Morning Call 6/19

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - Mon Jun 19, 6:40AM CDT

OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU17 +0.31%) this morning are up +0.27% and European stocks are up +0.92%. Gains in French stocks are leading European bourses higher after Sunday's second-round of French elections showed French President Macron's party won about 350 seats in France's 577-member National Assembly, the largest majority in 15-years. Jul WTI crude oil (CLN17 +0.47%) is up +0.29% and is giving a boost to energy stocks after data from OPEC showed that compliance with OPEC crude production cuts was 110% in May. Asian stocks settled higher: Japan +0.62%, Hong Kong +1.16%, China +0.68%, Taiwan +0.92%, Australia +0.54%, Singapore +0.49%, South Korea +0.59%, India +0.82%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Index rose to a 1-week high on signs of strength in the Japanese economy after trade data showed Japan May exports rose at the fastest pace in 2-1/3 years and Japan May imports climbed at the fastest pace in 3-years. Hong Kong stocks rallied over 1% before a decision Tuesday on whether MSCI will include China shares in global indexes.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.04%) is down -0.06%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.10%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.09%.

Sep 10-year T-note prices (ZNU17 +0.01%) are up +3 ticks.

China May new home prices rose in 56 of 70 cities tracked by the government, down from 58 cities that gained in April, due to the government's measures to tighten liquidity and cool the housing market.

The Japan May trade balance unexpectedly fell into deficit by -203.4 billion yen, when expectations were for a 43.3-billion-yen surplus. May exports rose +14.9% y/y, weaker than expectations of +16.0% y/y, but still the largest increase in 2-1/3 years. May imports rose +17.8% y/y, stronger than expectations of +14.5% y/y and the largest increase in 3 years.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) New York Fed President William Dudley (voter) holds a business roundtable discussion with the North Country Chamber of Commerce and North Country Regional Economic Development Council in Plattsburgh, NY, (2) Chicago Fed President Charles Evans (voter) discusses current economic conditions and monetary policy at a Money Marketeers of New York University event, (3) weekly grain export inspections, (4) USDA crop conditions and planting progress.

Notable Russell 2000 earnings reports today include: none.

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

Equity conferences this week: BIO International Convention on Mon, Goldman Sachs Leveraged Finance Conference on Tue, JMP Group Securities Life Sciences Conference on Tue, Macquarie Group Ltd Global Quantitative Research Conference on Tue, Jefferies Global Consumer Conference on Tue-Wed, Oppenheimer Consumer Conference on Tue-Wed, Tudor Picker & Holt Hotter N Hell Energy Conference on Tue-Thu, Wells Fargo Securities West Coast Energy Conference on Tue-Wed, SunTrust Robinson Utilities & Power Summit on Thu, Wells Fargo Securities 5G Forum on Thu.

OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS

Amazon.com (AMZN +2.44%) gained 1% in pre-market trading after a person familiar with the matter said Amazon plans to cut prices and jobs at Whole Foods Market to make the store competitive with Wal-Mart Stores.

Broadcom Ltd (AVGO -0.73%) fell 3% in pre-market trading after Nikkan Kogyo reported that Toshiba is in the final stages of selecting a rival bid of Broadcom’s for the sale of its semiconductor division.

Costco Wholesale (COST -7.19%) was downgraded to 'Neutral' from 'Buy' at Deutsche Bank.

Biogen (BIIB -1.29%) was upgraded to 'Neutral' from 'Sell' at UBS with a price target of $270.

Nucor (NUE +0.59%) was upgraded to 'Buy' from 'Neutral' at Longbow Research with a 12-month target price of $66.

U.S. Steel (X -1.03%) was upgraded to 'Buy' from 'Neutral' at Longbow Research with a 12-month target price of $30.

Kroger (KR -9.24%) was downgraded to 'Equal-Weight' from 'Overweight' at Morgan Stanley.

Travelers (TRV +0.33%) was downgraded to 'Neutral' from 'Buy' at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

Cisco's (CSCO +0.16%) senior vice president and chief of operations, Rebecca Jacoby, sold 92,840 shares of the company's stock at an average price of $31.71 on June 14.

Huntington Ingalls (HII -4.90%) received a $3.01 billion modification from the U.S. Department of Defense to a previously awarded contract for the procurement of the detail, design, and construction of Landing Helicopter Assault Replacement Flight 1 Amphibious Assault Ship (LHA-8).

Six Flags Entertainment (SIX -0.20%) filed an 8.5 million share shelf for holder H Partners Management LLC.

Bandera Partners boosted its stake in Famous Dave's of America (DAVE -1.41%) to 15.6% from 12% reported in March.

MARKET COMMENTS

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU17 +0.31%) this morning are up +6.50 points (+0.27%). Friday's closes: S&P 500 +0.03%, Dow Jones +0.11%, Nasdaq -0.34%. The S&P 500 on Friday closed slightly higher. Stocks prices were boosted by strength in energy stocks as crude oil rallied +0.63% and by reduced inflation expectations that may keep the Fed from additional rate hikes after the 10-year T-note breakeven inflation rate dropped to a 7-1/2 month low. Stocks were undercut by the unexpected -5.5% fall in U.S. May housing starts to an 8-month low of 1.092 million (weaker than expectations of +4.1% to 1.22 million) and by a sell-off in food retailers after Amazon.com bought Whole Foods Markets for $13.7 billion, which raises concern that other food retailers will have to cut prices to compete with Amazon, which will hurt their earnings.

Sep 10-year T-notes (ZNU17 +0.01%) this morning are up +3 ticks. Friday's closes: TYU7 +3.50, FVU7 +3.50. Sep 10-year T-notes on Friday closed higher: T-note prices were boosted by the unexpected decline in U.S. May housing starts to an 8-month low and the fall in May building permits to a 13-month low. T-note prices were also boosted by the larger-than-expected decline in the June University of Michigan U.S. consumer sentiment index to a 7-month low and by reduced inflation expectations after the 10-year T-note breakeven inflation rate dropped to a 7-1/2 month low.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.04%) this morning is down -0.061 (-0.06%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.11 (+0.10%) and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.10 (+0.09%). Friday's closes: Dollar index -0.29 (-0.30%), EUR/USD +0.0053 (+0.48%), USD/JPY -0.05 (-0.05%). The dollar index on Friday closed lower on the weaker-than-expected U.S. May housing starts and building permits, which bolsters the case for the Fed to refrain from further tightening, and the slide in stocks, which boosted the safe-haven demand for the yen.

Jul WTI crude oil prices (CLN17 +0.47%) this morning are up +13 cents (+0.29%) and July gasoline (RBN17 +0.69%) is +0.0047 (+0.32%). Friday's closes: Jul crude +0.28 (+0.63%), Jul gasoline +0.0191 (+1.33%). Jul crude oil and gasoline on Friday closed higher on a weaker dollar and on the increase in the crack spread to a 4-session high, which may boost refinery demand for crude oil to refine into gasoline.

GLOBAL EVENT CALENDAR06/19/2017

		Monday, June 19
US	0800 ET	New York Fed President William Dudley (voter) holds a business roundtable discussion with the North Country Chamber of Commerce and North Country Regional Economic Development Council in Plattsburgh, NY.
	1100 ET	USDA weekly grain export inspections.
	1600 ET	USDA crop conditions and planting progress.
	1900 ET	Chicago Fed President Charles Evans (voter) discusses current economic conditions and monetary policy at a Money Marketeers of New York University event.
		Tuesday, June 20
US	0315 ET	Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer is keynote speaker at a macroprudential conference in Amsterdam jointly hosted by the Dutch and Swedish central banks.
	0745 ET	Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren (non-voter) speaks at a macroprudential conference in Amsterdam jointly hosted by the Dutch and Swedish central banks.
	0830 ET	Q1 current account balance expected -$123.6 billion, Q4 -$112.4 billion
	1500 ET	Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan (voter) discusses current economic conditions and monetary policy with the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

U.S. STOCK CALENDAR06/19/2017

Company	Ticker	Time	Event Description	Period	Estimate
United Technologies Corp	UTX US	6/19/2017		02:30	SM
Monster Beverage Corp	MNST US	6/19/2017		17:20	SM

MORNING CALL 1/10

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 1 hour ago

OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH17 +0.02%) are little changed, up +0.02%, and European stocks are down -0.04% at a 1-week low. Strength in energy producers is lifting U.S. stock indexes with Feb WTI crude oil (CLG17 +0.25%) up +0.29% amid further announcements from OPEC members that they are adhering to agree upon production cuts. Rising producer prices in China have spurred inflation concerns in China after China Dec PPI rose +5.5% y/y, the largest increase in 5-1/4 years. The slump in the Chinese yuan to an 8-1/2 year low against the dollar last month has boosted imported commodity prices and increased Chinese factory-gate prices. Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan -0.79%, Hong Kong +0.83%, China -0.30%, Taiwan +0.08%, Australia -0.80%, Singapore +0.82%, South Korea unchanged, India +0.65%.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.04%) is up +0.01%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is unchanged. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.07%. GBP/USD is down -0.20% at a 2-1/2 month low on concern a hard Brexit will spur the BOE to keep interest rates lower for longer.

Mar 10-year T-note prices (ZNH17 +0.01%) are down -0.5 of a tick.

China Dec CPI rose +2.1% y/y, weaker than expectations of +2.2% y/y. Dec PPI rose +5.5% y/y stronger than expectations of +4.6% y/y and the biggest increase in 5-1/4 years.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) revised Nov wholesale inventories (prelim-Nov +0.9% m/m), (2) Nov JOLTS job openings (expected -34,000 to 5.5 million, Oct -97,000 to 5.534 million), (3) Treasury auctions $24 billion of 3-year T-notes.

Russell 1000 earnings reports today include: Lamb Weston Holdings (consensus 0.55).

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

Equity conferences this week include: J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Mon-Thu, Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference on Tue-Wed, Needham & Company Growth Conference on Tue-Wed, ICR Conference on Tue-Wed, Evercore ISI Utility Conference on Thu.

OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS

American Express (AXP +0.52%) was upgraded to 'Outperform' from 'Market Perform' at Oppenheimer with an 18-month target price of $98.

Allstate (ALL -1.43%) was upgraded to 'Buy' from 'Neutral' at Goldman Sachs.

Travelers Cos (TRV -0.80%) was downgraded to 'Sell' from 'Neutral' at Goldman Sachs.

Williams Cos (WMB -1.51%) slumped 7% in after-hours trading after it announced a plan to increase its ownership in Williams Partners to 72% from 58% and that it will launch a 65 million share public offering in order to pay for the share purchase.

Kite Pharma (KITE +1.46%) gained 1% in after-hours trading after it entered into a joint venture licensing deal with Daiichi Sankyo to develop an experimental treatment for an aggressive type of blood cancer and will receive $50 million upfront plus an additional $200 million if developmental and regulatory milestones are met.

Boot Barn Holdings (BOOT -6.54%) dropped 5% in after-hours trading after it reported preliminary Q3 EPS of 39 cents, weaker than consensus of 43 cents.

Barracuda Networks (CUDA +4.35%) jumped 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 22 cents, well above consensus of 14 cents, and said Q3 billings for core products were up +30% y/y to $61.6 million.

Nabors Industries Ltd (NBR -1.16%) fell 4% in after-hours trading after it began an offering of $500 million of exchangeable senior unsecured notes due 2024.

Zeltiq Aesthetics (ZLTQ -1.07%) lost nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it said CCO and President Keith Sullivan will retire effective Jan 16.

WD-40 (WDFC -1.64%) fell 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 net sales of $89.2 million, weaker than consensus of $96.3 million.

Cray Inc. (CRAY -0.74%) lost 4% in after-hours trading after it reported 2016 revenue of $630 million, below consensus if $633.2 million, and said for 2017 it "currently believes it will be difficult to grow over 2016."

VOXX International (VOXX +6.00%) rose 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 24 cents and said Q3 net sales rose 3.3%.

Atwood Oceanics (ATW -2.04%) dropped nearly 6% in after-hours trading after it announced a public offering of 13.5 million common shares.

Shoe Carnival (SCVL +0.55%) fell 2% in after-hours trading after it cut its fiscal-year net sales estimate to $1 billion-$1.003 billion, below a November 28 forecast of $1.002 billion-$1.006 billion

City Office REIT (CIO -0.84%) slid 3% in after-hours trading after it announced a public offering of 4 million shares of common stock.

Papa Murphy's Holdings (FRSH -2.52%) tumbled 7% in after-hours trading after it reported preliminary Q4 revenue of $35.5 million, weaker than consensus of $38.3 million.

MARKET COMMENTS

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH17 +0.02%) this morning are up +0.50 of a point (+0.02%). Monday's closes: S&P 500 -0.35%, Dow Jones -0.38%, Nasdaq +0.36%. The S&P 500 on Monday closed lower on weakness in oil companies on the -4.07% decline in Feb WTI crude oil to a 3-week low and on heightened geopolitical concerns after a U.S. destroyer fired warning shots at four Iranian vessels that had moved too close in the Strait of Hormuz. Stocks received a boost from news that Nov consumer credit rose +$24.532 billion, stronger than expectations of +$18.4 billion, which shows confidence in the economic outlook as consumers are willing to take on more debt.

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH17 +0.01%) this morning are down -0.5 of a tick. Monday's closes: TYH7 +3.00, FVH7 +12.00. Mar 10-year T-notes on Monday closed higher on increased safe-haven demand with the weakness in stocks and on the -4.07% slide in crude oil prices to a 3-week low, which undercut inflation expectations.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.04%) this morning is up +0.01 (+0.01%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is unchanged. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.08 (-0.07%). Monday's closes: Dollar index -0.390 (-0.38%), EUR/USD +0.0042 (+0.40%), USD/JPY -0.99 (-0.85%). The dollar index on Monday closed lower on strength in EUR/USD after the Eurozone Jan Sentix investor confidence rose +8.2 to a 17-month high of 18.2 and on the decline in the 10-year T-note yield, which reduced the dollar's interest rate differentials.

Feb WTI crude oil prices (CLG17 +0.25%) this morning are up +15 cents (+0.29%) and Feb gasoline (RBG17 +0.71%) is +0.0122 (+0.78%). Monday's closes: Feb crude -2.20 (-4.07%), Feb gasoline -0.0667 (-4.08%). Feb crude oil and gasoline on Monday closed sharply lower with both contracts at 3-week lows. Crude oil prices were undercut by concern that increased U.S. crude oil output will offset the decline in OPEC crude production after Friday's data from Baker Hughes showed U.S. active oil rigs rose for the tenth consecutive week as they increased by 4 rigs to a 1-year high of 529 rigs.

GLOBAL EVENT CALENDAR01/10/2017

		Tuesday, Jan 10
US	1000 ET	Revised Nov wholesale inventories, prelim-Nov +0.9% m/m. Nov wholesale trade sales, Oct +1.4% m/m.
	1000 ET	Nov JOLTS job openings expected -34,000 to 5.5 million, Oct -97,000 to 5.534 million.
	1300 ET	Treasury auctions $24 billion of 3-year T-notes.
		Wednesday, Jan 11
US	0700 ET	Weekly MBA mortgage applications, previous +0.1% with purchase sub-index -1.4% and refi sub-index +1.7%.
	1030 ET	EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
	1300 ET	Treasury auctions $20 billion of 10-year T-notes.
	n/a	President-elect Trump is scheduled to hold his first press conference.

U.S. STOCK CALENDAR01/10/2017

Company	Ticker	Time	Event Description	Period	Estimate
Lamb Weston Holdings Inc	LW US	8:30	Q2 2017 Earnings Release	Q2 2017	0.55
Lamb Weston Holdings Inc	LW US	10:00	Q2 2017 Earnings Call	Q2 2017
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp	LGF/A US	11:00	Investor Day	Y 2017

The Travelers Companies - Chart of the Day

The Travelers Companies (TRV) is the Barchart Chart of the Day.  The P&C insurance carrier has a Trend Spotter buy signal, a Weighted Alpha of 12.10+ , gained 5.57% in the last year while paying a 2.11% dividend.

The Chart of the Day is The Travelers Companies (TRV).  I found the P&C insurance stock by using Barchart to sort today's All Time High list first for the most frequent new highs in the last month, then again for technical buy signals of 80% or better.  Since the Trend Spotter signaled a buy on 2/22 the stock gained 6.14%.

St. Paul Travelers is a leading provider of commercial property-liability insurance and asset management services. Under the Travelers brand, the company is also a leading underwriter of homeowners and auto insurance through independent agents.

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% technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 16 new highs and up 6.14% in the last year
• Relative Strength Index 72.18%
• Technical support level at 114.89
• Recently traded at 116.06 with a 50 day moving average of 108.37

Fundamental factors:

• Market Cap $34.34 billion
• P/E 10.64
• Dividend yield 2.11%
• Revenue expected to grow 1.40% this year and another 2.00% next year
• Earnings estimated to decrease 10.50% this year but increase again by 2.40% next year and continue to compound at an annual rate of 2.94% for the next 6 years
• Wall Street analysts issued 3 strong buy, 1 buy, 23 hold and 2 under perform recommendations on the stock

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

5 Large Caps for Momentum Investors

One of the best ways to find momentum stocks before others is to screen for new highs over just the last month.  Today I used Barchart to sort the S&P 500 Large Cap Index stocks for those having the most frequent new highs in the last month.  Today's watch list includes:

Cintas (CTAS), International Business Machines (IBM), Assurant (AIZ), Weyerhaeuser (WY), and The Travelers Companies (TRV)

Cintas (CTAS)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 64% technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 17 new highs and up 6.29% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 67.02%
• Technical support level at 88.81
• Recently traded at 90.14 with a 50 day moving average of 85.33

International Business Machines (IBM)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 80% technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 17 new highs and up 11.24% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 77.49%
• Technical support level at 146.03
• Recently traded at 148.99 with a 50 day moving average of 131.77

Assurant (AIZ)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 8% technical buy signal
• Trend Spotter Hold signal
• Above its 20 and 50 day moving averages
• 16 new highs and up 10.60% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 60.21%
• Technical support level at 77.51
• Recently traded at 78.21 with a 50 day moving average of 75.49

Weyerhaeuser (WY)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 64% technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 16 new highs and up 28.41% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 78.46%
• Technical support level at 29.74
• Recently traded at 30.44 with a 50 day moving average of 25.49

The Travelers Companies (TRV)

Barchart technical indicators:

• 80% technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 16 new highs and up 6.34% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 72.74%
• Technical support level at 114.89
• Recently traded at 116.21 with a 50 day moving average of 108.37

BARCHART MORNING CALL 10/20

BARCHART MORNING CALL

Tuesday, October 20th, 2015View Older Reports

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OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS

December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 -0.21%) are down -0.31% and European stocks are down -0.85% on reduced chances of additional easing from the ECB after the ECB's lending survey showed that credit standards on loans to companies eased for the sixth consecutive quarter. Also, weakness is IBM, which is down -4.5% in pre-market trading, is undercutting stocks after it lowered its full-year profit forecast after Q3 revenue missed estimates. Mining companies and raw-material stocks are lower as well after the price of copper (HGZ15 -0.30%) fell to a 1-week low. Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan +0.42%, Hong Kong -0.37%, China +1.14%, Taiwan +0.26%, Australia -0.65%, Singapore -0.18%, South Korea +0.43%, India -0.21%. China's Shanghai Composite rose to a 1-3/4 month high as a rally in small-cap stocks led the overall market higher on speculation the government will boost stimulus in the technology industry to offset the faltering industrial sector.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.31%) is down -0.31%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.45%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.11%.

Dec T-note prices (ZNZ15 -0.15%) are down -6 ticks on negative carryover from a slide in German bund prices after strength in the ECB's Bank Lending Survey curbed speculation the ECB will expand QE.

The ECB said Q3 credit standards on loans to companies eased for the sixth consecutive quarter, according to the ECB's Bank Lending Survey. The survey showed 40% of banks said they used the extra liquidity from the ECB's QE program to lend to companies, while 14% increased mortgages and 36% expanded consumer credit and other loans to households.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Sep housing starts (expected +1.4% to 1.142 million, Aug -3.0% to 1.126 million), (2) introductory remarks by Fed Governor Jerome Powell and New York Fed President William Dudley at a conference on bond market liquidity, and (3) Fed Chair Janet Yellen's welcoming remarks at a Labor Hall of Honor Induction Ceremony.

There are 22 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today with notable reports including: Yahoo (consensus $0.16), Bank of New York Mellon (0.71), Fifth Third Bancorp (0.40), Verizon (1.02), Chipotle (4.62), Discover Financial Services (1.33), Navient (0.48).

U.S. IPO's scheduled to price today: Ferrari (RACE).

Equity conferences today include: Private Wealth Latin America and The Caribbean Forum on Wed.

OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS

International Business Machines (IBM -0.78%) fell nearly 5% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $3.34, above consensus of $3.30, but then lowered guidance for fiscal 2015 EPS to $15.25, plus or minus 50 cents, below consensus of $15.68.

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB +0.11%) reported Q3 EPS of 39 cents, below consensus of 40 cents.

Harley Davidson (HOG +1.16%) reported Q3 EPS of 69 cents, weaker than consensus of 78 cents.

The Travelers Cos. (TRV +0.40%) reported Q3 EPS of $2.93, higher than consensus of $2.26.

Omnicom Group (OMC +0.07%) reported Q3 EPS of 97 cents, better than consensus of 95 cents.

Wolverine World Wide (WWW -0.25%) reported Q3 EPS of 48 cents, right on consensus, but then lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS to $144-$1.47 from a February estimate of $1.53-$1.60, below consensus of $1.47.

The Fresh Market (TFM +3.51%) was raised to 'Neutral' from 'Underperform' at Credit Suisse.

Hexcel (HXL +0.07%) fell over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 55 cents, weaker than consensus of 59 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS to $2.28-$2.34, below consensus of $2.43.

SanDisk (SNDK +2.90%) jumped over 8% in after-hours trading after people with knowledge of the matter said SanDisk is in advanced talks to sell itself to Western Digital Corp.

Ctrip.com (CTRIP) climbed nearly 2% in after-hours trading after Priceline Group raised its stake in the company to 12.63%.

Rambus (RMBS +0.87%) sank nearly 15% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 14 cents, right on consensus, but then lowered guidance on Q4 revenue to $71 million -$77 million, below consensus of $83.4 million.

Sonic Corp. (SONC +1.99%) rose 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 43 cents, better than consensus of 42 cents, and raised guidance for fiscal year 2016 EPS growth to 16% to 20% per share, higher than a previous outlook of 14% to 18% growth.

Flexatronic International (FLEX -0.80%) rose 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 27 cents, higher than consensus of 25 cents.

MARKET COMMENTS

Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 -0.21%) this morning are down -6.25 points (-0.31%). Monday's closes: S&P 500 +0.03%, Dow Jones +0.08%, Nasdaq +0.53%. The S&P 500 on Monday closed slightly higher on reduced Chinese economic concerns after the China Q3 GDP report of +6.9% y/y was slightly stronger than expectations of +6.8% y/y. In addition, the U.S. Oct NAHB housing market index showed a larger than-expected gain to a new 10-year high of 64. Meanwhile, bank stocks were undercut by disappointing earnings from Morgan Stanley and by weakness in energy producers after crude oil fell by over-3%.

Dec 10-year T-notes (ZNZ15 -0.15%) this morning are down -6 ticks. Monday's closes: TYZ5 -2.00, FVZ5 +1.00. Dec T-notes on Monday closed slightly lower on increased worries about a Fed tightening after the stronger-than-expected Chinese Q3 GDP of +6.9% and the larger-than-expected increase in the Oct NAHB housing market index to a 10-year high.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.31%) this morning is down -0.293 (-0.31%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0051 (+0.45%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.13 (+0.11%). Monday's closes: Dollar Index +0.388 (+0.41%), EUR/USD -0.0021 (-0.19%), USD/JPY +0.06 (+0.05%). The dollar index on Monday rose to a 1-week high and closed higher on the slightly increased chances for a Fed rate hike after the stronger-than-expected U.S. Oct NAHB housing market index report to a 10-year high. In addition, EUR/USD fell to a 1-week low on speculation that ECB President Draghi will consider expanding QE when the ECB meets on Thursday.

Dec crude oil (CLZ15 +0.19%) this morning is down -1 cent (-0.02%) and Dec gasoline (RBZ15 +0.31%) is down -0.0006 (-0.05%). Monday's closes: CLZ5-1.44 (-3.02%), RBZ5 -0.0538 (-4.03%). Dec crude oil and gasoline prices on Monday closed lower with Dec gasoline at a 1-1/2 month low. Crude oil and gasoline prices were undercut by the rally in the dollar index to a 1-week high and the decline in Q3 China GDP to a 6-1/2 year low of +6.9% y/y. In addition, the market is expecting Wednesday's weekly EIA report to show a +500,000 bbl increase in Cushing crude oil inventories.

GLOBAL EVENT CALENDAR10/20/2015

US	0830 ET	Sep housing starts expected +1.4% to 1.142 million, Aug -3.0% to 1.126 million. Sep building permits expected unch at 1.170 million, Aug +3.5% to 1.170 million.
	0900 ET	Fed Governor Jerome Powell and New York Fed President William Dudley give introductory remarks at a conference on bond market liquidity.
	1100 ET	Fed Chair Janet Yellen delivers welcoming remarks at a Labor Hall of Honor Induction Ceremony.
GER	0200 ET	German Sep PPI expected -0.2% m/m and -1.8% y/y, Aug -0.5% m/m and -1.7% y/y.
JPN	0130 ET	Japan Sep nationwide department store sales, Aug +2.7% y/y.
	0200 ET	Revised Japan Sep machine tool orders, previous -19.1% y/y.
	1950 ET	Japan Sep trade balance expected +87.0 billion yen, Aug -569.4 billion yen. Sep exports expected +3.8% y/y, Aug +3.1% y/y. Sep imports expected -11.9% y/y, Aug -3.1% y/y.
EUR	0400 ET	Eurozone Aug current account, Jul +33.8 billion euros (nsa).

U.S. STOCK CALENDAR10/20/2015

Company	Ticker	Time	Event Description	Period	Estimate
TEGNA Inc	TGNA US	Bef-mkt	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	0.356
Harley-Davidson Inc	HOG US	Bef-mkt	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	0.783
United Technologies Corp	UTX US	Bef-mkt	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	1.544
Pentair PLC	PNR US	Bef-mkt	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	0.958
Lockheed Martin Corp	LMT US	Bef-mkt	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	2.717
Prologis Inc	PLD US	Bef-mkt	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	0.578
Regions Financial Corp	RF US	Bef-mkt	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	0.196
Bank of New York Mellon Corp/The	BK US	6:30	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	0.712
Fifth Third Bancorp	FITB US	6:30	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	0.4
Travelers Cos Inc/The	TRV US	6:57	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	2.262
Dover Corp	DOV US	7:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	1.066
Omnicom Group Inc	OMC US	7:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	0.951
Verizon Communications Inc	VZ US	7:30	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	1.022
Bank of New York Mellon Corp/The	BK US	8:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Verizon Communications Inc	VZ US	8:30	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Omnicom Group Inc	OMC US	8:30	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
United Technologies Corp	UTX US	8:30	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Harley-Davidson Inc	HOG US	9:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Travelers Cos Inc/The	TRV US	9:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Fifth Third Bancorp	FITB US	9:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Pentair PLC	PNR US	9:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Dover Corp	DOV US	10:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
TEGNA Inc	TGNA US	10:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
JM Smucker Co/The	SJM US	10:00	Investor Day	Y 2015
Lockheed Martin Corp	LMT US	11:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Regions Financial Corp	RF US	11:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Prologis Inc	PLD US	12:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc	CMG US	16:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	4.624
Yahoo! Inc	YHOO US	16:05	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	0.159
Intuitive Surgical Inc	ISRG US	16:05	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	4.221
Discover Financial Services	DFS US	16:05	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	1.325
Intuitive Surgical Inc	ISRG US	16:30	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc	CMG US	16:30	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Yahoo! Inc	YHOO US	17:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Discover Financial Services	DFS US	17:00	Q3 2015 Earnings Call	Q3 2015
Chubb Corp/The	CB US	Aft-mkt	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	2.014
ACE Ltd	ACE US	Aft-mkt	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	2.368
FMC Technologies Inc	FTI US	Aft-mkt	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	0.579
Navient Corp	NAVI US	Aft-mkt	Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	0.476
Sigma-Aldrich Corp	SIAL US		Q3 2015 Earnings Release	Q3 2015	1.055