Before the Open (Oct 25)

Good morning. Happy Friday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down. Japan dropped 2.75%, China 1.45%. Europe currently leans to the upside. Stockholm is down 0.7%, Norway and Greece are posting moderate gains. Futures here in the States are flat.

The dollar is up. Oil is up, copper down. Gold and silver are down.
Other the a big up day Tuesday, the market has traded quietly the last week. The ranges have been small, and volatility has been much less than the last couple months.
After achieving what could be considered an over-bought level, it seems the market is correcting with time, not a price pullback. That’s how strong the market is. The S&P rallied 100 points in two weeks, and it can’t pull back even a little bit.
AMZN and MSFT did well with earnings after yesterday’s close. Both are up nicely this morning.
Twitter (TWTR) established its IPO price that values the company at ~ $11B. I’m sure this number will go up in the next few weeks. The company is old school. Their numbers don’t justify the valuation, but they have no competition. There is literally nobody out there that does what they do, so I’m betting there’ll be a hefty premium placed on the stock.
Research over the last couple days have revealed very few good set ups. That’s just the way it goes. Most good stocks are too extended, so the risk/rewards are not favorable. Be conservative here. If the market wants to continue drifting sideways, hopefully it does so long enough for some patterns to set up.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Earnings reports that have been released this morning have been mixed. Companies that beat earnings include Weyerhaeuser (WY -0.53%) (0.35 vs 0.21), Simon Property Group (SPG +1.07%) (2.21 vs 2.16), Newell Rubbermaid (NWL -0.48%) (0.52 vs 0.49), Aon (AON -0.36%) (1.13 vs 1.04), Sherwin Williams (SHW +1.32%) (2.68 vs 2.64), Moody’s (MCO +1.74%) (0.83 vs 0.81), National Oilwell Varco (NOV +0.41%) (1.34 vs 1.32), Ventas (VTR +0.03%) (1.04 vs 1.02).
Companies that underperformed earnings include DTE Energy (DTE -0.97%) (1.11 vs 1.22), ({=Eaton ETN=}) (1.12 vs 1.124), Procter & Gamble (PG -0.37%) (1.05 vs 1.053), ({=Legg Mason LM=}) (0.54 vs 0.62), and Rockwell Collins (COL +0.29%) (1.28 vs 1.31).
USP (UPS +0.57%) this morning reported Q adjusted EPS of $1.16, which was slightly better than the consensus of $1.15. However, Q3 revenue of $13. 52 billion was slightly below the consensus of $13.60 billion. The company reiterated its full-year guidance of $4.65-4.85, which would be up 3-7% y/y.
Barrons, in its Weekday Trader column, said that Citigroup (C -0.08%) trades at a discount to other financial stocks and if it would trade in line with its peers, then the stock could rise 32%.
Eastman Chemical (EMN -0.51%) reported Q3 EPS ex-items of $1.68, better than consensus of $1.64, but then lowered guidance on fiscal 2013 EPS view to $6.30-$6.40 from $6.40-$6.50, weaker than consensus of $6.48.
Manitowoc (MTW +1.08%) reported Q3 EPS of 39 cents, higher than consensus of 32 cents.
Western Digital (WDC +0.61%) reported Q1 EPS of $2.12, stronger than consensus of $2.05.
NCR Corp. (NCR +0.60%) reported Q3 EPS of 76 cents, better than consensus of 68 cents.
Chubb (CB -0.27%) reported Q3 EPS of $2.06, stronger than consensus of $1.88, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2013 EPS view to $7.90-$8.00 from $7.30-$7.50, well ahead of consensus of $7.65.
Wynn Resorts (WYNN +3.84%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.84, much better than consensus of $1.65.
Principal Financial Group (PFG +1.10%) reported Q3 operating EPS of 90 cents, better than consensus of 87 cents.
Microsoft (MSFT -0.12%) jumped 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 62 cents, well ahead of consensus of 54 cents.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
8:30 Durable Goods
9:55 Reuters/UofM Consumer Sentiment
10:00 Wholesale Trade
Notable earnings before today’s open: ABBV, AON, AVY, B, BPO, COL, DTE, ETN, IMGN, LEA, LM, LPNT, NOV, NWL, PG, SHW, SPG, TCB, TREX, UPS, VTR, WBC, WETF, WY
Notable earnings after today’s close: none
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers