Ophthoteck - Chart of the Day

Ophthoteck (OPHT) is the Barchart Chart of the Day.  The biopharmaceutical company has a Trend Spotter buy signal, a Weighted Alpha of 69.80+ and gained 60.04% in the last year.

The Chart of the Day belongs to Ophthoteck (OPHT). I found the biopharmaceutical stock by using Barchart to sort the Russell 3000 Index stocks first for the highest number of new highs in the last month, then again for technical buy signals of 80% or more.  I used the Flipchart feature to review the charts.  Since the Trend Spotter signaled a buy on 10/23 the stock gained 64.78%.

Ophthotech Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company. It is focused on developing and commercializing novel therapies for the treatment of diseases of the eye. The Company is developing Fovista and ARC1905, which are under clinical trials, for the treatment of wet AMD. Ophthotech Corporation is headquartered in New York.

The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

Barchart technical indicators:

• 100% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 12 new highs and up 25.88% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 73.36%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 69.12
• Recently traded at 76.74 with a 50 day moving average of 56.53

Fundamental factors:

• Market Cap $2.67 billion
• Revenue expected to grow 29.00% this year and decrease 25.60% next year
• Earnings are estimated to decrease 15.60% this year and another 58.40% next year
• Despite these poor projections analysts issued 4 strong buy, 4 buy, 1 hold and 1 under perform recommendations on this stock

The regular technical trading strategies have not work well on this stock.  Watch the news closely, there will be a lot more to come.  Analyst have not factored all the latest news into their projections and recommendations so look for changes to come.  I'd place a trailing stop loss 10% below the most recent high and ride the momentum till it stops then get out with your winnings.

MGP Ingredients - Chart of the Day

MGP Ingredients (MGPI) is the Barhart Chart of the Day.  The alcohol and alcohol products company has a Trend Spotter buy signal, a Weighted Alpha of 81.51+ and gained 55.32% in the last year.

The Chart of the Day belongs to MGP Ingredients (MGPI).  I found the alcohol and alcohol products stock by using Barchart to sort the Russell 3000 Index stocks first for  the highest number of new highs in the last 20 trading sessions than again for technical buy signals of 80% or better.  I use the Flipchart feature to review the charts.  Since the Trend Spotter signaled a buy on 9/17 the stock gained 48.91%.

MGP Ingredients, Inc. produces and markets ingredients and distillery products to the packaged goods industry. Its Distillery Products segment primarily offers food grade alcohol, fuel grade alcohol, and distillers feed. The company's Ingredient Solutions segment primarily provides specialty wheat starches and proteins, commodity wheat starches, and commodity vital wheat gluten. MGP Ingredients, Inc. is headquartered in Atchison, Kansas.

The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

Barchart technical indicators:

• 100% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 14 new highs and up 33.81% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 84.51%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 22.36
• Recently traded at 24.54 with a 50 day moving average of 19.00

Fundamentals and investor sentiment:

• Market Cap $433.62 million
• P/E 14.59
• Dividend yield .27%

Investor sentiment ( When Wall Street doesn't follow a stock I use other means to evaluate)

• Only 1 analysts follows the stock with a strong buy put no revenue and earning projections released
• On Motley Fool the individual investors voted 94 to 83 for the stock to beat the market
• On TheStreet Jim Cramer's staff rate it a B+ buy
• Institutional investors own 42.49% of the outstanding shares and 29 bought shares and 2 sold in the last year.

None of the regular technical trading strategies have been reliable so if you own the stock I suggest a trailing stop loss 10% off the recent high to preserve gains.

MORNING CALL 12/17

MORNING CALL

Thursday, December 17th, 2015View Older Reports

Everything you need to know about the markets in one free daily newsletter.

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OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS

March E-mini S&Ps (ESH16 +0.29%) are up +0.30% and European stocks are up +2.87%, both at 1-week highs, after the Fed raised interest rates yesterday and pledged that further rate increases would be gradual. Strength in European automakers is leading European shares higher as EUR/USD fell to a 1-week low, which benefits export-oriented companies. The ECB lowered the ELA ceiling for Greek banks to 75.8 billion euros from 77.9 billion euros, citing an "improvement of the liquidity situation of Greek banks." Asian stocks settled higher: Japan +1.59%, Hong Kong +0.79%, China +1.81%, Taiwan +1.65%, Australia +1.46%, Singapore +0.71%, South Korea +0.28%, India +1.21%. Asian stocks closed higher on the heels of a rally in U.S stocks with China's Shanghai Composite at a 2-week high and Japan's Nikkei Stock Index at a 1-week high.

The dollar index (DXY00 +1.07%) is up +1.04% at a 2-week high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.63% at a 1-week low. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.25% at a 1-week high.

Mar T-note prices (ZNH16 +0.16%) are up +9 ticks.

The German Dec IFO business climate unexpectedly fell -0.3 to 108.7, weaker than expectations of no change at 109.0.

Eurozone Q3 labor costs climbed +1.1% y/y, the smallest increase since Q1 of 2014.

The Japan Nov trade balance was in deficit by -389.7 billion yen, a smaller deficit than expectations of -449.7 billion yen. Nov exports fell -3.3% y/y, weaker than expectations of -1.6% y/y and the largest decline in nearly 3 years. Nov imports fell -10.2% y/y, weaker than expectations of -7.3% y/y.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly initial unemployment claims (expected -7,000 to 275,000, previous +13,000 to 282,000) and continuing claims (expected -43,000 to 2.200 million, previous +82,000 to 2.243 million), (2) Q3 current account balance (expected -$118.5 billion, Q2 -$109.7 billion), (3) Dec Philadelphia Fed business outlook index (expected -0.9 to 1.0, Nov +6.4 to 1.9), (4) Nov leading indicators (expected +0.1%, Oct +0.6%), (5) the Treasury's auction of $16 billion of 5-year TIPS.

There are 4 of the Russell 1000 companies that report earnings today: General Mills (consensus $0.83), Accenture (1.32), Rite Aid (0.05), Red Hat (0.46).

U.S. IPO's scheduled to price today: Pulte Acquisition Corp (PLTEU), Yirendai (YRD).

Equity conferences: European Society for Medical Oncology Asia Congress on Fri.

OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS

Micron Technology (MU -0.78%) is up nearly 2% in pre-market trading after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to 'Overweight' from 'Equalweight.'

FedEx (FDX +2.86%) rallied 5% in pre-market trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $2.58, better than consensus of $2.50.

Accenture Plc (ACN +2.21%) reported Q1 EPS of $1.28, below consensus of $1.32.

General Mills (GIS +1.09%) reported Q2 EPS of 82 cents, weaker than consensus of 83 cents.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE -0.91%) fell over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported a 5.67 million share secondary offering.

Jabil Circuit (JBL -0.25%) climbed over 2% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance on fiscal 2016 core EPS to $2.65 from a September estimate of $2.60, above consensus of $2.57.

Pier 1 Imports (PIR +4.02%) tumbled over 13% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on fiscal 2016 adjusted EPS to 42 cents-46 cents from a previous estimate of 56 cents-64 cents, below consensus of 58 cents.

Coca-Cola Enterprise (CCE +2.48%) slid over 2% in after-hours trading after it said forex rates negatively impacted 2015 diluted EPS by approximately 18% and that it sees forex rated negatively impacting Q1 EPS by just over 5%.

Oracle (ORCL +1.83%) fell over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 63 cents, better than consensus of 60 cents, but reported Q2 revenue of $8.99 billion, less than consensus of $9.06 billion.

MiMedx Group (MDXG -2.29%) jumped 14% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance on fiscal 2016 adjusted EPS to 31 cents-35 cents, above consensus of 26 cents.

Pandora (P +2.91%) surged over 15% in after-hours trading after the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board said web radio services must pay rights-holders 17 cents per 100 streams, higher than the 14 cents Pandora had been paying, but below the 25 cents-29 cents the music industry had sought.

Clovis Oncology (CLVS -2.66%) gained 1% in after-hours trading after Janney upgraded the stock to a 'Buy' with a price target of $50.

Apogee Enterprises (APOG +1.89%) fell nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 63 cents, below consensus of 64 cents.

MARKET COMMENTS

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH16 +0.29%) this morning are up +6.25 points (+0.30%) at a 1-week high. Wednesday's closes: S&P 500 +1.45%, Dow Jones +1.28%, Nasdaq +1.46%. The S&P 500 on Wednesday closed higher on the +10.5% increase in U.S. Nov housing starts to 1.173 million, stronger than expectations of +6.6% to 1.130 million, and on the post-FOMC meeting statement that said the FOMC sees conditions warranting "only gradual' interest rate increases going forward.

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH16 +0.16%) this morning are up +9 ticks. Wednesday's closes: TYH6 -11.50, FVH6 -7.75. Mar T-notes on Wednesday fell to a 1-1/2 week low and closed lower on the stronger-than-expected U.S. Nov housing starts and building permits reports and the rise in short-term interest rates with the Fed's 25 bp rate hike.

The dollar index (DXY00 +1.07%) this morning is up +1.022 (+1.04%) at a 2-week high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0069 (-0.63%) at a 1-week low. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.30 (+0.25) at a 1-week high. Wednesday's closes: Dollar Index -0.346 (-0.35%), EUR/USD -0.0019 (-0.17%), USD/JPY +0.53 (+0.44%). The dollar index on Wednesday fell back from a 1-week high and closed lower on the post-FOMC meeting statement saying that the FOMC sees conditions warranting "only gradual' increases going forward. In addition, EUR/USD saw some strength on the +0.3 point increase in the Eurozone Dec Markit manufacturing PMI to 53.1, the fastest pace of expansion in 20 months.

Jan crude oil (CLF16 -0.39%) this morning is down -14 cents (-0.39%) and Jan gasoline (RBF16 +1.62%) is up +0.0181 (+1.47%). Wednesday's closes: CLF6 -1.61 (-4.31%), RBF6 -0.0116 (-0.93%). Jan crude oil and gasoline prices on Wednesday closed sharply lower on the unexpected +4.8 million bbl increase in EIA crude inventories to a 7-1/2 month high (vs expectations for a -1.5 million bbl decline) and the +607,000 bbl increase in crude supplies at Cushing, OK, delivery point of WTI futures, to a 6-3/4 month high.

GLOBAL EVENT CALENDAR12/17/2015

US	0830 ET	Weekly initial unemployment claims expected -7,000 to 275,000, previous +13,000 to 282,000. Weekly continuing claims expected-43,000 to 2.200 million, previous +82,000 to 2.243 million.
	0830 ET	Q3 current account balance expected -$118.5 billion, Q2 -$109.7 billion.
	0830 ET	Dec Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey expected -0.9 to 1.0, Nov +6.4 to 1.9
	0830 ET	USDA weekly Export Sales.
	1000 ET	Nov leading indicators expected +0.1%, Oct +0.6%.
	1100 ET	Treasury announces amount of 2-year floating-rate notes to be auctioned Dec 23 (previous $13 billion).
	1300 ET	Treasury auctions $16 billion 5-year TIPS.
GER	0400 ET	German Dec IFO business climate expected unch at 109.0. Dec IFO current assessment expected unch at 113.4. Dec IFO expectations expected +0.3 to 105.0, Nov 104.7.
UK	0430 ET	UK Nov retail sales ex-auto fuel expected +0.5% m/m and +2.2% y/y, Oct -0.9% m/m and +3.0% y/y.
	0430 ET	UK Nov retail sales including auto fuel expected +0.6% m/m and +3.0% y/y, Oct -0.6% m/m and +3.8% y/y.
	0600 ET	UK Dec CBI trends total orders expected +1 to -10, Nov -11. Dec CBI trends selling prices, Nov -2.
EUR	0500 ET	Eurozone Oct construction output, Sep -0.4% m/m and +1.8% y/y.
	0500 ET	Eurozone Q3 labor costs, Q2 +1.6% y/y.
CHI	2030 ET	China Nov property prices.

U.S. STOCK CALENDAR12/17/2015

Company	Ticker	Time	Event Description	Period	Estimate
General Mills Inc	GIS US	Bef-mkt	Q2 2016 Earnings Release	Q2 2016	0.828
Accenture PLC	ACN US	Bef-mkt	Q1 2016 Earnings Release	Q1 2016	1.317
Rite Aid Corp	RAD US	7:00	Q3 2016 Earnings Release	Q3 2016	0.054
Accenture PLC	ACN US	8:00	Q1 2016 Earnings Call	Q1 2016
General Mills Inc	GIS US	8:30	Q2 2016 Earnings Call	Q2 2016
Unum Group	UNM US	8:30	Investor Meeting	Y 2015
Delta Air Lines Inc	DAL US	8:30	Investor Day	Y 2015
Pentair PLC	PNR US	9:00	Q4 2016 Guidance Call	Q4 2016
Colfax Corp	CFX US	13:00	Investors Meeting	Y 2015
Red Hat Inc	RHT US	17:00	Q3 2016 Earnings Call	Q3 2016
Red Hat Inc	RHT US	Aft-mkt	Q3 2016 Earnings Release	Q3 2016	0.464
Schlumberger Ltd	SLB US		Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting	Y 2015
United Parcel Service Inc	UPS US		Roadshow Houston - Day 1	Y 2015
Cameron International Corp	CAM US		Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting - M&A Vote	Y 2015

Smith & Wesson - Chart of the Day

Smith & Wesson (SWHC) is the Barchart Chart of the Day.  The weapons manufacturer has a Trend Spotter buy signal, a Weighted Alpha of 105.72+ and gained 133.72% in the last year.

The Chart of the Day belongs to Smith & Wesson (SWHC).  I found the weapons manufacturing stock by using Barchart to sort the Russell 3000 Index stocks first by the highest number of  new highs in the last 20 trading session then again for technical buy signals of 80% or more.  Not only is there inventory flying off the shelf but when you look at the trading volume the share are flying off the shelf too. Since the Trend Spotter signaled a buy on 11/23 the stock gained 20.31%.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation is one of the world's leading producers of quality handguns, law enforcement products and firearm safety and security products. Law enforcement personnel, military personnel, target shooters, hunters, collectors and firearms enthusiasts throughout the world have used the company's products with confidence for 150 years. Smith & Wesson Corp. also manufactures and markets Smith & Wesson branded handcuffs and other products utilizing its metal working expertise and providing products and services to many external customers.

The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

Barchart technical indicators:

• 80% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above ts 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 14 new highs and up 25.61% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 63.67%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 19.25
• Recently traded at 21.96 with a 50 day moving average of 18.74

Fundamental factors:

• Market Cap $1.19 billion
• P/E 19.49
• Revenue expected to grow 15.20% this year and another 5.20% next year
• Earnings estimated to increase 46.70% this year, an additional 7.60% next year and continue to compound at an annual rate of 14.00% for the next 5 years
• Wall Street analysts issued 2 strong buy, 6 buy, 1 hold and 1 under perform recommendation on the stock

The 50-100 Day MACD Oscillator has been a reliable technical trading strategy for this stock.

5 SMALL CAP BOUNCING OFF THE BOTTOM

I've had requests for stocks that are just beginning to recover so here's 5.  I used Barchart to sort the S&P 600 Small Cap Index stocks for those that have had the most advances in the last 20 trading sessions,  My list includes Inland Real Estate (IRC), Ultratech (UTEK), Examworks Group (EXAM), Epiq Systems (EPIQ), and Irobot (IRBT).

Inland Real Estate (IRC)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 100% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 16 new highs and up 24.59% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 73.81%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 10.47
• Recently traded at 10.63 with a 50 day moving average of 9.10

Ultratech (UTEK)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 72% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 15 new highs and up 16.28% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 65.69%
• Barchart computes a technician support level at 17.42
• Recenlty traded at 18.13 with a 50 day moving average of 16.17

Examworks Group (EXAM)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 16% Barchart technical sell signal
• Trend Spotter sell signal
• Above its 20 and 50 day moving averages
• 14 new highs and up 8.51% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 53.24%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 25.54
• Recently traded at 26.98 with a 50 day moving average of 26.77

Epiq Systems (EPIQ)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 88% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 14 new highs and up 17.62% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 68.44%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 14.08
• Recently traded at 14.50 with a 50 day moving average of 13.47

Irobot (IRBT)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 96% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 13 new highs and up 11.58% in the last month'
• Relative Strength Index 69.28%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 33.83
• Recently traded at 34.92 with a 50 day moving average of 31.77

MORNING CALL 12/15

MORNING CALL

Wednesday, December 16th, 2015View Older Reports

Everything you need to know about the markets in one free daily newsletter.

E-mail:  

You will also receive a free subscription to the Barchart family of newsletters.

OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS

March E-mini S&Ps (ESH16 +0.38%) are up +0.54% and European stocks are up +0.73% on optimism the U.S. economy is strong enough to handle an expected interest rate increase by the Fed today. The markets are expecting the FOMC to raise the federal funds rate by 25 bp and to reiterate that any subsequent rate hikes will be gradual as long as economic growth remains steady. European stocks found support on strength in manufacturing activity after the Eurozone Dec Markit manufacturing PMI climbed at the fastest pace in over 1-1/2 years. Asian stocks settled higher: Japan +2.61%, Hong Kong +2.01%, China +0.17%, Taiwan +1.38%, Australia +2.42%, Singapore +0.90%, South Korea +1.96%, India +0.69%.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.02%) is down -0.01%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.08%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.19%.

Mar T-note prices (ZNH16 -0.06%) are down -3 ticks.

The German Dec Markit/BME manufacturing PMI rose +0.1 to 53.0, stronger than expectations of -0.1 to 52.8.

The Eurozone Dec Markit manufacturing PMI rose +0.3 to 53.1, stronger than expectations of no change at 52.8 and the fastest pace of expansion in 20 months.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly MBA mortgage applications (previous +1.2% with purchase sub-index unch and refi sub-index +3.5%), (2) Nov housing starts (expected +6.6% to 1.130 million, Oct -11.0% to 1.060 million), (3) Nov industrial production (expected -0.1% m/m, Oct -0.2%) and Nov manufacturing production (expected unch m/m, Oct +0.4%), and (4) today's end of the 2-day FOMC meeting where the FOMC is expected to raise the funds rate target by +25 bp to 0.25%-0.50% range from 0.00%-0.25%.

There are 4 of the Russell 1000 companies that report earnings today: FedEx (consensus $2.50), Oracle (0.60), Jabil Circuit (0.80), Joy Global ($0.41).

U.S. IPO's scheduled to price today: none.

Equity conferences: European Society for Medical Oncology Asia Congress on Fri.

OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS

Chevron (CVX +3.84%) was raised to 'Buy' from 'Hold' at Argus Research.

Boyd Gaming (BYD +2.32%) was upgraded to 'Buy' from 'Hold' at Deutsche Bank.

Northrop Grumman (NOC +0.41%) was upgraded to 'Overweight' from 'Neutral' at JPMorgan Chase.

Newell Rubermaid (NWL +4.70%) was raised to 'Top Pick' from 'Outperform' at RBC Capital Markets with a 12-month price target of $60.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX +16.41%) fell over 5% in pre-market trading after it lowered guidance on Q4 adjusted EPS to $2.55-$2.65 from a prior forecast of $4.00-$4.20.

General Dynamics (GD -0.83%) was downgraded to 'Neutral' from 'Overweight' at JPMorgan Chase.

ConAgra Foods (CAG +0.81%) was rated a new 'Buy' at Jeffries with a price target of $50 and WhiteWave Foods (WWAV +3.04%) was also rated a new 'Buy' at Jeffries with a price target of $44.

Advanced Auto Parts (AAP +5.80%) rose over 1% in after-hours trading after StreetInsider, citing one unidentified person, reported the company was exploring a possible sale.

Dover (DOV +0.10%) slid over 3% in after-hours trading after the company lowered guidance on 2015 EPS continuing operations to $3.62 from a prior estimate of $3.73-$3.80, below consensus of $3.74.

AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMCX +2.43%) moved up over 1% in after-hours trading after the company named Starwood Hotels & Resorts interim CEO, Adam Aron, as the new CEO of AMC.

Heico (HEI +1.81%) rose over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 56 cents, higher than consensus of 53 cents.

Ascent Retail Group (ASNA -2.21%) rallied nearly 5% in after-hours trading after the company reported a new $200 million stock buyback program.

Heartland Payment (HPY +2.82%) jumped nearly 12% in after-hours trading after Global Payments GPN said it will acquire the company for about $4.3 billion.

MARKET COMMENTS

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH16 +0.38%) this morning are up +11.00 points (+0.54%). Tuesday's closes: S&P 500 +1.06%, Dow Jones +0.90%, Nasdaq +0.59%. The S&P 500 on Tuesday closed higher on the +6.15 point increase in the Dec Empire manufacturing index (stronger than expectations of +3.74 to -7.00) and on strength in energy producing stocks after crude oil rallied.

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH16 -0.06%) this morning are down -3 ticks. Tuesday's closes: TYH6 -10.50, FVH6 -6.75. March T-notes on Tuesday fell to a 1-week low and closed lower on the +0.5% y/y increase in U.S. Nov CPI (stronger than expectations of +0.4% y/y) and the rally in stocks, which curbs the safe-haven demand for T-notes.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.02%) this morning is down -0.014 (-0.01%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0009 (-0.08%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.23 (+0.19%). Tuesday's closes: Dollar Index +0.613 (+0.63%), EUR/USD -0.0061 (-0.55%), USD/JPY +0.65 (+0.54%). The dollar index on Tuesday recovered from a 6-week low and closed higher on the jump in U.S. 10-year T-note yield to a 1-week high, which improves the dollar's interest rate differentials, and on the stronger-than-expected U.S. Nov CPI report of +0.5% y/y which bolsters the case for a Fed interest rate increase.

Jan crude oil (CLF16 -0.67%) this morning is down -24 cents (-0.64%) and Jan gasoline (RBF16 +0.38%) is up +0.0033 (+0.27%). Tuesday's closes: CLF6 +0.43 (+1.18%), RBF6 -0.0112 (-0.89%). Jan crude oil and gasoline on Tuesday settled mixed. Crude oil prices were boosted by expectations that Wednesday's weekly EIA crude inventories will fall -1.5 million bbl and optimism that Congress may lift the 40-year old U.S. crude export ban, thus increasing demand for U.S. oil. Crude oil prices were undercut by a stronger dollar and expectations for Wednesday's weekly EIA gasoline inventories to climb by +1.0 million bbl.

GLOBAL EVENT CALENDAR12/16/2015

US	0700 ET	Weekly MBA mortgage applications, previous +1.2% with purchase sub-index unch and refi sub-index +3.5%.
	0830 ET	Nov housing starts expected +6.6% to 1.130 million, Oct -11.0% to 1.060 million. Nov building permits expected -0.7% to 1.153 million, Oct +5.1% to 1.161 million.
	0915 ET	Nov industrial production expected -0.1% m/m, Oct -0.2%. Nov capacity utilization expected -0.1 to 74.4%, Oct 77.5%. Nov manufacturing production expected unch m/m, Oct +0.4%.
	1030 ET	EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
	1400 ET	FOMC announces interest rate decision expected +25 bp rate hike to 0.25%-0.50% range from 0.00%-0.25%.
JPN	0100 ET	Revised Japan Nov machine tool orders, preliminary -17.9% y/y.
	1850 ET	Japan Nov trade balance expected -449.7 billion yen, Oct +108.3 billion yen. Nov exports expected -1.6% y/y, Oct -2.2% y/y. Nov imports expected -7.3% y/y, Oct -13.4% y/y.
GER	0330 ET	German Dec Markit/BME manufacturing PMI expected -0.1 to 52.8, Nov 52.9. Dec Markit services PMI expected -0.1 to 55.5, Nov 55.6.
EUR	0400 ET	Eurozone Dec Markit manufacturing PMI expected unch at 52.8. Dec composite PMI expected unch at 54.2.
	0500 ET	Revised Eurozone Nov CPI, previous +0.1% y/y. Revised Nov core CPI, previous +0.9% y/y.
UK	0430 ET	UK Nov jobless claims change expected +800, Oct +3,300. Nov claimant count rate expected unch at 2.3%.
	0430 ET	UK Oct avg weekly earnings expected +2.5% 3-mon avg y/y, Sep +3.0% 3-mon avg y/y. Oct weekly earnings ex-bonus expected +2.3% 3-mon avg y/y, Sep +3.0% 3-mon avg y/y.
	0430 ET	UK Oct ILO unemployment rate expected +5.3% 3-months through Oct, previous +5.3% 3-months through Sep.

U.S. STOCK CALENDAR12/16/2015

Company	Ticker	Time	Event Description	Period	Estimate
Joy Global Inc	JOY US	Bef-mkt	Q4 2015 Earnings Release	Q4 2015	0.41
Progressive Corp/The	PGR US	Bef-mkt	November 2015 Sales and Revenue Release	2015
Arthur J Gallagher & Co	AJG US	8:00	Investor Meeting	Y 2015
CVS Health Corp	CVS US	8:00	Analyst Day	Y 2015
Honeywell International Inc	HON US	9:00	Q4 2016 Guidance Call	Q4 2016
AutoZone Inc	AZO US	9:00	Annual General Meeting	Y 2015
Lennox International Inc	LII US	9:00	Investment Community Meeting	Y 2015
Danaher Corp	DHR US	11:00	Investor and Analyst Meeting	Y 2015
Joy Global Inc	JOY US	11:00	Q4 2015 Earnings Call	Q4 2015
General Electric Co	GE US	15:30	Investor Meeting	Y 2015
FedEx Corp	FDX US	16:15	Q2 2016 Earnings Release	Q2 2016	2.5
Jabil Circuit Inc	JBL US	16:30	Q1 2016 Earnings Call	Q1 2016
Pandora Media Inc	P US	16:30	Business Update Call
FedEx Corp	FDX US	17:00	Q2 2016 Earnings Call	Q2 2016
Oracle Corp	ORCL US	17:00	Q2 2016 Earnings Call	Q2 2016
Oracle Corp	ORCL US	Aft-mkt	Q2 2016 Earnings Release	Q2 2016	0.6
Jabil Circuit Inc	JBL US	Aft-mkt	Q1 2016 Earnings Release	Q1 2016	0.8
Equifax Inc	EFX US		Investor Meeting - Boston	Y 2015
Pepco Holdings Inc	POM US		Annual General Meeting
Tesla Motors Inc	TSLA US		Elon Musk's SpaceX Testing of Engines of Falcon 9 Rocket

Clorox - Chart of the Day

Clorox (CLX) is the Barchart Chart of the Day.  The soap and cleaning products company has a Trend Spotter buy signal, a Weighted Alpha of 26.90+ and gained 30.49% in the last year.

The Chart of the Day belongs to Clorox (CLX).  I found the stock by using Barchart to sort the Russell 3000 Index stocks first for the highest number of new highs in the last 20 trading sessions, then again for technical buy signals of 80% or better.  I always use the Flipchart feature to review the charts.  Since the Trend Spotter signaled a buy on 11/19 the stock gained 4.36%.

Clorox Company's business operations, represented by the aggregate of its U.S. Household Products and Canada, U.S. Specialty Products and International segments, include the production and marketing of non-durable consumer products sold primarily through grocery and other retail stores.

The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

Barchart technical indicators:

• Market Cap $16.68 billion
• P/E 26.18
• Dividend yield 2.45%
• Revenue expected to grow 1.20% this y year and another 2.80% next year
• Earnings estimated to increase 6.60% this year, a additional 6.80% next year and compound at an annual rate of 7.30% for the next 5 years
• Wall Street analysts issued 1 strong buy, 9 holds and 5 under performs on the stock
• On Motley Fool the individual investors are more optimistic and voted 861 to 46 that the stock will beat the market

The regular technical trading strategies were not very reliable for this stock so I would advice using trailing stop loss 10% off the recent high to preserve profits.

5 Mid Caps for Momentum Investors

Today is wanted to find 5 great mid cap momentum stocks so I used Barchart to sort the   S&P 400 Mid Cap Index stocks for the highest technical buy signals then used the Flipchart feature to review the charts.

The stock making the cut were Sovran Self Storage (SSS), Mid-America Apartment Communities (MAA), Granite Construction (GVA), Extra Space Storage (EXR) and Charles River Laboratories (CRL).

Sovran Self Storage (SSS)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 100% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 7 new highs and up 6.35% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 61.01%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 98.94
• Recently traded at 102.04 with a 50 day moving average of 99.01

Mid-America Apartment Communities (GVA)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 100% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 11 new highs and up 7.01% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 61.46%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 87.00
• Recently traded at 89.72 with a 50 day moving average if 86.20

Granite Construction (GVA)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 96% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 12 new highs and up 11.25% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 69.11%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 39.79
• Recently traded at 42.01 with a 50 day moving average of 36.78

Extra Space Storage (EXR)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 96% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages'
• 11 new highs and up 10.55% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 68.25%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 83.87
• Recently traded at 87.12 with a 50 day moving average of 80.98

Charles River Laboratories (CRL)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 96% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 12 new highs and up 10.67% in the last month'
• Relative Strength Index 63.35%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 73.46%
• Recently traded at 78.64 with a 50 day moving average of 70.98

MORNING CALL 12/15

MORNING CALL

Tuesday, December 15th, 2015View Older Reports

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OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS

March E-mini S&Ps (ESH16 +0.81%) are up +0.83% and European stocks are up +2.37% as a rally in crude oil gives energy producers a lift. Also, European automakers moved higher after Eurozone Nov new car registrations rose more than expected at the fastest pace in 5 months. Mining stocks gained as well, led by a nearly 5% increase in Glencore Plc, after JPMorgan Chase upgraded the stock to a 'Buy,' citing its "credible" strategy update. Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan -1.68%, Hong Kong -0.17%, China -0.29%, Taiwan +0.41%, Australia -0.39%, Singapore +0.02%, South Korea +0.26%, India +0.68%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Index fell to a 1-3/4 month low as exporter stocks declined after USD/JPY slipped to a 6-week low, which reduces exporters' earnings prospects.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.02%) is down -0.07% at a 5-week low on speculation the Fed will reiterate that it sees a gradual pace of interest rate increases even after it raises interest rates tomorrow. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.14% at a 1-1/2 month high. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.10%.

Mar T-note prices (ZNH16 -0.10%) are down -7 ticks.

Eurozone Nov new car registrations rose +13.7% y/y to 1.085 million units, the biggest increase in 5 months.

The German Dec ZEW survey expectations of economic growth rose +5.7 to 16.1, stronger than expectations of +4.6 to 15.0.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: Dec Empire manufacturing survey of general business conditions (expected +3.74 to -7.00, Nov +0.62 to -10.74), (2) Nov CPI (expected unch m/m and +0.5% y/y, Oct +0.2% m/m and +0.2% y/y) and core CPI (expected +0.2% m/m and+2.0% y/y, Oct +0.2% m/m and +1.9% y/y), (3) the first day of the 2-day FOMC meeting where the market is discounting a three-quarters chance of a 25 bp rate hike, and (4) Dec NAHB housing market index (expected +1 to 63, Nov -3 to 62).

There is 1 of the Russell 1000 companies that report earnings today: FactSet Research Systems (1.46).

U.S. IPO's scheduled to price today: none.

Equity conferences: European Society for Medical Oncology Asia Congress on Fri.

OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS

Amgen (AMGN +1.91%) rose nearly 2% in pre-market trading after it said it reacquired all product rights to Prolia, Xgeva and Vectibix from Glaxo in 48 countries.

Lumber Liquidators (LL +1.22%) surged over 15% in after-hours trading when short seller Whitney Tilson said he covered his short position in the company after he said he received new information that shows management wasn't aware it was selling Chinese-made laminate with high levels of formaldehyde.

Amazon.com (AMZN +2.77%) was rated a new 'Buy' at MKM Partners with a price target of $800.

Verizon Communications (VZ +1.41%) was downgraded to 'Neutral' from 'Buy' at BTIG.

Occidental Petroleum (OXY +0.94%) was rated a new 'Buy' at CLSA with a price target of $83.

Chevron (CVX +3.34%) was rated a new 'Outperform' at CLSA with a price target of $95 and ConocoPhillips (COP +2.91%) was also rated a new 'Outperform' at CLSA with a price target of $52.

VeriFone Systems (PAY unch) climbed nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance on fiscal 2016 adjusted EPS to $2.15-$2.17, higher than consensus of $2.12.

Xerox (XRX -1.79%) rose over 1% in after-hours trading after Carl Icahn reported he raised his stake in the company to 8.1% from 7.1%.

Lockheed Martin (LMT -0.29%) was awarded a $1.09 billion U.S. Army pact modification to foreign military sales for Patriot PAC-3 production.

Boeing (BA -1.12%) raised its quarterly dividend to $1.09 a share from 91 cents, higher than expectations of a hike to $1.02, and then raised its stock buyback authorization to $14 billion from $12 billion.

Kennametal (KMT -0.12%) slumped over 20% in after-hours trading after it said it expects its fiscal 2016 revenue may fall as much as 30% to 60% due to weakness in China's auto market and in U.S. coal mining.

MARKET COMMENTS

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH16 +0.81%) this morning are up +16.75 points (+0.83%). Monday's closes: S&P 500 +0.48%, Dow Jones +0.60%, Nasdaq +0.72%. The S&P 500 on Monday recovered from a 2-month low and closed higher. Stocks received a boost from reduced Chinese economic concerns after China Nov industrial production rose +6.2% y/y, stronger than expectations of +5.7% y/y and the fastest pace of increase in 5 months. In addition, energy producers saw some strength after crude oil prices rebounded from a 6-3/4 year low and closed higher.

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH16 -0.10%) this morning are down -7 ticks. Monday's closes: TYH6 -23.50, FVH6 -13.50. Mar T-notes on Monday closed lower on long liquidation on expectations for the FOMC to raise the federal funds rate by 25 bp on Wednesday and on carryover weakness from a slide in German bund prices after ECB President Draghi said he expects inflation to return to target "without delay."

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.02%) this morning is down -0.067 (-0.07%) at a 5-week low. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0015 (+0.14%) at a 1-1/2 month high. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.12 (+0.10%). Monday's closes: Dollar Index +0.039 (+0.04%), EUR/USD +0.0006 (+0.05%), USD/JPY +0.02 (+0.02%). The dollar index on Monday closed slightly higher on expectations for the Fed to raise interest rates at the conclusion of Wednesday's FOMC meeting and on the rally in stocks, which caused USD/JPY to recover from a 5-week low and close higher on reduced safe-haven demand or the yen. The dollar was undercut as EUR/USD which rose to 5-week high after Eurozone Oct industrial production rose more than expected and after ECB President Draghi said he expects inflation to return to target "without delay."

Jan crude oil (CLF16 +0.77%) this morning is up +47 cents (+1.29%) and Jan gasoline (RBF16 -1.50%) is down -0.0199 (-1.58%). Monday's closes: CLF6 +0.65 (+1.82%), RBF6 -0.0386 (-3.01%). Jan crude oil and gasoline on Monday settled mixed as Jan crude recovered from a 6-3/4 year low. Crude oil prices received a boost from short-covering on news that China Nov industrial production and retail sales rose more than expected, and optimism that Congress may lift the 40-year old U.S. crude export ban. Crude prices earlier slumped to a fresh 6-3/4 year low after Iran's deputy oil minister said that there's "absolutely no chance" Iran will delay its plan to increase crude exports even as prices decline.

 China Nov industrial production rose +6.2% y/y, stronger than expectations of +5.7% y/y and the fastest pace of increase in 5 months. In addition, energy producers saw some strength after crude oil prices rebounded from a 6-3/4 year low and closed higher.

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH16 -0.10%) this morning are down -7 ticks. Monday's closes: TYH6 -23.50, FVH6 -13.50. Mar T-notes on Monday closed lower on long liquidation on expectations for the FOMC to raise the federal funds rate by 25 bp on Wednesday and on carryover weakness from a slide in German bund prices after ECB President Draghi said he expects inflation to return to target "without delay."

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.02%) this morning is down -0.067 (-0.07%) at a 5-week low. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0015 (+0.14%) at a 1-1/2 month high. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.12 (+0.10%). Monday's closes: Dollar Index +0.039 (+0.04%), EUR/USD +0.0006 (+0.05%), USD/JPY +0.02 (+0.02%). The dollar index on Monday closed slightly higher on expectations for the Fed to raise interest rates at the conclusion of Wednesday's FOMC meeting and on the rally in stocks, which caused USD/JPY to recover from a 5-week low and close higher on reduced safe-haven demand or the yen. The dollar was undercut as EUR/USD which rose to 5-week high after Eurozone Oct industrial production rose more than expected and after ECB President Draghi said he expects inflation to return to target "without delay."

Jan crude oil (CLF16 +0.77%) this morning is up +47 cents (+1.29%) and Jan gasoline (RBF16 -1.50%) is down -0.0199 (-1.58%). Monday's closes: CLF6 +0.65 (+1.82%), RBF6 -0.0386 (-3.01%). Jan crude oil and gasoline on Monday settled mixed as Jan crude recovered from a 6-3/4 year low. Crude oil prices received a boost from short-covering on news that China Nov industrial production and retail sales rose more than expected, and optimism that Congress may lift the 40-year old U.S. crude export ban. Crude prices earlier slumped to a fresh 6-3/4 year low after Iran's deputy oil minister said that there's "absolutely no chance" Iran will delay its plan to increase crude exports even as prices decline.

GLOBAL EVENT CALENDAR12/15/2015

US	0830 ET	Dec Empire manufacturing survey of general business conditions expected +3.74 to -7.00, Nov +0.62 to -10.74.
	0830 ET	Nov CPI expected unch m/m and +0.5% y/y, Oct +0.2% m/m and +0.2% y/y. Nov CPI ex food & energy expected +0.2% m/m and+2.0% y/y, Oct +0.2% m/m and +1.9% y/y.
	0930 ET	FOMC begins 2-day policy meeting.
	1000 ET	Dec NAHB housing market index expected +1 to 63, Nov -3 to 62.
EUR	0200 ET	Eurozone Nov new car registrations, Oct +2.9% y/y.
	0500 ET	Eurozone Q3 employment, Q2 +0.3% q/q and +0.8% y/y.
UK	0430 ET	UK Nov CPI expected -0.1% m/m and +0.1% y/y, Oct +0.1% m/m and -0.1% y/y. Nov core CPI expected +1.2% y/y, Oct +1.1% y/y.
	0430 ET	UK Nov RPI expected unch m/m and +0.9% y/y, Oct unch m/m and +0.7% y/y. Nov RPI ex mortgage interest payments expected +1.0% y/y, Oct +0.8% y/y.
	0430 ET	UK Nov PPI input prices expected -1.0% m/m and -12.4% y/y, Oct +0.2% m/m and -12.1% y/y.
	0430 ET	UK Nov PPI output prices expected -0.1% m/m and -1.3% y/y, Oct unch m/m and -1.3% y/y. Nov PPI output core expected unch m/m and +0.1% y/y, Oct -0.1% m/m and +0.3% y/y.
	0430 ET	UK Oct ONS house prices, Sep +6.1% y/y.
GER	0500 ET	German Dec ZEW expectations of economic growth survey expected +4.6 to 15.0, Nov 10.4. Dec ZEW survey current situation expected-0.2 to 54.2, Nov 54.4.

U.S. STOCK CALENDAR12/15/2015

Company	Ticker	Time	Event Description	Period	Estimate
FactSet Research Systems Inc	FDS US	7:00	Q1 2016 Earnings Release	Q1 2016	1.463
AGCO Corp	AGCO US	8:30	Analyst Meeting	Y 2015
Kennametal Inc	KMT US	9:00	Analyst Day	Y 2015
3M Co	MMM US	9:00	Q4 2016 Guidance Call	Q4 2016
AECOM	ACM US	9:00	Investor Day	Y 2015
American Water Works Co Inc	AWK US	9:00	Analyst Day	Y 2015
Liberty Property Trust	LPT US	10:00	Q4 2016 Guidance Call	Q4 2016
AmTrust Financial Services Inc	AFSI US	10:00	Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting
FactSet Research Systems Inc	FDS US	11:00	Q1 2016 Earnings Call	Q1 2016
WESCO International Inc	WCC US	11:00	Q4 2016 Guidance Call	Q4 2016
SolarCity Corp	SCTY US	12:30	Analyst Day	Y 2015
FactSet Research Systems Inc	FDS US	15:00	Annual General Meeting	Y 2015
Dover Corp	DOV US	18:30	Investor Meeting	Y 2015
American Express Co	AXP US		Credit-card Charge-offs and Delinquencies
Baker Hughes Inc	BHI US		U.S. Justice Department Deadline on Decision of Halliburton's Takeover of Baker
JPMorgan Chase & Co	JPM US		Credit-card Charge-offs and Delinquencies
Equifax Inc	EFX US		Investor Meeting - Baltimore	Y 2015
Halliburton Co	HAL US		U.S. Justice Department Deadline on Decision of Halliburton's Takeover of Baker
Bank of America Corp	BAC US		Credit-card Charge-offs and Delinquencies
Citigroup Inc	C US		Credit-card Charge-offs and Delinquencies
Questar Corp	STR US		Roadshow - Los Angeles	Y 2015
Morgan Stanley	MS US		Credit-card Charge-offs and Delinquencies
Capital One Financial Corp	COF US		Credit-card Charge-offs and Delinquencies
AmTrust Financial Services Inc	AFSI US		Special Meeting
Discover Financial Services	DFS US		Credit-card Charge-offs and Delinquencies
Synchrony Financial	SYF US		Credit-card Charge-offs and Delinquencies