Before the Open (Aug 5)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. Taiwan dropped 2% and Japan 1%. India gained 0.7%. Europe is currently mostly up. Greece is down 1.4%, Russian 1.2% and Italy 0.7%. Switzerland, France and Belgium are doing well. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap down open for the cash market.

The dollar is up. Oil is up slightly, copper is down. Gold and silver are down.
After breaking support last week, we got the beginning of a bounce yesterday. The bounce can peter out and last week’s low can be taken out…or continue moving up. If the market moves up, everyone will gauge the energy and force behind the move…does it come with volume, are dips being bought relentlessly, or does it seem like there’s a lack of participation (i.e. the market drifts up due to less selling, not lots of buying). In the past, bounces have kept going…literally. The market would move up day after day after day, and pretty soon the short term downtrend was neutralized. Here’s a chart going back to last December. When the market started up in February, many assumed the move would fizzle out and new lows would follow. It didn’t happen. The break down in April was short-lived, and in that case too, the market moved up enough to frustrate the bears before consolidating and hitting a new high. I’m not predicting the same price action right now. I’m just pointing out the long term trend is still up, and V bottoms are more common than most would admit.

If you’re a swing trader, you trade when the coast is relatively clear…which is most of the time, but it’s not how I’d describe the environment right now.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Emerson Electric (EMR +0.93%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.03, below consensus of $1.06.
Archer-Daniels Midland (ADM +0.82%) reported Q2 EPS of 77 cents, higher than consensus of 76 cents.
CVS Caremark (CVS +1.15%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.13, better than consensus of $1.10.
Bristow Group (BRS +1.48%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.32, better than consensus of $1.08.
Dresser-Rand (DRC +0.12%) reported Q2 EPS of 38 cents, weaker than consensus of 40 cents.
Avis Budget (CAR +1.98%) rose over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS ex-items of 68 cents, higher than consensus of 61 cents.
Thor Industries (THO +1.54%) reported preliminary Q4 revenue of $1.04 billion, below consensus of $1.1 billion.
The Column Group reports 20.1% stake in Immune Design (IMDZ -1.17%) .
Cubic (CUB -0.75%) reported Q3 EPS of 45 cents, well below consensus of 75 cents.
McDermott (MDR +0.97%) reported a Q2 EPS loss of -5 cents, better than consensus of a -17 cent loss.
Tenet ({=THC reported Q2 continuing operations EPS of 17 cents, well above consensus of 1 cent.
Alleghany (Y +0.15%) reported Q2 EPS of $9.06, well ahead of consensus of $8.00.
Texas Roadhouse (TXRH -0.08%) reported Q2 EPS of 33 cents, right on consensus, although Q2 revenue of $395.4 million was slightly better than consensus of $394.29 million.
Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD +2.75%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.35, better than consensus of $1.28.
Kaman (KAMN +0.20%) reported Q2 EPS of 60 cents, right on consensus, although Q2 revenue of $459.1 million was below consensus of $471.25 million.
AIG (AIG +1.17%) gained over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of $1.25, well above consensus of $1.05, and then announced an additional share repurchase authorization of $2 billion.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales
8:30 Gallup US ECI
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
9:00 PMI Services Index
10:00 Factory Orders
10:00 ISM Non-Manufacturing Index
11:00 Global Composite PMI
11:00 Global Services PMI
Notable earnings before today’s open: ACM, ACT, ADM, AEE, AKRX, ALLT, AME, AMSC, ANSS, ARCC, ARCO, ARQL, BCRX, BLMN, CIE, CLDT, CNK, COH, CRZO, CVC, CVS, DWRE, EMR, END, ENZY, EXH, EXLP, EXPD, FE, FUN, GLDD, GTIV, GTXI, HCLP, HCP, HEP, IART, IFF, IIVI, INFI, IT, KWK, LIN, LPX, MDU, MGM, MMP, MSI, MWW, MZOR, NILE, NNN, [[NTi]], NVDQ, NWN, ODP, OXF, OZM, PMC, RBA, REGN, RHP, RIGL, RTI, SCMP, SCOR, SMG, SNSS, SPAR, STE, TDG, VMC, VSI, VTG, WLK, WNR, ZBRA, ZTS
Notable earnings after today’s close: AMTG, APEI, ARC, ATSG, ATVI, AVNR, AWR, AXLL, BIO, BKH, BMR, CHUY, CLR, CRTO, CSU, DAVE, DIS, DPM, DRYS, ENPH, EOG, FANG, FEYE, FRGI, FSLR, FTR, FUEL, GMED, GRPN, HCI, HGR, HT, ITRI, JAZZ, JCOM, KAR, LBTYA, MCHX, MITT, MODN, MPO, MRCY, NSTG, NYMT, OAS, OKE, OKS, ORA, ORIG, PBPB, PEGA, PNNT, PRAA, PZZA, QUAD, REXX, RLD, RST, RSYS, SGMS, SGY, SKT, SMCI, TDW, TMHC, TPC, TRMB, TTWO, UNTD, WBMD, WES, WGP, WMGI, WTR, XEC, Z, ZAGG, ZGNX
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers