Before the Open (Feb 9)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
Several of the Asian/Pacific markets remain closed. Japan dropped an incredible 5.4%; Australia fell 2.8%; India and New Zealand dropped more than 1%. Europe is suffering big, across-the-board losses. Greece is down more than 5%, Austria and Italy more than 3%, and France, the Netherlands, Turkey, Denmark, Hungary, Spain and Portugal more than 2%. Futures in the States point towards a moderate gap down open for the cash market.
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The dollar is down. Oil is up, copper is down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up.
Yesterday the market was very weak early and then rallied into the close to salvage some of the losses. The indexes still closed down across-the-board but were well off their lows. Today’s open will give back a big chunk of that late-day rally.
There’s no question the character of the market has changed the last six months. Good news leads to flat or up opens that are sold into (even Facebook, Google, Under Armour gave back their earnings gains). Bad news causes huge gap downs and follow through selling (PANW and CRM are the latest casualties).
The trend is down, and sentiment is negative. Your focus should be on shorting bounces and breaks of support in some circumstances. Yes there are long trades to be had (utilities and gold have done well, and random individual stocks bounce here and there), but your focus should be on playing the downside…at least until the indicators get to extreme levels and we get a total washout.
Bounces will take place. Since bottoming in late August, the S&P has enjoyed rallies/bounces of 150 points, 225, 75, 75, 75 and 125. So in less than 6 months, there have been 6 moderate-to-big bounces. In the near term you can go both ways, but overall your focus should be on going short. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
CVS Health Corp. (CVS -3.71%) reported Q4 EPS of $1.53, right on consensus.
Ingersoll-Rand PLC (IR -3.66%) reported Q4 EPS of 94 cents, better than consensus of 93 cents.
Cheesecake Factory (CAKE -0.04%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Maxim Group with a price target of $57.
Salesforce.com (CRM -7.62%) was upgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Underperform’ at Jeffries.
Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA -1.91%) declined nearly 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $7.38 billion, below consensus of $7.52 billion.
The Gap (GPS +0.93%) rose over 2% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q4 adjusted EPS of 56 cents-57 cents, above consensus of 53 cents.
Waste Connections (WCN -1.91%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 49 cents, higher than consensus of 47 cents.
Partner Re (PRE -0.06%) reported Q4 operating EPS of $3.74, well above consensus of $2.48
Molina Healthcare MOH reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 67 cents, higher than consensus of 60 cents, although Q4 revenue of $3.77 billion was below consensus of $3.90 billion.
Bristow Group (BRS +2.27%) slid nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 67 cents, better than consensus of 63 cents, but Q3 revenue of $419.9 million was below consensus of $447.8 million.
Plains All American Pipeline LP (PAA -13.15%) fell over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 38 cents, below consensus of 46 cents.
Qualys (QLYS -6.09%) dropped 7% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on fiscal 2016 adjusted EPS to 74 cents-79 cents, weaker than consensus of 81 cents.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s Economic Calendar
6:00 NFIB Small Business Optimism Index
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
10:00 Wholesale Trade
10:00 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
1:00 PM Results of $13B, 3-Year Note Auction

Today’s Earnings here
Other
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers

0 thoughts on “Before the Open (Feb 9)

  1. Japanese stocks down 5% today, US got keelhauled yesterday, may be another trip around today. What is happening next? EU banks are slowly disengaging from the EU economy. Fear and loathing rules the hall in our offices. Leading with cash and a few bonds. Worried? Will, old men do retire eventually, or die. Which makes more sense? Starting to wonder after living through four bears, but nothing like one. Keep the faith for a while longer.

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