Stock futures are pointing to a slightly lower open ahead of the ADP Employment Change report for January. Analysts predict that the service sector added 185,000 jobs last month. Equities saw a modest rebound from Monday’s sell-off but did manage to end the day up almost 1%. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 10% and finished the day below the $20 level once again. An interesting trend has emerged over the last year in the “Fear Gauge”. The VIX has hit above the $21 level four times over the last 12 months and has quickly fallen in the next day or two as stocks rebounded. This downturn seems a little different but has so far played out the same way.
Treasuries are up slightly this morning in correlation with the stock losses. The inverse relationship between higher bond prices and lower stock values has solidified over the last few weeks as investors adjust their portfolios. Europe can't sustain a rally and is flat on the session, and the Nikkei manages to post a gain of 1.2% after falling about 15% this year. Putting a damper on any optimism that may have been engendered by more encouraging euro-zone PMI data, it was reported that retail sales volumes in Europe slumped a greater-than-expected 1.6% on month in December. In the U.S., earnings season is in full swing and due out today are the ISM non-manufacturing data, scheduled to be released at 9:00 am CT, followed by the weekly Department of Energy Inventory reports.
Stock Stories:
Merck (MRK) –Miss is good?! – The pharmaceutical company reports mixed quarterly results this morning. The company missed on the top-line revenue but met expectations on EPS ex-items. Despite this the shares are up 2.5% ahead of the opening bell.
CVS Caremark (CVS) – The retail drugstore announces that it is pulling all tobacco products from its shelves by October 1st. Although the company will lose approximately $2B in revenues on an annual basis, the company is being applauded in the media for its efforts. Investors have other ideas as the stock is down 3% in the pre-market.
Major Economic Reports:
6:00 am CT – MBA Purchase Applications
7:15 am CT – ADP Employment Report
9:00 am CT – ISM Non-Mfg. Index
9:30 am CT – Oil Inventories
11:30 am CT – Fed’s Plosser Speaks
12:40 pm CT - Fed’s Lockhart Speaks
Notable Earnings:
Before Market: ADP, AGN, ARW, CCE, COCO, CTSH, CVG, EL, HPY, HUM, LAZ, MDC, MRK, RDN, RL, TWX
After Market: AFFX, AIZ, AKAM, ALL, ATML, CBG, DIS, ENTR, FISV, FLT, FMC, GIL, GMCR, MAA, MRO, MTD, ORLY, P, PRU, RE, RLD, SFLY, SWI, TSO, TTMI, TWO, TWTR, TYL, YELP
Thursday – 2/6: AAP, AET, CMI, DNKN, EXC, EXPE, GM, K, PM, USG, VRSN |
发表于 2014-2-5 09:09
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发表于 2014-2-5 10:35
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