Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed down across the board. Hong Kong dropped 2.4%, Japan, Singapore and South Korea more than 1%. Europe is currently mixed. Greece is down 3.7%, and Austria and the Czech Republic are down about 0.8%. France and Switzerland are up about 0.7%. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap up open for the cash market.
The dollar is up slightly. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are up.
The Bank of England and the ECB held rates unchanged.
China’s once-a-decade leadership transition has begun.
Greece narrowly passed a multibillion euro austerity package.
Samsung’s Galaxy S3 became the world’s best selling smartphone last quarter, pushing aside Apple’s iPhone.
Earnings season is winding down. Here are some headlines.
Dean Foods (DF) raised its full-year guidance…stock is up almost 6%.
McDonald’s (MCD) same store sales dropped 1.8%.
Kohl’s (KSS) is out with earnings…stock is down 1.5%.
Monster Worldwide (MWW) reported a loss and said they’ll be restructuring the business…stock is up 2.5%.
Wendy’s (WEN) posted a Q3 loss, but they doubled their dividend.
Lincoln National (LNC) doubled its dividend to 12 cents.
Scotts (SMG) posted a narrowed loss relative to the same quarter last year.
Boston Scientific (BSX) is acquiring privately held Vessix Vascular for $425M.
Duke’s (DUK) profit jumped because of the acquisition of Progress.
Carlyle Group (CG) reported a Q3 profit.
The market topped back in September and has been trending down since. My bias has been to the downside the last couple weeks. Yesterday the indexes sliced through support levels and closed at their lowest levels in a couple months. In my opinion, we have not seen a bottom. We need more selling, preferably intense selling. We need the indicators to move to extreme levels, and it looks like this will take more time. I have no interest going long until it happens.
If you prefer sticking to the long side, be on the sidelines. There’s nothing wrong with hanging out there until we get a tradable bottom. If you’re comfortable going short, there are some good charts to play. More after the open.
headlines at Yahoo Finance
headlines at MarketWatch
today’s upgrades/downgrades
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers
0 thoughts on “Before the Open (Nov 8)”
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Looks like a trend is forming, and its down. As for shorting, it is difficult. Bonds are tentative but up. The dollar is strengthening which means equities and gold will be limited on the up side. Time to watch Congress act or fail, and not be too fancy or assumptive. The president will not compromise and if he sticks with it he has plenty of taxes and unemployment. Long term puts are now attractive in a number of areas including AAPL for 450 area. LEAPS for indexes.
Not quite a wash out yesterday. I do have a buy signal on but it requires two down closes today and Friday and a gap down on Monday. That happens the farm is long.
Paul