The Market In 5 Minutes: Black Friday Closes Shortened Trading Week

Macro Focus

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45 points to 19,099.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 3 points to 2,204.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 5.25 points to 4,854.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.24 percent to trade at $48.39 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 1.13 percent to trade at $47.42 a barrel.

• Data on U.S. international trade in goods for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
• The Markit Services PMI for October is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET.
• Data on money supply for the latest week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

BZ News Desk Focus

• Ctrip.com CTRIP Reports Q3 EPS $0.17 vs $(0.08) Est; Revenue $849.935M vs $810.87M Est
• Can-Fite BioPharma CANF 9 Month EPS $(0.19) vs $(0.09) Est, Revenue $171,000

Sell-Side Themes

Raymond James said it would be buyers of Biogen BIIB on weakness following Eli Lilly's LLY failed EXPEDITION 3 trial. The firm thinks this may be a clearing event with respect to any takeout.

Morgan Stanley is of the view that Biogen's aducanumab is more potent than solanezumab. The firm said indication of activity/trends would keep amyloid debate alive.

JPMorgan said it sees a transient 5-15 percent down move in Biogen shares, although it expects the shares to recover.

Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls

• HSBC upgraded Ctrip to Buy from Hold; raised price target to $53 from $46.
• Argus upgraded Wendy's WEN to Buy, announces $15 target.
• RBC Capital upgraded Arcelor Mittal NY Registry Shares MT NEW to Outperform.
• SunTrust downgraded Juno Therapeutics JUNO to Hold, lowered target to $25.
• BMO downgraded Eli Lilly to Market Perform, lowered target to $64.

Deal Talk

A Shell RDS spokesperson says the company is in advanced talks for sale of onshore oil operations in Gabon, according to a report from Reuters.

Johnson & Johnson JNJ has approached Actelion ALIOF about a potential takeover of the $17 billion Swiss drugmaker, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Deliberations are still at an early stage following J&J’s initial offer, the people said. Actelion is working with an adviser to explore options, and any discussions may not lead to a transaction, the people said.

In The News

“Since 1987 the Dow has posted gains from Black Friday close until year end 22 out of 28 times."

That means the year-end trade has worked more than 78 percent of the time for nearly three decades. Benzinga took a closer look at the numbers over the past 10 years.

A federal judge in Texas blocked President Barack Obama’s changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which would have drastically increased overtime pay for white-collar workers. While the new rule had the potential to impact practically every industry, analysts saw it as a specific headwind or tailwind in a few.

Blogosphere

"Young people are turning off sport on the box -- something that will strike fear into television executives who hoped live matches would be immune from the diversions of Netflix and video games," says Gadfly's Leila Abboud. "But there are signs it doesn't hold the same spell over young people as their parents. Viewers between the ages of 18 and 24 were the least interested in sport as a genre, according to a survey of 31,000 people across 10 countries carried out by research firm Ampere Analysis."

Trending

A heated election and improbable candidate leave many of us hopeful and many of us worried. Social media has helped enlighten many to the struggles of others, while making violence and hatred more visible than ever before; Its also helped galvanized those who feel left behind.

Some of our most cherished icons have passed away. The closest most of us came to them was a few rows from the stage, in the theater or through a pair of headphones, but the inspiration they provided is immeasurable.

Brexit, interest rates, Trump... and the Dow closing at 19,000.

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