Before the Open (Oct 29)

Good morning. Happy Wednesday. Happy Fed Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Japan, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan all rallied more than 1%. Europe is currently mostly up. Russia is up 1%; Belgium, Norway, Stockholm, London and Germany are also doing well. Greece, Spain and Italy are down. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.

The dollar is flat. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are down.
The market put in a huge up day yesterday…across-the-board gains highlighted by the small caps rallying almost 3%. My bias has been to the upside for two weeks, and even though a give-back can play out at any time, I’m maintaining this bias. I don’t flip flop back and forth very quickly. I give the market room to move because it’s my MO to ride the trends. Counter moves within trends are not reasons to panic; they’re opportunities to buy stocks at lower prices.
Today we’ll get the latest FOMC statement. It’s expected the end of QE will officially be announced, and hints will be dropped overnight rates will be raised next summer or fall. As long as the Fed stays on the course they’re currently on, I would not expect any market disruption. In the near term, sure, but not overall. With the market doing well, and the odds favoring new highs being hit later this year, the Fed doesn’t matter right now. Literally. They can hide in an irrelevant corner for the next several months because they don’t matter.
But the media will play this up as a big day. They need people to watch and read so they can sell advertising. It borders on being scam…the lay public led to believe the Fed is a super important group that pulls strings that have drastic effects on the economy. They can have influence over time, but they’ve been so transparent, they do not surprise anyone any more. Twelve months ago they said they were going to cut their bond purchases every month until October 2014 when QE3 ended. That’s exactly what they’ve done. They could have skipped all their meetings the last year and nothing would have changed because they’ve stayed the course the entire time.
Ramble over. The market is in good shape, but the currently vertical move is unsustainable. Be careful chasing.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Aetna (AET +0.62%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.79, higher than consensus of $1.58.
Pfizer (PFE -0.27%) reported Q3 EPS of 57 cents, better than consensus of 55 cents.
Manitowoc (MTW -0.94%) slipped over 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 36 cents, below consensus of 42 cents.
Crane (CR -0.10%) reported Q3 EPS ex-items of $1.12, weaker than consensus of $1.17, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS view to $4.40-$4.50 from $4.55-$4.75, below consensus of $4.62.
Masco (MAS -0.48%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 31 cents, less than consensus of 32 cents.
Davidson Kempner Partners reported a 11.47% passive stake in Eagle Bulk Shipping (EGLE -1.49%) .
Kohl’s (KSS -0.91%) dropped nearly 5% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q3 same-store sales down -1.4% and that fiscal 2014 EPS will be at the low end of $4.05-$4.45, weaker than consensus of $4.30.
HealthSouth (HLS +0.27%) reported Q3 EPS of 53 cents, better than consensus of 49 cents.
Reinsurance Group (RGA +0.81%) reported Q3 EPS of $2.28, stronger than consensus of $2.07.
Hartford Financial (HIG +0.37%) reported Q3 EPS of 86 cents, higher than consensus of 83 cents.
Symetra Financial (SYA +0.13%) reported Q3 EPS of 39 cents, weaker than consensus of 44 cents.
AvalonBay (AVB +0.81%) reported Q3 FFO of $2.14, higher than consensus of $2.00.
Allison Transmission (ALSN +0.10%) reported Q3 EPS of 38 cents, stronger than consensus of 30 cents.
Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD -1.17%) rose over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of $1.14, better than consensus of $1.07.
Amgen (AMGN +0.64%) reported Q3 EPS of $2.30, well above consensus of $2.11, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS view to $8.45-$8.55 from $8.20-$8.40, higher than consensus of $8.42.
General Growth Properties (GGP +0.97%) reported Q3 FFO of 33 cents, higher than consensus of 31 cents.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
11:30 Results of $15B, 2-Year FRN Auction
1:00 PM Results of $35B, 5-Year Note Auction
2:00 PM FOMC Announcement
Notable earnings before today’s open: ACCO, ADP, AIT, ALKS, ALLY, AMED, ARW, AUO, AVX, BAH, BDC, CCJ, CFR, CKSW, CMC, COT, CTCM, DXYN, ETN, EVER, EXC, GHM, GRMN, GT, H, HES, HSY, IACI, ISSI, JLL, LFUS, MHFI, MRGE, MTH, NVMI, OMG, PAG, PB, PSX, PSXP, PX, RES, RL, ROL, RYAM, SEE, SKYW, SO, SODA, SPW, SPWR, STM, TEL, TFX, UAM, UBSI, VLY, WEC, WLP, WM, XRAY
Notable earnings after today’s close: ABX, ACGL, ACHC, ACMP, AEGN, AEM, AFOP, AHL, AIZ, AKAM, ALDW, ALL, ANIK, ARAY, ARII, ARRS, ASGN, ATML, AUY, AXS, BGC, BIDU, BLKB, BMR, CACI, CALX, CAR, CATM, CAVM, CBG, CBL, CEMP, CENX, CHDN, CJES, CLD, CLUB, CMO, CNW, CRL, CRUS, CSGP, CSII, CUZ, CW, CWT, DAC, DRE, DRIV, DWA, EQIX, EQY, ESRT, ESV, EXL, EXR, FBHS, FFIV, FISH, FLEX, FLTX, FMC, FNF, FORM, FORR, FR, GLUU, HBI, HOS, HT, IPI, IRG, ISIL, JDSU, KEX, KRFT, KS, LGCY, LNC, LOCK, LOPE, MAA, MANT, MASI, MDAS, MEOH, MET, MOBL, MTGE, MUR, NCLH, NE, NEU, NEWP, NSIT, OII, PDM, PEIX, PGTI, PPC, PRXL, PSMI, PVA, QGEN, QTM, QUIK, RFMD, RGR, RJF, RNG, RRC, RRTS, RST, SCI, SFLY, SGI, SIMO, SLCA, SPN, SPRT, SSNC, SSS, STR, SU, TEX, TFSL, TGB, TGI, THG, TRLA, TTMI, TTWO, UNM, V, VECO, VGR, VPRT, VR, WLL, WMB, WPZ, WSTL, WTW
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers