Before the Open (Oct 24)

Posted on by Jason Leavitt

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. China, Hong Kong and New Zealand dropped; Indonesia posted the biggest gain. Europe is currently mostly up. There are no big losers. Germany, Norway and Greece are doing well. Futures here in the States point towards a gap up open for the cash market.

The dollar is down. Oil is up, copper down. Gold and silver are down.
The S&P snapped its winning streak yesterday but is still up 9 of the last 11 days and is up about 100 points over that time period. With new highs being registered just two days ago, it’s hard to be anything but bullish on the long term charts. The near term is bullish too, but admittingly the risk/reward for new trades isn’t nearly as good as it was just two weeks ago.
A quick glance at the indicators reveals they’re more supportive of the upside than when the week began (perhaps too supportive). The put/call is moving down; the ATR is moving down; the bullish % is moving up. A few, namely the AD line, AD volume line and new highs, have spiked to extreme levels.
Earnings season has so far been mixed. Some stocks have done very well after reporting, others have taken beatings. Don’t hold into a report unless you’re trading long term.
That’s it for now. Hopefully the market can breakout of its funk. It has spent most of the last three days trading in a range.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
International Paper (IP -0.34%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.05, much better than consensus of 93 cents.
Ford Motor (F -0.45%) reported Q3 EPS of 45 cents, better than consensus of 38 cents.
Ratheon (RTN +2.99%) reported Q3 EPS od $1.51, well ahead of consensus of $1.33.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT -0.28%) reported Q3 EPS of 71 cents, stronger than consensus of 63 cents.
Terex (TEX -3.37%) reported Q3 EPS of 77 cents, well above consensus of 59 cents, and raised guidance on fiscal 2013 EPS view to $2.05-$2.25 from $1.90-$2.10, above consensus of $1.98.
Visa (V -0.55%) increased its quarterly dividend to 40 cents a share from 33 cents.
Assurant (AIZ -1.20%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.68, well above consensus of $1.50.
Spartan Stores (SPTN -0.48%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 55 cents, stronger than consensus of 49 cents.
Everest Re (RE -1.42%) reported Q3 EPS of $4.81, better than consensus of $4.76.
Fortune Brands (FBHS -0.93%) raised guidance on fiscal 2013 EPS view to $1.47-$1.49 from $1.35-$1.43, stronger than consensus of $1.43.
Citrix (CTXS -1.04%) climbed 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 70 cents, better than consensus of 69 cents.
Swift Transportation (SWFT +1.24%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 29 cents, right on consensus, but reported Q3 revenue of $1.03 billion, better than consensus of $1.01 billion.
Skechers (SKX -0.71%) reported Q3 EPS of 53 cents, weaker than consensus of 61 cents.
Lam Research (LRCX -3.44%) reported Q1 EPS of 81 cents, better than consensus of 72 cents.
Symantec (SYMC -2.34%) fell over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 50 cents, stronger than consensus of 44 cents, but then lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS view to a loss of -1%-to up 1.5% from up 5%-7% against fiscal 2013.
AT&T (T +0.14%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 66 cents, better than consensus of 65 cents.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
8:30 International Trade
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
9:00 PMI Manufacturing Index Flash
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
Notable earnings before today’s open: AB, ABB, ACAT, AIXG, ALK, ALV, ALXN, AN, ASPS, AVT, BC, BEN, BG, BLL, BMS, BSX, CAB, CAJ, CAM, CCE, CELG, CFX, CL, CLI, CMS, CRI, CS, CSH, CVE, CWEI, DFT, DLX, DNKN, DO, DOW, DST, ELN, EQM, EQT, ERIC, ESI, F, FAF, FLIR, GG, GNC, GNRC, HERO, HOT, HSY, ICLR, IMAX, IP, JNS, KKR, KMT, LAZ, LEG, LTM, LUV, MCK, MDP, MDSO, MGI, MJN, MMM, MO, NBL, ODFL, ORI, PACR, PCP, PDS, PHM, POT, PTEN, PVR, QSII, RCI, RCL, RDWR, RS, RTN, RYN, SEIC, SHPG, SIRI, SJR, SLAB, STC, TDY, TKR, TROW, UA, UFS, USG, VCI, VDSI, VLY, VNTV, WAB, WCC, WRLD, XEL, XRX, YNDX, ZMH
Notable earnings after today’s close: AAN, AFOP, AHT, AMCC, AMZN, BAS, BCOV, BJRI, BLDR, BMRN, CA, CB, CERN, CINF, CLF, COG, COLM, CPWR, CTCT, DECK, DV, ECHO, ELY, EMN, ESRX, FET, FII, FLS, FR, FSL, GRT, IM, INAP, INFA, KBR, KLAC, LOGM, LSCC, MCRS, MKTO, MSFT, MTW, MXIM, N, NCR, NR, NTGR, OUTR, PFG, POL, QLGC, RGC, RMD, SIMO, SPN, SYNA, TCO, THRX, VR, VRSN, WDC, WOOF, WYNN, ZNGA
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers

0 thoughts on “Before the Open (Oct 24)”

  1. 1758 and 1778 are the next SNP targets. Watch bonds it appears that 140 on TNX is probable. The first time claims were OK, but the trade data shows imports are up, that is generally good for manufacturing data later. Gold and Silver are not acting like they have the backing to go higher, Still the miners are interesting and should be watched. New topic. The current ABC patterns in the major indexes are very similar to those of Aug 2007, A to B is short but that is OK, but if the CD to is realized it means a sever correction in Q1 ’14. Use stops and watch the volume on all holdings, should be average or better and the ATR should be mixed not directional. there are clues.

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