Before the Open (Nov 6)

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Employment Numbers Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down. China rallied 1.9%, and Japan moved up 0.8%. Taiwan fell 1.8%, and Hong Kong dropped 0.8%. Europe leans to the downside, but there are few big movers. Austria and Czech Republic are up more than 1%; France, Switzerland and Spain are posting the biggest losses. Futures here in the States point towards an up open for the cash market. This of course could change when the employment numbers are released.
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The dollar is up. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up.
Here are the employment numbers…
unemployment rate: 5.0% (was 5.1% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: +271K
private payrolls:
average workweek: flat at 34.5 hours
hourly wages: up 0.4% to $24.20
labor participation rate:
September job gain trimmed from 142K to 137K.
August job gain increased from 136K to 153K.
These are some good numbers. Employment rate down more, and hourly wages up 2.5% the last 12 months, the most since 2009.
S&P futures immediately plunged (dropped about 12 points), but have recovered some.
The feeling is the Fed is much more likely to raise rates in December with the improving employment situation. This is complete and utter bull. The employment situation has been good and getting better for a long time. If employment was the key metric, rates would have been raised a long time ago. Makes no sense. The real reason rates have been kept this low for this long is inflation, or lack of inflation. The Fed is so scared of deflation that they’ve had choice but to keep rates low. With commodities sucking wind like they are, I don’t see the Fed raising rates – that is if they are sticking to their dual mandate. They could do whatever they want. I’m just saying if they want to see some inflation before raising rates, it’s not here yet. I have no clue why Wall St. is so fixated on employment.
The S&P is up 20 on the week, so barring a big sell-off, the index will post its sixth consecutive up week.
Zooming in, the index has dropped two consecutive days – it’s been more than six week since the last 3-day streak.
Overall I like the market, but near term there are mixed signals. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Cigna (CI +1.89%) reported Q3 EPS of $2.28, better than consensus of $2.20.
Humana (HUM +1.23%) reported Q3 EPS of $2.16, higher than consensus of $2.13.
Disney (DIS -0.22%) fell 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.20, better than consensus of $1.14, but Q4 revenue of $13.50 billion was below consensus of $13.56 billion.
Mohawk Industries (MHK -0.36%) slipped 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $2.98, less than consensus of $2.99, and then lowered guidance on Q4 adjusted EPS to $2.66-$2.75, below consensus of $2.75.
Monster Beverage (MNST -0.44%) climbed over 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 84 cents, better than consensus of 81 cents.
Nvidia (NVDA -1.14%) jumped nearly 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 46 cents, well above consensus of 25 cents.
TripAdvisor (TRIP +0.59%) dropped over 9% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 53 cents, weaker than consensus of 54 cents.
Weight Watchers (WTW +2.61%) jumped over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 39 cents, higher than consensus of 29 cents, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS to 64 cents-74 cents from 57 cents-72 cents, above consensus of 67 cents.
Men’s Wearhouse (MW -0.84%) plunged over 25% in after-hours trading after it cut its preliminary Q3 EPS view to 46 cents-51 cents, well below consensus of 87 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS to $1.75-$2.00 from a previous estimate of $2.70-$2.90, well below consensus of $2.78.
CyberArk (CYBR -4.55%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 26 cents, double consensus of 13 cents, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2015 adjusted EPS to 80 cents-82 cents from an August estimate of 62 cents-65 cents, better than consensus of 64 cents.
Tableau Software (DATA -3.89%) surged over 15% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 14 cents, double consensus of 7 cents.
Skyworks Solutions (SWKS +0.12%) climbed nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.52, right on consensus, but then raised guidance on Q1 adjusted EPS to $1.60, better than consensus of $1.56.
Kraft Heinz (KHC -0.53%) fell 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 44 cents, below consensus of 59 cents.
Shake Shack (SHAK +4.48%) rose over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 12 cents, higher than consensus of 7 cents.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s Economic Calendar
7:30 Fed’s Bullard: U.S. economy and monetary policy
8:30 Non-farm payrolls
3:00 PM Consumer Credit
4:15 PM Fed’s Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard: Unconventional monetary policy
Today’s Earnings here
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers