Below is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day -- it's a look at everything happening in the market, in
five minutes. Apply for daily AM access by clicking here or email
minutes@benzinga.com.
Macro Focus
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 51 points to 18,408.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell
5.50 points to 2,172.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 11.25 points to 4,785.25.
Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.68 percent to trade at $49.15 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also
fell 1.60 percent to trade at $46.86 a barrel.
- Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Rob Kaplan will speak in Austin, Texas at 9:30 a.m. ET.
- The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.
- Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Rob Kaplan will speak in Irving, Texas at 8:15 p.m. ET.
BZ News Desk
-
Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR) Reports Q1 Adj.
EPS $0.38 vs $0.30 Est., Sales $341.325M vs $332.8M Est.
-
Duluth Holdings (NASDAQ: DLTH) Reports
Q2 EPS $0.14 vs. Est. $0.07, Rev. $65.8M vs. Est. $62.6M
-
Restoration Hardware (NYSE: RH) Reports Q2
Adj. EPS $0.44 vs $0.29 Est., Sales $543.4M vs $511.4M Est.
-
Zumiez (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) Reports Q2 EPS
$(0.03) vs. Est. $(0.08), Rev. $178.3M vs. Est. $177.4M
Sell-Side Themes
Wedbush initiated coverage on several payment and data platform companies, mostly with Neutral ratings.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) presented its new
smartwatch on Wednesday: the Apple Watch Series 2. The new device offers a suite of novel features, including the possibility to
contact emergency services instantly, the integration of Nintendo’s Pokémon Go, a built-in GPS and a “Swim Proof”
exterior. In addition, the company announced it would launch Nike+ running edition in October, in cooperation with
Nike (NYSE: NKE)
Here's a
look into what analysts think about the new device, which according to CEO Tim Cook only trails Rolex in global watches
sales.
Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls
Bernstein downgraded Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) to Market Perform.
Exane BNP Paribas downgraded Signet Jewelers (NYSE: SIG) to Neutral.
Wunderlich upgraded Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) to Buy.
Goldman Sachs upgraded Navistar (NYSE: NAV) to
Neutral.
Bernstein started Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG)
at Outperform.
UBS started Cyberark Software (NASDAQ: CYBR) at Neutral.
Deal Talk
Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) and
DuPont (NYSE: DD) were told by the European
Commission to provide missing data about their proposed merger, threatening to delay the regulator’s probe into their plans to
create the world’s biggest chemical company.
Carl Icahn may not make a clean getaway with his $9.25-a-share offer for Federal-Mogul (NASDAQ: FDML). Mario Gabelli, who owns 36 percent of the non-Icahn slice of
the auto-parts maker, appears to be angling for $13 a share.
“We don’t view the long-term profit outlook for that business as fully reflected at $9.25 per share,” Gabelli company analyst
Brian Sponheimer said in a report. “I do think the shares are fundamentally undervalued,” he told The New York Post.
Shares of Twitter (NASDAQ: TWTR) fell
sharply Thursday, as CNBC reported that Twitter's Board meeting won't include discussion about a possible sale. There are said to
be no bids on the table. Twitter closed at $18.70 on Thursday, down 5.8 percent.
In The News
North Korea has hit the button on its fifth and potentially most powerful nuclear test, claiming to have successfully tested a
nuclear warhead. State media said the warhead could be mounted on ballistic rockets and would enable North Korea to produce "a
variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power." South Korea, Japan and China condemned the
test, saying it was a clear violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution.
U.S. aluminum executives claim Liu Zhongtian, founder of Chinese metals conglomerate China Zhongwang, used a factory in Mexico
to game the global trade
system. The stockpile, worth some $2 billion and representing roughly 6 percent of the world’s total inventory—enough to churn
out 2.2 million Ford F-150s or 77 billion beer cans—quickly became an obsession for the U.S. aluminum industry.
U.S. regulators said Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) would have to pay $190 million to settle claims of its employees having created
deposit and credit card accounts without the approval of its customers. Apparently, the employees used this tactic to reach sales
goals and gain monetary bonuses and rewards.
According to a statement from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the bank opened more than 2 million accounts without
consent – more than 1.5 million deposit accounts and 565,443 credit card accounts. Wells Fargo announced it would fire 5,300
employees.
Blogosphere
"It’s easy to look back and see how wrong a forecast was, but to consistently predict which predictions will look foolish can be an expensive way to invest."
Trending
WFC GPRO GWPH KR NVAX GOOGL GDX SPY CHK AAPL D LXRX
#MoneyIsntImportantBut it sure makes me happy
- This company is currently in the middle of a much-maligned M&A deal.
- This stock was under $30 as recently as mid-2013.
- Sympathy plays include Ford (NYSE: F) and
General Motors (NYSE: GM).
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