Before the Open (Dec 6)

Cyber Week Special
Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Employment Numbers Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. Indonesia dropped 0.8%; Japan rallied 0.8%. Otherwise there wasn’t much net movement. Europe is currently mixed, but no market has moved more than 0.5% from its unchanged level. Either everyone is waiting for the US employment numbers or they’re waiting for the World Cup draw. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap up open for the cash market. This will of course change the jobs report is released.

The dollar is up. Oil is down, copper up. Gold and silver are up.
The market has fallen five straight days, but the loss is minimal. Very little damage has been done, so it seems like more of a buyers strike than aggressive selling pressure.
Today’s employment numbers are extremely important. As I’ve said several times, Wall St. is obsessed with the Fed, and the Fed is obsessed with the data. Good news could be bad news, and bad news could be good news. Good numbers will give the Fed a green light to start tapering sooner rather than later while bad news allows them to hold off an extra month or two. In the past, the market performed poorly when QE cycles ended, so regardless of earnings or other factors, traders should not ignore the Fed.
But, so everyone doesn’t freak out, here are the weeklies. Trends don’t be better and more steady than this. Yes, in most cases, there’s room to move down before the support trendlines are hit, but overall, being long is the only place to be.

Here are the numbers…
unemployment rate: 7.0% (was 7.3% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: +203K
private payrolls:
average workweek: up 0.1 hour to 34.5
hourly wages: up 4 cents to $24.15
labor participation rate 13.8% from 13.6%
September gain revised from 163K to 175K.
October gain cut from 204K to 200K
The futures were extremely volatile right after the news. Right now they’re still up but they’re off their highs.
Good news is bad news, bad news is good news. It’s a catch-22. And often the market’s first reaction is the wrong reaction. There’s lots for the market to digest right now.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Genesco (GCO -0.53%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.43, better than consensus of $1.38.
Manitowoc (MTW +0.48%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Goldman.
Cubic (CUB +0.26%) lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS to $2.60-$2.75, well below consensus of $3.09.
According to FCC commissioner Ajit Pai, any effort by Comcast (CMCSA +0.41%) to acquire Time Warner Cable (TWC +0.25%) would face significant hurdles in Washington.
Five Below (FIVE -3.94%) slid 6% in after-hours trading after it said it sees fiscal 2013 adjusted EPS of 70 cents-72 cents, below consensus of 73 cents.
Cooper Companies (COO +1.40%) said it sees fiscal 2014 EPS of $6.70-$7.00, on the lower end of consensus at $7.00.
Big Lots (BIG -0.08%) dropped over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q3 adjusted EPS loss of -16 cents, double consensus of an -8 cent loss, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2013 adjusted EPS to $1.42-$1.65, well below consensus of $2.94.
Ulta Salon (ULTA -4.44%) plunged over 16% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 72 cents, weaker than consensus of 74 cents.
FedEx Corp (FDX -0.35%) said it will increase shipping rates for FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery by an average of 4.9% effective January 6, 2014.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
8:30 Nonfarm Payrolls
8:30 Personal Income and Outlays
9:55 Reuters/UofM Consumer Sentiment
3:00 PM Consumer Credit
Notable earnings before today’s open: AEO, BNS, FGP, GCO
Notable earnings after today’s close: none
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers