Before the Open (Oct 23)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. China dropped 0.9% and South Korea 0.8%. Hong Kong moved up 0.7%. Europe is currently down across the board. Austria, France, Germany, Amsterdam, Norway, Stockholm, Switzerland, London and the Czech Republic are down more than 1%. Futures here in the States point towards a large gap down open for the cash market.

The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down.
The market was generally weak yesterday until the final hour when it went vertical to paint the charts. But now it’s a new day. The debate will be factored in, but more important, another round of earnings have/will be released. At first glance, earnings are terrible. Here are the highlights.
Texas Instruments (TXN) said quarterly revenue fell and the company forecast more weakness this quarter. The stock is down 2% before the open.
United Technologies (UTX) reported a decline in earnings. They said the stronger dollar was on reason. The stock is up 2.7% in premarket trading.
DuPont (DD) reported a sharp drop in profits…stock is down 5.5%, and the company is laying off 1,500 workers.
Whirlpool (WHR) did well with earnings, and they raised their earnings outlook for the year. The stock is up 1.4%.
Radio Shack (RSH) is down 15.5%…they reported a much wider loss than expected.
Yahoo (YHOO) is up 4.2%…posted a jump in quarterly profits (thanks to its sale of Alibaba).
UPS is up 1% after earnings.
MMM is down 2.6%…earnings related.
Illinois Tool Works (ITW)
Harley Davidson (HOG) is down 0.7%.
Coach (COH) did well with earnings and is buying back $1.5B in stock. The stock is up 6%.
Xerox (XRX) is down 6%…earnings related.
Nokia (NOK) is down 6.8%…they’re issuing almost $1B in bonds.
Western Digital (WDC) reported worse-than-expected numbers…stock is down 4.5%.
Seagate Tech (STX) is down almost the same…4.6%.
AutoLiv (ALV) is down better than 8%…company cut full-year earnings guidance.
Alcoa (AA) is down 1.8%.
At best the market is in consolidation mode. At worst, a downtrend is underway. As I mentioned over the weekend, I lean to the downside (hence why I added stocks to the Short List). The news has been very bad, but as always, it’s the market’s reaction to the news that matters most. So far, the market’s reaction has been just as bad. Stocks that aren’t posting good numbers are getting hit hard. Don’t fight it. Little by little pieces of evidence have popped up the drop off the highs will end up being a little more than an innocent correction within an uptrend. More after the open.
headlines at Yahoo Finance
headlines at MarketWatch
today’s upgrades/downgrades
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers