Before the Open (Nov 13)

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed. Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan moved up; China, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea moved down. Europe is currently mixed. Germany, Belgium, Stockholm and Switzerland are up; France, Italy, Spain, Norway, Prague and Russia are down. Futures here in the States point towards an up open for the cash market.

The dollar is down. Oil is down, copper up. Gold is flat, silver is down.
I’ve been a broken record lately. The ranges have been small, volume has been light, volatility and activity levels have been low…and the market continues to grind higher. We had a month where the S&P moved 20-30 points every day. Now it needs an entire week to cover the same distance.
The market is in good shape. The indicators are acting right. I see a healthy market and high odds of higher prices going forward…even though the extent of the move off the low hints at a need to rest. Over the intermediate term my bias remains solidly up. In the near term, I’m more neutral because the risk/rewards for new entries at this stage aren’t great. If you initiate new positions right now, know and admit the landscape.
Let’s keep plowing ahead…but don’t get lazy or complacent. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Wal-Mart (WMT +0.24%) climbed over 1% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 EPS of $1.15, better than consensus of $1.12.
Viacom (VIAB -0.40%) reported Q4 EPS of $1.71, higher than consensus of $1.68.
Kohl’s (KSS +2.99%) reported Q3 EPS of 70 cents, below consensus of 74 cents.
UBS reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating on CME Group (CME -0.80%) and raised the price target on the stock to $97 from $89.
Tyco International (TYC -0.07%) reported Q4 EPS of 56 cents, right on consensus.
UGI Corporation (UGI -1.25%) reported a Q4 adjusted EPS loss of -8 cents, a bigger loss than consensus of -5 cents.
AmeriGas (APU +0.55%) reported a Q4 EPS loss of -58 cents, a wider loss than consensus of -55 cents.
Global Brass & Copper (BRSS -1.11%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 51 cents, weaker than consensus of 58 cents.
WGL Holdings (WGL -0.90%) reported a Q4 EPS loss of -17 cents, a smaller loss than consensus of -26 cents, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS to $2.70-$2.90, higher than consensus of $2.64.
Cisco (CSCO -0.16%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 54 cents, better than consensus of 53 cents.
J.C. Penney (JCP +7.78%) fell over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q3 EPS loss of -77 cents, a smaller loss than consensus of -80 cents, but said it saw a slowdown in September and October.
NetApp (NTAP +0.09%) fell 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 70 cents, right on consensus, although Q2 revenue of $1.54 billion was below consensus of $1.55.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
11:00 EIA Petroleum Inventories
12:30 PM Fed’s Plosser
12:15 PM Janet Yellen
1:00 PM Results of $16B, 30-Year Note Auction
2:00 PM Treasury Budget
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
Notable earnings before today’s open: CLFD, ENZY, FLY, GIB, HIMX, HP, KSS, MMS, RSTI, RWLK, SBH, SPH, TDG, TYC, VIAB, VTNR, WMT
Notable earnings after today’s close: AMAT, ELP, FRSH, HGR, JWN, PAAS, PRSS, SINA, STRI, TUBE, VJET, WB, XON, YOKU
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers