Before the Open (Oct 22)

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Japan rallied 2.6%; Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan rallied more than 1%. Europe currently leans to the upside. Stockholm, Switzerland, Belgium and Norway are leading. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.

The dollar is up. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are down.
Heck of a run the market is on. First everyone wanted to short a rally, now they’re hoping for a pullback to get long. There’s a saying on Wall St: strong markets don’t let you in; weak markets don’t let you out. This past week has been a great example of a market that hasn’t let people in. The S&P is up 120 in less than five days, and there haven’t been a whole lotta buying opportunities for those waiting for a dip. I never mapped out a long term plan. I just simply said last Wednesday the risk/reward for going short was no longer favorable, and my near-term bias was to the upside. Then my plan was to take a wait-and-see approach. I wanted to see what the indicators did when the market bounced. I wanted to see how much force and energy was behind the move. We have our answer.
Here’s an update of the S&P daily chart. The index surged past the 200-day. I don’t look at it often, but others do, so it’s good to keep an eye on. The low from two weeks ago and a trend line connecting the lows have also been taken out. Next up is the 50-day, currently sitting at 1967 – about 26 points above yesterday’s close.

In one week the market has gone from being too over-sold to go short to being too over-bought to buy. Too many stocks have gone vertical, and until things calm down and rest, I don’t think it’s wise to chase on the long side. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
VMware (VMW +0.60%) dropped nearly 2% in pre-market trading after reported Q3 EPS of 87 cents, higher than consensus of 83 cents, but then lowered guidance for Q4 sales to $1.67 billion to $1.171 billion, below consensus of $1.71 billion.
Boeing (BA +2.26%) reported Q3 EPS of $2.14, well ahead of consensus of $1.97.
Ingersoll-Rand PLC (IR +2.08%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.10, stronger than consensus of $1.03.
Stanley Black & Decker (SWK +1.93%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.55, better than consensus of $1.44.
Northrop Grumman (NOC +1.17%) reported Q3 EPS of $2.26, higher than consensus of $2.13.
Nabors Industries (NBR +4.36%) reported Q3 ex-items EPS of 39 cents, better than consensus of 36 cents.
Unisys (UIS +1.41%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.30, more than twice consensus of 60 cents.
Six Flags (SIX +3.92%) reported Q3 EPS ex-items of $1.56, higher than consensus of $1.50.
E-Trade (EFTC) reported Q3 EPS of 29 cents, better than consensus of 22 cents.
FMC Technologies (FTI +3.56%) reported Q3 EPS of 72 cents, less than consensus of 74 cents.
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG +2.17%) gained over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported adjusted Q3 EPS of $3.92, stronger than consensus of $3.80.
Discover (DFS +2.68%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.37, higher than consensus of $1.34.
Yahoo (YHOO +2.29%) climbed over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 52 cents, much better than consensus of 30 cents.
Broadcom (BRCM +2.84%) jumped 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 91 cents, well above consensus of 84 cents.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:30 Consumer Price Index
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
Notable earnings before today’s open: ABB, ABT, ANGI, APH, BA, BABY, BEAV, BIIB, BPOP, BSX, DOW, EMC, EVR, FDML, FNB, GD, GNTX, GRA, HCBK, ICLR, IPG, IR, KNX, LL, MDCO, MKTX, NOC, NSC, NTRS, NYCB, OC, PII, R, SEIC, SLGN, SPG, SWK, TMO, TUP, USB, WIT, WRLD, XRX
Notable earnings after today’s close: ACTG, ALB, ALGT, AWH, BCR, BDN, CA, CAKE, CLB, CLGX, CLW, CTXS, CVA, EEFT, EFX, EGHT, FTK, FTNT, GGG, IBKC, INFN, LEG, LHO, LOGI, LRCX, MKSI, MKTO, MLNX, MSA, NOW, NXPI, ORLY, OTEX, PLCM, PLXS, RE, RJF, SCSS, SFG, SGMO, SHLM, SKX, SLG, SLM, SUSQ, T, TAL, TCBI, TER, TILE, TMK, TSCO, TYL, USTR, VAR, WFT, YELP
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers