Before the Open (Mar 10)

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Employment Numbers Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Japan rallied more than 1%; Singapore, Australia and New Zealand also did well. Europe is currently up across-the-board. The Netherlands, Poland, Italy and Norway are up more than 1%; the UK, Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Russia, Turkey, Denmark and Sweden are also doing well. Futures in the States point towards a moderate gap up open for the cash market (prior to the jobs report).
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The dollar is up slightly. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are down.
Here are the employment numbers:
unemployment rate: 4.8% (was 4.7% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: +235K
private payrolls:
average workweek: unchanged at 34.3 hours
hourly wages: up 0.2% to $26.09/hour
labor participation rate:
January job gain raised from 227K to 238K.
December job gain lowered from 157K to 155K.
On the news, index futures added to their premarket gains. The dollar dropped; gold rallied.
These are strong numbers, and raising rates is no longer a catch-22. In the past strong numbers increased the odds rates would be raised, something Wall Street didn’t want. There was active discussion surround the desire for a weaker economy and lower rates or a stronger economy and higher rates. Lower rates were cheered, but not now. Rates are moving up, so Wall Street cheers a strong jobs report.
Long term I like the market. Short term I’m not very enthused.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Yum! Brands (YUM -0.42%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘In-Line’ at Evercore ISI.
FedEx (FDX -0.83%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Edward Jones.
VeriFone Systems (PAY +0.59%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted net revenue of $457 million, higher than consensus of $450 million, and said it sees Q2 adjusted net revenue of $470 million-$474 million, above the mid-point of consensus of $470.7 million.
Ulta Beauty (ULTA -0.62%) declined 4% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q1 net sales of $1.24 billion-$1.27 billion, below consensus of $1.28 billion.
Finisar (FNSR +1.60%) plunged 20% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 59 cents, below consensus of 62 cents, and said it sees Q4 adjusted EPS of 50 cents-56 cents, weaker than consensus of 58 cents.
Zumiez (ZUMZ -1.18%) sank over 10% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q1 revenue of $178 million-$182 million, below consensus of $186 million.
Alere (ALR +0.42%) fell nearly 4% in after-hours trading after a U.S. District Judge rejected the company’s request for a temporary reversal of the Department of Health and Human Service’s decision to cancel the Alere’s ability to bill the government-run insurance program.
El Pollo Loco Holdings (LOCO -3.81%) dropped 4% in after-hours trading after it said it sees fiscal proforma EPS of 65 cents-69 cents, below consensus of 70 cents.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE -1.72%) lost 3% in after-hours trading after it announced a public offering of 6.1 million shares of common stock.
Surgery Partners (SGRY -0.24%) tumbled 14% in after-hours trading after it said it sees 2017 Ebitda up 10%-15% y/y, weaker than consensus of up 23% y/y.
Autobytel (ABTL -2.03%) rose over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 35 cents, above consensus of 30 cents.
Cara Therapeutics (CARA +0.46%) fell nearly 6% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q4 loss per share of -81 cents, a wider loss than consensus of -48 cents.
Freshpet (FRPT +3.68%) slipped 1% in after-hours trading after it said it will increase its investment in media this year, which is expected to lower 2017 adjusted Ebitda by 10%.
Ooma (OOMA -8.16%) lost 1% in after-hours trading after it announced a secondary offering of 2.86 million shares.
Codexis (CDXS +9.52%) rose over 6% in after-hours trading after it said it sees 2017 revenue of $50 million-$53 million, better than consensus of $46.3 million.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Non-farm payrolls
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
2:00 PM Treasury Budget
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY