Macro Focus
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 13 points to 18,110.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures
gained 2.50 points to 2,126.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 14.25 points to 4,819.75.
Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures slipped 0.74 percent to trade at $49.34 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures
also fell 0.57 percent to trade at $48.42 a barrel.
USA Personal Spending (MoM) for Sep 0.50% vs 0.50% consensus estimate. Personal Income (MoM) for Sep 0.30% vs 0.40% consensus
estimate.
- The Chicago PMI for October is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET.
- The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for October will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.
- The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.
- Data on farm prices for October will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
BZ News Desk Focus
-
Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) Reports Q1 EPS
$1.24 vs. $1.21 Est., Rev. $32B vs. $31.04B Est.
-
Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO) Q3 EPS $0.10 vs
$0.08 Est., Revenue $349.2M vs $363.2M Est.
-
Check Point (NASDAQ: CHKP) Q3 EPS $1.13
vs $1.08 Est., Revenue $428M vs $423M Est.
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is scheduled to
report its latest results before the opening bell on Wednesday, followed by Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) after trading concludes on the same day.
Wall Street consensus forecast calls for earnings and revenue at Alibaba to have tumbled from last year for the period when its
share price broke above $100 for the first time since January 2015. Meanwhile, top and bottom line results from Facebook will be
strong, if the analysts are correct. This in a quarter when its market capitalization first topped that of ExxonMobil.
Sell-Side Themes
Coupa Software (NASDAQ: COUP) and
Advanced Disposal Services (NYSE: ADSW) quiet
period was lifted, with several firms weighing in on their stocks.
Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls
- Bank of America downgraded Nike (NYSE: NKE) to Underperform.
- Credit Suisse downgraded AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) to Neutral.
- Deutsche Bank upgraded Macy's (NYSE: M) to
Buy.
- Raymond James upgraded Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC) to Strong Buy.
- Piper Jaffray started Alder BioPharma (NASDAQ: ALDR) at Overweight.
Deal Talk
General Electric (NYSE: GE) reached a deal
to combine its oil-and-gas business with Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI), creating a publicly traded energy powerhouse that would give GE a cost-effective
way to play any recovery in the industry. GE will contribute its oil-and-gas business and $7.4 billion through a special one-time
cash dividend of $17.50 for each Baker Hughes share.
Centurylink (NYSE: CTL) confirmed it has
reached an agreement in which it will acquire Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT) in a cash and stock transaction that values the company at $34 billion or
$66.50 per share.
In The News
Federal authorities have obtained a warrant to
review a tranche of newly-discovered emails that could be related to the previously-closed investigation of Hillary Clinton’
handling of classified information, an official familiar with the matter said Sunday. As federal agents prepare to scour roughly
650,000 emails discovered on a laptop for possible links to Clinton’s private server, the case lays
bare tensions within the FBI and the Justice Department over how to investigate the Democratic nominee.
Over-the-top streaming network Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), which recently reported strong Q3 results riding on subscriber growth
momentum, has long been rumored to be a takeover target. Here is a list of suitors rumored to
have wooed Netflix in 2016.
Blogosphere
"Stocks always have a positive expected return," writes Michael Batnick. "With the passage of time
however, these expected returns turn into realized returns and obviously they’re not always positive."
Trending
BHI LVLT LL CAH WMB PFE GE CTL OCLR CRR SNE RCL INCR JCP DO TEVA
Aroldis Chapman pitched the first eight-out save of his big league career, needing to hold off the Cleveland Indians in Game 5.
Chapman fired his 100 mph heat and preserved the Cubs' 3-2 win Sunday night, cutting Cleveland's lead to 3-2. The Cubs won a
#WorldSeries game at Wrigley for the first time since 1945.
- This stock has had four down days in a row, and is due to report earnings later this week.
- One year ago this Thursday this company bought a key competitor for $18/share in cash, or $5.9 billion.
- Sympathy plays include Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive.
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
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