Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a nice weekend.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down. Japan dropped 3.3%, China and Indonesia more than 1%. Europe is currently mixed. Greece and Spain are doing well. Otherwise there no big movers. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
The dollar is down. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are up.
I don’t have much to add to the video posted yesterday. The overall trend is rock solid, but the near term is less clear. There has a handful of indicators suggesting the market is due for a rest, whether it be in the form of a pullback or just some sideways trading. For now, a less aggressive stance is warranted.
Earnings season is in full swing. If you’re a trader, don’t hold into a report. If you’re collecting dividends, fine. But if you trade in and out, it’s not a risk you want to take.
The economic calendar is packed; the highlight of the week will be Friday’s employment report.
There are 3 more days of trading this month, so perhaps some window dressing is in order. There are no doubt funds that are lagging the market, and these funds will feel pressure to chase performance higher. They may add winners to their portfolio and cut some laggards. But like options expiration, the last few days of a month are known and anticipated, so things don’t happen like clockwork like they used to.
Here are headline stories from barchart.com…
Loews (L -0.15%) reported Q2 EPS of 71 cents, weaker than consensus of 73 cents.
Whole Foods (WFM +1.54%) was downgraded to “Hold” from “Buy” at Cantor.
Roper Industries (ROP -0.27%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.31, better than expectations of $1.30.
Simon Property Group (SPG +0.46%) reported Q2 EPS of $2.11, better than onsensus of $2.07.
Hormel Foods (HRL +0.31%) was upgraded to “Outperform” from “Neutral” at Credit Suisse who also raised their price target on the stock to $46 from $39.
Wynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN +0.63%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.51, lower than consensus of $1.57.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH +2.31%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 29 cents, higher than consensus of 27 cents.
Hertz Global (HTZ +0.11%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 45 cents, right on consensus, although Q2 revenue of $2.71 billion was slightly better than consensus of $2.7 billion.
WESCO (WCC +1.71%) was upgraded to “Buy” from “Hold” at Wunderlich who also raised its price target for the stock to $94 from $79.
CNBC reported that Saks (SKS +0.86%) will be acquired for $16 per share by Hudson’s Bay.
RF Micro Devices (RFMD -2.13%) was downgraded to “Equal Weight” from “Overweight” at Barclays.
Omnicom (OMC) and French-based Publicis Groupe (PUB FP) over the weekend announced a merger of equals of the two large advertising and communications companies.
Siemens (SI) is reevaluating its China operations due to the failure of orders and sales to increase, according to Reuters.
The EU and China over the weekend announced an agreement to resolve their solar trade dispute.
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers
today’s upgrades/downgrades
0 thoughts on “Before the Open (Jul 29)”
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The bulls are overconfident. Jason you are correct people chase returns. Insanity is not calculable unlike a drop in prices where bottoms can be calculated to some extent.
Dollar is a buy for 84, stop 80.16. There is some kind of consolidation in progress with little prospect: maybe sell EXMini @1672, the market is confused. Gartley sell pattern off 1572 SP. This may be desending price channel. Dow is weakest today. The long shadows of the debt ceiling budget stand-off are casting a foul mood over the market, earnings to one side. Finally, Japan down again 3%; there is concern for exports and China’s economy,or the traders have too much stock. Little likely to happen this week, just gee whiz numbers, so holding index derivatives long, and hedge with puts. If you felt you understood this post, you probably misunderstood what I am thinking. (Greenspan in one of his clearer remarks to Congress). I am bearish.