Daily morning up to dates.

The S&P 500 futures trade 16 points, or 0.5%, above fair value on the last day of a strong week for stocks. The benchmark index enters the session up 2.9% this week, versus a 5.8% gain in the Russell 2000. Stimulus has been in the headlines every day this week, with the market responding positively to good news or negatively to bad news. That trend, however, appeared to end yesterday as the market finished higher despite House Speaker Pelosi saying she won't support an airline bill unless the administration commits to a comprehensive package. White House communications director Alyssa Farah said President Trump still does not support a comprehensive package, according to The Washington Post, yet the bias in the market remains positive. It's an interesting development, suggesting either the market knows stimulus is still coming (before or after the election) or the market is rallying on other factors like coronavirus treatment hopes. Today's economic data will be limited to Wholesale Inventories for August (Briefing.com consensus 1.0%), which will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. U.S. Treasuries trade mixed. The 2-yr yield is up two basis points to 0.15%, while the 10-yr yield is down one basis point to 0.76%. The U.S. Dollar Index is down 0.3% to 93.32. WTI crude futures are down 1.0%, or $0.41, to $40.78/bbl. In U.S. Corporate news: Xilinx (XLNX 123.13, +17.14): +16.2% on news it's in talks to be acquired by AMD (AMD 84.88, -1.63, -1.9%) for $30 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. General Electric (GE 6.93, +0.28): +4.2% after the stock was reinstated with a Buy rating at Goldman Sachs. NXP Semiconductors (NXPI 142.00, +7.12): +5.3% after raising its Q3 revenue guidance above consensus. Amgen (AMGN 238.75, -1.34): -0.6% after being downgraded to the equivalent of a Hold rating from a Buy at Bernstein and Truist. Reviewing overnight developments: Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the week on a mostly higher note. Japan's Nikkei: -0.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng: -0.3%, China's Shanghai Composite: +1.7%, India's Sensex: +0.8%, South Korea's Kospi: CLOSED, Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: +0.1%. In economic data: China's September Caixin Services PMI 54.8 (last 54.0) Japan's August Household Spending 1.7% m/m (expected 3.2%; last -6.5%); -6.9% yr/yr, as expected (last -7.6%). August Average Cash Earnings -1.3% yr/yr (last -1.5%) Australia's August Home Loans 13.6% m/m (last 10.7%) In news: China's Shanghai Composite climbed after a week-long holiday while South Korea's Kospi was closed for Hangul Day. Japan's Finance Minister, Taro Aso, said that spending on dining and hotels has stalled while other areas of consumption are growing. The Reserve Bank of India left its repurchase rate at 4.00%, as expected, and announced an expansion of its special open market operations. Major European indices trade in mixed fashion. STOXX Europe 600: +0.2%, Germany's DAX: -0.1%, U.K.'s FTSE 100: +0.5%, France's CAC 40: +0.3%, Italy's FTSE MIB: -0.4%, Spain's IBEX 35: -0.5%. In economic data: U.K.'s August GDP 2.1% m/m (last 6.4%). August Construction Output 3.0% m/m (expected 5.0%; last 17.2%), August Industrial Production 0.3% m/m (expected 2.5%; last 5.2%), and August Manufacturing Production 0.7% m/m (expected 3.0%; last 6.9%). August trade deficit GBP9.01 bln (expected deficit of GBP9.00 bln; last deficit of GBP8.64 bln) France's August Industrial Production 1.3% m/m (expected 1.7%; last 3.8%) Italy's August Industrial Production -0.3% m/m (expected -6.6%; last -8.3%); 7.7% yr/yr (expected 1.3%; last 7.0%) In news: The Spanish government is reportedly going forward with a partial lockdown in Madrid despite yesterday's court ruling that blocked new lockdown measures. British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, is expected to announce a new jobs support plan today. London Stock Exchange confirmed that it will sell Borsa Italiana to Euronext. U.S equity futures: S&P 500 Futures +16 @ 3453 DJIA Futures +125 @ 28434 Nasdaq Futures +46 @ 11585 Overseas: Europe: DAX -0.1%, FTSE +0.5%, CAC +0.3% Asia: Nikkei -0.1%, Hang Seng -0.3%, Shanghai +1.7% Commodities: Crude Oil -0.37 @ 40.82 Nat Gas +0.081 @ 2.708 Gold +25.55 @ 1919.65 Silver +0.634 @ 24.510 Copper +0.0252 @ 3.0682 U.S. Summary: Earnings/Guidance (Full Earnings Calendar): Extreme Networks (EXTR) raises Q1 EPS and revenue guidance above consensus estimate GenMark Diagnostics (GNMK) guides Q3 revenue above consensus; also announces it has received EUA from the FDA for its ePlex Respiratory Pathogen Panel 2 HCA (HCA) guides Q3 revenue above consensus; will return, or repay early $6 bln of govt assistance funds from CARES Act Hecla Mining (HL) reports Q3 production; reaffirms increased annual silver and gold production guidance Matson (MATX) issues upside Q3 EPS guidance Model N (MODN) guides above consensus for Q4 (Sep); CFO David Barter will be stepping down, co has started search for his replacement NXP Semi (NXPI) raises Q3 revenue guidance above consensus estimate General News: White House communications director Alyssa Farah says President Trump does not support comprehensive stimulus package after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said yesterday she will not support standalone bill for airlines unless the White House commits to larger stimulus package. White House will support bills for airlines, stimulus checks, and small businesses, according to Washington Post Parents and religious leaders protest new coronavirus shutdowns In certain areas of NYC, according to the New York Times Hurricane Delta is expected to impact Louisiana as a category 2 or 3 storm tonight Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren pushes for more fiscal stimulus, according to Bloomberg Investment firms see Fed starting to pare back bond-buying next year, according to Reuters Alcoa (AA) will curtail its San Ciprin aluminum smelter in Spain and initiate a collective dismissal that will affect approximately 530 employees Alphabet (GOOG): Google getting ready to launch cheaper Nest thermostat with hand gesture control, according to Bloomberg Amazon (AMZN) confirms Prime Pay will start October 13 in 19 countries worldwide Apple (AAPL) to extend Apple TV+ free trials for three months, according to CNBC Apple (AAPL) iPhone 12 details have been leaked ahead of event on Tuesday, according to Mac Rumors Axovant (AXGT) received Rare Pediatric Disease Designation from the FDA for AXO-AAV-GM1 CyrusOne (CONE) names Katherine Motlagh as CFO Eli Lilly's (LLY) OVERCOME study reveals nearly 80% of people reported improvement in their migraine since starting a CGRP monoclonal antibody for preventive treatment Emergent BioSolutions (EBS) initiates Phase 3 trial that will evaluate plasma-derived therapy COVID-HIG as a potential treatment for COVID-19 Energy Transfer (ET) names Mackie McCrea and Tom Long as Co-CEOs Exelixis (EXEL) disclosed new preclinical data showing that AUR102 has potent anti-tumor activity in a large panel of cancer cell lines Facebook (FB) removes accounts showing inauthentic behavior Fidelity Nat'l Info (FIS) names Ido Gileadi as COO Gap (GPS) appoints Nancy Green as the President and CEO of Old Navy Gilead (GILD): Final Results of NIAID ACTT-1 Trial Published in NEJM Expand Clinical Benefits of Veklury (remdesivir) for the Treatment of COVID-19 Grifols, S.A.'s (GRFS) anti-SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin begins clinical trial in patients with COVID-19 KB Home (KBH) increases quarterly dividend by 67% to $0.15 per share, new yield is 1.5% Microsoft (MSFT) told employees that Xbox Game Pass will be available on Apple (AAPL) mobile platforms next year, according to Business Insider Microsoft (MSFT) will allow employees to work at home permanently, according to Verge Oracle (ORCL): White House to appeal federal court injunction blocking TikTok ban, according to the Wall Street Journal ORIC Pharmaceuticals (ORIC) announces presentation of preclinical data on glucocorticoid receptor antagonist overcoming resistance to an androgen receptor degrader Oyster Point Pharma (OYST) names Dr. Ali Behbahani as its new Chairperson of the Board Pfizer (PFE) tweets it will not take shortcuts to speed up COVID-19 vaccine Pfizer (PFE) PENELOPE-B trial of IBRANCE in early breast cancer did not meet primary endpoint Redfin (RDFN) issues report saying that US home prices are up 15%, largest growth since at least 2005 Target (TGT) corporate employees will work remotely until June of 2021, according to Fox News Veritone (VERI) appoints Michael Zemetra as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, effective today Walmart (WMT) Canada is seeking to immediately hire 10,000 new associates M&A: Citadel Securities to acquire IMC's Designated Market Making business on the floor of the NYSE Xilinx (XLNX): AMD (AMD) in discussions to purchase XLNX for $30 bln, according to the Wall Street Journal Syndicate: Natura &Co (NTCO) priced a global offering of the total 121,400,000 common shares for approximately R$5.6 billion at a public offering price of R$46.25 per share or US$16.4591 per ADS Sorrento Therapeutics (SRNE) files for 996,803 share common stock offering by selling shareholder IPOs: Expected to Price: iHuman (NYSE: IH): The leading online childhood edutainment provider in China is expected to price its 7.0 M share IPO between $11-$13. Spruce Biosciences (Nasdaq: SPRB): The late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing novel therapies for rare endocrine disorders is expected to price its 5.0 M share IPO between $14-$16. Priced to Trade: Kronos Bio (Nasdaq: KRON): The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel cancer therapeutics priced its upsized 13.2 M share IPO at $19, above the $16-$18 expected price range. The IPO was originally expected to consist of 10.3 mln shares. Shattuck Labs (Nasdaq: STTK): The clinical-stage biotechnology company developing dual-sided fusion proteins as a new class of biologic medicine priced its upsized 11.88 M share IPO at $17, above the $14-$16 expected price range. The deal was originally expected to consist of 10.0 M shares. Gapping Up/Down Gapping up: MVIS +33.9%, EXTR +20%, XLNX +17%, SELB +12.4%, GNMK +9.9%, ACB +9.4%, TLRY +8.5%, MATX +7.8%, HCA +7.7%, NXPI +5.1%, MJ +4.2%, LILA +4.1%, VLDR +3.6%, APHA +3.2%, HL +3.1%, RKT +2.5%, VERI +2.4%, GE +2.3%, W +2%, GILD +1.6%, MCHP +1.6%, MXIM +1.5%, TSLA +1.5%, FCX +1.4%, CCL +1.3%, ON +1.2%, ALK +1.2%, IP +1.2%, DAR +1.1%, ADI +1% Gapping down: AMD -3.7%, STLD -1.5%, ASAN -1.2%, MODN -0.9% Analyst Research (see Upgrades/Downgrades calendarfor full list): Upgrades: EQT Corp. (EQT) upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; tgt $16.50 Franklin Resources (BEN) upgraded to Buy from Underperform at BofA Securities; tgt raised to $26 Greenhill (GHL) upgraded to Mkt Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette; tgt $13 Heartland Express (HTLD) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan; tgt $20 Int'l Paper (IP) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo; tgt raised to $52 Janus Henderson Group (JHG) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse; tgt raised to $26 Liberty Latin America (LILA) upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; tgt $11 Liberty LiLAC (LILAK) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman; tgt $15 Realty Income (O) upgraded to Sector Outperform from Sector Perform at Scotiabank; tgt $72 Rocket Companies (RKT) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan; tgt $28.50 Ryder System (R) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan; tgt $50 Teradyne (TER) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel; tgt raised to $115 Wayfair (W) upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at William Blair Westlake Chemical (WLK) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup; tgt raised to $78 Downgrades: Amgen (AMGN) downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at Bernstein Amgen (AMGN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Truist; tgt $251 Hexcel (HXL) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse; tgt lowered to $40 IRSA Propiedades (IRCP) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan; tgt $8.50 Knight-Swift (KNX) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan; tgt $35 Moelis (MC) downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette; tgt $40 NVIDIA (NVDA) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at New Street; tgt $400 QIWI (QIWI) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan Schneider National (SNDR) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan; tgt $20 V.F. Corp (VFC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel; tgt $80 WisdomTree (WETF) downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley; tgt $3.50 Others: 8x8 (EGHT) initiated with a Neutral at Mizuho; tgt $17 Asana (ASAN) initiated with an Underperform at Bernstein; tgt $19 Big Lots (BIG) initiated with an Outperform at Wolfe Research; tgt $61 Brigham Minerals (MNRL) initiated with a Buy at Stifel; tgt $16 CNX Resources (CNX) resumed with a Buy at Stifel; tgt $13 Comstock (CRK) resumed with a Buy at Stifel Coupa Software (COUP) initiated with a Buy at Deutsche Bank; tgt $345 Darling Ingredients (DAR) initiated with a Buy at Tudor Pickering; tgt $47 Dollar General (DG) initiated with an Outperform at Wolfe Research; tgt $250 Dollar Tree (DLTR) initiated with a Peer Perform at Wolfe Research Farmers and Merchants (FMAO) initiated with an Equal-Weight at Stephens; tgt $22.50 General Electric (GE) resumed with a Buy at Goldman; tgt $10 Natural Grocers (NGVC) initiated with an Outperform at Wolfe Research; tgt $14 Nicolet Bankshares (NCBS) initiated with an Equal-Weight at Stephens; tgt $64 Range Resources (RRC) resumed with a Hold at Stifel; tgt $8 RingCentral (RNG) initiated with a Buy at Mizuho; tgt $350 Zoom Video (ZM) initiated with a Buy at Mizuho; tgt $550 Upcoming Events: Econ Data: 10:00 ET: Wholesale Inventories for August (Briefing.com Consensus 1.0%; Prior -0.3%) Asia & Europe detail: Asia: Nikkei -0.1%, Hang Seng -0.3%, Shanghai +1.7% Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the week on a mostly higher note. China's Shanghai Composite climbed after a week-long holiday while South Korea's Kospi was closed for Hangul Day. Japan's Finance Minister, Taro Aso, said that spending on dining and hotels has stalled while other areas of consumption are growing. The Reserve Bank of India left its repurchase rate at 4.00%, as expected, and announced an expansion of its special open market operations. In economic data: China's September Caixin Services PMI 54.8 (last 54.0) Japan's August Household Spending 1.7% m/m (expected 3.2%; last -6.5%); -6.9% yr/yr, as expected (last -7.6%). August Average Cash Earnings -1.3% yr/yr (last -1.5%) Australia's August Home Loans 13.6% m/m (last 10.7%) ---Equity Markets--- Japan's Nikkei: -0.1% (+2.6% for the week) Hong Kong's Hang Seng: -0.3% (+2.8% for the week) China's Shanghai Composite: +1.7% (+1.7% for the week) India's Sensex: +0.8% (+8.4% for the week) South Korea's Kospi: CLOSED (+2.8% for the week) Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: +0.1% (+5.5% for the week) ---FX--- USD/JPY: -0.2% to 105.85 USD/CNH: -0.7% to 6.6907 USD/INR: -0.3% to 73.14 Europe: DAX -0.1%, FTSE +0.5%, CAC +0.3% Major European indices trade in mixed fashion. The Spanish government is reportedly going forward with a partial lockdown in Madrid despite yesterday's court ruling that blocked new lockdown measures. British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, is expected to announce a new jobs support plan today. London Stock Exchange confirmed that it will sell Borsa Italiana to Euronext. In economic data: U.K.'s August GDP 2.1% m/m (last 6.4%). August Construction Output 3.0% m/m (expected 5.0%; last 17.2%), August Industrial Production 0.3% m/m (expected 2.5%; last 5.2%), and August Manufacturing Production 0.7% m/m (expected 3.0%; last 6.9%). August trade deficit GBP9.01 bln (expected deficit of GBP9.00 bln; last deficit of GBP8.64 bln) France's August Industrial Production 1.3% m/m (expected 1.7%; last 3.8%) Italy's August Industrial Production -0.3% m/m (expected -6.6%; last -8.3%); 7.7% yr/yr (expected 1.3%; last 7.0%) ---Equity Markets--- STOXX Europe 600: +0.2% (+1.8% week-to-date) Germany's DAX: -0.1% (+2.7% week-to-date) U.K.'s FTSE 100: +0.5% (+1.8% week-to-date) France's CAC 40: +0.3% (+2.1% week-to-date) Italy's FTSE MIB: -0.4% (+2.3% week-to-date) Spain's IBEX 35: -0.5% (+3.0% week-to-date) ---FX--- EUR/USD: +0.4% to 1.1801 GBP/USD: +0.2% to 1.2949 USD/CHF: -0.5% to 0.9125