Apple, Autos, Earnings & DC
The Market:
The markets started off somewhat muted and then took off heading strongly higher and even closing not much off the highs. Th leader of the day was the Tech sector and inside tech it was Apple (AAPL) that had a strong showing closing up over 2% on the day on analyst upgrades and optimism on multicolored iPhones and lower price points.. Lagging was the Utilities which via the ETF XLU only managed to eek out a small gain.
In economic news, the Trade balance came in with a greater deficit than expected while auto sales were stronger than forecasts with a 16.1M number vs 15.8M consensus expectation. I saw a note that this was the first time in 5 years that sales rose above 16M. Reporting strong numbers included General Motors (GM) up 14.7%, Ford (F) up 12.2%, Toyota (TM) up 22.8%, and Honda (HMC) up 26.7% compared to 2012 at this time.
The markets digested news out of Washington that after much debate and altering the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a Syrian proposal. The matter will go to the Senate floor next week. Tomorrow is a big data day as jobs numbers will be out from ADP & the Government as well as ISM and the G20 meetings will continue.
Story Stocks:
Dollar General (DG) rose 4.66% after reporting earnings of 77c vs consensus estimates of 74c on revenues of $4.39B vs estimates of $4.36B. Today’s action left this stock at a 52 week closing high and up an astonishing 27.9% for the year. This was a name I featured recently as a potential flag and pop candidate which needed earnings to help happen but now I might step back from the name and review better entry opportunities. Riding on DG’s coattails today was Family Dollar (FDO) and Dollar Tree (DLTR) which closed up 1.09% and 3.12% respectively. Of the three, I might have the most interest in DLTR which has yet to break but looks poised.
The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: CONN, TITN, IQNT, DFZ, PMFG
Analyst Comments:
Upgrades for 09/04/13
Downgrades 09/04/13
Initiations 09/04/13
Price Target Changes 09/04/13
The Game Plan:
Today’s pop in the S&P was definitely something to note but so if the downward sloping 20 day SMA which is currently sitting a 1660 on the cash index. This level also coincides with the 50 day SMA which comes in at 1663 and these should prove to be resistance even if only initially. Long traders should remain nimble with positions as we approach these resistance levels because below the 1627 lows of 8/29 and we could be seeing 1600 and 1550 some quick.
SPX daily