Before the Open (Jul 29)

Posted on by Jason Leavitt

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Hong Kong led with a 0.9% gain, followed by Japan and Korea (up 0.6%). Europe is currently mostly up. Russia, Prague, London, Germany, France, Spain and Italy are all doing well. Greece is down. Futures here in the States point towards an up open for the cash market.

The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are up.
Yesterday the market was weak the first hour, but then all or most of the losses were recaptured. The indexes closed pretty close to unchanged and well off their lows. The unanswered questions we had coming into the day remained unanswered – nothing was resolved.
The small caps are still lagging…several indicators lean a little to the downside…trading set ups are only so-so. There just isn’t a reason to trade aggressively here.
From a psychology standpoint, the market tends to do well around FOMC days, and bearishness has definitely ramped up a bunch lately. Despite the technicals leaning to the downside, a sudden rally is not out of the question given the sentiment heading into the week.
I think it’s dangerous to dig your heels in and have a strong opinion. Anything goes in the very near term. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Merck & Co. (MRK -0.31%) reported Q2 EPS of 85 cents, better than consensus of 81 cents.
Aetna (AET +1.71%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.69, higher than consensus of $1.60.
Eastman Chemical (EMN -0.05%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.92, above consensus of $1.84.
Range Resources (RRC -0.57%) reported Q2 EPS of 36 cents, weaker than consensus of 40 cents.
Masco (MAS -3.01%) climbed 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 32 cents, stronger than consensus of 28 cents.
Luxor Capital Group reported a 5.4% passive stake in Orbitz (OWW unch) .
Herbalife (HLF +2.15%) fell over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of $1.55, below consensus of $1.57.
HealthSouth (HLS +1.21%) reported Q2 EPS of 81 cents with items, well above consensus of 47 cents, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS view to $2.25-$2.31 from $1.86-$1.91, well above consensus of $1.91.
Amkor Technology (AMKR +0.10%) jumped over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 21 cents, higher than consensus of 15 cents.
Lloyd Miller reported a 5.4% passive stake in Learning Tree (LTRE +1.28%) .
CNO Financial (CNO +0.17%) reported Q2 EPS of 29 cents, weaker than consensus of 31 cents.
W. R. Berkley (WRB -0.25%) reported Q2 operating EPS of 82 cents, stronger than consensus of 77 cents.
Plum Creek Timber (PCL +0.32%) reported Q2 EPS of 31 cents, higher than consensus of 30 cents, but then lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS view to $1.05-$1.25 from $1.30-$1.50, well below consensus of $1.39.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH +1.11%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 58 cents, better than consensus of 57 cents.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
FOMC meeting begins
7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
9:00 S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index
10:00 Consumer Confidence
10:00 State Street Investor Confidence Index
1:00 PM Results of $35B, 5-Year Note Auction
Notable earnings before today’s open: ACI, AET, AGCO, AIXG, AKS, ALLY, AMAG, AMG, ARW, AUDC, AVX, AXE, BP, CARB, CAS, CNX, CPLA, CRS, CVLT, CYNO, DIN, DSX, ECL, ENTG, ETN, ETR, FDP, FIS, FSS, GLT, GLW, GNC, GTI, HCA, HMC, HRS, HW, ICON, IP, IPGP, ITW, KLIC, LVLT, MDC, MDSO, MDXG, MHFI, MLM, MMC, MRK, MSO, NCI, NEE, NLSN, NMM, NOV, NYT, OSK, PCAR, PFE, POR, RAI, RYN, SAVE, SIRI, SNCR, ST, TLM, TRW, UAM, UBS, UBSI, UDR, UPS, UTHR, VSH, WDR, WM, WYNN, XYL, YNDX
Notable earnings after today’s close: ACHC, ACMP, AEC, AEGN, AEGR, AFL, AJG, AMCC, AMGN, AMP, APC, APU, ARI, AXP, AXS, BGFV, BLDP, BOOM, BWLD, BXP, CALX, CAP, CBG, CBL, CEB, CEMP, CHMT, CHRW, CINF, CLD, CLMS, CPWR, CRAY, CSLT, CVD, DLR, DOX, DWA, EEFT, EQR, ESRX, EW, EXAM, EZPW, FARO, FBP, FISV, GAS, GNW, GPN, GPRE, HTA, HURN, IGT, INAP, INVN, IPHI, IVR, KIM, LNDC, MAR, MOVE, NATI, NCR, NEM, NEU, NFX, NTRI, NUVA, PEI, PLT, PNRA, QGEN, RBC, RGR, RKT, RNG, RNR, ROG, RPXC, RT, RUBI, SB, SLCA, SM, SQNM, TMH, TRN, TWTR, TX, UGI, ULTI, USNA, VRSK, VRTX, WNC, WSH, WTS, X, XCO, XPO
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers

0 thoughts on “Before the Open (Jul 29)”

  1. Monday’s move was important. They hit 1970 SPX I mentioned to watch for.
    Based on that low holding, target is 2001.
    Overnight, futures have moved above that 1981.5 level which was yesterday’s high.
    In the short term, they can do one of two things:
    1. they can pull back to the area of Monday’s close (even all the way back to 1974 — although that low is less likely) and then move up to 1985, or
    2. run it up to an intermediate target at 1985
    In all cases, as long as Monday’s low is held, the target is SPX 2001.
    Futures overnight range: -5.25 to +4.75 Just before the bell, +3.25
    Bonds bearish

    1. [URL=http://s1085.photobucket.com/user/jimmaya810/media/ScreenHunter_10Jul290952_zps01271339.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j423/jimmaya810/ScreenHunter_10Jul290952_zps01271339.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

          3. That move down far exceeded what is considered a bullish pullback. The only positive thing to be said about it is that it held where it did, which is a bit lower than the overnight low. Incidentally that level gave us the 1985 target.
            However, the move down created a layer of resistance at 1979-1981.
            If we break above, bullish. If we don’t, bearish.

          5. Trouble getting above that same old 1981.50 (yesterday’s high) even tho it was broken earlier today.
            Watch for support 1977-1976 (right here). If it doesn’t hold, your short will be safe for a while.

          8. Jim, IRT to your comment, it does and they may get it. They’re breaking both resistance and support, so no telling who wins that. Just keep your eyes peeled.

          15. Dilemma is a good word for this. No one can tell where it’s going — this is an area I know I can’t control and so I try to avoid. When they do what they did this morning: hit the target and fail to hold the pullback, it’s a signal for me they’re playing by their own rules and not what they normally do. With tomorrow’s FOMC statement and Friday’s jobs report, they could be just zooming up and down to frustrate retail traders. In other words, time to just watch, but not get too involved.

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