Before the Open (Mar 4)

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Employment Numbers Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Hong Kong and Singapore rallied more than 1%; China and New Zealand also did well. Europe is currenly mostly up. Denmark is up more than 3%; Germany, France, London, Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Hungary and Portugal are up more than 1%. Prior to the release of the latest employment data, futures here in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
The dollar is flat. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are mixed.
The market moved up again yesterday. The volume is falling off a little; the intraday ranges, volatility and activity level are waning. SPX 2000 is just overhead. It’s time to start being a little more careful. The S&P has rallied 180 points in about three weeks. The easy money has been made. We’ve gotten lots of good trades off the last few weeks. It’s time to tone things down.
Here are the employment numbers…
unemployment rate: 4.9% (was 4.9% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: +242K
private payrolls:
average workweek: down 0.2 hours to 34.4 hours
hourly wages: down $0.03 to $25.35
labor participation rate: 62.9%
January revised from 151K to 172K.
December revised from 262K to 271K.
After the release, futures jumped, so as of now, the S&P is set to open above 2000.
SPX 2000 is an another inflection point. I don’t think the index trades here for long. The market either gets rejected (there have been some spike highs the last year) or blows right through and thoroughly frustrates the bears. I’m betting on a continuation of the rally, even if prices rest in the near term. If I’m wrong, oh well. I’ll give back some of my profits, but that’s the price you pay for having exposure.
In the very near term be on the lookout for a “sell the news” scenario. Otherwise I’m looking for higher prices. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Freeport McMoRan (FCX +1.56%) is up over 4% in pre-market trading as metals prices rallied with gold at a 13-month high and copper at a 3-3/4 month high.
Tyson Foods (TSN +0.35%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at BB&T Capital Markets.
Staples (SPLS +1.75%) reported Q4 non-GAAP EPS of 26 cents, below consensus of 28 cents.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE -2.16%) jumped 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 revenue of $12.72 billion, above consensus of $12.68 billion.
UDR Inc. (UDR +1.00%) rallied nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it was announced that UDR will replace Keurig Green Mountain in the S&P 500 as of the close of trading Friday, March 4.
H&R Block (HRB +0.95%) dropped nearly 6% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q3 adjusted continuing operations loss of -34 cents, a wider loss than consensus of -24 cents.
Cooper Companies (COO +1.12%) gained over 2% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance on 2016 adjusted EPS to $8.00-$8.30 from a December estimate of $7.60-$7.90, above consensus of $7.77.
Smith & Wesson Holding (SWHC +0.47%) climbed over 6% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 59 cents, higher than consensus of 41 cents, and then raised guidance on 2016 adjusted EPS to $1.68-$1.70 from a January estimate of $1.36-$1.41, above consensus of $1.47.
Planet Fitness (PLNT +0.68%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 17 cents, better than consensus of 15 cents, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2016 EPS to 60 cents-63 cents, above consensus of 59 cents.
Ambarella (AMBA +2.17%) lost over 5% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q1 revenue of $55 million-$57 million, below consensus of $62.4 million.
Broadcom Ltd. (AVGO +0.26%) jumped nearly 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $2.41, higher than consensus of $2.29.
Mentor Graphics (MENT -0.05%) slid over 3% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q1 adjusted EPS of break-even, less than consensus of a 19 cent gain.
Nimble Storage (NMBL +4.43%) dropped nearly 8% in after-hours trading after it said it sees a Q1 loss of -25 cents to -27 cents a share, a bigger loss than consensus of -16 cents.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Thursday’s Key Earnings
Ambarella (NASDAQ:AMBA) -7.3% AH on a soft FQ1 outlook.
Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) +7.2% AH as lower spending boosted EPS.
Joy Global (NYSE:JOY) +20.8% after maintaining guidance.
Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) +6% AH on solid forecasts.
Smith & Wesson (NASDAQ:SWHC) +4.3% AH following a big guidance boost.
Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) +17.4% after topping expectations.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Non-farm payrolls
8:30 International Trade
10:45 Fed’s Kaplan: Monetary Policy
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
Today’s Earnings here
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers