Daily morning briefing

The S&P 500 futures are holding steady following yesterday's sharp decline, trading four points, or 0.1%, below fair value. Futures have traded in a tight-ranged session. Economic data will be of interest today, as growth concerns have resurfaced amid a lack of a fiscal stimulus deal and reports of rising coronavirus cases in some parts of the U.S. and Europe. The weekly Initial Claims report (Briefing.com consensus 825,000) will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by New Home Sales for August (Briefing.com consensus 875,000) at 10:00 a.m. ET. Apple (AAPL 106.17, -0.95, -0.9%) has had a rough month, down 22.4% from its record high, and it's down another 1% in pre-market action. The latest headwind for the company is uncertainty surrounding its App Store rules, with several other high-profile companies reportedly joining the fight against Apple's practices. Elsewhere, Treasury yields remain stuck at historically low levels and have been at these levels for nearly six months. The U.S. Dollar Index is trading at its highest level since July with a 0.1% gain to 94.50. The 2-yr yield is flat at 0.13%, and the 10-yr yield is up down one basis point to 0.67%. WTI crude futures are flat at $39.95/bbl. In U.S. Corporate news: Apple (AAPL 106.17, -0.95): -0.9% amid news that more companies, including Spotify (SPOT 235.05, unch), have joined the fight against the company's App Store rules. Wells Fargo (WFC 23.01, +0.18): +0.8% alongside many other bank stocks, but WFC was also added to the Fresh Pick List at Robert W. Baird. CarMax (KMX 106.28, +0.35): +0.3% after beating top and bottom-line estimates. Scripps (SSP 15.10, +4.63): +44.2% after agreeing to buy national broadcast network ION Media for $2.65 billion. Reviewing overnight developments: Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Thursday on a lower note. Japan's Nikkei: -1.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng: -1.8%, China's Shanghai Composite: -1.7%, India's Sensex: -3.0%, South Korea's Kospi: -2.6%, Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: -0.9%. In economic data: Japan's August BoJ Core CPI 0.0% yr/yr (last 0.0%) Hong Kong's August trade deficit HKD14.60 bln (last deficit of HKD29.80 bln). August Imports -5.7% m/m (last -3.4%) and Exports -2.3% m/m (last -3.0%) New Zealand's August trade deficit NZD353 mln (last surplus of NZD447 mln) In news: Independently published China Beige Book noted that while the Chinese economy is recovering, smaller companies in Western and Central provinces are bouncing back at a much slower pace than larger entities in Beijing and Shanghai. Japan's Prime Minister, Yosihide Suga, reportedly told South Korea's President, Moon Jae-in, that relations between the two countries must improve. Chinese officials reportedly banned two Australian scholars from entering China. Major European indices trade in mixed fashion. STOXX Europe 600: -0.4%, Germany's DAX: +0.2%, U.K.'s FTSE 100: -0.4%, France's CAC 40: -0.1%, Italy's FTSE MIB: +0.6%, Spain's IBEX 35: +0.4%. In economic data: Germany's September ifo Business Climate Index 93.4 (expected 93.8; last 92.5). September Current Assessment 89.2 (expected 89.5; last 87.9) and Business Expectations 97.7 (expected 98.0; last 97.2) U.K.'s September CBI Distributive Trades Survey 11 (expected -10; last -6) France's September Business Survey 96 (expected 95; last 92) Italy's non-EU trade surplus EUR3.27 bln (last surplus of EUR6.69 bln) In news: The latest Economic Bulletin from the ECB showed that job losses continued in Q3 and there were few signs of an improvement in demand for consumer goods. The latest survey from Germany's ifo Institute pointed to a continued improvement in the domestic economy, though sentiment surrounding the tourism industry remained weak. The Swiss National Bank left its policy rate at -0.75%, as expected. U.S equity futures: S&P 500 Futures -12 @ 3220 DJIA Futures -68 @ 26617 Nasdaq Futures -73 @ 10756 Overseas: Europe: DAX +0.2%, FTSE -0.4%, CAC -0.1% Asia: Nikkei -1.1%, Hang Seng -1.8%, Shanghai -1.7% Commodities: Crude Oil +0.01 @ 39.94 Nat Gas +0.098 @ 2.223 Gold -7.05 @ 1861.35 Silver -0.660 @ 22.445 Copper -0.0455 @ 2.9472 U.S. Summary: Earnings/Guidance (Full Earnings Calendar): Accenture (ACN) reports Q4 (Aug) results, revs in-line; guides Q1 revs in-line; guides FY21 revs below consensus; raises dividend and approves $5 bln additional share repurchase BlackBerry (BB) beats by $0.09, beats on revs CarMax (KMX) beats by $0.68, beats on revs Darden Restaurants (DRI) beats by $0.51, misses on revs; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs below consensus; Q1 comps -29% Edison (EIX) reaffirms FY20 EPS guidance; So Cal Edison settles with holders of insurance subrogation claims FactSet (FDS) beats by $0.35, beats on revs; guides FY21 EPS in-line, revs above consensus H.B. Fuller (FUL) beats by $0.06, beats on revs; guides NovQ revs above consensus Jefferies (JEF) report Aug results, increases share repurchase authorization to $250 mln Methode Electronics (MEI) sees Q2 above consensus Owens & Minor (OMI) sees FY20 above consensus Rite Aid (RAD) beats by $0.11, beats on revs; raises FY20 revenue guidance General News: Two police officers were shot amid protests in several cities following grand jury decision in the Breonna Taylor case University of Pennsylvania study shows that stay at home orders were more effective than targeting and closing businesses during pandemic, according to Bloomberg President Trump warned he might reject new tougher FDA standards for coronavirus vaccine, according to the Washington Post WeWork sells majority stake in China unit, according to the Wall Street Journal Aerie Pharma (AERI) reports interim 90-Day topline data from its six-month Mercury 3 clinical trial in Europe Akero Therapeutics (AKRO) announced that written guidance from the FDA enables the company to implement an innovative combined Phase 2b/3 study design for pivotal efruxifermin (EFX) trials in NASH patients American Water Works (AWK) awarded $770 mln Defense Logistics Agency contract Ascendis Pharma (ASND) files Clinical Trial Notification for Phase 3 trial of TransCon hGH for pediatric growth hormone deficiency in Japan Axsome Therapeutics (AXSM) presents new data from Momentum Phase 3 trial with AXS-07 demonstrating rapid onset of action and reduced symptom recurrence in the acute treatment of migraine Co-Diagnostics (CODX) provides update on "ABC" Test for Influenza A, Influenza B, and COVID-19; expects to begin taking orders from US CLIA labs first week of October 2020 Dollar Tree (DLTR) to resume share repurchase program which was suspended in March 2020; currently has $800 mln remaining Eagle Pharma (EGRX) commences $25 million accelerated share repurchase as part of existing $160 million share repurchase program Facebook (FB): Thailand began legal action against Facebook and Twitter (TWTR), according to Reuters Green Brick Partners (GRBK) promotes Jed Dolson To Chief Operating Officer Harley-Davidson (HOG) provides update on restructuring efforts IDEAYA Biosciences (IDYA) and Pfizer (PFE) expand clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement to evaluate clinical combination of IDE196 and crizotinib in solid tumors harboring GNAQ or GNA11 mutations Leap Therapeutics (LPTX): FDA has granted Fast Track designation to DKN-01 for the treatment of patients with gastric and gastroesophageal junction (G/GEJ) adenocarcinoma whose tumors express high Dickkopf-1 protein Lexicon Pharma (LXRX) agreements to exchange convertible notes; has reduced its outstanding debt by ~90% in Q3 MediciNova (MNOV) announces positive clinical results regarding MN-166 (ibudilast) for prevention of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy published in cancer chemotherapy and pharmacology New Residential Investment (NRZ) increases quarterly cash dividend to $0.15/share from $0.10/share New York Times (NYT) announces that Arthur Ochs Sulzberger will retire as chairman; A.G. Sulzberger will become chairman Novo Nordisk (NVO) reports results of the CAPTURE study Oracle (ORCL): TikTok is seeking Chinese approval for US deal, according to the Wall Street Journal OraSure (OSUR) ORAcollect RNA device included in EUA granted to Quadrant Biosciences for COVID-19 test Orion Energy Systems (OESX) announced planned retirement of CFO Bill Hull, effective in November SeaSpine (SPNE) announces commercial launch of its WaveForm C Interbody Implant System South Jersey Industries (SJI) subsidiary South Jersey Gas approved for rate changes Spotify (SPOT) and Match.com (MTCH) and others introduce coalition to protest Apple (AAPL) App Store rules, according to Bloomberg Tesla's (TSLA) Nevada lithium production plans, shared during the company's Battery Day event, will face obstacles from the outset, according to Reuters Total SE (TOT) commits 500 mln to convert its Grandpuits Refinery into a zero-crude platform for biofuels and bioplastics Twitter (TWTR) to experiment with direct voice messaging features, according to The Verge Ulta Beauty (ULTA) suspends planned expansion to Canada United Airlines (UAL) and union representing pilots agree to delay furloughs until October 30, according to Reuters Verrica Pharmaceuticals (VRCA) announces publication of results from Phase III CAMP trials M&A: CrowdStrike (CRWD) agrees to acquire Preempt Security for approx. $96 mln Curtiss-Wright (CW) to acquire Pacific Star Communications for $400 million in cash Preferred Apt. Communities (APTS) Announces agreement to sell its student housing portfolio to TPG Real Estate Partners Scripps (SSP) will buy national broadcast network ION Media for $2.65 billion Switchback Energy Acquisition (SBE) and ChargePoint, Inc signed a definitive business combination agreement UBS (UBS) and Credit Suisse (CS) discussed merger of equals, according to the NY Post Syndicate: Accel Entertainment (ACEL) to sell 8,000,000 shares of its Class A-1 Common Stock at $10.50 per share ADC Therapeutics (ADCT) prices offering of 6 mln shares of common stock at $34.00 per share Kingsoft Cloud (KC) prices 8 mln ADS and 8,421,576 ADSs at $31.00/ADS Penn Natl Gaming (PENN) announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of 14,000,000 shares of common stock of the Company IPOs: Expected to Price: Corsair Gaming (Nasdaq: CRSR): The provider of high-performance gear for gamers and content creators is expected to price its 14.0 M share IPO between $16-$18. GoodRx Holdings (Nasdaq: GDRX): The provider of a leading, consumer-focused digital healthcare platform in the United States is expected to price its 34.6 M share IPO between $24-$28. Graybug Vision (Nasdaq: GRAY): The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing medicines for treatment of diseases of the retina and optic nerve is expected to price its 4.7 M share IPO between $15-$17) Orphazyne (Nasdaq: ORPH): The late-stage biopharmaceutical company harnessing the amplification of Heat Shock Proteins to develop therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative orphan diseases is expected to price its 7.6 M share IPO between $13-$14. PMV Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PVMP): The precision oncology company developing small molecule, tumor-agnostic therapies targeting p53 mutations is expected to price its 7.4 M share IPO between $16-$18. Taysha Gene Therapies (Nasdaq: TSHA): The gene therapy company focused on developing AAV-based gene therapies for the treatment of monogenic diseases of the central nervous system is expected to price its 6.6 M share IPO between $18-$20. Gapping Up/Down Gapping up: OMI +16%, JEF +11.3%, VRCA +10.3%, LPTX +8.3%, BB +7.3%, SBE +7%, MEI +6.8%, LXRX +6%, CODX +5.9%, OSUR +3.4%, NRZ +3.2%, ACEL +3%, FDS +2.6%, KMX +1.5%, DLTR +1.2%, UVE +1.1%, FUL +1.1%, ZGNX +0.9% Gapping down: PENN -5.4%, ACN -5.4%, AWK -5.1%, TSLA -3%, KC -2.5%, ULTA -0.9%, CRWD -0.5%, TWTR -0.5%, ADCT -0.5% Analyst Research (see Upgrades/Downgrades calendarfor full list): Upgrades: Andersons (ANDE) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Seaport Global Securities; tgt $26 Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird; tgt raised to $20 Casella Waste (CWST) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel; tgt raised to $60 Enpro Industries (NPO) upgraded to Overweight from Sector Weight at KeyBanc Capital Markets; tgt $68 Exxon Mobil (XOM) upgraded to Sector Perform from Sector Underperform at Scotiabank; tgt $45 FedEx (FDX) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel; tgt raised to $281 Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; tgt raised to $19 Goldman Sachs (GS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS; tgt raised to $245 JinkoSolar Holding (JKS) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse; tgt $32 M/A-COM Tech (MTSI) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel; tgt $40 Northwest Natural (NWN) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Wells Fargo; tgt $46 Occidental Petro (OXY) upgraded to Sector Outperform from Sector Perform at Scotiabank; tgt $16 Rockwell Automation (ROK) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Daiwa Securities; tgt $240 Silicon Motion (SIMO) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Wedbush; tgt $46 Square (SQ) upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer; tgt $185 ZoomInfo (ZI) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity; tgt $50 Downgrades: Chevron (CVX) downgraded to Sector Perform from Sector Outperform at Scotiabank; tgt $95 Hess (HES) downgraded to Sector Perform from Sector Outperform at Scotiabank; tgt $55 Murphy Oil (MUR) downgraded to Sector Underperform from Sector Perform at Scotiabank; tgt $13 Nikola Corporation (NKLA) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Wedbush; tgt lowered to $15 Penn Natl Gaming (PENN) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie; tgt raised to $66 Range Resources (RRC) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman; tgt raised to $6 Stratasys (SSYS) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan; tgt lowered to $18 Others: Bionano Genomics (BNGO) initiated with a Buy at Ladenburg Thalmann; tgt $1.25 C.H. Robinson (CHRW) initiated with an Underweight at Wells Fargo; tgt $92 Chevron (CVX) initiated with a Buy at MKM Partners; tgt $121 DraftKings (DKNG) initiated with an Outperform at Macquarie; tgt $65 Expeditors Intl (EXPD) initiated with an Equal Weight at Wells Fargo; tgt $97 Hub Group (HUBG) initiated with an Overweight at Wells Fargo; tgt $61 J.B. Hunt Transport (JBHT) initiated with an Overweight at Wells Fargo; tgt $155 Knight-Swift (KNX) initiated with an Overweight at Wells Fargo; tgt $51 Landstar System (LSTR) initiated with an Equal Weight at Wells Fargo; tgt $135 National Fuel Gas (NFG) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman; tgt $45.50 Old Dominion (ODFL) initiated with an Equal Weight at Wells Fargo; tgt $192 Ryder System (R) initiated with an Underweight at Wells Fargo; tgt $40 Saia (SAIA) initiated with an Equal Weight at Wells Fargo; tgt $128 Schneider National (SNDR) initiated with an Equal Weight at Wells Fargo; tgt $27 Werner Enterprises (WERN) initiated with an Equal Weight at Wells Fargo; tgt $47 XPO Logistics (XPO) initiated with an Overweight at Wells Fargo; tgt $98 Upcoming Events: Econ Data: 08:30 ET: Initial Claims for September 19 (Briefing.com Consensus 825K; Prior 860K) 08:30 ET: Continuing Claims for September 12 (Briefing.com Consensus NA; Prior 12.628 M) 10:00 ET: New Home Sales for August (Briefing.com Consensus 875K; Prior 901K) 10:30 ET: EIA Natural Gas Inventories for September 19 (Briefing.com Consensus NA; Prior +89 bcf) Asia & Europe detail: Asia: Nikkei -1.1%, Hang Seng -1.8%, Shanghai -1.7% Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Thursday on a lower note. Independently published China Beige Book noted that while the Chinese economy is recovering, smaller companies in Western and Central provinces are bouncing back at a much slower pace than larger entities in Beijing and Shanghai. Japan's Prime Minister, Yosihide Suga, reportedly told South Korea's President, Moon Jae-in, that relations between the two countries must improve. Chinese officials reportedly banned two Australian scholars from entering China. In economic data: Japan's August BoJ Core CPI 0.0% yr/yr (last 0.0%) Hong Kong's August trade deficit HKD14.60 bln (last deficit of HKD29.80 bln). August Imports -5.7% m/m (last -3.4%) and Exports -2.3% m/m (last -3.0%) New Zealand's August trade deficit NZD353 mln (last surplus of NZD447 mln) ---Equity Markets--- Japan's Nikkei: -1.1% Hong Kong's Hang Seng: -1.8% China's Shanghai Composite: -1.7% India's Sensex: -3.0% South Korea's Kospi: -2.6% Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: -0.9% ---FX--- USD/JPY: +0.1% to 105.44 USD/CNH: +0.1% to 6.8302 USD/INR: +0.4% to 73.90 Europe: DAX +0.2%, FTSE -0.4%, CAC -0.1% Major European indices trade in mixed fashion. The latest Economic Bulletin from the ECB showed that job losses continued in Q3 and there were few signs of an improvement in demand for consumer goods. The latest survey from Germany's ifo Institute pointed to a continued improvement in the domestic economy, though sentiment surrounding the tourism industry remained weak. The Swiss National Bank left its policy rate at -0.75%, as expected. In economic data: Germany's September ifo Business Climate Index 93.4 (expected 93.8; last 92.5). September Current Assessment 89.2 (expected 89.5; last 87.9) and Business Expectations 97.7 (expected 98.0; last 97.2) U.K.'s September CBI Distributive Trades Survey 11 (expected -10; last -6) France's September Business Survey 96 (expected 95; last 92) Italy's non-EU trade surplus EUR3.27 bln (last surplus of EUR6.69 bln) ---Equity Markets--- STOXX Europe 600: -0.4% Germany's DAX: +0.2% U.K.'s FTSE 100: -0.4% France's CAC 40: -0.1% Italy's FTSE MIB: +0.6% Spain's IBEX 35: +0.4% ---FX--- EUR/USD: -0.1% to 1.1643 GBP/USD: +0.1% to 1.2740 USD/CHF: +0.2% to 0.9251