After a 13-hour meeting in Brussels, EU and IMF officials finally came to an agreement to provide Greece with a 130 billion Euro bailout package. They also secured agreements in which Greek debt holders would undergo a 53% write-down. This tops the initial 50% agreement reached last October. The question now is will this work?
Judging by the austerity measures they have to institute, signs point to no. If your goal is to reach certain budgetary targets, destroying your workforce is awfully strange way of getting there. Plus with Greek elections in a couple of months it is unlikely that the next group of leaders will feel obligated to stick to the plan.
Domestically, shares of Wal-Mart are getting pummeled in pre-market trading after the company reported a 15% drop in 4th quarter profit. Home Depot, enjoying the lack of a US winter, saw earnings per share jump to 50 cents per share in the 4th quarter.
The economic data calendar is relatively thin, with just the Chicago’s Fed Activity Index slated for release at 8:30 am EST.
Commodities are once again becoming the big story. After Iran banned exports to Britain and France over the weekend, crude jumped solidly above $100. Tensions in the region continues to build as US encircles Iran with a military build-up. The ongoing violence in Syria is also a concern as the Western world looks either powerless or unwilling to stop it.
Nymex crude futures are currently up $2.26 to $104.57 per barrel.
Stocks to watch today include Corcept Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CORT), Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:THLD), Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), GTx, Inc. (NASDAQ:GTXI), The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT).
Corcept Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CORT) is up 67.33% in pre market trading at $5.07. CORT shares are up this morning following FDA approval of its drug, Korlym. Korlym is the first drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of Cushing’s Syndrome. CORT shares traded on average 330 thousand shares a day and should trade well above that today. The company has a market cap of 255.22 million.
Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:THLD) is up 47.88% in pre market trading at $5.15. Threshold provided positive phase 2b results for its TH-302 drug this morning. TH-302 is for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. THLD trades about 1 million shares a day on average. The company has a market cap of 173.42 million.
Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) is up 5.60% in pre market trading at $119.00. WYNN announced this morning it has redeemed Okada’s 20% stake in the company and has requested resignation. WYNN has traded nearly 200 thousand shares so far this morning and trades 2.5 million shares a day on average. The company has market cap of 14 billion.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is down 0.21% in pre market trading at $121.60. NFLX finished last week slightly lower at around $122 a share after starting the week at $124 a share. Netflix announced a DVD only plan late last week. NFLX shares are up more than $50 on the year. The company has a market cap of 6.75 billion.
GTx, Inc. (NASDAQ:GTXI) is down 39.14% in pre market trading at $3.53. GTXI shares are plummeting after FDA issued a clinical hold on its clinical trials of Cepsaris for the treatment of prostate cancer. The company has a market cap of 364.18 million.
The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) is up 3.19% in pre market trading at $48.20. Home Depot announced fourth quarter results earlier today. EPS came in at $0.50, beating analyst estimates of $0.42. Sales rose 5.9% to $16.01 million as the warm winter helped push some spring demand up. The company has a market cap of 72.01 million.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is down 3.14% in pre market trading at $60.52. WMT has traded about 200 thousand shares this morning after the company announced fourth quarter results. Wal-Mart’s fourth quarter profit dropped 15% and outlook may fall below estimates. The company has a market cap of 213.98 billion.
About Kyle Pinder
