{"id":7838,"date":"2014-07-25T07:55:05","date_gmt":"2014-07-25T12:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavittbrothers.com\/blog\/?p=7838"},"modified":"2014-07-25T07:55:05","modified_gmt":"2014-07-25T12:55:05","slug":"before-the-open-jul-25-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=7838","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Jul 25)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Friday.<\/span>
\n The Asian\/Pacific markets closed mixed. Japan and China led with gains greater than 1%; Taiwan (down 0.9%) and India (down 0.6%) pulled up the rear. Europe currently leans to the downside. Greece is up 3%, followed by Prague (up 1.1%). Russia is down 1.5%, followed by Norway (down 1%) and France (down 0.8%). Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
\n<\/span>
\n The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are up. <\/span>
\n The S&P 500 has hit an all-time high three straight days on increasing volume, but the ranges have been small and the energy and enthusiasm levels have been low. If you were wondering if a new high would bring a group of traders\/investors off the sidelines and into the market, guess again. The new high hasn’t induced anything. The Nas 100 has also done well, but the Dow has started to lag and of course the Russell small caps have a lot of catching up to do. <\/span>
\n Despite the new highs, I don’t think anything has changed. I still like the market long term, but in the near term, who knows. Between the lack of quality set ups, a few indicators which aren’t yet supporting an upside move, earnings season and geopolitical events, the market isn’t ready to rally. Things could change, but for now, even though I like the market overall, the stage doesn’t seem set for a big move up…unless it’s just a good old-fashioned short squeeze. <\/span>
\n The most bullish ingredient that has developed lately is the growing bearishness. The number of bears are growing, as well as the volume of their argument. As long as this is the case, we’re more likely to get a surprise upside move than downside. <\/span>
\n I remain conservative. More after the open. <\/span>
\nStock headlines<\/strong> from barchart.com…<\/span>
\n All but one of the nine S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings this morning beat the consensus. The loser was DTE Energy (DTE +0.90%) ($0.73 vs $0.75 consensus). Notable companies that beat earnings today include: Stanley Black & Decker (SWK -1.56%) (1.43 vs 1.36), Tyco (TYC -0.24%) (0.54 vs 0.536), Aon (AON -0.12%) (1.25 vs 1.20), AEP (AEP +0.07%) (0.80 vs 0.75), Moody’s (MCO +0.95%) (1.12 vs 1.02), and Xerox (XRX +0.47%) (0.27 vs 0.26).<\/span>
\n Amazon.com (AMZN +0.13%) fell sharply by 10% late yesterday after reporting Q2 EPS of -27 cents, much worse than the consensus of -15 cents as management spent more money than expected building new services.<\/span>
\n Visa (V +0.70%) late yesterday reported fiscal Q3 EPS of $2.17, better than the consensus of $2.10, although the stock fell -3% in late-afternoon trading.<\/span>
\n Starbucks (SBUX +1.66%) late yesterday reported fiscal Q3 EPS of 67 cents, slightly better than the 66 cent consensus.<\/span>
\nEarnings and Economic Numbers<\/strong> from seekingalpha.com…<\/span>
\n Today’s economic calendar:
\n 8:30 Durable Goods<\/span><\/span>
\n Notable earnings before today’s open: AAN, ABBV, ACAT, AEP, AON, AVY, B, COV, DTE, FNFG, IDXX, LEA, LPNT, LYB, MCO, MGLN, MOG.A, NS, PB, SLAB, SWK, TCB, TYC, WBC, XRX<\/span>
\n Notable earnings after today’s close: none<\/span>
\nOther<\/strong>…<\/span>
\ntoday’s upgrades\/downgrades<\/a> from briefing.com<\/span>
\nthis week’s Earnings<\/a><\/span>
\nthis week’s Economic Numbers<\/a><\/span>
\n