Before the Open (Aug 7)

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Employment Numbers Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down. China moved up 2.3%, but Australia dropped 2.3%, New Zealand fell 1% and Indonesia and Malaysia lost 0.7%. Europe currently leans to the downside. Greece is up almost 2%; Poland, Austria, Sweden and Russia are also up. Denmark is down more than 1%; France, Germany, Norway, Finland, Spain, Netherlands and Belgium are down. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
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The dollar is down slightly. Oil is down a few cents, copper is down. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up.
Here are the employment numbers…
unemployment rate: 5.3% (was 5.3% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: +215K (was +223K last month) –
private payrolls:
average workweek: up 0.1 hours to 34.6 hours
hourly wages: up 0.2% to $24.99
labor participation rate: same at 62.6% (lowest in 38 years)
June job gain raised from 223K to 231K.
May job gain raised from 254K to 260K.
S&P futures dropped a little on the news.
Oil edged lower.
Gold dropped about 10 bucks.
The US dollar jumped.
Yesterday oil emerged as the market’s most interesting group. Crude itself closed down but off its high, but many oil stocks posted big gains. I don’t think a bottom is in in oil, but a tradeable bounce is certainly possible. There are many individual stocks that are nicely set up for a pop.
But aside from the long opportunities in the oil space, my bias remains to the downside. The Nas could be said to be slowly trending up, but the other indexes have been flat for many months – flat while the internals deteriorate. The market isn’t going to head higher – other than for short-lived moves – until the internals improve. Simple as that.
After this week earnings season is going to start to wind down, and one of the slower times of year will begin. Wall St. spends extra time at the beach before kids go back to school. Volume may dry up a little, but there’ll still be trading opportunities. I’d be surprised if the intraday ranges shrank too much.
Until the internals improve, I’ll be in “short rallies mode.” More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Intel (INTC -0.38%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Drexel Hamilton.
Coach (COH -0.54%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at UBS.
Hershey (HSY -0.50%) reported Q2 EPS of 78 cents, better than consensus of 74 cents.
Genesis Healthcare (GEN +1.52%) reported Q2 EPS of 14 cents, higher than consensus of 9 cents.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn reported an 8.18% stake in Cheniere (LNG -0.26%) .
Bio-Rad (BIO -2.98%) reported Q2 EPS of 97 cents, well above consensus of 78 cents.
Nu Skin (NUS -3.62%) reported Q2 EPS of 75 cents, better than consensus of 72 cents.
Sprouts Farmers Markets (SFM -2.21%) fell over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 22 cents, right on consensus, but then lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 adjusted EPS to 80 cents-82 cents, below consensus of 85 cents.
TESARO (TSRO -5.95%) reported a Q2 EPS loss of -$1.51, a wider loss than consensus of -$1.14.
NVIDIA (NVDA -0.63%) jumped over 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 34 cents, over three times consensus of 10 cents.
Monster Beverage (MNST -5.93%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 79 cents, weaker than consensus of 91 cents.
EOG Resources (EOG +2.09%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 28 cents, well above consensus of 10 cents.
Mohawk (MHK -2.53%) reported Q2 EPS of $2.69, better than consensus of $2.62.
Century Aluminum (CENX -1.08%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 25 cents, below consensus of 27 cents.
Nuance (NUAN -1.59%) reported Q3 EPS of 32 cents, higher than consensus of 29 cents, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS to $1.20-$1.24, above consensus of $1.19.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Non-farm payrolls
3:00 PM Consumer Credit
Notable earnings before today’s open: BAM, BCRX, BID, BR, CST, CVC, DOC, EBIX, ERF, GRPN, HIMX, HMSY, HRC, HRS, HSY, HZNP, JD, LMIA, LXRX, LXU, MGA, MHR, NILE, PMC, SFUN, SIRO, SJI, SSP, TC, TTI, TU, UAM, WWAV, ZINC
Notable earnings after today’s close: BRK.B, IPAR, KRO
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers