Daily Wrap
DJIA -80.41 (-0.52%) to 15,307.17; S&P 500 -13.81 (-0.83%) to 1,655.35; NASDAQ -27.32 (-0.90%) to 2,999.13
So the markets can have a substantial day down! Today’s move lower was tied to Mr. Bernanke’s statement to congress as well as the release of the Fed minute which showed the willingness to decrease bond purchases. In the grand scheme today was a solid down day but nothing in comparison to the recent rise. The question is not of today’s move but whether or not it signifies a more significant realization being a top is in. That is a common phrase but my answer is always “for how long?”. The top was in for the day, maybe for the week but is this the top for the month, the quarter and for the year, that is yet to be seen. The action had that set-up and feeling of a more prolonged trade-able top but also didn’t even close beneath the 9 EMA leaving the 20, 50, 100 and 200 SMA’s all below, in order and upward sloping. My best guess is if this is a top it is only the top which provides a consolidation which then leads to higher prices this year. The loss of $1600 and the 50 day SMA on the S&P 500 cash would make me start to reconsider that notion.
In company news, Target (TGT) closed over 4% lower as their earnings report disappointed with a 26% drop in first quarter profit and a lowering of the annual profit outlook.
Not all retail suffered today as Saks (SKS) closed up 13.39% on news broke by the New York Post that the company hired Goldman Sachs (GS) to explore strategic alternatives and Bloomberg reported KKR (KKR) was considering a stake in the luxury retailer.
The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: RL, HRL, DLTR, SHLD, AAP, SIG
In analyst notes today, Bristol-Myers (BMY) was upgraded to Buy at Citigroup with a $55 price target. Cree (CREE) was upgraded to Buy at Sterne Agee with a $72 price target and M.D.C. Holdings (MDC) upgraded to Buy at KeyBanc. On the downside, InterXion (INXN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman with a $31 price target. SodaStream (SODA) downgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan and BlackBerry (BBRY) was downgraded to Underperform at BNP Paribas. Some of these and other upgrades and downgrades for the day can be found each morning when I post my 9 @ 9 in the Upgrades/Downgrades section.