The Market In 5 Minutes: Retail Earnings Come Into Focus

Macro Focus

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 91 points to 18,623.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 9 points to 2,169.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 30.50 points to 4,851.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.19 percent to trade at $46.27 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 0.91 percent to trade at $44.86 a barrel.

Initial Jobless Claims for Nov 4 254.0K vs 260.0K estimate. Prior reading was 265.0K. Continuing Claims for Oct 28 2.04M vs 2.03M estimate.

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard is set to speak in St. Louis, Mo. at 9:15 a.m. ET.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
The Treasury budget data for October is schedule for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

BZ News Desk Focus

Macy's M Reports Q3 Adj. EPS $0.17, Sales $5.63B vs $5.65B Est.
Kohl's KSS Reports Q3 Adj. EPS $0.80 vs $0.70 Est., Sales $4.327B vs $4.33B Est.
Taser TASR Reports Q3 EPS $0.07 vs. Est. $0.06, Sales $71.9M vs $59M Est.
Mylan MYL Reports Q3 EPS $1.38 vs. Est. $1.46, Rev. $3.06B vs. Est. $3.12B
Shake Shack SHAK Reports Q3 Adj EPS $0.15 vs $0.14 Est, Revenue $74.6M vs $69.33M, Comps Up $2.9%

Sell-Side Themes

Barclays upgraded a few defensive names. Lockheed Martin LMT got an Equal-Weight rating and $275 target, while Northrup Grumman NOC got bumped to Overweight with a $270 target. L-3 Communications L was upgraded to Overweight with a $165 target.

Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls

Rodman & Renshaw downgraded Valeant VRX to Neutral.
Morgan Stanely downgraded Qualcomm QCOM to Equal-Weight.
Bank of America upgraded IBM IBM to Buy.
JPMorgan upgraded Humana HUM to Overweight.
Goldman Sachs started Cal-Maine Foods CALM at Neutral.

Deal Talk

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals MACK is said to be working with Credit Suisse and Bank of America on a strategic review that could lead to a sale of assets or a licensing deal, according to sources as reported by Reuters on Wednesday. AbbVie ABBV and Pfizer PFE might have an interest in the company's cancer drugs, the sources said.

Investors in MDC Partners MDCA are breathing a sigh of relief following news the company reached an agreement in principle to settle a probe with the SEC. Albert Fried's Rich Tullo has urged the company to merge with a big player like Publicis. He sees the timeline for such a deal before the second quarter of 2017.

Ron Burkle and Sam Nazarian’s SBE Entertainment were close to seeing the window close on their ability to complete their buyout of the Morgans Hotel Group. Morgans is running out of cash and needs to find a buyer/financing by year end.

In The News

Over the last couple of weeks, Carl Icahn has taken “buying the dip” to the extreme. With that idea in mind and his most recent 13F filing as a guide, traders can look for other Icahn favorites that he could be looking to buy next.

Donald Trump’s stunning presidential victory shook the political establishment to its core and sent shock waves through global markets. Wall Street Journal broke it down hour-by-hour.

Blogosphere

This Reddit thread is freaking out about the Trump win: "Seriously guys, buy now for stupidly cheap and wait for the markets to eventually rise. Don't sell, that's stupid you'll lose all potential profit."

Guess This Chart

This company reported on Thursday Q3 Adj. EPS $0.80 vs $0.70 Est., Sales $4.327B vs $4.33B Est. Also comps were down 1.7% in Q3.
In July, this company was rumored to have obtained financing for a "going private" deal, at the same time they cancelled out of a conference.
Sympathy plays include Sears, JC Penney and Macy's

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

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