Daily Wrap
DJIA -70.73 (-0.47%) to 15,010.74;S&P 500 -9.77 (-0.59%) to 1,646.06;NASDAQ -13.69 (-0.38%) to 3,589.09
The S&P 500 started today with a gap lower but quickly rallied to not only retake the early losses but move into positive territory for the day. Then around 10:30 am EST the market started to roll and spent the remainder of the day under pressure and ultimately ended up closing below the 50 day SMA. No economic data to report and this is a light econ data week, at least for the US.
Apple (AAPL) was able to buck the broad market’s downward trend and close slightly higher on the day mainly on rumors of a new iPhones including the fact that AAPL asked an assembler to ship two types as well as a potential new color, gold. This is generally not something you would point to as a big deal for the stock and looks to be more momentum building around the recent positive action. The push off the recent lows has been impressive but a consolidation might also do this name some good, help build a base for a next move.
The biggest laggard in the S&P 500 today was Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) received negative comments out of Morgan Stanley stating that the stock looks expensive at these levels. CLF ‘s recent rally was the first sign of life since the end of year rally in 2012 and Morgan was more than willing to try and dump some cold water on things. Technically, CLF has ran perfectly into its 200 Day SMA which after not testing in over a year makes sense as a place to find resistance. CLF has an upward sloping 20 day SMA at $21.21 as of the close which could provide initial support. If so CLF might be able to start the flagging process to prove Morgan Stanley wrong and prepare for another leg higher.
The S&P 500 leader was Intel (INTC) if we are looking at the close but it was Urban Outfitters (URBN) if we include after market action. INTC benefited from an upgrade at Piper Jaffray, albeit only to Neutral with a $22 price target and specifically noting that the 4.1% dividend likely helps provide a floor in the name. URBN was a pure earnings beat although they did look to be light o revenues. I will be interested to see if URBN can gold the gap in tomorrow’s trading session. Longer term this might be a good name but in the short term I would prefer to see the stock spend more time sideways or at lower levels to make it more attractive.
The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: HD, MDT, TJX, BBY, DKS, JCP, BKS
In analyst notes today, Dollar General (DG) was upgraded to Overweight JP Morgan, Gerdau SA (GGB), from the Charts to Watch, was upgraded to Overweight at HSBC and PulteGroup (PHM) was upgraded to Outperform at Wells Fargo. Apache (APA), also from the Charts to Watch, was downgraded to Hold at Stifel due to Egypt concerns. I have had to revisit this idea. Once a favorite is trying my patience. I will update the chart tomorrow to see if there is any life left.