#PreMarket Primer: Thursday, November 20: Immigration Reform Expected To Be Announced

President Obama is expected to announce his changes to the U.S. immigration system on Thursday night, a controversial move that will save millions of immigrants from the threat of deportation.

Obama plans to use his executive action in order to grant nearly five million people the ability to get a work permit while also increasing border security. 

If followed through, it will be the largest change to U.S. immigration policy in almost 30 years.

However, Obama’s use of his executive powers have created controversy in Washington with Republicans claiming that the President is overstepping his boundaries and side stepping Congress. As both the House of Representatives and the Senate are controlled by Republicans following mid-term elections, Republican policymakers have threatened to refuse to cooperate for the remainder of Obama’s term.

Top News

In other news around the markets:

  • The Federal Reserve’s October meeting minutes left something to be desired after being released on Wednesday. The report revealed little new information to investors who have been wondering when and how the bank plans to raise interest rates. The minutes showed that the U.S. central bankers are concerned about whether or not inflation will continue to improve and if the U.S. economy can continue to stabilize while the global economy struggles.
  • On Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he was unsure that world powers would be able to come to an agreement with Iran over the nation’s nuclear development before next week’s deadline. The two sides agreed they would reach a long term deal by November 24, but they remain at odds over several key issues. Hammond told reporters that he was “not optimistic” about a deal by Monday, but that they were considering extending the deadline if talks continued to be productive.
  • Amazon.com Inc. AMZN is using robots in several of its warehouses across the U.S. in order to save its employees valuable time in fulfilling orders. The robots bring the warehouse’s shelves to the employees, saving them about 20 miles worth of walking each day and allowing robot equipped centers to fill nearly triple the amount of orders that a normal center could.
  • China’s HSBC manufacturing PMI reading fell to a six year low on Thursday, confirming that the nation’s slowdown was persisting. The figure came in a 50.0 in November, a drop from October’s 50.4 reading. A figure below 50.0 indicates contraction, meaning that China’s manufacturing sector only barely grew this month. China’s markets were unfazed by the data though, as most have been expecting that the fourth quarter will be turbulent for Beijing.

Asian Markets

Asian markets were mostly lower with the exception of the NIKKEI and the Shanghai composite, which both gained 0.07 percent. The KOSPI was down 0.45 percent, the Shenzhen composite fell 0.20 percent and the Hang Seng index was down 0.10 percent.

European Markets

Europe’s markets were down across the board; the FTSE lost 0.38 percent, the STOXX 600 was down 0.36 percent, the Dax lost 0.40 percent, the CAC 40 was down 0.66 percent and Italy’s MIB suffered the largest loss, down 1.13 percent.

Commodities

Energy futures were minimally higher; Brent futures gained 0.10 percent and WTI futures rose 0.09 percent.Gold and silver lost 0.65 percent and 1.25 percent respectively, while industrial metals were mostly higher with the exception of copper, which lost 0.54 percent. Aluminum was up 0.45 percent, zinc rose 0.31 percent and tin was up 0.13 percent.

Currencies

The euro was lower, down 0.36 percent against the dollar and 0.14 percent against the pound, but the common currency gained 0.23 percent against the yen. The dollar was also higher against the yen, up 0.58 percent, and the green back also rose 0.20 percent against the pound and 0.45 percent against the Australian dollar.

Earnings

Notable reports released on Wednesday included:

  • Target Corporation TGT reported third quarter EPS of $0.54 on revenue of $17.73 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.56 on revenue of $17.26 billion.
  • Lowe’s Companies, Inc. LOW reported third quarter EPS of $0.59 on revenue of $13.70 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.47 on revenue of $12.96 billion.
  • Staples, Inc. SPLS reported third quarter EPS of $0.37 on revenue of $5.96 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.42 on revenue of $6.11 billion.
  • Salesforce.com Inc. CRM reported third quarter EPS of $0.14 on revenue of $1.38 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.09 on revenue of $1.08 billion.

Pre-Market Movers

Stocks moving in the Premarket included:

  • General Motors GM was up 9.89 percent in premarket trade after rising 2.32 percent over the past five days.
  • Masco Corp MAS gained 4.66 percent in premarket trade after gaining 0.95 percent over the past week.
  • Bank of America Corp BAC was down 0.35 percent in premarket trade after choppy trading took the stock down 1.33 percent over the past five days.
  • Facebook Inc. FB was down 0.14 percent in premarket trade after losing 1.36 percent on Wednesday.

Earnings

Notable releases expected on Thursday include:

  • Best Buy Co., Inc. BBY is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.24 on revenue of $9.06 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.18 on revenue of $9.36 billion.
  • Autodesk, Inc. ADSK is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.22 on revenue of $601.76 million, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.41 on revenue of $555.20 million.
  • Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.64 on revenue of $2.06 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.58 on revenue of $1.88 billion.
  • GameStop Corporation GME is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.61 on revenue of $2.21 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.58 on revenue of $2.11 billion.
  • Gap Inc. GPS is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.75 on revenue of $4.04 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.72 on revenue of $3.98 billion.

Economics

Thursday’s economic calendar will be dominated by European data including eurozone services PMI, manufacturing PMI and composite PMI, British retail sales, eurozone consumer confidence, German PPI, manufacturing PMI from Germany and France and composite PMI from Germany and France. Also notable will be U.S. CPI, U.S. existing home sales and U.S. manufacturing PMI.

For a recap of Wednesday’s market action, click here.

Tune into Benzinga’s pre-market info show with Dennis Dick and Joel Elconin here.

Posted In: NewsEurozoneFuturesCommoditiesPreviewsGlobalEconomicsPre-Market OutlookMarketsMoversTrading IdeasAmazon.comPreMarket Primer
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