Shhh, Jobs data tomorrow
Index & Sector performance 9/5/13
The Market:
Not much in the way of action today as early gains met resistance in the previously highlighted areas around 1660-1663 which coincided with the 20 & 50 day SMA’s respectively. Utilities again were the under performer of the tracked sectors and retail sector leading on the upside with Sears (SHLD) and JC Penny (JCP) putting in strong showing with gains of 6.27% and 5.33%. Doesn’t it feel like all JCP needed was some big investor to bail to bottom?
Today had a great deal of economic data including ISM Non-Man PMI which came in better than expected (as did Manufacturing earlier in the week) and Unemployment claims which came in slightly below expectations posting a 323K vs 332K. ADP was inline at 176K and tomorrow we get the Employment change and rate coming ut a day later than normal due to the Monday Holiday.
Story Stocks:
Small Cap MiMedx (MDXG) bounced today after a horrible outing yesterday due to an FDA letter sent to the company questing the eligibility for the marketing of injectable products. The company fought back late yesterday and continued today which helped them rally off yesterday’s lows and gap higher today. MDXG managed to claw back over 19% today but is still roughly 30% below where they were when the news broke.
Louisiana-Pacific (LPX) announced plans to acquire Canadian publicly listed Ainsworth Lumber for $1.1 billion. What is mos interesting is how Wall Street took the news sending LPX up over 11% on the day. LPX now has a gap off a double bottom so pullbacks could be looked at as long opportunities with stops below $14.50.
The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: SFD, UTIW, MFRM, LAYN
Analyst Comments:
Upgrades 9/5/13
Downgrades 9/5/13
Initiations 9/5/13
Price Target Changes 9/5/13
The Game Plan:
So as noted last night the 1660-1663 area acted as resistance on the first test as we got to 1659 and change today on the cash index. What this not representing a solid test we could still look to push higher even up to the 1665 level. Above there and the bulls might be back in control with an upside gap around 1685. Below 1650 brings focus on the recent lows around 1627 and below there it remains the 1600, 1550 levels. The bulls don’t need to rocket through but they do need to hold support during an consolidation period. With tomorrow being Jobs day, we may unfortunately get our answer in the form of a gap.
SPX Daily Watch 1665 on the upside & 1650, 1627 on downside.