{"id":6837,"date":"2013-07-19T07:44:28","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T12:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=6837"},"modified":"2013-07-19T07:44:28","modified_gmt":"2013-07-19T12:44:28","slug":"before-the-open-jul-19-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=6837","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Jul 19)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Options Expiration Day.<\/span>
\nThe Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed and with a bearish slant. China, Japan and Taiwan each dropped more than 1.5%; there were no big winners. Europe is currently trading mostly down. Italy and Norway are doing well to the upside; The Czech Republic and Greece are leading to the downside. Futures here in the States point towards a flat open for the cash market.
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\nThe dollar is down. Oil and copper are up. Gold is up, silver down.<\/span>
\nToday is options expiration day. It’s been a meaningless day for a long time, and it’ll be meaningless today. Option traders who need to square off positions have already done so; they’re already looking to the next expiration cycle, whether it’s next week or next month. <\/span>
\nAs of now the indexes are up moderately on the week, so barring a move down, the market will close with its 4th straight up week, but for what it’s worth, it’ll be the smallest weekly gain among the last four unless we get a sizable rally.<\/span>
\nYesterday after the close, MSFT and GOOG disappointed with earnings. Both sold off about 5% in after-hour trading, but GOOG has cut it’s loss in half (down 2.7% now) this morning while MSFT has added to its (down 7.5%).<\/span>
\nAdd this to some semiconductor stocks that took big hits yesterday, and you gotta start to wonder if there’s trouble in tech land. It’s something to keep an eye on, but I don’t think tech is the leadership group it used to be because we no longer need to update our gadgets every 12 months. We can easily use a computer for several years, and considering how prices come down over time, it’s a double whammy for tech stocks. Here are some semis which took hits yesterday.<\/span>
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\nChipotle (CMG) on the other hand is up 4.7%.<\/span>
\nIn other news, the city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy. This has very little to do with the market but will be very interesting to follow. Do long-time city employees lose their pensions? Tough times in the motor city, and it could serve as a precedent for other cities. <\/span>
\nHere are stock-specific headline stories from barchart.com…<\/span>
\nIngersoll-Rand PLC (IR +1.97%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.14, better than consensus of $1.08.<\/span>
\nHoneywell International (HON +0.64%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.28, higher than consensus of $1.21.<\/span>
\nGeneral Electric (GE +0.38%) reorted Q2 EPS of 36 cents, better than consensus of 35 cents.<\/span>
\nWhirlpool (WHR -1.02%) reported Q2 EPS of $2.37, weaker than consensus of $2.42.<\/span>
\nSchlumberger (SLB +1.12%) reported Q2 EPS of $1.15, higher than consensus of $1.10.<\/span>
\nCelanese (CE +1.42%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $1.12, below consensus of $1.16.<\/span>
\nMoody’s Investors Service moved the outlook on the Aaa government bond rating of the United States back to stable, replacing the negative outlook that has been in place since August 2011.<\/span>
\nApache (APA +1.32%) announced it has agreed to sell its Gulf of Mexico Shelf operations and properties to Fieldwood Energy, an affiliate of Riverstone Holdings, for cash proceeds of $3.75 billion.<\/span>
\nAMD (AMD +5.94%) reported a Q2 EPS loss of -9 cents, a smaller loss than consensus of -13 cents.<\/span>
\nIntuitive Surgical (ISRG +1.43%) fell over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of $3.90, below consensus of $4.04.<\/span>
\nStryker (SYK +0.91%) reporeds Q2 adjusted EPS of $1.00, right on consensus, although it reported Q2 revenue of $2.20 billion, better than consensus of $2.19 billion.<\/span>
\nMicrosoft (MSFT -0.84%) slumped over 6% in after-hours trading after reported Q4 EPS with items of 59 cents, weaker than consensus of 75 cents.<\/span>
\nChipotle (CMG +0.26%) climbed 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of $2.82, slightly better than consensus of $2.81.<\/span>
\nGoogle (GOOG -0.86%) slid over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of $9.56, well below consensus of $10.78.<\/span>
\nthis week’s Earnings<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Economic Numbers<\/a><\/span>
\ntoday’s upgrades\/downgrades<\/a><\/span>
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