Before the Open (Mar 6)

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Employment Numbers Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the downside. China fell 2.8%; Hong Kong and Singapore dropped more than 1%. Europe is currently mostly down. France, Austria, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Italy are down more than 1%; London, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Russia, Spain and Portugal are also weak. Prior to the release of the employment numbers, futures here in the States pointed towards gap down open for the cash market.
The dollar is down. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are mixed.
Here are the employment numbers…
unemployment rate: 5.0% (was 5.0% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: +160K
private payrolls:
average workweek: up 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours
hourly wages: up 0.3% to $25.53
labor participation rate: 62.8%
March job gain reduced from 215K to 208K
February job gain cut from 245K to 233K.
S&P futures immediately dropped on the news. As of this writing they’re down 8 points.
Barring a pretty solid rally, the S&P will post back-to-back down weeks for the first time since the February bottom was established. The index is approx. unchanged since the middle of March, so now the duration of this topping range has lasted as long as the directionaly move off the low. The market does, after all, trade range bound more than it trends. Recognition of this is paramount for your success because different trading techniques are needed.
I have not liked the market for several weeks. In fact this past weekend I stated: There just isn’t much worth playing. We’d all be wise to lay low in the near term.
A perfectly normal pullback would have the S&P drop another 50 points down to 2000, so don’t jump the gun going long. I’m content to lay low. As a swing trade who prefers to hold for several weeks or longer, I’d prefer to back up and see the big picture instead of zooming in very close. I’m aggressive long during up swings and am mostly flat during corrections. I’ve been mostly flat for a couple weeks. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Activision Blizzard (ATVI +1.84%) gained 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 23 cents, well above consensus of 12 cents, and then raised guidance on 2016 adjusted EPS to $1.78 from a February 11 estimate of $1.75
Fluor (FLR +0.85%) dropped over 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 74 cents, weaker than consensus of 85 cents, and then lowered guidance on 2016 EPS to $3.25-$3.65 from a February 18 estimate of $3.50-$4.00.
Yelp (YELP -1.02%) jumped over 10% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 8 cents, four times consensus of 2 cents, and then raised guidance on 2016 net revenue to $690 million-$702 million from a February 8 estimate of $685 million-$700 million.
Herbalife Ltd. (HLF +0.71%) surged 14% in after-hours trading after it said it is in late-stage talks, which include litigation or settlement, to resolve a FTC probe into whether the company is a pyramid scheme.
Square (SQ -2.54%) slumped over 10% in after-hours trading after it expressed concerns about financing for its small-business customer-loan program and said it faced “challenging credit market conditions” and cited delays signing new investors to help back its lending business.
Post Holdings (POST +0.50%) jumped over 6% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance on full-year adjusted Ebitda to $893 million-$913 million from a February 4 estimate of $810 million-$840 million.
Cerner (CERN -0.47%) fell over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 53 cents, right on consensus, but said it sees Q2 adjusted EPS of 56 cents-58 cents. below consensus of 58 cents.
Arista Networks (ANET +1.65%) gained 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 68 cents, higher than consensus of 60 cents.
Depomed (DEPO -2.36%) slid over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 12 cents, weaker than consensus of 17 cents.
FireEye (FEYE -1.30%) dropped over 6% in after-hours trading after it forecast a Q2 adjusted EPS loss of -38 cents to -40 cents, a wider loss than consensus of -36 cents.
Air Lease (AL -0.03%) climbed over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.38, well above consensus of 77 cents.
MercadoLibre (MELI +0.42%) rose over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 68 cents, higher than consensus of 54 cents.
Imperva (IMPV +0.44%) sank 20% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q1 loss of -25 cents, a small decline than consensus of -28 cents, but said it sees Q2 revenue of $65.5 million-$66.5 million, weaker than consensus of $70.2 million.
Endo International PMC (ENDP -2.85%) plunged 25% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on fiscal 2016 adjusted EPS to $4.50-$4.80 from a March 17 estimate of $5.85-$6.20, well below consensus of $5.64.
Bankrate (RATE +1.05%) surged 13% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 12 cents, above consensus of 8 cents, and said it sees Q2 revenue of $94 million-$98 million, above the midpoint of consensus of $87.3 million.
Thursday’s Key Earnings
3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) -6.4% on a widening net loss.
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) +6.3% AH getting a lift from King Digital.
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) +3.9% boosted by gross merchandise volume growth.
Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) +1.1% after in-line earnings, asset sale.
EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) +2.4% flat AH following mixed results.
FireEye (NASDAQ:FEYE) -9.3% AH announcing soft guidance, CEO change.
GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) -4.5% AH as sales plunged 50% from the prior-year period.
Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) +13% AH entering advanced talks to settle FTC probe.
Merck (NYSE:MRK) -1.3% falling on generic competition, currency.
News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA) unmoved AH despite another quarterly drop in revenue.
Square (NYSE:SQ) -13.3% AH as operating expenses surged.
Yelp (NYSE:YELP) +9% AH on Q1 beat and solid guidance.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 Non-farm payrolls
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