Before the Open (Apr 7)

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Employment Numbers Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. Japan and China moved up; India, Indonesia and New Zealand moved down. Europe currently leans to the downside. Russia is down almost 2%; Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Portugal and Switzerland are also weak. Greece is up 1.4%; the Czech Republic is also doing well. Prior to the release of the latest employment figures, futures in the States pointed towards a flat-to-down open for the cash market.
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The dollar is up. Oil is up; copper is down. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up.
We got news last night the US launched Tomahawk missiles against an airbase in Syria. S&P futures initially plunged but have climbed almost all the way back. Oil jumped but has give back about half the gain. Gold also jumped, but it has held its gain.
There’s no shortage of “stuff” out there for the market to ponder.
Here are the employment numbers:
unemployment rate: 4.5% (was 4.7% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: +98K
private payrolls:
average workweek: unchanged at 34.3 hours
hourly wages: up 0.2% to $26.14/hour
labor participation rate:
January gain reduced from 238K to 216K
February gain reduced from 235K to 219K
On the news, S&P futures went from being down about 2 to being down about 8, but they’re now bouncing.
It’s been a busy week. The indexes are down (last week was a solid up week) but remain range bound. This is not a time to be placing big bets. The market doesn’t know what it wants to do next.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Cruise missle maker Ratheon (RTN -0.43%) gained nearly 2% in pre-market trading following the U.S. cruise missle attack on Syria.
Wal-Mart (WMT -0.81%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Telsy Advisory with a price target of $82.
FedEx (FDX -0.21%) was rated new ‘Buy’ at Loop Capital Markets with a 12-month target price of $234.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc ({=JAZZ =}) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC with a price target of $175.
WD-40 (WDFC -0.47%) dropped nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 87 cents, weaker than consensus of 90 cents, and said it sees full-year net sales of $390 million-$395 million, below consensus of $395.7 million.
United Bancshares (UBSI -2.17%) will replace WhiteWave Foods in the S&P MidCap 400 before the open on Wednesday, April 12.
Oclaro (OCLR -5.36%) rose 5% in after-hours trading when it was announced that it will replace United Bancshares in the S&P 600 before the open on Wednesday, April 12.
PriceSmart (PSMT -0.16%) lost 1% in after-hours trading even after it reported Q2 EPS of 90 cents, right on expectations.
Luther King Capital said it boosted its stake in A.H. Belo (AHC -1.69%) to 5.2% from 4.8%.
AngioDynamics (ANGO -1.47%) announced a secondary offering of 2.35 million shares of common stock by selling stockholders.
Codexis (CDXS -1.06%) slid 3% in after-hours trading after it proposed a public offering of common stock, although no size was given.
Ryerson Holding (RYI -4.33%) rallied nearly 6% in after-hour trading after it said it sees Q1 net income of $12 million-$15 million, better than consensus of $10.3 million.
C&J Energy Services (CJ +4.98%) slumped 12% in after-hours trading after it announced a secondary public offering of 7 million shares of its common stock.
NeoPhotonics (NPTN -1.40%) dropped 6% in after-hours trading after CFO Ray Wallin said he will resign effective May 15.
VEON Ltd (VEON -0.50%) fell over 1% in after-hours trading when holder Telanor said it was offering 70 million shares of VEON via Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Non-farm payrolls
10:00 Wholesale Trade
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
3:00 PM Consumer Credit
11:05 PM Fed’s Bullard speech on Sunday: U.S. Monetary and Economic Policy
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY