Before the Open (Apr 30)

Good morning. Happy Wednesday. Happy Fed Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand did well; Hong Kong and Taiwan did poorly. Europe is currently mixed. Greece is up 3.2%; Italy and France are down. Futures here in the States point towards a flat-to-down open for the cash market.

The dollar is down. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down.
There was a period where the Fed didn’t matter. They were very transparent, and there were no surprises. This hasn’t entirely been the case with Janet Yellen. QE is being wound down at the same pace, but interest rates may be raised sooner rather than later. This prospect has spooked Wall St, so today’s statement will be closely watched. The market doesn’t like surprises, and since the Fed is slightly less predictable now than it was during Bernanke’s time, there’s a chance the market catapults up and plunges immediately after the statement is released.
But the Fed typically doesn’t change the market for more than a day or so. By tomorrow morning, traders and investors will be looking forward to Friday’s employment numbers.
The near term is very unpredictable.
The intermediate term leans to the downside. Even if the Dow and S&P hit new highs, the lagging Nasdaq and small caps along with a few breadth indicators suggest a lack of participation point to the downside. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Time Warner (TWX -0.52%) reported Q1 EPS of 97 cents, better than consensus of 88 cents.
WellPoint (WLP +0.45%) reported Q1 EPS of $2.30, stronger than consensus of $2.08.
Genworth (GNW +2.35%) reported Q1 operating EPS of 39 cents, higher than consensus of 35 cents.
Marriott (MAR +1.16%) reported Q1 EPS of 57 cents, better than consensus of 51 cents.
Columbia Sportswear (COLM +2.88%) reported Q1 EPS of 63 cents, nearly double consensus of 33 cents.
U.S. Steel (X +2.37%) reported Q1 EPS of 34 cents, higher than consensus of 32 cents.
Hound Partners reported a 7.08% passive stake in Tesoro (TSO -0.21%) .
Owens-Illinois (OI +0.13%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 62 cents, better than consensus of 61 cents.
Hanover Insurance (THG +0.48%) reported Q1 operating EPS of $1.05, higher than consensus of 96 cents.
Team Health (TMH -0.50%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 54 cents, stronger than consensus of 50 cents.
NCR (NCR -1.60%) reported Q1 non-GAAP EPS of 50 cents, higher than consensus of 49 cents.
eBay (EBAY +1.68%) dropped over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 70 cents, better than consensus of 67 cents, but then said Q2 revenue would be $4.325 billion-$4.425 billion, at the low end of consensus of $4.4 billion.
Express Scripts (ESRX +0.59%) fell oveer 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 99 cents, right on consensus, but then lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 adjusted EPS view to $4.82-$4.94 from $4.88-$5.00, at the low end of consensus of $4.89.
AMC Entertainment (AMC -0.49%) unexpectedly reported a Q1 EPS loss of -5 cents, weaker than consensus of a 2 cent gain.
Twitter (TWTR +4.64%) slumped 11% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 0 cents, better than consensus for a -3 cent loss, but then said it sees fiscal 2014 revenue of $1.2 billion-$1.25 billion, on the low end of consensus of $1.24 billion.
Edison International (EIX -0.54%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 90 cents, better than consensus of 82 cents.
Seagate (STX +1.69%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.34, higher than consensus of $1.25.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:15 ADP Jobs Report
8:30 GDP Q1
8:30 Employment Cost Index
8:30 Treasury Refunding Quarterly Announcement
9:45 Chicago PMI
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
2:00 PM FOMC Announcement
3:00 PM Farm Prices
Notable earnings before Wednesday’s open: AB, ABX, ACCO, ACT, ADP, ADT, ALLT, AUDC, AUO, CEVA, CKSW, CVE, D, DHX, ENR, EVER, EXC, GIB, GOV, GRMN, GVA, H, HES, HPY, HSP, IACI, ICON, IMN, INGR, IP, ISSI, JLL, LL, LVLT, MGAM, MRGE, MSCI, MWV, NEE, NI, NVMI, NYCB, OMG, OSIS, PBI, PNK, PSX, PSXP, RDWR, RGS, SEE, SNCR, SO, SPW, SUI, TASR, TFX, TRI, TWX, TX, WEC, WLP, ZEUS
Notable earnings after Wednesday’s close: AEL, ANAD, ARAY, ARII, ASH, ATML, ATW, AXTI, BCOV, BDN, BGC, BMR, BYD, CACI, CAVM, CBG, CBT, CGNX, CHMT, CJES, CMO, CNW, COHR, CRL, CSII, CW, CWT, DOX, DRE, DRIV, EDMC, EGN, ELGX, ELX, EPAM, EQIX, EQR, EXL, FBHS, FLEX, FLTX, FNF, FORM, GDOT, GLUU, HOLX, HOS, HR, INT, IO, IPI, IRF, IRG, ISIL, JDSU, JKHY, KEG, KEX, KONA, KS, KTOS, LNC, LOCK, LOPE, MAA, MANT, MASI, MDAS, MDU, MET, MTGE, MUR, NBIX, NEWP, NGD, OILT, OPLK, PACB, PDM, PEIX, PFPT, POL, PPC, PRAA, QUIK, RKUS, ROVI, RRTS, SAM, SFLY, SGI, SPRT, SSS, STMP, TEX, TSO, TSRO, TTEK, TTMI, UNTD, VNTV, WBMD, WDC, WLL, WMB, WMGI, WPZ, WTW, YELP
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers