December 20th, 2013 Watch List

Futures are up slightly on this Friday morning as the market looks to put to rest a solid week of gains, with the SPY adding 1.90% so far. I forgot about the ex-divy on the SPY so the $182 mark I was expecting to close above is nearly out of reach, but the possibility of $181.25 or so still exists. The Vix is also down over 10% this week and it closed at 14.15 yesterday.

One of the bigger stories on Thursday was the drop in gold and its close below $1200. Yesterday was the first time gold has closed under $1200 since mid-2010. I expect it to continue to fall out of favor and, hopefully, break under $1180 today.

There were earnings reports out yesterday from RHT and NKE. Both reported strong numbers and both have analysts out this morning raising targets. RHT is up nicely but NKE is nearly flat. Despite the strong numbers from NKE, it may linger in the high 70s for a bit before breaking into the 80s and above all-time highs.

If you missed it yesterday, here's my daily recap for Thursday: https://www.optionmillionaires.com/trade-recap-today-december-19th-2013/

I'm still holding calls and will look to lock them in at some point today. I may try for some lottos on PCLN, despite that stock being a premium crusher every Friday for the past few months. I'll also be looking at AMZN for a break over $400, finally.

Altogether, there are eight sessions left before the new year with little data coming, so I would expect it to be quite easy for the market to ramp higher. Also, it's 46 all-time high closes on the Dow so far this year and it will be interesting if we continue to see more.

I'll be doing a webinar on my Top 5 picks for 2014 sometime next week, probably December 26th. It will be recorded and I'll have a blog post on it, so no worries if you can't make it. I usually trade weeklies and monthlies, so it's just those stocks I'm looking for leaps on, which is a a strategy I rarely employ.

Here are the analyst changes of note for today:

Twitter initiated with a Market Perform at BMO Capital

Target $55

DRI Darden stock worth about $56, says Wells Fargo

After Darden reported lower than expected Q2 same-store sales and announced that it would spin off or divest Red Lobster, Wells Fargo's sum of the parts analysis of the new Darden suggests that the stock is worth about $56 per share. The firm keeps an Outperform rating on the stock

WDC Western Digital price target raised to $105 from $82 at Stifel

Stifel increased its price target on Western Digital as it believes that investor sentiment towards the HDD industry will remain positive, driven partly by underlying capacity demand and favorable cloud-driven mix shift. The firm keeps a Buy rating on the stock

PVH PVH Corp. shares recommended at Buckingham

Following a management meeting, Buckingham recommends added to PVH Corp positions given 2015 earnings power, positive commentary on the selling environment, WRC synergies, and margin opportunity. Shares are Buy rated with a $152 price target

MMM 3M Company upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan

JPMorgan upgraded 3M Company to Neutral citing a more aggressive use of the company's balance sheet and better fundamentals in 2014. The firm raised its price target for shares to $128 from $120 following 3M's investor conference

NKE Nike revenue growth strong, says Wells Fargo

After Nike provided lower FY14 EPS guidance, Wells Fargo thinks the stock could trade sideways in the near-term. However, the firm keeps an Outperform rating on the stock due to what it sees as the company's strong revenue growth

RHT Red Hat price target raised to $60 from $55 at Maxim

Maxim raised its price target for Red Hat shares to $60 citing strong billings acceleration following the company's Q3 results. The firm reiterates a Buy rating on the stock

Here are the strikes I'm watching at the open:

Stock Ticker	Call/Put	Strike	Expiration	Closing Price	Entry Price
AMZN	CALL	$402.50	Weekly	0.35	0.30
PCLN	CALL	$1,207.50	Weekly	0.95	0.40

Let's have a great day folks. I'll see you this coming Sunday night for the last Week Ahead webinar of 2013!

- JB