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Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures Signal Continued March to 20,000

What This Extreme Sentiment Signal Could Mean for Stocks

Dec 20, 2016 at 9:15 AM
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Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are higher, as traders weigh the latest earnings reports and await earnings from blue-chip Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) after the close. The Dow will once again continue its march toward the 20,000 mark, as U.S. stocks shake off yesterday's pair of deadly attacks in Turkey and Germany, and as investors digest the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) policy decision and economic outlook.

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

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Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are about 68 points above fair value.

5 Things You Need to Know Today
  
  1. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 728,173 call contracts traded on Monday, compared to 519,589 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.71, while the 21-day moving average rose to 0.59.
  2. BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) is up 3.1% in electronic trading, after the company delivered a mixed earnings report and upwardly revised its full-year forecast. CEO John Chen also reaffirmed that BBRY expects to see 30% revenue growth in its software and services segment, as the company strives to be more competitive and expand development into sectors such as the autonomous auto industry.
  3. General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) is set to drop 4% at the open, after delivering a disappointing earnings report, with profits and sales both coming in lower than expected, largely attributable to dropping Yoplait yogurt and Progresso soup sales in the United States. GIS also downwardly revised its 2017 sales forecast.
  4. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is trading 3% higher ahead of the bell, set to continue its quest for record highs, after a round of positive analyst attention. Goldman Sachs added NVDA to its "Conviction Buy" list, while hiking its price target to $129 from $92, while Mizuho weighed in with a price-target hike to $115 from $80. 
  5. There are no notable economic reports scheduled today. However, it will be a busy day for earnings. Joining Nike Inc (NKE) in the confessional will be CarMax (KMX), Carnival (CCL), Darden Restaurants (DRI), and FedEx (FDX)

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Overseas Trading

Stocks in Asia closed mixed, as most eyes were fixed on the BoJ. Specifically, the bank announced it would keep interest rates unchanged (in negative territory), and waxed optimistic about the nation's economic outlook, boosting Japan's Nikkei 0.5%. Similarly, South Korea's Kospi settled 0.2% higher. On the negative side of the aisle, China's Shanghai Composite gave back 0.5% amid underlying worries about a weakening yuan and capital outflows, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng followed suit, also down 0.5%.

Most European markets are edging higher, even after a pair of seemingly unrelated attacks in Germany and Turkey. Specifically, one attacker drove his truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people, while in Ankara, Russia's ambassador to Turkey was assassinated. As mentioned previously, this hasn't stopped stocks from rallying, especially within the financial sector, as Lloyds Bank shares surge on the firm's purchase of Bank of America Corp's (NYSE:BA) MBNA credit card business in the U.K., and Italy contemplates a bailout package for ailing lenders. London's FTSE 100 is up 0.3%, the French CAC 40 has tacked on 0.5%, and Germany's DAX is 0.1% higher.

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