Stock futures this morning are looking to extend their bullish run for the quarter. The Nasdaq alone has had its best performing quarter since 1998. Guess they can thank Apple for that one. Dow futures are up 60 points in pre-market trading to 13,138. Nasdaq 100 futures are up 13.75 points to 2,772. The S&P 500 futures are rounding out the bullish pre-market, up 7.25 to 1,405.50.
Analysts that are looking for a short-term correction may have to wait a bit longer. An equity researcher an Danske Research thinks that stocks will continue to drift higher on into the second quarter as long as conditions stay the same or see some more slight improvement.
Gains on the market have been tempered by fresh concerns over Europe. Their lack of a true resolution will continue to haunt the markets through the rest of the year. Add in Chinese concerns over a hard-landing and consistent misses on economic data coming out of the United States and you have to wonder how much longer the good times will roll. Investors seem to be counting on the Fed, who is more than willing to jump in at the first sign of trouble.
Over in Europe, finance ministers are expected to meet today to agree upon an expanded EU firewall for their sovereign debt crisis. Meanwhile, the Greek PM said that a third bailout could not be ruled out. SO look for the part 3 of that little aga sometime later this year.
In commodities, gold prices seem to be finding their way. Gold futures are up nearly $14 to 1,668 per ounce. Gold thrive on economic uncertainty and it seems to be getting a healthy dose of that in the past week.
Oil prices are bouncing off a six-week low set yesterday. Nymex crude futures are up 37 cents to $103.15 per barrel.
Stocks to watch today include Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:THLD), Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI), Dunkin Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DNKN), KIT digital, Inc. (NASDAQ:KITD), Finish Line Inc. (NASDAQ:FINL), Linkedin Corporation (NYSE:LNKD) and Vivus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS).
Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:THLD) is up 5.82% in pre market trading at $8.91. THLD has traded 21 thousand shares already this morning and trades 4.75 million shares a day on average. Threshold announced this morning it received U.S. orphan drug designation for TH-302 for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma. The company has a market cap of 433.90 million.
Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) is up 0.90% in pre market trading at $2.23. SIRI has traded 365 thousand shares this morning with an average volume of 53 million shares a day. SIRI shares have fallen slightly in the past week losing about $0.06 a share. The company has a market cap of 8.30 billion.
Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DNKN) is down 0.70% in pre market trading at $29.85. DNKN has traded 263 thousand shares this morning and trades 896 thousand shares a day on average. Dunkin announced this morning a secondary offering by certain shareholders. The offering will be 26.4 million shares priced at $29.50 per share. The company has a market cap of 3.62 billion.
KIT digital, Inc. (NASDAQ:KITD) is up 6.94% in pre market trading at $7.70. KITD has traded 4 thousand shares this morning and trades 1.1 million shares a day on average. KITD shares are up more than $1 a share since yesterday. The company has a market cap of 333.66 million.
Finish Line Inc. (NASDAQ:FINL) is down 6.67% in pre market trading at $23.65. FINL has traded 50 thousand shares this morning and trades 728 thousand shares a day on average. Finish Line reported fourth quarter results this morning with EPS in-line with estimates and revenue beating estimates. EPS came in at $0.81 per share and revenue was better than expected at $456 million.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE:LNKD) is up 2.27% in pre market trading at $105.00. LNKD has traded 6 thousand shares this morning and trades 2.8 million shares a day on average. Over the past week, LNKD shares have traded as low as $99 and as high as $106. The company has a market cap of 10.52 billion.
Vivus Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) is up 2.87% in pre market trading at $21.89. VVUS has traded 162 thousand shares this morning and trades 6.5 million shares a day on average. VVUS shares jumped over $23 in intraday trading yesterday, but ended the day near $21. The company has a market cap of 1.90 billion.
About Danny Fisher
