian trading session, but currently trading near the lows of the session. In Asia, the Nikkei gained 0.1% today, but still down 0.2% on the week. The yen had a night that was absent of any considerable moves, leading to an uninspired response in Japanese stocks. Although volume was on the low side, investors were also kept at bay after a weaker than expected Retail Sales report for Febrbuary, which saw a decline of 2.7%, compared to the analysts' expectation of a fall of 1.8%. In China, the Shanghai posted a 0.4% loss on a day that saw the PBOC refrain from conducting its OMO operations for the second consecutive session. European bourses have not seen a lot of action in the early stages of trade, leading to a mixed start to the regional markets. Today represents the official beginning of the UK's withdrawal from the EU, but markets are taking that in stride with no significant surprises interfering with the process today. The activity has been choppy and the region lacks any notable performing sectors thus far, particularly with Commodity stocks held in check after a quiet night in the gold and oil futures Market updates:  S&P Futures vs Fair Value: -3.00  10 yr Note: 2.4125%  USD/JPY: 111.03 -0.10  EUR/USD: 1.0788 -0.0025 Europe: FTSE -0.1% DAX -0.4% CAC +0.1%  Asia: Hang Seng +0.2% Shanghai -0.4% Nikkei +0.1%  Commodities: Gold (1251.30 -4.30) Silver (18.15 -0.10) crude (48.55 +0.18)  US Econ Data Feb Pending Home Sales (10am) Crude Inventories (10:30am)

 Fortinet upgraded to Outperform at Robert W. Baird; tgt raised to $50  (36.56)Robert W. Baird upgrades FTNT to Outperform from Neutral and raises their tgt to $50 from $38. Increasingly, firm hears Fortinet in the conversation along with industry leaders CheckPoint (CHKP), Cisco (CSCO) and Palo Alto (PANW). Co appears to have mostly worked through sales force restructuring efforts. Firm is getting closer to a high-end ASIC product cycle. They also view competitive positioning and valuation as attractive at current levels.

 

Darden Restaurants downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BTIG Research  (82.62)

 

Cypress Semi initiated with a Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Mkts  (14.47)

 

Medpace initiated with a Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Mkts  (27.23)

 

Cognizant Tech initiated with a Hold at Berenberg  (59.04)

 

Boeing initiated with a Buy at Berenberg; tgt $202  (177.36)

 Asian Markets Close: Nikkei +0.1%, Hang Seng +0.2%, Shanghai -0.4%

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the midweek session on a mostly higher note after spending the day inside narrow ranges. Chinese banks displayed relative strength, benefitting from an uptick in interest rates and better than expected results from AgBank. Staying in China, Moody's warned about a property market adjustment following a recent spike in prices, coupled with higher interest rates and tighter liquidity management from the People's Bank of China.

• Economic data was limited:
  • Japan's February Retail Sales +0.1% year-over-year (consensus 0.5%; last 1.0%)
  • South Korea's April Manufacturing BSI Index 78 (last 79)

---Equity Markets---

• Japan's Nikkei added 0.1%. Kansai Electric Power surged 8.2% after an appeals court overturned a ruling, which prohibited the company from operating two of its nuclear reactors. TEPCO also outperformed, jumping 4.5%. Panasonic, Sony, SUMCO, Trend Micro, Advantest, and Komatsu advanced between 1.3% and 2.8%.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.2% with help from roughly half of its components. Lenovo, AIA Group, Tencent Holdings, and Galaxy Entertainment gained between 0.6% and 1.2%. Financials like Bank of China, China Construction Bank, HSBC, and BoC Hong Kong added between 0.3% and 0.8%.
• China's Shanghai Composite ended lower by 0.4%. Lanzhou Greatwall Electrical, Wuhan Hanshang, Shanghai Potevio, Ningbo Bird, and CITIC Guoan Wine recored losses between 4.7% and 6.5%.
• India's Sensex climbed 0.4% with financials providing leadership. SBI and ICICI Bank led with gains close to 1.9% apiece while HDFC Bank and AXIS Bank posted respective gains of 0.6% and 0.2%. On the downside, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Mahindra&Mahindra, and Maruti Suzuki lost between 0.6% and 3.2%.

---FX---

• USDJPY -0.1% to 111.04
• USDCNY +0.1% to 6.8898
• USDINR -0.4% to 64.908

 

On The Wires América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. (AMX) announces that in its meeting, its Board of Directors decided to submit to the Shareholders' Meeting, to be held on April 5, 2017, the following proposals: To pay a dividend of MXP$0.30 (Thirty peso cents) per share, payable (i) in cash; (ii) series «L» shares of AMX; or (iii) a combination thereof, according to the election of each shareholder. To allocate an amount equal to MXP$3,000,000,000.00 (Three billion pesos) as its buyback program for the April 2017 — April 2018 period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust (SUTNY), Mizuho Financial Group (MFG), Resona Bank, and The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company have executed a memorandum of understanding to commence detailed analysis and negotiations in preparation for the management integration of Japan Trustee Services Bank, Ltd. and Trust & Custody Services Bank, Ltd. The applications to and approvals from domestic and foreign regulatory authorities are conditions precedent to the Integration. China Lending Corporation (CLDC) announced that the Company has engaged Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu to assist the Company with certain matters in connection with its internal controls and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Intl Game Tech. PLC (IGT) reaches a patent cross-licensing agreement with Incredible Technologies. Under the agreement, Incredible Technologies, Inc. can offer games including patented game features from the IGT portfolio, and will pay licensing fees to IGT.

 Eldorado Gold upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity  (3.16)

 

Merit Medical resumed with a Overweight at Piper Jaffray  (28.90)

 

Exeter Resource downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Rodman & Renshaw following Goldcorp (GG) deal; tgt $1.75  (1.79)

 

SCANA Corp provides update with regard to the impact of the Chapter 11 filing of Westinghouse Electric Company on the new nuclear project at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station  (66.14) South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, principal subsidiary of SCANA, and V.C. Summer Nuclear Station co-owner, Santee Cooper, contracted with WEC to build two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors in Fairfield County, S.C. SCANA and Santee Cooper have been working with WEC in anticipation of the bankruptcy filing to reach an agreement, subject to bankruptcy court approval, that allows for work on the project to continue toward completion of the units. This agreement, which will be filed today with the court as part of WEC's bankruptcy filings, allows for a transition and evaluation period during which SCANA and Santee Cooper will assess information provided by WEC and determine the most prudent path forward for the project. SCANA will host a call with financial analysts at 3:00pm Eastern Time on March 29, 2017, during which members of SCANA's management team will provide an update on the impact of WEC's bankruptcy on the new nuclear project.

 

Overseas Research Calls Upgrades:  Valeo SA (VLEEY) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Exane BNP Paribas Assicurazioni Generali (ARZGF) upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital Mkts Assicurazioni Generali (ARZGF) upgraded to Neutal from Underperform at Credit Suisse 3i Group (TGOPF) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley Carlsberg A/S (CABGY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Natixis Tesco PLC (TSCDY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Beaufort Securities Wolseley PLC (WOSYY) upgraded to Hold from Reduce at Peel Hunt Downgrades:  Akzo Nobel N.V. (AKZOY) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley Carnival plc (CUK) downgraded to Hold from Strong Buy at S&P Global Zurich Insurance Group (ZURVY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Helvea Miscellaneous:  Tencent (TCEHY) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays Stroeer SE (SOTDF) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays Stroeer SE (SOTDF) initiated with a Buy at HSBC

 

Arconic initiated with a Market Perform at Cowen  (27.04)

 

Consolidated Comms resumed with a Outperform at Wells Fargo  (23.28)

 Early premarket gappers

Gapping up:

• ATHX +25.4%, CERU +21.4%, SNOA +20.1%, VRTX +17.9%, RH +15.8%, DRWI +14.8%, IDXG +10.8%, DRYS +10%, VRNT +7.5%, LITE +4.8%, VIAV +2.3%
• ESV +2.1%, CC +2.1%, SNE +1.7%, AU +1.4%, HMY +1.3%, MS +1.2%, GFI +1.1%, CHK +1.1%, OLLI +1.1%, WSM +1%, SCWX +0.6%, HOTR +0.5%
• AMZN +0.5%, RIG +0.5%

Gapping down:

• ATOS -31.2%, ALQA -29.6%, PTX -10.1%, SFUN -8.7%, CYCC -8.5%, OREX -6.8%, AEZS -5.9%, DEPO -4.9%, SKX -4.2%, CARB -3.8%, PLAY -3.6%
• IZEA -3.4%, PUK -2.6%, FFIV -2.2%, HPJ -2%, DFFN -1.6%, GOLD -1.5%, GRPN -1.3%, GRPN -1.3%, TWTR -1.2%, TWTR -1.2%, BCS -1.1%
• SONC -1.1%, RIO -0.9%, HSBC -0.9%, BAK -0.9%, FCX -0.8%, WLB -0.8%, SAN -0.5%, DB -0.5%

 

Darden Restaurants target raised to $86 at RBC Capital Mkts  (82.62)RBC Capital Mkts raises their DRI tgt to $86 from $80, which assumes ongoing market share gains and is derived from a sum of the parts of the base business ($82, 18x their FY18 EPS estimate) and $4/share of added shareholder value from the Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen acquisition.

 

DepoMed target lowered to $19 at RBC Capital Mkts — Starboard agreement reached bringing CEO/Board changes; 1Q outlook below Street  (14.23)RBC Capital Mkts lowers their DEPO tgt to $19 from $22. DEPO announced Tuesday after-market a «cooperation agreement» with Starboard that included the replacement of its CEO/President as well as a new Chairman of the Board and three new directors. It also pre-announced a miss on Q1 revenue, with 2017 guidance expected to be «revised» on its Q1 earnings call (week of 5/8); Sector Perform.

 

Republic Bancorp upgraded to Outperform at Hovde Group on attractive valuation; tgt $39  (33.93)Hovde Group upgrades RBCAA to Outperform from Market Perform and sets target price at $39. The shares of RBCAA are down 14% this year and have under-performed the 5% decrease in the NASDAQ Bank Index. Firm doesn't see a compelling reason for the under-performance as core 4Q16 EPS of $0.47 was $0.02 above firm's estimate. The shares currently trade at just 1.21x tangible book value and 13.2x their 2018 EPS estimate. This represents a significant discount to the Midwest peer medians of 2.01x and 16.5x, respectively. With the under-performance this year and discounted valuation they believe the shares offer an attractive risk/reward opportunity.

 

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet target raised to $37 at RBC Capital Mkts  (33.10)RBC Capital Mkts raises their OLLI tgt to $37 from $35. 4Q comps of 2.0% remained at the high-end of Ollie's LT targeted range and the co posted another quarter of solid EBIT (+22% YOY) and EPS (+26%) growth, along with 2017 EPS guidance that topped expectations. They remain buyers of OLLI, as they believe the consistency of its model continues to support its tremendous unit growth potential and its increased size/scale drives improved deal flow. OLLI indicated higher premarket.

 CyberArk initiation details — Buy at Needham; tgt $62  (49.04)Needham initiates CYBR with a Buy and price target of $62 as they believe CyberArk is the top supplier focused on Privileged Access Management internal defense. The massive recent spending on perimeter defense has yielded a surety that it probably doesn't work. After the visceral and very public penetrations of 2015 resulted in a spike of spending on Security, the failure of this perimeter defense strategy resulted in slower spending in CY16. But firm believes CISOs are shifting spending to stopping the damage caused by both external hackers and malicious insiders. CyberArk is one of the top internal protection companies focused on limiting access and containing the damage.

 Index Changes Reminder: The following changes will take place ahead of the open in the S&P MidCap 400 and SmallCap 600

• S&P SmallCap 600 constituent Texas Capital (TCBI) will replace Endurance Specialty (ENH) in the S&P MidCap 400, and DSW (DSW) will replace TCBI in the S&P SmallCap 600.
• S&P MidCap 400 constituent WisdomTree (WETF) will replace Surgical Care Affiliates (SCAI) in the S&P SmallCap 600, and Michaels Stores (MIK) will replace WETF in the S&P MidCap 400.

 On The Wires

• Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. (TNXP) announced today that it will present at The MicroCap Conference on April 4, 2017 in New York, NY. Seth Lederman, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Tonix, will provide a corporate update and an overview of Tonix's posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) clinical program. TNX-102 SL was recently granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of PTSD. This month, Tonix dosed the first patient for the «HONOR» study, a 12-week placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical study evaluating TNX-102 SL 5.6 mg, in military-related PTSD. The interim analysis of the HONOR study is expected in the first half of 2018 and topline results are expected in the second half of 2018.
• Attunity Ltd. (ATTU) announced that FuseForward, a secure cloud solutions provider, has chosen Attunity Replicate to expand the capabilities of its patented cloud platform. Attunity's real-time data replication and change data capture technology, supporting Kafka and Hadoop, enables a more robust analytics offering and user experience for FuseForward customers.

 

European Markets Update: FTSE -0.3%, CAC UNCH, DAX +0.3% Major European indices trade in the neighborhood of their flat lines, taking the recent news from Brussels in stride. As expected, the British delegation met with European Council President Donald Tusk and presented him with a letter that triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. An 18-month negotiation period is expected to follow. With all attention on the EU-UK relationship, Greek-related headlines have been cast to the backburner. However, it is worth noting that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble voiced opposition to deferring Greek interest payments, saying this would be equivalent to a new loan. Greek officials have until April 7 to come to terms with EU representatives to avoid a funding shortage. That said, the Bank of Greece reportedly has more than EUR10 billion in funds that could be accessed to buy some additional time for negotiations. In economic data: Germany's February Import Price Index +0.7% month-over-month (expected 0.3%; last 0.9%); +7.4% year-over-year (consensus 7.0%; previous 6.0%) UK's February Mortgage Approvals 68,320 (expected 69,900; last 69,110) and M4 Money Supply -0.3% month-over-month (expected 0.5%; last 0.9%) France's March Consumer Confidence held at 100, as expected Italy's March Business Confidence 107.1 (expected 106.3; previous 106.4) and Consumer Confidence 107.6 (consensus 106.6; prior 106.6) Swiss March ZEW Expectations 29.6 (last 19.4) and February Consumption Indicator 1.50 (last 1.44) ---Equity Markets--- UK's FTSE is lower by 0.3%. Homebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments, and Persimmon are down between 1.1% and 1.8%. Select financials also underperform with Experian, Standard Life, Old Mutual, and Standard Chartered down between 1.0% and 1.4%. France's CAC hovers just above its flat line. Growth-sensitive names like Engie, TechnipFMC, Peugeot, ArcelorMittal, and Schneider Electric display gains between 0.6% and 2.6%. On the downside, Cap Gemini has given up 1.3% while consumer names like L'Oreal, Kering, Accor, and Danone are down between 0.1% and 0.7%. Germany's DAX outperforms with a gain of 0.3%. Daimler leads with a gain of 1.1% while Volkswagen and BMW both trade flat. Heavyweights Siemens, Thyssenkrupp, Allianz, and BASF have added between 0.2% and 0.9%. On the downside, SAP is down 0.2% and Infineon has slid 1.6%.

 Verint Systems target raised to $44 at RBC Capital Mkts  (39.55)RBC Capital Mkts raises their VRNT tgt to $44 from $37; they expect the stock to work higher from here. Results and the outlook bounced back from last quarter to end the year on a strong note that should be well received by investors. They liked the additional segment color, strengthening cyber intelligence and guidance for 1H revenue, which should help keep numbers in check.

VRNT indicated near 42 premarket

 

Carnival target raised to $61 at Wedbush; Quiet yet productive wave season leads to 1Q beat and raise  (59.26)Wedbush raises their CCL tgt to $61 from $54 noting co's 1Q beat was a function of strong close-in pricing worldwide, and would have been twice as large were it not for the timing of cruise costs between the quarters. It was an excellent start to the year, with this year's wave season benefitting from a rare lack of negative news flow. While CCL should be commended for strong execution and an improved product offering, it is hard to ignore the positive implications for the broader industry, with continuing strength in the Caribbean despite an uptick in capacity there, the European market continuing to firm up, and a Chinese market seeing a better balance of supply and demand; Neutral.

 Overnight Treasury Summary

U.K. Government Invokes Article 50

• U.S. Treasuries are trading modestly higher across the board this morning as the U.K. government invokes Article 50 to begin the formal process to leave the European Union. The British pound is adding 0.13% at $1.2463 and the 10-year gilt yield is down two basis points to 1.17%. In international economic data, Japanese retails sales missed expectations in February but German import prices beat estimates. Fed Governor Jerome Powell said on Tuesday that there remains significant uncertainty on U.S. fiscal policy and so the Fed will just have to «wait and see» what happens. The big U.S. economic data point today will be February Pending Home Sales. The S&P 500 is set to open down 0.22% to 2,354 and the U.S. Dollar Index is up 0.12% to 99.83. WTI crude is adding 0.54% at $48.63/bbl. and gold is down 0.23% to $1,252.7/troy oz.
• Yield Check:
  • 2-yr: -2 bps to 1.29%
  • 5-yr: -2 bps to 1.96%
  • 10-yr: -2 bps to 2.41%
  • 30-yr: -2 bps to 3.01%

• International News:
  • In Japan, retail sales were up 0.1% y/y in February, missing estimates and slowing from January's 1.0% growth rate
  • Korea's Manufacturing BSI Index ticked down to 78 for April from 79 in March
  • Switzerland's Consumption Indicator rose to 1.50 in February from 1.44 in January
    • The ZEW Expectations Index jumped to 29.6 for March from 19.4 for February
  • Germany's Import Price Index increased 0.7% m/m in February (7.4% y/y), exceeding expectations but slowing from January's 0.9% gain
  • France's Consumer Confidence Index remained at 100 in March, as expected
  • Italy's Consumer Confidence Index unexpectedly rose to 107.6 for March from 106.6 in February
    • Italy's Business Confidence Index also unexpectedly rose to 107.1 from 106.4
  • In the U.K., BoE Mortgage Approvals fell to 68.32K in February from 69.11K in January

• Data out Today:
  
  • MBA Mortgage Index for the week ending 3/25: Actual -0.8% w/w, Prior -2.7%
    • MBA 30-Year Mortgage Rate: Actual 4.33%, Prior 4.46%
  • February Pending Home Sales (10:00 ET)
  • Crude Inventories for the week ending 3/25 (10:30 ET)
• Treasury Auctions:
  
  • $13 bln 2-year Floating Rate Note reopening (results at 11:30 ET)
  • $28 bln 7-year Treasury auction (results at 13:00 ET)
• Fed Speakers:
  
  • Chicago Fed President Evans (FOMC voter) (09:20 ET)
  • Boston Fed President Rosengren (non-FOMC voter) (11:30 ET)
  • San Francisco Fed President Williams (non-FOMC voter) (13:15 ET)

 

Vertex Pharma target raised to $129 at Stifel  (89.67)Stifel raises their VRTX tgt to $129 from $100, reiterates Buy.  Firm notes that Vertex announced very impressive P3 results for VX-661/Kalydeco in both the F508del homozygous and residual function patient populations. Importantly, FEV1 improvements in the F508del homozygous population of 4% were better than both Street expectations (~3%) and historical Orkambi (2.8%), while bronchoconstriction was a non-issue. This clearly improves the risk/benefit equation for VX-661/Kalydeco over Orkambi and should allow the new combination to improve upon Orkambi' s relatively low penetration/adherence/persistence rates, as well as capture some prior Orkambi patient discontinuations. Moreover, since VX-661/Kalydeco serves as the backbone for the triple combo, they expect optimism to carry Vertex shares higher into 2H17 when they expect to see P2 results from multiple triple combos.

 

Carnival target raised to $68 at Stifel  (59.26)Stifel raises their CCL tgt to $68 from $65, reiterates Buy. After digesting management's commentary on their call, they believe the positive post-F1Q17 guidance revision could serve as the first of multiple boosts as the year unfolds. At this point, with less inventory left to sell, they believe CCL should be able to get more aggressive on pricing for the remaining inventory. Furthermore, as indicated on yesterday's call, they sense the revised guidance continues to reflect a high degree of conservatism on the part of management, particularly with respect to the embedded expectations for the summer European program and F2H17 Chinese sailings.

 S&P futures vs fair value: -3.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -2.10.

Equities have hit pause this morning in the wake of yesterday's unexpected climb that broke the Dow's longest losing streak since 2011 (eight days). The S&P 500 futures trade three points below fair value.

Crude oil holds a modest gain after an armed group of individuals shut down pipelines in Libya due to a wage dispute. The disruption is reducing output by an estimated 250,000 barrels per day. Also of note, the Energy Information Administration will release its weekly inventory report later this morning at 10:30 ET. WTI crude trades 0.5% higher at $48.61/bbl. 

U.S. Treasuries trade just a tick above their flat lines this morning with the benchmark 10-yr yield one basis point lower at 2.41%.

On the data front, the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index, which was released earlier this morning, decreased 0.8% to follow last week's 2.7% downtick.

In addition, investors will receive February Pending Home Sales (Briefing.com consensus 2.4%) at 10:00 ET.

In U.S. corporate news:

• Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX 108.00, +18.33): +20.4% after reporting that an experimental cystic fibrosis drug improved lung function.
• Dave & Busters (PLAY 59.46, -2.73): -4.4% after cautious sales guidance overshadowed better than expected earnings.
• Restoration Hardware (RH 44.00, +6.00): +15.8% after issuing above-consensus revenue guidance.

Reviewing overnight developments:

• Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the midweek session on a mostly higher note after spending the day inside narrow ranges. Japan's Nikkei +0.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.2%, China's Shanghai Composite -0.4%, India's Sensex +0.4%.
  • Economic data was limited:
    • Japan's February Retail Sales +0.1% year-over-year (consensus 0.5%; last 1.0%)
    • South Korea's April Manufacturing BSI Index 78 (last 79)
  • In news:
    • Chinese banks displayed relative strength, benefitting from an uptick in interest rates and better than expected results from AgBank.
    • Also in China, Moody's warned about a property market adjustment following a recent spike in prices, coupled with higher interest rates and tighter liquidity management from the People's Bank of China.

• Major European indices trade in the neighborhood of their flat lines, taking the recent news from Brussels in stride. UK's FTSE -0.3%, France's CAC unch, Germany's DAX +0.3%.
  • In economic data:
    • Germany's February Import Price Index +0.7% month-over-month (expected 0.3%; last 0.9%); +7.4% year-over-year (consensus 7.0%; previous 6.0%)
    • UK's February Mortgage Approvals 68,320 (expected 69,900; last 69,110) and M4 Money Supply -0.3% month-over-month (expected 0.5%; last 0.9%)
    • France's March Consumer Confidence held at 100, as expected
    • Italy's March Business Confidence 107.1 (expected 106.3; previous 106.4) and Consumer Confidence 107.6 (consensus 106.6; prior 106.6)
    • Swiss March ZEW Expectations 29.6 (last 19.4) and February Consumption Indicator 1.50 (last 1.44)
  • In news:
    • As expected, the British delegation met with European Council President Donald Tusk and presented him with a letter that triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. An 18-month negotiation period is expected to follow.
    • German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble voiced opposition to deferring Greek interest payments, saying this would be equivalent to a new loan. Greek officials have until April 7 to come to terms with EU representatives to avoid a funding shortage. That said, the Bank of Greece reportedly has more than EUR10 billion in funds that could be accessed to buy some additional time for negotiations.

 Ericsson upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Bernstein  (6.45)

 

Vulcan Materials initiated with a Buy at Citigroup  (114.60)

 

Martin Marietta initiated with a Buy at Citigroup  (209.92)

 

Panera Bread downgraded to Hold at Maxim Group; tgt $260  (256.97)Maxim Group downgrades PNRA to Hold from Buy and sets target price at $260 as they still expect PNRA to post EPS growth averaging in the low 20% range through at least 2018 on continued momentum from Panera 2.0 at both company-owned and franchised locations, additional opportunities for margin expansion, a return to new unit development, and share buybacks. However, in light of the 25% YTD jump in the share price, firm now believes shares have factored in these positives. Firm now positions Texas Roadhouse (TXRH — $44.14 — Buy) as their top pick for the remainder for 2017 followed by Red Robin Gourmet Burger (RRGB — $57.15 — Buy) as their 2017 turnaround story.

 On The Wires

• Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) announced that Dr. James H. Thompson, executive vice president of engineering, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., has been appointed to the additional position of chief technology officer. Matt Grob, executive vice president, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and CTO, will transition to the role of executive vice president of technology, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and continue to report to Steve Mollenkopf.
• Calgon Carbon Corporation (CCC) announced that the Co and California Water Service have signed a system supply contract valued at $13.2  mln, under which Calgon Carbon will provide granular activated carbon and associated equipment systems to treat more than 30 drinking water wells contaminated by 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP). The contract, which starts in 2017, is the largest drinking water-related carbon adsorption equipment project in Company history.
• Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC) received a contract from ONEgas to perform engineering services for the decomplexing of its K15-FA platform in the North Sea. ONEgas is a combined business unit of Shell UK Exploration & Production and the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij B.V… The contract is the first to be signed under a new Enterprise Framework Agreement between ONEgas and Jacobs.

 S&P futures vs fair value: -1.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +2.60.

Wall Street is poised for a slightly lower open on Wednesday as the S&P 500 futures trade two points below fair value.

Earlier this morning, the U.K. officially launched the Brexit process when Britain's ambassador to the European Union hand delivered the formal withdrawal notification to European Council President Donald Tusk. The two sides will now have 18 months to negotiate the specific terms of their relationship going forward.

The pound (1.0750) has held up relatively well against the U.S. dollar in the aftermath while the euro (1.0752) has tumbled 0.6% against the greenback. However, since the referendum on June 23, the pound has given up over 16.0% against the U.S. dollar. 

 

On The Wires Vermillion (VRML) announced the acceptance for publication of the original research titled, «Evaluation of a Validated Biomarker Test in Combination With a Symptom Index to Predict Ovarian Malignancy,» by Renata R. Urban, MD, Alan Smith, MS, Kathy Agnew, Vinicius Bonato, PhD, and Barbara A. Goff, MD, in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer. In a 2016 study performed with 218 patients who presented with pelvic masses, the combination of SI and OVA1 (MIA) showed a sensitivity to detect primary ovarian malignancy of 100%, detecting both early and late stage cancers better than either SI or OVA1 (MIA) alone. Additionally, the negative predictive value of SI and OVA1 combined was also 100%, indicating that all women that tested negative for both tests were certain not to have a primary ovarian malignancy. CB&I (CBI) announced it has been awarded a substantial contract for the license, engineering design and catalyst supply for five proprietary technologies to be used in an integrated refining and petrochemical project in China. The complex will use BP Paraxylene OPEX advantaged crystallization technology exclusively licensed by CB&I, as well as technology for a vacuum gasoil hydrocracker, diesel hydrocracker, kerosene hydrotreater and delayed coker offered through Chevron Lummus Global (CLG). CLG is a joint venture between Chevron and CB&I. Interval International, an operating business of ILG (ILG), announced the extension of its agreement with Oyster Bay Beach Resort, a mixed-use property situated on the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Maarten. Under the exclusive, multiyear agreement, Interval will continue to provide membership and exchange services for the luxury retreat's vacation ownership base.

 

European Summary European Yields Fall Sharply European government bond prices are higher across the board this morning as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to begin the formal process of Brexit. The upcoming negotiations about the U.K.'s trade relationship with the European Union will be closely watched because London's status as a global financial center is in jeopardy. Meanwhile, traders of eurozone sovereign debt are focusing today on a report from Reuters that sources inside the ECB said that traders took a far too hawkish message from the March ECB Governing Council meeting. At the meeting's press conference, ECB President Draghi said that there was less urgency at the ECB to fight off deflation/disinflation and traders used that opportunity to ditch eurozone government bonds. Expectations for a hike in the ECB's deposit rate by the end of 2017 have now fallen back below 50% as anonymous policymakers push back on the market's reaction to Draghi's comments. The economic data today from the eurozone showed German import prices rising faster than expected in February and economic sentiment remaining strong in the wider single currency bloc. Interest rates ultimately follow the real economy because central banks make monetary policy for the real economy, so despite today's report from Reuters, the big question is whether the current resurgence in headline inflation and strong business sentiment will result in stronger growth and core inflation. ECB policymakers have so far been reluctant to become optimistic about inflation returning quickly to the ECB's target of at or below 2%. They see the recent surge as a statistical artifact of the February 2016 bottom in oil prices, which should flatter February 2017 headline inflation figures Reuters reported this morning that ECB policymakers are wary of announcing a policy-message shift in April because of the potential for surging yields European Economic Data: Germany's Import Price Index increased 0.7% m/m in February (7.4% y/y), exceeding expectations but slowing from January's 0.9% gain France's Consumer Confidence Index remained at 100 in March, as expected Italy's Consumer Confidence Index unexpectedly rose to 107.6 for March from 106.6 in February Italy's Business Confidence Index also unexpectedly rose to 107.1 from 106.4 Hungary's unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in February from 4.3% in March In the U.K., BoE Mortgage Approvals fell to 68.32K in February from 69.11K in January  Switzerland's Consumption Indicator rose to 1.50 in February from 1.44 in January The ZEW Expectations Index jumped to 29.6 for March from 19.4 for February Yield Check: France, 10-yr OAT: — 4 bps to 0.93% Germany, 10-yr bund: -5 bps to 0.34%  Greece, 10-yr note: -33 bps to 6.39%  Italy, 10-yr BTP: -4 bps to 2.11% Portugal, 10-yr PGB: -4 bps to 3.65% Spain, 10-yr ODE: -3 bps to 1.63% U.K., 10-yr gilt: -3 bps to 1.16%

 Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:

• RH +17.1%, SUNW +8.7%, VRNT +7.7%, OLLI +2.4%, UNF +2.2%, HOTR +0.5%

M&A news:

• EXAR +22.2% (to be acquired by MaxLinear (MXL) for $13.00/share in cash)
• CERU +17.2% (Pending merger partner Daré Bioscience discloses 20.7% active stake), . 

Other news:

• TNXP +51.9% (will present at The MicroCap Conference on April 4)
• CBIO +30.3% (continued strength following yesterday's 180% move higher)
• SNOA +19.9% (confirms FDA 510(k) clearance for Loyon Skin Descaler)
• VRTX +19% (confirms two Phase 3 Studies of the tezacaftor/ivacaftor combination treatment met primary endpoints with statistically significant improvements in lung function in people with cystic fibrosis)
• SGMO +16% (presentation of new human in vitro and animal model data demonstrating significant reduction of tau mRNA and tau protein expression using the Co's zinc finger protein transcription factor (ZFP-TF)-mediated gene regulation technology)
• DRWI +14.8% (DragonWave's Harmony Enhanced MC backhaul solution was selected by Knoxville Utilities Board )
• IDXG +12.8% (confirms earnings release date for March 29 after the stock market closes)
• ZSAN +9.4% (Amzak Capital Management disclosed increased passive stake to 13.51% (prior 3.61%))
• DRYS +8% (continued strength)
• VIAV +5.1% (AlphaOne Capital Partners' Daniel Niles mention on CNBC FastMoney)
• EGLT +5% (FDA does not object to Egalet's distribution of promotional materials and communications to healthcare professionals regarding the abuse-deterrent properties of ARYMO ER release tablets)
• LITE +2.4% (AlphaOne Capital Partners' Daniel Niles mention on CNBC FastMoney )
• WSM +1% (RH sympathy)
• ACOR +1% (announces results from two studies of CVT-30g)
• INOV +1% (enters into an agreement with Amgen (AMGN) focusedspecifically on rheumatoid arthriti)

Analyst comments:

• CC +3% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies)
• EGO +2.8% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity)
• NRG +2.2% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman)
• FTNT +2% (upgraded to Outperform at Robert W. Baird)
• MS +1.1% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank)
• AMZN +0.5% (initiated with Overweight ratings at Barclays)
• BABA +0.5% (initiated with Overweight ratings at Barclays)

 Dave & Busters Q4 Call Notes  (62.19)

• Eat, drink, play, and watch platforms provided some insulation in a challenging casual dining environment.
• 26 of the 92 stores in the quarter were non-comp stores.
  • Revenues from 66 comparable stores increased 3.2% y/y
  • Revenues from 26 non-comparable stores increased 79% y/y.
• Expects same-store sales growth of +2-3% in FY17, will have 76 stores in comp store base for FY17.
• Working towards building store count of over 200 stores in the U.S. and Canada.
• Opened 4 stores in Q4, for a total of 11 new stores in FY16.
• Plans on opening 11-12 new stores in FY17.
• Anticipates first of 7 licensed Middle East stores will open sometime in FY18.
• Expects relatively flat commodity costs in FY17.
• Guiding towards ‘flatish' type margins next year.
• Advertisements and promotional messages will be focused on amusements.

Shares of Dave & Busters are trading ~3.1% lower at $60.25/share in the pre-market

 Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:

• QHC -29.4%, DCTH -20.8%, PTX -11.1%, CYCC -8.5%, OREX -6.8%
• DEPO -4.4%, (announces that Arthur J. Higgins has joined the Co as President and CEO and member of the Board of Directors, following the resignation of James Schoeneck as President and CEO and member of the Board of Directors; guides Q1 net sales of $95-$100 mln)
• IZEA -3.4%, SCWX -3.3%, PLAY -3.1%, SONC -1.1%, GLUU -0.9%, WLB -0.8%

Select EU financial related names showing weakness:

• PUK -3.2%, SAN -1.6%, BCS -1.2%, CS -1.1%, HSBC -1%, DB -1%

Other news:

• ALQA -36% (prices 9.375 mln common stock offering at $0.40/share)
• ATOS -29.4% (prices $4 mln public offering consisting of units, common stock and warrants)
• DFFN -7.2% (following 80%+ move higher following US PTO news)  
• AEZS -5.9% (commences new 'at-the-market' offering of up to 3 mln common shares)
• CARB -3.8% ( to offer $125 mln aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes due 2022 in a private offering)
• BPMC -2.8% (commences underwritten public offering of $150 mln in shares of its common stock)
• HPJ -2% (following today's notable move higher / close at HoD)
• BAK -0.9% (extends timeframe to finalize its audited FY16 financial statements)
• ATH -0.7% (upsizes offering by 2.5 mln shares and prices secondary offering by selling shareholders of 27.5 mln shares of common stock at $48.50), .

Analyst comments:

• SKX -4.9% (downgraded to Negative from Positive at Susquehanna)
• FFIV -3.1% (downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank)
• DNKN -2.8% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman)
• GRPN -1.8% (initiated with Underweight ratings at Barclays)
• USG -1% (downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie)
• TWTR -0.6% (initiated with Underweight ratings at Barclays)

 S&P futures vs fair value: -1.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +2.60.

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

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the midweek session on a mostly higher note after spending the day inside narrow ranges. Chinese banks displayed relative strength, benefitting from an uptick in interest rates and better than expected results from AgBank. Staying in China, Moody's warned about a property market adjustment following a recent spike in prices, coupled with higher interest rates and tighter liquidity management from the People's Bank of China.

• Economic data was limited:
  • Japan's February Retail Sales +0.1% year-over-year (consensus 0.5%; last 1.0%)
  • South Korea's April Manufacturing BSI Index 78 (last 79)

---Equity Markets---

• Japan's Nikkei added 0.1%. Kansai Electric Power surged 8.2% after an appeals court overturned a ruling, which prohibited the company from operating two of its nuclear reactors. TEPCO also outperformed, jumping 4.5%. Panasonic, Sony, SUMCO, Trend Micro, Advantest, and Komatsu advanced between 1.3% and 2.8%.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.2% with help from roughly half of its components. Lenovo, AIA Group, Tencent Holdings, and Galaxy Entertainment gained between 0.6% and 1.2%. Financials like Bank of China, China Construction Bank, HSBC, and BoC Hong Kong added between 0.3% and 0.8%.
• China's Shanghai Composite ended lower by 0.4%. Lanzhou Greatwall Electrical, Wuhan Hanshang, Shanghai Potevio, Ningbo Bird, and CITIC Guoan Wine recored losses between 4.7% and 6.5%.
• India's Sensex climbed 0.4% with financials providing leadership. SBI and ICICI Bank led with gains close to 1.9% apiece while HDFC Bank and AXIS Bank posted respective gains of 0.6% and 0.2%. On the downside, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Mahindra&Mahindra, and Maruti Suzuki lost between 0.6% and 3.2%.

Major European indices trade in the neighborhood of their flat lines, taking the recent news from Brussels in stride. As expected, the British delegation met with European Council President Donald Tusk and presented him with a letter that triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. An 18-month negotiation period is expected to follow. With all attention on the EU-UK relationship, Greek-related headlines have been cast to the backburner. However, it is worth noting that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble voiced opposition to deferring Greek interest payments, saying this would be equivalent to a new loan. Greek officials have until April 7 to come to terms with EU representatives to avoid a funding shortage. That said, the Bank of Greece reportedly has more than EUR10 billion in funds that could be accessed to buy some additional time for negotiations.

• In economic data:
  • Germany's February Import Price Index +0.7% month-over-month (expected 0.3%; last 0.9%); +7.4% year-over-year (consensus 7.0%; previous 6.0%)
  • UK's February Mortgage Approvals 68,320 (expected 69,900; last 69,110) and M4 Money Supply -0.3% month-over-month (expected 0.5%; last 0.9%)
  • France's March Consumer Confidence held at 100, as expected
  • Italy's March Business Confidence 107.1 (expected 106.3; previous 106.4) and Consumer Confidence 107.6 (consensus 106.6; prior 106.6)
  • Swiss March ZEW Expectations 29.6 (last 19.4) and February Consumption Indicator 1.50 (last 1.44)

---Equity Markets---

• UK's FTSE is lower by 0.1%. Homebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments, and Persimmon are down between 0.9% and 1.6%. Select financials also underperform with Experian, Standard Life, Old Mutual, and Standard Chartered down between 0.2% and 1.1%.
• France's CAC trades higher by 0.3%. Growth-sensitive names like Engie, TechnipFMC, Peugeot, ArcelorMittal, and Schneider Electric display gains between 0.8% and 2.9%. On the downside, Cap Gemini has given up 1.1% while consumer names like Accor and Danone are down 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively.
• Germany's DAX outperforms with a gain of 0.5%. Daimler leads with a gain of 1.5% while Volkswagen and BMW are both higher by 0.2%. Heavyweights Siemens, Thyssenkrupp, Allianz, and BASF have added between 0.6% and 1.2%. On the downside, Infineon has slid 1.4%.

 Gapping up/down: RH +17%, VRNT +8% and UNF +2% after earnings, EXAR +22% after M&A news, FTNT +2% and MS +1% after upgrades: PLAY -3% and SONC -1% after earnings, FFIV -3% after dg

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:

• RH +17.1%, SUNW +8.7%, VRNT +7.7%, OLLI +2.4%, UNF +2.2%, HOTR +0.5%

M&A news:

• EXAR +22.2% (to be acquired by MaxLinear (MXL) for $13.00/share in cash)
• CERU +17.2% (Pending merger partner Daré Bioscience discloses 20.7% active stake), . 

Other news:

• TNXP +51.9% (will present at The MicroCap Conference on April 4)
• CBIO +30.3% (continued strength following yesterday's 180% move higher)
• SNOA +19.9% (confirms FDA 510(k) clearance for Loyon Skin Descaler)
• VRTX +19% (confirms two Phase 3 Studies of the tezacaftor/ivacaftor combination treatment met primary endpoints with statistically significant improvements in lung function in people with cystic fibrosis)
• SGMO +16% (presentation of new human in vitro and animal model data demonstrating significant reduction of tau mRNA and tau protein expression using the Co's zinc finger protein transcription factor (ZFP-TF)-mediated gene regulation technology)
• DRWI +14.8% (DragonWave's Harmony Enhanced MC backhaul solution was selected by Knoxville Utilities Board )
• IDXG +12.8% (confirms earnings release date for March 29 after the stock market closes)
• ZSAN +9.4% (Amzak Capital Management disclosed increased passive stake to 13.51% (prior 3.61%))
• DRYS +8% (continued strength)
• VIAV +5.1% (AlphaOne Capital Partners' Daniel Niles mention on CNBC FastMoney)
• EGLT +5% (FDA does not object to Egalet's distribution of promotional materials and communications to healthcare professionals regarding the abuse-deterrent properties of ARYMO ER release tablets)
• LITE +2.4% (AlphaOne Capital Partners' Daniel Niles mention on CNBC FastMoney )
• WSM +1% (RH sympathy)
• ACOR +1% (announces results from two studies of CVT-30g)
• INOV +1% (enters into an agreement with Amgen (AMGN) focusedspecifically on rheumatoid arthriti)

Analyst comments:

• CC +3% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies)
• EGO +2.8% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity)
• NRG +2.2% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman)
• FTNT +2% (upgraded to Outperform at Robert W. Baird)
• MS +1.1% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank)
• AMZN +0.5% (initiated with Overweight ratings at Barclays)
• BABA +0.5% (initiated with Overweight ratings at Barclays)

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:

• QHC -29.4%, DCTH -20.8%, PTX -11.1%, CYCC -8.5%, OREX -6.8%
• DEPO -4.4%, (announces that Arthur J. Higgins has joined the Co as President and CEO and member of the Board of Directors, following the resignation of James Schoeneck as President and CEO and member of the Board of Directors; guides Q1 net sales of $95-$100 mln)
• IZEA -3.4%, SCWX -3.3%, PLAY -3.1%, SONC -1.1%, GLUU -0.9%, WLB -0.8%

Select EU financial related names showing weakness:

• PUK -3.2%, SAN -1.6%, BCS -1.2%, CS -1.1%, HSBC -1%, DB -1%

Other news:

• ALQA -36% (prices 9.375 mln common stock offering at $0.40/share)
• ATOS -29.4% (prices $4 mln public offering consisting of units, common stock and warrants)
• DFFN -7.2% (following 80%+ move higher following US PTO news)  
• AEZS -5.9% (commences new 'at-the-market' offering of up to 3 mln common shares)
• CARB -3.8% ( to offer $125 mln aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes due 2022 in a private offering)
• BPMC -2.8% (commences underwritten public offering of $150 mln in shares of its common stock)
• HPJ -2% (following today's notable move higher / close at HoD)
• BAK -0.9% (extends timeframe to finalize its audited FY16 financial statements)
• ATH -0.7% (upsizes offering by 2.5 mln shares and prices secondary offering by selling shareholders of 27.5 mln shares of common stock at $48.50), .

Analyst comments:

• SKX -4.9% (downgraded to Negative from Positive at Susquehanna)
• FFIV -3.1% (downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank)
• DNKN -2.8% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman)
• GRPN -1.8% (initiated with Underweight ratings at Barclays)
• USG -1% (downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie)
• TWTR -0.6% (initiated with Underweight ratings at Barclays)

 Filings, Offerings and Pricings

Filings:

• Blucora (BCOR) files for 1,764,192 share common stock offering by the selling shareholders
• Eagle Bancorp Montana (EBMT) files for $50 mln mixed securities shelf offering

Offerings:

• Aeterna Zentaris (AEZS) commences new 'at-the-market' offering of up to 3 mln common shares pursuant to its existing At Market Issuance Sales Agreement
• Blueprint Medicines (BPMC) commences underwritten public offering of $150 mln in shares of its common stock
• Carbonite (CARB) to offer $125 mln aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes due 2022 in a private offering

Pricings:

• Alliqua (ALQA 0.625) prices 9.375 mln common stock offering at $0.40/share
• Athene Holding (ATH 49.82) upsizes offering by 2.5 mln shares and prices secondary offering of 27.5 mln shares of common stock by selling shareholders at $48.50
• Atossa Genetics (ATOS 1.09) prices $4 mln public offering consisting of units, common stock and warrants

 On The Wires

• OpenTable, the world's leading provider of online restaurant reservations and part of The Priceline Group (PCLN), today announced details of major updates to its flagship restaurant management product GuestCenter.
• OSI Systems (OSIS) announced that its Security division was awarded a contract valued at approximately $12 million from an international customer to provide multiple units of its cargo and vehicle inspection solution utilizing the Sentry Portal high-energy system coupled with Z Portal backscatter system and related accessories as well as follow-on service and technical support.
• Capstone Turbine Corporation (CPST) announced that it received an order for multiple microturbines for a repeat oil and gas customer operating in the San Juan Basin. Financial details not disclosed. 
• Resolute Forest Products (RFP) announced the successful start-up of its new tissue machine in Calhoun (Tennessee). The first tissue parent roll was produced on February 28, 2017.
• SHYFT Analytics announced it has secured a $7.5 million investment from Optum Ventures, a UnitedHealth Group (UNH) company, closing out a strategically-lead $20 million Series B Round of funding that included McKesson (MCK) and Medidata Solutions (MDSO).
• Freightos announced the completion of a $25 million Series B extension round, led by GE Ventures (GE), with participation by additional investors that bring the company's total funding to $50 million. The funds will be used to scale the Freightos Marketplace globally while continuing development of Freightos' software suite of global freight pricing, routing, and sales automation.
• On March 28, 2017, Navient Corporation (NAVI) received notice from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that, effective March 23, 2017, the Consent Order and Order for Restitution, issued by the FDIC on May 13, 2014 against Navient Solutions, Inc., now Navient Solutions, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, has been terminated with no conditions.

 Banner increases quarterly dividend to $0.25/share from $0.23/share  (54.63)

 

ReneSola upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse  (2.39)

 S&P futures vs fair value: -2.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +2.90.

Investors have tapped the brakes this morning following yesterday's unexpected rally. The S&P 500 futures trade two points below fair value, indicating a slightly lower open for the stock market on Wednesday.

The pound (1.2418) has given up some ground against the U.S. dollar this morning, down 0.2%, after the U.K. triggered Article 50 to launch the Brexit process. The European Union and the United Kingdom will now have 18 months to negotiate the terms of their relationship going forward.

U.S. Treasuries continue to climb farther into positive territory this morning with the benchmark 10-yr yield now trading three basis points lower at 2.39%. 

Crude oil clings to a slim gain, up 0.3% at $48.52/bbl. The API reported a larger than expected build of 1.9 million barrels on Tuesday evening, but the bearish news has been mitigated by a conflict in Libya that has cut into production. Also of note, the EIA will release its weekly inventory report later this morning at 10:30 ET.

In U.S. corporate news, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX 108.25, +18.58) has surged 21.0% in pre-market trade after reporting that an experimental cystic fibrosis drug improved lung function. Restoration Hardware (RH 44.20, +6.20) also trades solidly higher, up 16.3%, after reporting in-line results and issuing positive revenue guidance.

On the data front, investors will receive February Pending Home Sales (Briefing.com consensus 2.4%) at 10:00 ET.

 

Cempra downgraded to Sell at Gabelli & Co; Final Nail in the Soli Coffin  (4.20)Gabelli & Co downgrades CEMP to Sell from Hold. With CEMP shares trading in-line with 2016 year-end net cash, firm lowers their recommendation to Sell. The company is exploring strategic options, and they believe that the sum of the parts is greater than the current valuation if the company is able to formulate a successful liquidation plan in the next few months. However, without that catalyst, firm see little reason to own the stock. They expect the valuation to diminish along with the company's balance sheet over time. CEMP currently trades at a 12% premium to firm's 2017 PMV of $3.75 per share.

 

EXACT Sciences initiated with a Buy at BofA/Merrill; tgt $29  (22.75)

 On The Wires

• On March 28, 2017, Navient Corporation (NAVI) received notice from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that, effective March 23, 2017, the Consent Order and Order for Restitution, issued by the FDIC on May 13, 2014 against Navient Solutions, Inc., now Navient Solutions, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, has been terminated with no conditions.
• Community West Bancshares (CWBC), parent company of Community West Bank (Bank), announced that Susan C. Thompson was promoted to serve as Chief Financial Officer of the Company and the Bank, commencing April 1, 2017. Ms. Thompson has been with the Bank for ten of the last sixteen years, and has served as Controller for the past four years.
• CBOE Holdings (CBOE) announced that the CBOE Futures Exchange will be the first of the CBOE Holdings exchanges to migrate onto the Bats technology platform, with an expected switch-over on Sunday, February 25, 2018. The migration of the C2 and CBOE options exchanges will follow, with those dates to be announced later. All CBOE and Bats exchanges will continue to operate normally throughout the migration process, and the CBOE trading floor will remain open to serve CBOE's options market. Beginning in July, CFE trading privilege holders may begin requesting new connectivity and in September, basic connectivity testing will begin. Throughout the fourth quarter of 2017 and into the first quarter of 2018, customers will be given numerous testing opportunities to ensure preparedness for CFE's planned switch-over on February 25, 2018.
• HitecVision and its majority owned portfolio company Point Resources announced the signing of an agreement to acquire ExxonMobil's (XOM) operated upstream business in Norway from ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS.

 

Darden Restaurants target raised to $90 at Canaccord Genuity; Buy  (82.62)Canaccord Genuity raises their DRI tgt to $90 from $84 following earnings noting, "We remain confident in our thesis that Darden should be able to drive continued market share gains via an improved guest experience, off-premise, menu innovation and remodels. Management underscored the strength of its long-term value creation framework with the ability to leverage its significant scale and extensive data and insights with the acquisition of Cheddar's."

 Hearing PPL Corp was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS  (37.31 -0.39)

 

Izea on conference call discloses recent receipt of an unsolicited acquisition proposal and additional interest from private equity and other parties  (4.02 -0.09) On its earnings call last night, the company revealed that, while it is not currently running a process to sell itself, it recently received an unsolicited acquisition proposal from a publicly trading marketing technology company The company stated that its management is in ongoing dialogue with said company to understand the opportunity, intent, and structure in greater detail. In addition, the company said that it has had discussions with private equity firms and others who have an interest  Izea finished by cautioning that it is 'highly premature' to suggest that any such discussions may lead to negotiations or a definitive agreement

 Opening Market Summary: Stocks Show Slim Losses

The S&P 500 opens Wednesday's session with a slim loss of 0.1%.

Nearly all sectors trade in the red with the lightly-weighted utilities group (-0.7%) leading the retreat. On the flip side, the telecom services (+0.1%) and consumer discretionary (+0.1%) spaces have shown relative strength.

Amazon (AMZN 860.48, +4.48) has underpinned the consumer discretionary sector's outperformance. AMZN shares trade higher by 0.7%.

 Wal-Mart lifting back towards its March resistance along the 71-vicinity...  (70.90 +0.58)

• Other «brick n' mortar» Retailers showing early strength include DLTR, DDS, TGT, KSS, JWN, JCP, M, TJX, ROST.

 Sector Summary: Technology (XLK -0.21%) trading lower today, about in-line with the broader market

The tech sector — XLK — trades about in-line with the broader market. Semiconductors, meanwhile, display relative weakness as the SOX index trades -0.48%. Within the SOX index, AMD (+0.07%) outperforms, while MSCC (-1.06%) lags. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.23% lower, while the QQQ +0.05% and the NASDAQ -0.71% trade opposite thus far on the session. Among tech bellwethers, GOOG (+0.62%) is showing relative strength, while DCM (-2.26%) lags.

Notable gainers following earnings:

• VRNT (+8.7%) reported better than expected Q4 EPDS and in-line revs; guided FY18 EPS and revs in-line

Notable laggards following earnings:

• PAYX (-0.9%) reported better than expected Q3 EPS and in-line revs; reaffirmed FY17 guidance

Gainers on news:

• EXAR (+22.6%) co to be acquired by MaxLinear (MXL) for $13.00/share in cash.
• DRWI (+5.6%) co Harmony Enhanced MC backhaul solution was selected by Knoxville Utilities Board.
• TOSBF (+1.2%) co announced Westinghouse Electric Co and its Group entities resolved to file for Chapter 11.
• MENT (+0.2%) co's acquisition by Siemens (SIEGY) was cleared by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China; deal expected to close on March 30.

Laggards on news:

• SCG (-2.3%) co provided an update with regard to the impact of the Chapter 11 filing of Westinghouse Electric Company on the new nuclear project at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station.
• EPAM (-0.5%) co announced that Jason Peterson will succeed Anthony Conte as CFO on May 10.
• MA (-0.5%) co acquired NuData Security; terms not disclosed.

Among notable analyst upgrades:

• CYBR (+4.3%) upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore ISI
• FTV (+0.2%) to Buy from Hold at SunTrust
• FTNT (+3.7%) to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird
• ERIC (-0.8%) to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Bernstein
• SOL (+0.8%) to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse

Among notable analyst downgrades:

• FFIV (-2.9%) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank
• CRTO (-2.9%) to Neutral from Buy at Goldman

Scheduled to report earnings after the bell:

• PRGS, SIGM

Scheduled to report earnings tomorrow morning:

• SAIC

 Economic Summary: Pending Home Sales above consensus

Economic Data Summary:

• Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications -0.8% vs Briefing.com consensus of; Last Week was -2.7%
• February Pending Home Sales 5.5% vs Briefing.com consensus of 2.4%; January was 2.8%

Upcoming Economic Data:

• Fourth Quarter GDP — Third Estimate due out Thursday at 8:30 (Briefing.com consensus of 2.0%; Q4- 2nd Est was 1.9%)
• Fourth Quarter GBP Deflator — Third Estimate due out Thursday at 8:30 (Briefing.com consensus of 2.0%; Q4- 2nd Est was 2.0%)
• Weekly Initial Claims due out Thursday at 8:30 (Briefing.com consensus of 245K; Last Week was 258K)
• Weekly Continuing Claims due out Thursday at 8:30 (Briefing.com consensus of; Last Week was 2.0 M)

Upcoming Fed/Treasury Events:

• Fed's Evans to speak today at 11:30 ET
• The Treasury will auction off $28 bln in 7 Year Notes today at 13:00
• Fed's Williams to speak today at 13:15 ET and tomorrow at 11:15 ET
• Fed's Kaplan to speak tomorrow at 11:00 ET

Other International Events of Interest

• Japan's February Retail Sales +0.1% year-over-year (consensus 0.5%; last 1.0%)

 

Regeneron Pharma target raised to $446 from $435 at UBS — Raising Dupixent estimates on pricing details  (391.92 +9.37)Buy rating reflects optimism on the Dupixent launch, which provides a much needed growth lever as Eylea growth begins to moderate.

 

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: APA Weekly Mar31 51.5 calls are seeing interest with 1550 contracts trading vs. open int of 190, pushing implied vol up around 5 points to ~31% — co reported earnings late February and is expected to report its next quarterly earnings report early May. Puts: WYNN Weekly Mar31 113 puts are seeing interest with 1500 contracts trading vs. open int of 350, pushing implied vol up around 5 points to ~37% --  renewed M&A chatter involving Las Vegas Sands circulated earlier this month.  Co is expected to report earnings early May (annual general meeting April 21). Stocks seeing volatility selling: PAYX, QHC implied vol is lower following earnings/guidance Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 0.91… VIX: (11.48, -0.05, -0.4%). April 21 is options expiration — the last day to trade April 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.

 

Hearing Targa Resources was initiated with a Buy at Deutsche Bank; tgt $69  (57.96 +0.64)

 Notable movers of interest: VRTX +23% after co confirms two Phase 3 Studies of the tezacaftor/ivacaftor combination treatment met primary endpoints

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

• VRTX (110.23 +22.93%): Confirms two Phase 3 Studies of the tezacaftor/ivacaftor combination treatment met primary endpoints with statistically significant improvements in lung function in people with cystic fibrosis.
• REGN (392.48 +2.6%): Target raised to $446 from $435 at UBS raising Dupixent estimates on pricing details.
• MS (42.77 +0.66%): Upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Large Cap Losers

• SNAP (21.81 -1.8%): Shares continue lower on yesterdays news that Facebook (FB) is launching competing 'camera effects' and 'stories'.
• FLT (153 -2.86%): Shares lower after Capitol Forum reiterated cautious stance. 

Mid Cap Gainers

• VRNT (42.94 +8.56%): Shares rise on Q4 EPS beat.
• EGO (3.42 +8.23%): Upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
• EXAS (23.72 +4.26%): Initiated with a Buy at BofA/Merrill; tgt $29.

Mid Cap Losers

• PLAY (59.98 -3.55%): Shares down despite Q4 EPS beat, revs in-line; guides FY18 revs in-line.
• SKX (29.07 -2.97%): Downgraded to Negative from Positive at Susquehanna.
• DNKN (54.78 -2.36%): Downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman.

 Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data for the Week Ending March 24, 2017U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged over 16.2 mln barrels per day during the week ending March 24, 2017, 425,000 barrels per day more than the previous week's average. Refineries operated at 89.3% of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging over 10.0 mln barrels per day. Distillate fuel production increased last week, averaging about 4.9 mln barrels per day.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged over 8.2 mln barrels per day last week, down by 83,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports averaged over 8.0 mln barrels per day, 0.7% above the same four-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 521,000 barrels per day. Distillate fuel imports averaged 115,000 barrels per day last week.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 0.9 mln barrels from the previous week. At 534.0 mln barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are at the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 3.7 mln barrels last week, but are in the upper half of the average range. Both finished gasoline inventories and blending components inventories decreased last week. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 2.5 mln barrels last week but are in the upper half of the average range for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories fell 1.5 mln barrels last week but are in the middle of the average range. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased by 3.9 mln barrels last week.

Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged over 19.6 mln barrels per day, up by 0.7% from the same period last year. Over the last four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged over 9.3 mln barrels per day, down by 1.0% from the same period last year. Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 4.2 mln barrels per day over the last four weeks, up by 13.1% from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied is up 12.1% compared to the same four-week period last year.

 Hearing Ritter Pharmaceuticals was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Maxim Group  (1.44 -0.51)

 Sector Summary: S&P Consumer Discretionary Index +0.5%, outperforming the broader marketThe consumer discretionary group is outperforming the broader market in early trade. The retail group is also in the green with the Retail HOLDRS Trust (RTH) 0.7% and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) 1.7%.

Notable earnings/guidance: 

• Trading higher following earnings/guidance: RH +13.7%, SONC +7.6%, OLLI +3.9%
• Trading lower following earnings/guidance: PLAY -2.4%

Earnings/guidance secondary plays: 

• Restoration Hardware (RH +13%) earnings strength is lifting furniture/home goods related retailers. TCS +4.8%, SHOS +4.9%, KIRK +3.4%, WSM +3.2%, PIR +3.3%, W +3%, ETH +1.7%, BBBY +0.9%
• Sonic (SONC +8%) is leading restaurant/QSR names higher: ZOES +4%, CMG +2.2%, RT +1.8%, SAUC +0.9%, SHAK +1.7%, BLMN +1.5%, TACO +1.5%, FRSH +1.4%, DAVE +1.2%, BJRI +1.2%, RRGB +1.1%, BWLD +1.1%, HABT +0.9%, DIN +0.9%, FRGI +0.9%, LOCO +0.9%, SBUX +0.8%, WEN +0.9%, QSR +0.7%, EAT +0.8%, CBRL +0.8%… A few names are lower following analyst downgrades: DRI -0.2% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BTIG Research), PNRA -0.1% (downgraded to Hold at Maxim Group)

In the news:

• Leaders:  
  • TLRD 2.8% (appoints Dinesh Lathi to succeed William Sechrest as Chairman effective immediately)
  • WMT 1.1% (extending yesterday's move higher)
  • UA +1.5% (M&A chatter)
  • LEN 0.3% (GAMCO increases active stake; intends to vote in favor of maintaining the existing voting structure and will vote with the Board of Director's recommendation 'Against' the stockholder proposal requesting all of the Issuer's outstanding stock have one-vote per share)
  • F 0.6% (Chairman disclosed purchase of 171379 shares worth $2mln; announces field service action to correct coolant issues in certain vehicles equipped with 1.6 liter GTDI engines and the expansion of a field service action to correct side door latch issues in certain vehicles)
  • Dept store names are outperforming: SHLD +6.4% (continued strength), DDS +6.2%, JWN +4.4%, KSS +3.8%, M +2.8%
• Laggards:
  • NDLS -3.6% (modestly pulling back)
  • SKX -3.2% (downgraded to Negative from Positive at Susquehanna)

Looking ahead:

• On the earnings front: LULU reports after the close today, NOMD after the close tomorrow.

 Ritter Pharmaceuticals downgrade details — to Hold at Maxim Group following last night's data release  (1.46 -0.49)Maxim Group downgrades RTTR to Hold from Buy. Firm admits the data release is confusing as the company states: «The primary endpoint met statistical significance, in which 40% of the pooled dosing group and 26% of the placebo group responded (p=0.0159).» Firm feels this is unusual at best. The study missed statistical significance. You can't just exclude a fourth of patients because there are irregularities at one site. A high placebo rate seemed to hurt the trial results. On the other hand firm recognizes this is a phase II study, not a pivotal trial. Can Ritter raise the capital to move this to a pivotal trial and with a delta of just 14%, should they? Next Step: End of Phase II meeting (fall 2017).

 

HFF Inc. acquires Hentschel & Co; terms not disclosed  (26.44 -0.11)Hentschel & Company is a New York-based boutique investment banking advisory firm, whose primary focus is to advise public and private REITs, non-traded REITs, real estate investment funds and other private owners of real estate and real estate debt on M&A, initial public offerings, capital raises and other strategic alternatives.

 

Restoration Hardware target raised to $45 at UBS following earnings  (43.10 +5.10)UBS raises their RH tgt to $45 from $34. Given RH pre-announced its 4Q results, the focus was squarely on its outlook for '17. The company provided a wide EPS range of $1.78-$2.19 on a fairly tight sales range of $2.3-$2.4b. While this equates to a 5.8% OM at the mid-point (+100 bps YoY), the range of outcomes is probably wide. Also, adjusting for the ~260 bps of margin RH lost in FY'16 due to temporal factors, it implies its OM will be down -160 bps in FY'17. Though, this year, RH is investing in hospitality, its supply chain & will continue its SKU rationalization efforts in 1H. Adjusting for these factors could imply less OM contraction & slight EPS reduction YoY. While this would highlight some progress, questions still remain as to what will be the underlying margin growth once these one-time factors abate. Given these uncertainties, they prefer to remain on the sidelines at current levels

 Samsung releases details of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones; On sale in US on April 21 with preorders beginning March 30   (1500.00 0.00)The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are at the center of the new Gear VR with Controller, powered by Oculus. Pre-orders for both Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will begin at 12:01 EDT on March 30, 20173. AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Sprint, Straight Talk Wireless, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon Wireless will carry the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ in stores beginning April 21. In addition, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will be available at all Best Buy stores as well as BestBuy.com, ShopSamsung app, Target and Walmart.

 Currency Commentary: DXY Testing 100 for Resistance

• The Dollar Index is attempting to regain the 100 level. This marks the best level for the DXY in a week. The move has more to do with a bounce back after finding support at the 99 area but it is being supported by a boost in today's strong Pending Home Sales report. Earlier today Chicago Fed President Charles Evans stated that he saw another one to two rate hikes in 2017. This is being viewed as a slightly dovish turn as he previously was looking for another two rate hikes, and a possible third, this year. Mr. Evans is a current voter. 
• The euro is down on the day as it gives up some recent gains. The single currency rallied to test its 200-sma at the start of the week but failed to hold that ground. It is now seeing some profit taking which is being spurred further by the long awaited invoking of Article 50 by the U.K… Of interest, German Import Prices rose 7.4% y/y which was the highest level since April of 2011. Energy prices and a weaker euro certainly helped the surge but it will be interesting to see if this impacts arguments at the ECB.
• The pound is lower as the U.K. officially invoked Article 50. That will start the clock ticking on what is expected to be a two year process. There are plenty of loopholes for the two sides to extend talks but the skis are over the ledge and now markets will closely watch the exit unfold with great interest. Sterling is showing some signs of holding the 50, 100-sma convergence area at 1.2425-1.2432. This will be a key level to watch moving forward.
• The rally in the yen is slowly abating as equities see a bounce. Yen is sliding back to test the 111 level. Retail Sales this morning fell short of expectations (+0.1% vs +0.7% expectations) as the economy continues to struggle to find growth.
• The Chinese yuan remains in a tight range as it holds steady at 6.86 on a quiet day. The range continues to tighten following some volatility earlier int he year. This is a pattern that helps ease some global tension (BONDX, FOREX). 

 Computer Sciences at investor day highlights FY18 targets, roadmap for growth through 2020  (74.30 +5.23)

• Aiming to produce $9.25-10.00 of Non-GAAP EPS in FY20
• FY18 Targets:
  • $24-24.5 bln revs
  • 11-12% EBIT Margins
  • 100% or more FCF as % of Net Income
  • Non-GAAP EPS of $6.50-7.00
• FY18-FY20 Targets:
  • 1-4% rev growth
  • 14-15% EBIT Margin
  • 100% or more FCF as % of Net Income
  • Non-GAAP EPS: ~20% CAGR

 

Hearing Power Solutions International was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Barrington Research  (8.88 +0.38)

 Sector Summary: The Healthcare sector (+0.07%) is trading slightly today, outperforming the S&P 500 (-0.06%)General Commentary: Tonix Pharma (TNXP) shares are up more than 40% after initially opening up ~80%. The co filed a press release this morning that it was presenting presenting at The MicroCap Conference on April 4, 2017 in NYC. The interim analysis of the HONOR study is expected in the first half of 2018 and topline results are expected in the second half of 2018. The co announced yesterday before the market opened that it enrolled its first participant in the Phase 3 HONOR study of TNX-102 SL 5.6 mg, for the
treatment of PTSD as well.

Gainers on news:

• Vertex Pharma (VRTX +22.83%) confirms two Phase 3 Studies of the tezacaftor/ivacaftor combination treatment met primary endpoints with statistically significant improvements in lung function in people with cystic fibrosis
• Interpace Diagnostics (IDXG +6.16%) traders circulate European patent document for microRNA's as biomarkers for distinguishing benign from malignant thyroid neoplasms
• Tonix Pharma (TNXP +41.79%) to Present FDA Breakthrough Therapy-Designated PTSD Program at The MicroCap Conference

Decliners on news:

• Ritter Pharma (RTTR -18.97%) announces lactose intolerance treatment RP-G28 demonstrated efficacy and clinically meaningful benefit in phase 2b/3 clinical trial; data supports further clinical development
• DepoMed (DEPO -3.83%) announces cooperation agreement with Starboard, names new CEO, sees Q1 revs below consensus
• Alliqua (ALQA -32.18%) prices 9.375 mln common stock offering at $0.40/share

Gainers on earnings:

• Summit Therapeutics (SMMT +1%) FY17 EPS ($0.44) vs. ($0.56) consensus; rev $2.9 mln vs. 0.2 mln consensus.

Decliners on earnings:

• Pernix Therapeutics (PTX -17.98%) reports Q4 adjusted EBITDA +49% to $12.5 million from $8.4 million in third quarter 2016 and 60% from $7.8 million in the prior year period; revs +3.7% y/y to $45.4 mln (no estimates).
• Quorum (QHC -15.23%) reports Q4 (Dec) results, misses on revs
• Delcath (DCTH -7.29%) reported FY16 EPS of ($10.59) vs ($14.56) last year.

Upgrades/Downgrades:

• Athersys (ATHX +21.19%) initiated with an Outperform at William Blair
• EXACT Sciences (EXAS +5.58%) initiated with a Buy at BofA/Merrill; tgt $29
• Regeneron Pharma (REGN +3.64%) UBS Reiterated BUY — Price Target: 446 (from 435)
• Cempra (CEMP -3.57%) Gabelli & Co Downgraded to SELL (from Hold)

 

New Supply Treasury Auction Preview $28 bln 7-year Treasury auction (results at 13:00 ET) Prior auction results: High yield: 2.197% Bid-to-cover: 2.49 Indirect bid: 63.4% Direct bid: 11.4% Average results of prior 12 auctions: High yield: 1.769% Bid-to-cover: 2.53 Indirect bid: 64.3% Direct bid: 12.0%

 

Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session — New highs (105) outpacing new lows (26)Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAPL, ABR, AMT, AMZN, ANET, APFH, ASPS, ATVI, BCH, BEAT, BIP, BOBE, BSAC, BST, BWEN, BYD, CARA, CBMX, CC, CCU, CHDN, CHU, CLS, COHR, COKE, COOL, CORT, CSC, CTB, CTRE, DEX, DLNG, DRI, DV, EE, EEFT, ETN, EVRI, EXAR, FDEU, FIZZ, FNF, FSV, FTNT, FTV, GAIA, GLPG, HAWK, HRC, HUN, IAE, IDE, IGA, IGD, ILG, IMMY, INDY, INFO, INSM, IRBT, IVAC, JCAP, KBH, KINS, KRNT, KRO, LITE, LTRX, MAIN, MCRI, MGI, MMS, MX, MXL, NEFF, NKTR, NRG, OGS, OLLI, OSUR, PAM, PCI, PCTI, PLCE, PMT, PRAH, PRTK, PZE, RUTH, SAFM, SBAC, SGMS, SNP, SPNC, SUPV, SYUT, TDOC, TEDU, TIF, UTEK, VCYT, VEDL, VIAV, VRNT, VRTX Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ALQA, ARGS, ATOS, CCIH, CMLS, CNXR, DCTH, FENX, GBSN, IMNP, INVT, MDGS, MNKD, MOSY, NIHD, NVGN, ORIG, ORPN, SCG, SFUN, SRC, TNDM, TVIX, TWER, VMEMQ, XENE Thinly-Traded Stocks (ADV below 45k) that traded to 52 week highs on High Volume: AKO.A, APF, APPF, BOCH, CWAY, DXGE, GCH, GGZ, GRR, IBUY, IEUS, IIF, JOF, KF, LGI, MBCN, OFS, PAR, PSCH, RFDI, RFEU, RGT, SGM, SNOA, SWZ, SYX, TATT, TRR, TWN Thinly-Traded Stocks (ADV below 45k) that traded to 52 week lows on High Volume: CBAK, OPHC, SBSAA, VJET ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: ECH, EPP, EWA, EWS ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: VXX, VXZ

 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: VRTX (110.3 +23.01%), PACB (5.53 +14.02%), ADAP (4.99 +8.72%), PRTK (19 +8.26%), AKAO (25.66 +7.36%), KPTI (12.11 +7.07%)
• Materials: EGO (3.44 +8.86%)
• Industrials: QUAD (24.49 +10.22%), TPIC (18.66 +7.24%)
• Consumer Discretionary: RH (43.02 +13.21%), CONN (9.03 +7.44%)
• Information Technology: EXAR (13 +22.41%), VRNT (43.25 +9.36%), CSC (74 +7.14%)
• Energy: CIE (0.48 +13.97%), BRS (14.71 +9.69%), DNR (2.64 +9.09%), EMES (13.72 +8.79%), CHK (5.79 +7.42%)
• Telecommunication Services: NIHD (1.2 +11.63%)

Today's top 20 % losers

• Healthcare: BPMC (40.25 -4.87%), DEPO (13.68 -3.87%), CYH (8.9 -3.78%)
• Materials: CSTM (6.63 -3.28%)
• Industrials: USG (32.03 -5.1%), GOGL (7.87 -2.97%)
• Consumer Discretionary: SKX (28.64 -4.41%), PLAY (60.07 -3.41%)
• Information Technology: NTNX (18.68 -6.22%), SFUN (2.64 -4.69%), LITE (52.18 -4.62%), FFIV (141.26 -3.99%), IIVI (38.25 -3.41%), FIVN (17.82 -3.34%), FNSR (27.96 -3.2%), FN (43.07 -3.19%), CRTO (49.48 -3.17%), FLT (152.88 -2.93%)
• Energy: INSW (19.08 -6.52%)
• Telecommunication Services: SKM (24.99 -2.88%)

 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 (15.07 mln +3.84%)
• Materials: VALE (12.18 mln +2.11%)
• Consumer Discretionary: F (18.21 mln +0.47%), JCP (12.54 mln +3.71%)
• Information Technology: EXAR (18.11 mln +22.41%), AMD (15.7 mln +0.47%), AAPL (11.69 mln -0.19%), MU (9.73 mln -0.68%), HPE (8.48 mln +2.76%), OCLR (8.07 mln +1.04%)
• Financials: BAC (35.78 mln -0.13%), ATH (10.56 mln -0.8%), ITUB (9.6 mln +1.47%)
• Energy: CHK (27.1 mln +7.42%), ECA (10.3 mln +4.41%), PBR (9.78 mln +3.18%), SWN (9.29 mln +4.12%), MRO (9.13 mln +4.79%), SDRL (9.02 mln +1.64%)
• Telecommunication Services: FTR (11.66 mln -1.52%)

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

• Healthcare: VRTX (5.27x +23.01%), PACB (2.66x +14.02%), DEPO (2.46x -3.87%)
• Industrials: USG (1.31x -5.1%)
• Consumer Discretionary: PLAY (4.3x -3.41%), SONC (3.31x +5.35%), OLLI (2.76x +3.17%), SKX (2.11x -4.41%), RH (1.73x +13.21%), SHLD (1.64x +3.36%), DRI (1.3x -0.22%)
• Information Technology: EXAR (89.88x +22.41%), NTNX (5.05x -6.22%), CSC (2.73x +7.14%), VRNT (2.45x +9.36%), FLT (1.77x -2.93%), PAYX (1.3x -1.75%),
• Financials: ATH (16.2x -0.8%), COWN (2.52x +6.47%)

 

Today's biggest point gainers/losersBiggest point gainers: VRTX 109.7(20.03), REGN 397.41(14.86), CMG 436.61(10.38), CSC 74.4(5.33), RH 43.09(5.09), VRNT 43.2(3.65), IBB 295.45(3.44), PXD 188.44(3.11), ORLY 272.49(2.78), DDS 51.53(2.63), HES 49.89(2.44), EXAR 13.01(2.39), QUAD 24.56(2.34), VMC 116.9(2.3), FANG 103.47(2.24), MEOH 47.35(2), CXO 129.54(1.92), AKAO 25.82(1.92), HAWK 40.1(1.9), MSM 102.15(1.81), EGN 54.63(1.79), FL 74.92(1.78), CYBR 50.74(1.7), ALXN 120.15(1.62), EOG 96.91(1.62) Biggest point losers: FFIV 140.97(-6.16), FLT 152.6(-4.9), NTES 284.52(-4.83), BIIB 270.02(-4.09), TSRO 152.24(-2.66), CBIO 12.52(-2.49), LITE 52.4(-2.3), UNH 163.08(-2.27), FDS 162.59(-1.98), PLAY 60.36(-1.83), USG 31.95(-1.8), IIVI 37.95(-1.65), STMP 114.05(-1.55), ANET 132.45(-1.52), CRTO 49.6(-1.5), BRK.B 166.83(-1.48), GOLD 87.59(-1.48), SKX 28.58(-1.38), SCG 64.76(-1.38), EFX 134.93(-1.36), DNKN 54.8(-1.31), EXR 73.49(-1.27), GWW 237.93(-1.26), RCL 99.09(-1.24), NTNX 18.7(-1.22)

 BofI Holding ticking lower on talk of a lawsuit tied to fraud allegations  (27.01 -1.07)

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

• UK's FTSE: + 0.41%
• Germany's DAX: + 0.4%
• France's CAC: -0.5%
• Spain's IBEX: -0.2%
• Portugal's PSI: + 0.8%
• Italy's MIB Index: -0.3%
• Irish Ovrl Index: -0.1%
• Greece ASE General Index: + 0.6%

 WebMD Health — volume alert  (51.44 +1.21)

 Roche Hldg announces that the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted unanimously that the benefit-risk of rituximab/hyaluronidase for subcutaneous injection was favorable for the treatment of certain blood cancers  (32.09 +0.06)

The co announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted unanimously (11 to 0) that the benefit-risk of rituximab/hyaluronidase for subcutaneous (under the skin) injection was favorable for the treatment of certain blood cancers, which include: previously untreated follicular lymphoma, previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), relapsed or refractory low grade or follicular lymphoma, and previously untreated and relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). This new co-formulation includes the same monoclonal antibody as intravenous Rituxan® (rituximab) and hyaluronidase, a molecule that helps to deliver medicine under the skin. The FDA is expected to make a decision on approval by June 26, 2017.

• Rituxan was discovered by Biogen (BIIB) and is part of a collaboration between Genentech and Biogen in the United States. Subcutaneous rituximab is investigational in the United States. It is a co-formulation of the same monoclonal antibody as intravenous Rituxan and recombinant human hyaluronidase (rHuPH20), a technology licensed from Halozyme Therapeutics (HALO)

 

Rumor Round Up Rumor Activity was active today Amazon (AMZN 869.25 +13.25) for Shopify (SHOP 72.46 +0.09) M&A speculation circulated. Pulmatrix (PULM 3.50 +0.30) M&A speculation was making the rounds. WebMD Health (WBMD 52.01 +1.77) recent strength attributed to speculation that company might explore options. Reuters discussed that Sanofi (SNY 45.42 +0.07) has hired bankers for European drug unit sale. Maeil Business SK Hynix (HXSCL 41.71 +0.00) might bid for Toshiba (TOSBF 1.93 -0.02) memory business for $9 billion. 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.

 Market Internals

The broader market is split at the moment, led higher by the Nasdaq Composite which adds 14 points (+0.23%) to 5888, the S&P 500 also trades in the green, up now by about 2 (+0.07%) to 2360, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average loses about 41 (-0.20%) to 20660. Action has come on lower than average volume (NYSE 275 vs. avg. of 321; NASDAQ 733 mln vs. avg. of 809), with advancers outpacing decliners (NYSE 1841/1104, NASDAQ 1611/1115) and new highs outpacing new lows (NYSE 71/7, NASDAQ 76/28).

Relative Strength:

Oil&Gas E&P-XOP +2.3%, US Nat Gas-UNG +2.3%, US Gasoline-UGA +2.0%, US Oil-USO +1.9%, Brazil-EWZ +1.8%, US Diesel/Heating Oil-UHN +1.7%, Oil Svcs.-OIH +1.6%, Biotech-IBB +1.5%, Saudi Arabia-KSA +1.4%, Latin Am. 40-ILF +1.3%, Australia-EWA +0.8%, New Zealand-ENZL +0.8%, India-INP +0.6%, Pacific Ex-Japan-EPP +0.6%.

Relative Weakness:

Sugar-SGG -1.9%, Cocoa-NIB -1.4%, Spain-EWP -1.1%, Poland-EPOL -1.0%, Italy-EWI -0.9%, Taiwan-EWT -0.8%, Netherlands-EWN -0.7%, Philippines-EPHE -0.6%, US Healthcare Prov.-IHF -0.6%, Semis-SMH -0.5%, France-EWQ -0.5%, Financials-XLF -0.5%, Insurance-KIE -0.4%, Short-Term Futures-VXX -0.4%.

 

Sonic target lowered to $24 from $26 at Barclays; Comp disappointing, EPS was resilient on cost control and FY17 guide for 2H seems aggressive  (25.40 +1.48)

 Sector Summary: Industrials trade lower than the broader market

The Industrials sector (XLI) is trading -0.2% lower today, lower than the broader market (SPY +0.0%). In a slow day the industrial sector, Rockwell Collins (COL -0.3%) receives a $142 mln Navy contract and Siemens AG Medical Solutions (SIEGY -0.1%) unit awarded maximum $4,128,000,000 Defense Logistics Agency contract.

Earnings/Guidance

• US Ecology (ECOL +0%) repeats guidance of $1.69-1.93 vs. $1.79 consensus; sees FY17 revs of $495-533 mln vs. $507.69 mln consensus; sees adjusted EBITDA of $120-130 mln; CapEx of $34-37 mln.
• Sunworks (SUNW +5.5%) reported FY16 EPS of ($0.46) vs ($0.41) Capital IQ two est average; revs +61% YoY to $86.421 mln.
  • FY17 Guidance: Management expects full year 2017 revenue to increase more than 30% versus 2016 (Capital IQ two est average +19% YoY) and anticipates Sunworks will be profitable for the full year.

News

• Rockwell Collins (COL -0.3%) awarded $142 mln Navy contract Rockwell Collins is being awarded a $142,356,338 cost-plus-incentive-fee, fixed-price-incentive, firm-fixed-price contract for procurement of the Tactical Combat Training System Increment II (TCTS Inc II) environment improvement of the air combat training with rangeless air combat and secure air-to-air and air-to-ground data link.
• Siemens Medical Solutions (SIEGY -0.1%) USA Inc., Malvern, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a maximum $4,128,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for radiology systems, accessories and training. This is a five-year base contract with one five-year option period.

Broker Research

Downgrades

• USG (USG -5.3%) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie.

Other

• Boeing (BA -0.1%) initiated with a Buy at Berenberg; tgt $202.
• Arconic (ARNC -1.1%) initiated with a Market Perform at Cowen.
• Hearing Power Solutions (PSIX +3.5%) International was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Barrington Research.

 Hearing Assoc Banc-Corp was upgraded earlier to Buy from Hold at SunTrust  (23.90 +0.15)

 Hearing WesBanco Inc was upgraded earlier to Buy from Hold, Community Trust Bancorp (CTBI) was upgraded earlier to Hold from Sell at Sandler O'Neill  (37.14 +0.79)

 

Morgan Stanley upgrade details — to Buy at Deutsche Bank; tgt raised to $47  (42.97 +0.48)Deutsche Bank upgrades MS to Buy from Hold and raises their tgt to $47 from $43 reflecting the 10% recent sell off, firm's optimism for capital markets beyond 1Q, and a quicker and more meaningful improvement in MS' FICC than expected. Recall in 4Q15, MS reduced FICC headcount and balance sheet and began targeting $4b of annual revenue. In 2016, MS did better than this--with $5.1b of FICC and they expect $1.6b in 1Q. Firm has long held the view that FICC would be the swing factor in whether MS can deliver on its 9-11% ROE target. This reflected our view that MS was already executing well in equity trading, ibanking and wealth. Firm expects continued successful execution within FICC to support a higher multiple given the boost in credibility turning this business around would provide (following a successful turnaround in wealth and mkt shr gains in EQ trading in recent yrs).

 

F5 Networks downgrade details — to Sell at Deutsche Bank; tgt lowered to $100  (141.12 -6.01)Deutsche Bank downgrades FFIV to Sell from Hold and lowers their tgt to $100 from $120 on their lower FY17-19 ests. Firm's is a Fundamental Call into FY18 (not a conviction call on the Mar Q report). They are calling for -30% downside to current levels. Their SELL FFIV thesis argues for deceleration in Product and Services revenues into FY18; headwinds from: 1) Cloud Load Balancers from AWS, Azure, GCP meaningfully improving in Price/Performance (INTC Skylake server refresh as a catalyst); 2) FFIV selling mainly into «North South» versus «East West» load balancing (East West traffic seeing exponential growth); 3) FFIV's Cloud Security opportunity competed away by AKAM, CSCO (DB View).

 Earnings Calendar for Wednesday, March 29th

• Today after the close look for the following companies to report:
  • LULU, WOR, FUL, FRTA, HIL, PRGS, WRD, SIGM
• Tomorrow before the open look for the following companies to report:
  • SAIC, NOMD, TITN, LNN, ANGO, SNAK, AFMD, NDRM

 Midday Market Summary: Stocks Trade Flat at Midday

There's been some action at the micro level in the first half of Wednesday's session, but it hasn't translated to much macro movement as the major averages hover in the neighborhood of their unchanged marks. The S&P 500 trades flat while the Dow (-0.3%) and the Nasdaq (+0.3%) are nestled on opposite sides of the benchmark index.

The energy sector (+1.1%) leads its peers by a relatively wide margin this afternoon following the latest crude oil inventory report from the Energy Information Administration. The EIA reading showed a smaller than expected build of 0.9 million barrels (consensus +1.4 million), which awoke the bulls in the crude oil futures market. The energy component trades 2.0% higher at $49.33/bbl, after being up around 0.5% prior to the EIA report.

To a lesser degree, the consumer discretionary (+0.4%), health care (+0.2%), and consumer staples (+0.1%) sectors have also propped up the broader market. Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX 110.21, +20.55) has had a lot to do with the health care sector's outperformance, spiking 23.1%, after reporting that an experimental cystic fibrosis drug improved lung function. VRTX's jump has also left the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 296.66, +4.65) higher by 1.6%.

On the other hand, the consumer discretionary and consumer staples groups have relied on retailers in today's session, evidenced by the 1.2% increase in the SPDR S&P 500 Retail ETF (XRT 42.24, +0.51). Large-cap XRT components like Amazon (AMZN 870.07, +14.11) and Wal-Mart (WMT 70.79, +0.46) have done their part in advancing the industry group by adding 1.6% and 0.7%, respectively.

The largest sectors by weight, financials (-0.5%) and technology (-0.1%), have limited the impact of the aforementioned groups. The remaining sectors--industrials, materials, utilities, telecom services, and real estate--trade with financials and technology in the red, but their losses have been held in check.

In the Treasury market, U.S. sovereign debt trades modestly higher with the benchmark 10-yr yield three basis points lower at 2.39%. It's worth noting that Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said that he would like to see four rate hikes in 2017, which represents the most hawkish outlook that has been offered by a Fed official to date. However, the impact on the Treasury market was minimal as Mr. Rosengren doesn't have a vote on this year's FOMC.

On the data front, today's economic releases were limited to February Pending Home Sales and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index:

• Pending Home Sales for February rose 5.5% while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 2.4%. Today's reading follows an unrevised 2.8% downtick in January.
• The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 0.8% to follow last week's 2.7% downtick.

 Auction Out

Treasury Auction Results

• $28 bln 7-year Treasury auction
  • Auction results:
    • High yield: 2.215%
    • Bid-to-cover: 2.56
    • Indirect bid: 71.1%
    • Direct bid: 8.4%
  • Average results of prior 12 auctions:
    • High yield: 1.769%
    • Bid-to-cover: 2.53
    • Indirect bid: 64.3%
    • Direct bid: 12.0%

 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:

• APA Weekly Mar31 51.5 calls (volume: 3050, open int: 190, implied vol: ~30%, prev day implied vol: 27%)  — co reported earnings late February and is expected to report its next quarterly earnings report early May.
• LNC Jan18 55 calls (volume: 1790, open int: 6140, implied vol: ~32%, prev day implied vol: 30%) — nearly all the volume occurred in a single transaction. Co is confirmed to report earnings May 3 after the close.
• HFC May 30 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 5% (volume: 1640, open int: 90, implied vol: ~34%, prev day implied vol: 2%) — co is expected to report earnings early May.

Bearish Put Activity:

• PEI Oct 12 puts (volume: 2080, open int: 110, implied vol: ~39%, prev day implied vol: 36%) — 1200 contracts traded on the offer. Co is confirmed to report earnings April 25 after the close.
• WYNN Weekly Mar31 113 puts (volume: 1540, open int: 350, implied vol: ~33%, prev day implied vol: 32%) — renewed M&A chatter involving Las Vegas Sands circulated earlier this month. Co is expected to report earnings early May (annual general meeting April 21).

Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 0.78… VIX: (11.25, -0.28, -2.4%).
April 21 is options expiration — the last day to trade April 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.

 Hearing Innocoll was upgraded to Outperform at JMP Securities  (1.38 +0.30)

 

Events and conferences of interest for tomorrow Events and conferences of interest for tomorrow, March 30th include: Jefferies Animal Health Summit 2017 Notable co to present: ZTS, KIN Hutchison China MediTech Limited Research & Development Briefing New York Scheduled to appear: HCM, AZN Among Businss Updates: Barfresh Food Group (BRFH) Business Update Conference Call at 17:30 ET

 

SPY up slightly; Energy is the best performing sector and Financials are the worst performing sector Sector Ticker % Change YTD % Change Energy XLE 1.3% -7% Telecom IYZ 0.9% -7% Cons. Disc. XLY 0.5% 8% Cons. Staples XLP 0.2% 6% Materials XLB 0.2% 6% Healthcare XLV 0.2% 8% Technology XLK 0.0% 10% Real Estate XLRE -0.1% 2% Industrials XLI -0.1% 4% Utilities XLU -0.1% 6% Financials XLF -0.5% 2%

 

Rite Aid and Walgreens Boot Alliance (WBA) to delay plans to divest stores until after earnings, according to reports  (4.55 +0.02)Related tickers: FRED

 Currency Market Summary

Dollar Bounce Continues

• The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.32% to 100.03 today as the greenback gained against all of the majors. Continued stabilization in global equity markets drew capital back to the United States from investors in the eurozone and Japan seeking higher yields outside of their local economies. The U.K. government's invocation of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty began the formal process of departure from the European Union but the pound's losses were limited. The best performing currencies today were the commodity producers. The loonie rallied on the back of higher energy prices and the Aussie and kiwi jumped as well
• EUR/USD: -0.51% to 1.0756
  • Germany's Import Price Index increased 0.7% m/m in February (7.4% y/y), exceeding expectations but slowing from January's 0.9% gain
  • France's Consumer Confidence Index remained at 100 in March, as expected
  • Italy's Consumer Confidence Index unexpectedly rose to 107.6 for March from 106.6 in February
    • Italy's Business Confidence Index also unexpectedly rose to 107.1 from 106.4
• GBP/USD: -0.21% to 1.2421
  • In the U.K., BoE Mortgage Approvals fell to 68.32K in February from 69.11K in January
• USD/CHF: +0.44% to 0.9971
  • Switzerland's Consumption Indicator rose to 1.50 in February from 1.44 in January
    
    • The ZEW Expectations Index jumped to 29.6 for March from 19.4 for February
• USD/JPY: -0.03% to 111.10
  • In Japan, retail sales were up 0.1% y/y in February, missing estimates and slowing from January's 1.0% growth rate
• USD/CNY: +0.15% to 6.890
  
• USD/RUB: -0.73% to 56.63
  
• USD/TRY: -0.15% to 3.652
  
• USD/BRL: -0.69% to 3.119
  • Bank lending fell by 0.1% m/m in February after sliding by 1.0% in January
  • The governor of Brazil's central bank, Ilan Goldfajn said that deeper interest rate cuts are an option as Brazilian inflation subsides faster than expected
  • The central bank has reduced its policy rate at each of the last four meetings
• USD/MXN: -1.43% to 18.76
  • Dollar/Mex hit its lowest level since early November today as investor fears about the Trump administration taking a very hard line against the U.S.'s southern neighbor have not yet materialized
• USD/CAD: -0.34% to 1.3339
  
• AUD/USD: +0.48% to 0.7670
  
• NZD/USD: +0.27% to 0.7032

 Agriculture Closing Prices

• Agriculture Closing Prices May corn closed $0.01 higher (+0.3%) at $3.58/bushel
• May wheat closed $0.01 higher (+0.2%) at $4.25/bushel
• May soybeans closed $0.01 lower (-0.1%) at $9.69/bushel

 Energy Sector Summary

The Energy Sector (XLE, +1.3%) leading the broader market (SPY, +0.1%) higher after the weekly EIA Data. Crude oil (USO, +2.7%) trading higher. Lastly, natural gas (UNG, +2.9%) futures up for the second day in a row ahead of tomorrow's inventory data release. Today's EIA petroleum highlights are summarized below:

EIA petroleum highlights:

• Crude oil inventories had a build of +0.867 mln barrels (consensus called for a build of +1.4 mln barrels)
  
• Gasoline inventories had a draw of -3.747 mln barrels (consensus called for a draw of ~2 mln)
  
• Distillate inventories had a draw of -2.483 mln barrels.

Upcoming data reminders:

• EIA natural gas data will be released tomorrow at 10:30 am ET.
• Baker Hughes (BHI, +1.5%) rig count data will be released Friday at 1 pm ET.

Notable gainers:

• Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration: Torchlight Energy Resources (TRCH, +15%)
• Equipment and services: Tidewater (TDW, +12%)
• Independent oil & gas: Pacific Coast Oil Trust (ROYT, +19%)
• Major-integrated: Encana (ECA, +6.56%)
• Refining & Marketing: BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (BPT, +7%)
• Pipelines: EnLink Midstream (ENLC, +5%)

Notable laggards:

• Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration: Ring Energy (REI, -2%)
• Equipment and services: Basic Energy Services (BAS, -1%)
• Independent oil & gas: New Concept Energy (GBR, -22%)
• Major-integrated: Imperial Oil (IMO, -1%)
• Refining & Marketing: CrossAmerica Partners (CAPL, -0.4%)
• Pipelines: Blueknight Energy Partners (BKEP, -1.5%)

Notable earnings & news

• Ramaco Resources (METC, +5%) reported 2016 net loss of $7.5 million ($0.19 per share on a pro forma basis) on revenues of $5.2 million
• Pacific Coast Oil Trust (ROYT, +19%) announces Apr1l cash distribution of $0.02617 per unit, prior $0.00487 per unit
• Westmoreland Coal (WLB, +2%) reports Q4; sees 2017 outlook similar to its 2016 expected performance

   

Notable broker calls

• Targa Resources (TRGP, +3%) was initiated with a Buy at Deutsche Bank; tgt $69
• Key Energy (KEG, +2%) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray
• NextEra Energy Partners (NEP, -1%) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman
• International Seaways (INSW, -7%) reports Q4 (Dec) results, beats on revs

 Energy Closing Prices

• May Crude Oil futures rose $1.10 (+2.2%) to $49.47/barrel
• May Natural Gas closed $0.13 higher (+4.2%) at $3.23/MMBtu
• May RBOB Gasoline closed $0.03 higher (+1.8%) at $1.67/gallon
• May Heating oil futures closed $0.02 higher (+1.3%) at $1.54/gallon

 

Treasury Market Summary Treasuries Power Through Oil Rally to End Higher U.S. Treasuries traded significantly higher today as headwinds from higher oil prices and equity markets failed to prevent government prices from stalking Monday's highs. The U.S. economic data flow continued to be slow but pending home sales rose at the fastest pace in six years during February (Actual 5.5% m/m, Briefing.com consensus 2.4%). There were three Fed speakers but two don't vote this year and Chicago Fed President Evans added little to his recent public messaging. The $28 bln 7-year Treasury auction was met with strong demand. The S&P 500 now trades up 0.18% to 2,362.8 and the U.S. Dollar Index is up 0.27% to 99.98 Yield Check: 2-yr: -4 bps to 1.27% 5-yr: -4 bps to 1.93%  10-yr: -4 bps to 2.38%  30-yr: -3 bps to 2.99% News: U.S. pending home sales rose 5.5% m/m in February (+2.6% y/y), handily beating the Briefing.com consensus for 2.4% growth and reversing January's 2.8% decline Northeast (+3.4%), Midwest (+11.4%), South (+4.3%), West (+3.1%) Chicago Fed President Charles Evans (FOMC voter) said today that business investment has been disappointing but that the prospects for the foreign economy are better than they have been for some time He went on to say that he would support two or three total rate hikes in 2017 and that the labor market is healthy (cyclically but not structurally) Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren spoke at length today on Bloomberg TV about financial instability risks, particularly from the commercial real estate market He said that he would favor four total rate hikes in 2017 versus the median FOMC projection of just three Rosengren does not vote again until 2019 and dissented in favor of a hike at last September's FOMC meeting  San Francisco Fed President John Williams said today that he would not rule out more than three total rate hikes in 2017 but that the gradual pace is important. He sees the unemployment rate reaching a low of 4.5% by the end of 2017 $28 bln 7-year Treasury auction High yield: 2.215% Bid-to-cover: 2.56 Indirect bid: 71.1% Direct bid: 8.4% $13 bln 2-year Floating Rate Note reopening High discount margin 0.109% Bid-to-cover 3.43 Indirect bid 40.4% Commodities: WTI crude: +2.25% to $49.45/bbl. Gold: -0.21% to $1,253/troy oz. Copper: -0.021% to $2.675/lb. Currencies: EUR/USD: -0.47% to 1.0760 USD/JPY: -0.09% to 111.03 Data out Tomorrow: Q4 GDP and GDP Deflator — Third Estimate (08:30 ET) Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending 3/25 and Continuing Jobless Claims for the week ending 3/18 (08:30 ET) Natural Gas Inventories for the week ending 3/25 (10:30 ET) Fed Speakers: Cleveland Fed President Mester (non-FOMC voter) (09:45 ET) Dallas Fed President Kaplan (FOMC voter) (11:00 ET) San Francisco Fed President Williams (non-FOMC voter) (11:15 ET)

 

Hospital stocks dropping to lows following report that House GOP might try again to repeal ObamaCare with vote next week  (74.81 +0.07)Potential Related Stocks: XLV, HCA, THC, CYH, LPNT, CNC, IBB

 

Follow Up to weakness in hospital stocks  (17.98 -0.37) Weakness followed Bloomberg report suggesting that the House Republicans might try again with another vote to repeal ObamaCare next week, Would note, no lawmaker has confirmed a vote yet, and there are currently no votes on the House calendar scheduled, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday that the existing ObamaCare law will remain in place and the Congress will just have to see how that works out. Hospital stocks showing weakness include:: CYH -3.6%, THC -1.8%, HCA -0.5%.

 Closing Commodities: Oil Closes Above $49, Ag Futures Little Changed Ahead Of Friday's Planting And Grain Stocks Report

• Energy futures posted solid gains today
  • Oil prices got a boost from storage data, popping back above the $49/barrel level
  • At the end of today's session, May WTI crude oil futures closed out 2.2% higher at $49.47/barrel
  • May natural gas also showed some nice gains, finishing the session +4.2% at $3.23/MMBtu
• Modest moves in ag prices ahead of Friday's planting and grain stocks reports
  • May corn finished the day +0.3% at $3.58/bushel, May wheat +0.2% at $4.25/bu and May soybeans -0.1% at $9.69/bu
• Metals didn't show too much action either with May silver ending flat at $18.25/oz and May copper closed flat as well, ending at $2.68/lb
  • Apr gold slipped 0.2% to $1253.30/oz