Macro Focus
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 58 points to 19,902.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose
6.25 points to 2,280.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 19.75 points to 5,115.75.
Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures dropped 0.88 percent to trade at $54.95 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures
also fell 0.90 percent to trade at $52.70 a barrel.
- The FHFA house price index for November will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET.
- The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
- The Treasury will auction 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.
BZ News Desk Focus
-
Boeing (NYSE: BA) Reports Q4 Adj. EPS
$2.47, Sales $23.286B vs $23.573B in Same Qtr. Last Year
-
United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) Reports Q4
Adj. EPS $1.56, Inline, Sales $14.7B, Inline
-
Alcoa (NYSE: AA) Reports Q4 Adj EPS $0.14
vs $0.19 Est, Revenue $2.5B vs $2.46B Est
-
Capital One (NYSE: COF) Reports Q4 EPS
$1.45 vs $1.61 Est, Revenue $6.6B vs $6.67B Est
-
Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN) Reports
Q4 GAAP EPS $1.02 Does Not Compare to $0.82 Est., Sales $3.41B vs $3.32B Est.
-
Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) Reports
Q2 EPS $1 vs $1.08 Est, Revenue $2.9B vs $2.83B Est
-
Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD) Reports
Q4 EPS $0.43 vs. Est. $0.43, Rev. $1.9B vs. Est. $1.88B
-
McCormick (NYSE: MKC) Q4 EPS $1.27 vs
$1.27 Est, Revenue $1.23B vs $1.24B Est
-
Textron (NYSE: TXT) Reports Q4 Adj. EPS
$0.80 vs $0.87 Est., Sales $3.8B vs $4.05B Est.
Sell-Side Themes
FBR Capital and RBC Capital downgraded Verizon (NYSE: VZ) to Market Perform.
JPMorgan downgraded Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) and upgraded JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU).
Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls
- JPMorgan downgraded AK Steel (NYSE: AKS)
to Neutral.
- Telsey upgraded American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) to Outperform.
- DA Davidson started Arista Networks (NYSE:
ANET) at Buy.
Deal Talk
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced its
intent to acquire AppDynamics for approximately $3.7 billion in cash and assumed equity awards. AppDynamics's,
which was set to IPO on Thursday, is
cloud application and business monitoring platform enables the world's largest companies to improve application and business
performance
Shares of Kellogg (NYSE: K) rose to a high of
$72.87 on Tuesday, following renewed unconfirmed takeover chatter in the cereal maker. Sources say Coca-Cola
(NYSE: KO) could acquire Kellogg in a $40 billion stock for
stock deal. Berkshire and 3G also are said to be interested in Kellogg once again. Back in November, 3G was mentioned as a
potential suitor for Kellogg.
Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ: WBA)
CEO Stefano Pessina says he's not certain whether the deadline for his company’s purchase of Rite Aid (NYSE:
RAD), with just three days to go before the deadline. In a
Bloomberg interview, Pessina said extension of the deadline is the responsibility of the boards of the companies. On Friday,
Bloomberg reported that the proposal to sell 865 drugstores to Fred's (NASDAQ: FRED) was not satisfactory to FTC regulators. A Walgreen's spokesperson says the
FTC has asked Fred's for additional information.
In The News
President Donald Trump is set to
announce plans to expedite construction of a wall along the Mexican border, an order banning people from countries deemed a
terror risk from entering the U.S. and the suspension of a refugee program.
President Trump continues to maintain his position that millions
of illegal votes and widespread voter fraud cost him the popular vote. However, in White House press briefing No. 2,
journalists' questions regarding this concern were dodged throughout the meeting.
Blogosphere
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) personal computer
lineup originally launched in January 1984. The Mac accounted for roughly 11.3 percent of Apple's revenues in the fiscal year ended
September 2016. The company shipped 18.48 million units of Macs in 2016. As with any other product, the Macintosh had a humble
beginning.
Stop These Asian
Blank Checks: "Much business in Asia is still done the old way -- trust is the most important asset. As the region becomes the
biggest source of dollar bonds in the developing world, however, investors are starting to question whether they need more in
writing. It's high time."
Trending
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