Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures Fly High Ahead of Fed

7 Stocks Set to Underperform

Josh Selway

Dec 16, 2015 at 9:02 AM

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are trading over 100 points above fair value ahead of today's potentially historic Fed announcement. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is expected to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade in a statement scheduled for release at 2 p.m. ET. Fed Chair Janet Yellen will give a press conference shortly after the announcement.

There's also plenty of economic data worth considering today. In addition to news from the housing sector, Wall Street will consider weekly oil inventories, with January crude futures moving lower following two straight days of gains.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White explains why these 7 Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) newcomers look poised to underperform.
Why BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) call volume popped.
What every trader needs to know about Fibonacci levels.

And now, on to the numbers…

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Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are 139 points above fair value.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

Global stocks are on the rise ahead of today's interest rate announcement out of the U.S.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 828,132 call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to 548,624 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio jumped to 0.66, while the 21-day moving average dipped to 0.72.
After surging 16.4% on Tuesday, thanks to a fresh deal with a prominent pharmacy chain, drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) is up 2.6% in pre-market trading after providing an upbeat growth forecast for 2016. Since hitting a two-year low of $69.33 on Nov. 15, VRX has jumped 58.1% to close yesterday at $109.59.
Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE) is also positioned to extend its positive momentum from Tuesday. Shares of SUNE are up 13.3% in electronic trading, with traders hoping to see an extension to an investment tax credit.
Elsewhere, AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) opened up its wallet for the second time in two months, this time purchasing Takeda Pharmaceutical Company's respiratory business for $575 million. AZN also said it plans to invest over $800 million in China over the next decade.

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Earnings and Economic Data

Prior to the Fed's announcement, traders will have a chance to react to housing starts, building permits, industrial production and capacity utilization, and Markit's flash purchasing managers manufacturing index (PMI). Earnings are due out from Apogee Enterprises (APOG), FedEx (FDX), Jabil Circuit (JBL), Oracle (ORCL), and Pier 1 Imports (PIR). To see what else is coming up on this week's agenda, click here.

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