A number of major companies are scheduled to report earnings this week
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are trading above fair value this morning, as Wall Street prepares for a huge week on the earnings front. While the schedule is somewhat light today, traders also have trade talks between the U.S. and China to monitor, with White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow telling Fox Business that the December tariffs could be removed if phase one negotiations go well. As such, stocks look ready to bounce back from Friday's tech-led decline.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.34 million call contracts traded on Friday, compared to 1.33 million put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose sharply to 0.99, while the 21-day moving average was 0.70.
- The quiet period is over for Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ:PTON), and that means multiple analysts have offered their two cents on the stock. Most brokerage firms handed out "buy" ratings and set a price target around the $30 mark, with Stifel setting the bar the highest at $35. PTON shares settled Friday at $23.52, compared to the company's late-September initial public offering (IPO) price of $29.
- Speaking of 2019 IPOs, Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND) is beginning to spoil. The stock closed last week with Thursday and Friday losses of 5.3% and 6.3%, respectively, and the shares have closed lower in nine of the last 10 sessions. Today, BYND shares are down another 4% before the open.
- One analyst note to watch this morning is on Pinterest Inc (NYSE:PINS), with RBC upgrading its opinion to "outperform" from "sector perform" and hiking its price target to $35 from $30. The shares have been giving up ground on the charts, falling from an August intraday peak of $36.83 to Friday's close of $25.31.
- There's no economic data today, and the earnings schedule starts slow, too, with just Halliburton (HAL), SAP (SAP), and TD Ameritrade (AMTD) scheduled to report.
Tepid Price Action Overseas
Markets in Asia started the week off on a subdued note, with global economic tensions still running high amid recent Brexit uncertainty. Japan's Nikkei paced the region with a 0.3% gain, although exports fell 5.2%, and imports slipped 1.5% year-over-year. China's Shanghai Composite finished up 0.1%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed just above breakeven. South Korea's Kospi tacked on 0.2%.
Over in Europe, stocks are enjoying solid gains, as investors eye the political gridlock that forced British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask the European Union (EU) to extend the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline. London's FTSE 100 is up 0.2% at last check, where a verdict from the EU could come as soon as tonight. Elsewhere, the French CAC 40 is up 0.3% and the German DAX sports a 0.9% lead, propped up by tech name Wirecard, which commissioned an independent audit amid accounting concerns.