EmailThe consumer discretionary group is in-line with the broader market in early trade. The retail group is also in the green with the Retail HOLDRS Trust (RTH) 1% and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) 1.4%. Trading higher following earnings/guidance: MW +14.4%, CALL +3.3%, DLA +2.3%, HWD +1.6%, RAH +1.2%, GIS +0.6%... Trading lower following earnings/guidance: WWW -5.3%, CJJD -2.8%, JADE -1.6%, WAG -1.6% (also reported comps and following TRICARE news), HRB -1.6%, HOV -1.3%. Other notable mentions: Leaders: SVU 0.9% (announces decision to close underperforming stores; co anticipates closures to result in non-cash charges of $80-$90 mln (pre-tax) and gains on sale of departmental assets of ~ $10 mln in fiscal 2013), BH 2.2% (Biglari Holdings receives faux 'offer' from Cracker Barrel), AMZN 1.1% (Amazon.com may introduce smartphone along with Kindle e-readers today, according to reports), LOW 1.7% (files mixed securities shelf offering ), DOLE 0.8% (announced the termination of 38 lawsuits that had been pending in the United States and Nicaragua), SHLD 5.2% (following notable insider buying disclosed last night ), HTZ 1.4% (Penske Auto and Hertz enter franchise agreement), JMBA 2.1% (announces change in stock ownership, significantly reducing preferred stock dividend payment), Z -2.3% (will commence an underwritten public offering of 3.175 mln shares of Class A common stock pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement; additional 325,000 shares of its Class A common stock will be sold in the offering by certain existing shareholders), MHO 3.9% (priced an offering of 2.2 mln shares at $17.63; prices $50 mln of of convertible senior subordinated notes due 2017), Laggards: CHKE -5.4% (Bluestar Alliance announces definitive agreement to sell Liz Lange Maternity and Completely Me by Liz Lange brands to Cherokee; financial terms not disclosed).
Analyst related: Upgrades: SWK 4.7% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley), FRAN 1.4% (upgraded to Mkt Outperform at Avondale)... Downgrades: GIII -1.4% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel Nicolaus)... Misc: SWY 0.4% (Hearing cautious mention at BofA/Merrill), WMT 1.2% (Hearing positive mention at BofA/Merrill).
