Before the Open (Feb 5)

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Employment Numbers Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the upside. Singapore and Indonesia ralled more than 2%; India gained more than 1%. Japan dropped more than 1%, and China was also weak. Europe is currently mostly up, but gains are small. Austria, Norway and Hungary are up more than 1%; the Czech Republic, Poland, Spain and Portugal are also doing well. Futures here in the States point towards a flat open for the cash market. This, of course, can change when the employment figures are released.
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The dollar is up. Oil is up, copper is down. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up.
It’s been an up and down week. On Monday the market took out last week’s high, but it couldn’t hold the gains. Then on Wednesday it tested the previous week’s low. Now we’re in the middle of the intraweek range, and there isn’t a clear near-term trend. The S&P is down for the week but in the upper half of its range. So instead of following through on last week’s strong finish, we’ve gotten a lot of chop.
Earnings season has been all over the map. There have been some big winners and big losers. Today’s big losers are LNKD, DATA, SWIR, OUTR and YRCW.
Here are the employment numbers…
unemployment rate: 4.9% (was 5.0% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: +151K
private payrolls:
average workweek: up 0.1 hour to 34.6 hours
hourly wages: up $0.14 to $25.39
labor participation rate: 62.7%
December nonfarm payrolls lowered from 292K to 262K.
November number raised from 252K to 280K.
The market’s reaction to the less-than-stellar numbers was down. S&P futures dropped about 10+ points.
Wall St. is pricing in no raise increase the rest of 2016, so this isn’t a case where bad news is good because Wall St. already doesn’t expect higher rates. Instead bad news is bad news. The market is more focused on the economy than it is on rates.
The numbers aren’t great or bad. The increase in hourly wages and average workweek tell us the labor market is tightening, and the top line unemployment number makes for an attractive headline. But nonfarm payrolls is not encouraging.
In the near term I still favor the upside some, but overall my bearish bias remain in place. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Symantec (SYMC -0.52%) jumped over 9% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 26 cents, better than consensus of 24 cents, and said it received a $500 million investment from Silver Lake Management LLC.
Aon PLC (AON +1.38%) reported Q4 EPS of $2.27, higher than consensus of $2.09.
CME Grup (CME -3.43%) reported Q4 EPS of 92 cents, higher than consensus of 90 cents.
LinkedIn (LNKD +0.54%) plummeted over 25% in pre-market trading after it lowered guidance on Q1 adjusted EPS to 55 cents, well below consensus of 75 cents, and forecast fiscal 2016 revenue of $3.6 billion-$3.65 billion, below consensus of $3.90 billion.
Hartford Financial Services Group (HIG +2.21%) climbed over 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 core EPS of $1.07, better than consensus of 98 cents.
Amgen (AMGN -0.52%) gained nearly 1% in after-hours trading after it said its Blincyto showed improved overall survival in a Phase 3 Tower study in treatment of B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Qorvo (QRVO +4.64%) rose +0.5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.03, higher than consensus of 95 cents.
Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF -0.70%) declined over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 42 cents, below consensus of 51 cents.
Post Holdings (POST +1.07%) climbed nearly 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 52 cents, well above consensus of 32 cents.
Hanesbrands (HBI -3.48%) slid over 12% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 30 cents, below consensus of 34 cents, and said it sees 2016 net sales of $5.8 billion-$5.9 billion, weaker than consensus of $6.03 billion.
Ubiquiti Networks (UBNT -0.57%) jumped over 15% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 58 cents, stronger than consensus of 51 cents, and then raised guidance on Q3 adjusted EPS to 53 cents-60 cents, higher than consensus of 51 cents.
Deckers Outdoor (DECK -2.65%) fell 10% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on fiscal 2016 adjusted EPS to $4.49 from a prior view of $5.18, below consensus of $4.75.
Multi-Fineline Electronix (MFLX -3.41%) surged over 40% in after-hours trading after Suzhou Dongshan acquired the company for $23.95 a share, a 41% premium to Thursday’s close.
Tableau Software (DATA +2.69%) plunged over 40% in pre-market trading after it reported Q4 license revenue of $133.1 million, less than expectations of $135 million.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Non-farm payrolls
8:30 International Trade
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
3:00 PM Consumer Credit
Today’s Earnings here
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers