Before the Open (Mar 7)

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Employment Numbers Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. India rallied 1.9%, Japan 0.9%. There were no big losers. Europe is currently mostly down. Greece and Russia are up; Austria, Germany and Prague are posting the biggest losses. About 75 minutes before the open, futures here in the States point towards a slight up open for the cash market. This of course can change.

The dollar is down. Oil is up, copper is down. Gold and silver are down.
Overall it’s been a good week so far. Thanks to a huge up day Tuesday, the indexes are posting solid gains. The S&P 500 and Nas high new highs yesterday, the Russell small caps and S&P mid caps aren’t far behind.
I like a lot of things about the market. I especially like the steady flow of bears who are saying a top is near, the current bull run has matched the last bull run in duration (5 years), etc. Normally the bears shut up when the market is making new highs. Their volume and consistency tells me the rally has legs.
Yes the market can top any time, but I’m staying long for now. When the market does top, I’ll give back some profits. Oh well. That’s the price you pay for riding a bull market.
Here are the employment numbers…
unemployment rate: 6.7% (was 6.6% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: +175K
private payrolls:
average workweek: down 0.1 to 34.2 hours
hourly wages: up 9 cents to $24.31
labor participation rate drops to 63.0%
December job gain raised from +75K to +84K
January job gain raised from +113K to +129K
The market’s reaction was positive. S&P futures jumped about 6 points and are now up 7 an hour before the open. If the level holds, the S&P will open at a new high.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Staples (SPLS -15.30%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Argus.
Citigroup lowered its Q3 earnings estimate for FedEx (FDX +0.28%) to $1.45 from $1.55, below the consensus of $1.54, to reflect the impact from severe winter weather.
Foot Locker (FL +0.85%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 82 cents, better than consensus of 76 cents.
Alon USA Energy (ALJ +2.02%) reported a Q4 EPS ex-items loss of -12 cents, a smaller loss than consensus of -15 cents.
Safeway (SWY -0.03%) fell 5% in after-hours trading after Albertsons said it will acquire the company for $40 a share.
The Fresh Market (TFM -2.13%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 39 cents, weaker than consensus of 42 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 adjusted EPS to $1.56-$1.66, below consensus of $1.67.
Piedmont Natural Gas (PNY -0.91%) reported Q1 EPS of $1.26, stronger than consensus of $1.19, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS view to $1.80-$1.90 from $1.73-$1.83, higher than consensus of $1.80.
Lehigh Gas (LGP -0.26%) reported Q4 EPS of 25 cents, weaker than consensus of 31 cents.
Gogo (GOGO -0.25%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after SAC Capital reported a 5.1% passive stake in the company.
Thor Industries (THO +1.54%) reported Q2 continuing operations EPS of 32 cents, below consensus of 36 cents.
Cooper Companies (COO -0.60%) reported Q1 EPS of $1.47, better than consensus of $1.46.
The Gap (GPS -0.75%) fell over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported comparable same-store-sales sales for February were down 7% versus a 3% increase last year.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
8:30 Trade Balance
8:30 Nonfarm Payrolls
3:00 PM Consumer Credit
Notable earnings before today’s open: BIG, FL, PPHM, PWE, SUP, VLP, WMC
Notable earnings after today’s close: none
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers