Before the Open (May 30)

Good morning. Happy Friday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down. Indonesia dropped 1.8%, Korea 0.9% and Australia 0.5%. Europe is currently mixed. Greece and Athens are up more than 1%. Russia is down 0.7%, France 0.4%. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.

The dollar is down. Oil is down, copper up. Gold and silver are down.
Today is the last trading day of the week and month. For the week, the SPX is up 1%, RUT 1.2% and the Nas 1.5%. For the month the SPX is up 2%, RUT 1.2% and the Nas 3.2%. So like last year, the first month of “sell in May…” has been a good one.
I continue to like the market. I don’t love it – I think there’s work to do before I’m willing to be fully invested – but I do like it. I’ve liked it for the past two weeks. The indexes have improved, the indicators have improved, charts of individual stocks have improved.
Our divergence charts have also moved up…growth vs value, Nas vs NYSE, small caps vs large caps.
Don’t get lazy, don’t get complacent. There are still headwinds to deal with, and given the current state of things, I’m not willing to take positions and go on vacation. Still, I like what I see. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Genesco (GCO -3.27%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 81 cents, less than consensus of 91 cents.
Reuters reports that Wells Fargo (WFC -0.34%) will pay $62.5 million to settle allegations from a group of institutional investors that the firm inaccurately advertised a high-risk securities lending program as secure.
Big Lots (BIG +1.24%) reported Q1 continuing operations EPS of 50 cents, better than consensus of 44 cents.
OmniVision (OVTI -1.18%) surged over 15% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 40 cents, well above consensus of 27 cents, and then said it sees Q1 EPS of 43 cents – 63 cents, above consensus of 29 cents.
Salesforce.com (CRM +1.99%) rose nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft.
Avago (AVGO +0.98%) climbed nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 85 cents, stronger than consensus of 76 cents.
Guess (GES +1.59%) reported a Q1 EPS loss of -3 cents, a smaller loss than consensus of -7 cents.
Esterline (ESL +0.69%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $1.28, lower than consensus of $1.31.
Express (EXPR +0.59%) slumped over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 6 cents, well below consensus of 14 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS to 74 cents-90 cents, weaker than consensus of $1.14.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
8:30 Personal Income and Outlays
9:45 Chicago PMI
9:55 Reuters/UofM Consumer Sentiment
3:00 PM Farm Prices
Notable earnings before today’s open: ANN, BIG
Notable earnings after today’s close: none
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers