Good morning. Happy Wednesday. Happy Fed Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. China, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore led the way. Europe is currently trading mixed and with a downward bias. Stockholm is up 0.5%; Switzerland is down 0.6% – everything else falls in between. Futures here in the States point towards a flat open for the cash market.
The dollar is down. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are flat.
Today is Fed Day. I’m not going to repeat my mini rant from two days ago. If things really are improving, the Fed should remove the punch bowl sooner rather than later or else we run the risk of another bubble forming. I won’t know how to interpret the Fed needing to keep rates low while the economy and market are improving. Something has to give. It would be a shock if the Fed raised rates right now, but some language in their statement hinting at when rates will be raised will be looked for.
Amazon (AMZN) has gotten hit hard the last two days, but in after-hours trading yesterday, the losses were recovered after earnings were released. Right now the stock is up about 9% and close to its high from two days ago.
Kinder Morgan (KMP) is buying Copano (CPNO).
Chesapeake Energy (CHK) is up 11.4%…its founder and CEO is stepping down.
L-3 Communications (LLL) is up almost 3%…earnings related.
Boeing (BA) is up 1.7% after releasing earnings It’s probably too early for their latest battery issues to effect earnings.
Northrup Grumman (NOC) announced a drop in sales and a 2.7% drop in profits. The stock has not traded premarket.
Hess Corp (HES) is up 1%…earnings related.
Marathon Petroleum (MPC) is up 0.7%…earnings related.
Phillips 66 (PSX) has earnings today, but I don’t see their numbers yet.
Facebook (FB), ConocoPhillips (COP), Qualcomm (QCOM), Electronics Arts (EA), JDS Uniphase (JDSU), Murphy Oil (MUR), Owens Illinois (OI) and Las Vegas Sands (LVS) report after today’s close.
The FOMC is scheduled for 2:15 EST.
After the FOMC, Wall St. will focus on Friday’s employment numbers.
My stance remains the same. I like the long side, but in most cases it’s too late to chase stocks higher. Buying now is not wise from a risk/reward standpoint. Play good defense. 2013 is shaping up to be a good year, and there’s lots of time left and many trades to be had. Be patient. 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 (Jan 30)”
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Jason
You are right on the money that is too late to chase. I am a little on the short side right now. I may be a bit early but the odds are in my favor. The market is just too complacent. Emotions are never your friend trading but emotionally I prefer being long. Being short is hard for me but the numbers tell you what is likely to happen. A good trader goes by his gut but backs it up by numbers. What happened in 1999 scares me right now. The market went up when all of the numbers said that a correction was in order. I don’t think it is going to happen again but with the market you can always be wrong.
Paul
I read “Before the open” every day. I find it very useful to get your take on the charts and I appreciate that your comments often offers a fundamental context. I have missed the charts lately. Are they coming back?
N.
You’re right Ness. I haven’t posted many charts lately, and I need to. I’m still getting settled here in Costa Rica…then things will get back to normal for me.