All quiet before jobs data
Index & Sector performance 10/21/13
The Market:
Not too much to report as it was a quiet down day in the S&P 500 and Dow with the Nasdaq making small gains much on the back of a strong performance from Apple (AAPL) closing up nearly 2.5% on the day.
In economic news we had Existing Home Sales with came in light posting a 5.29M when 5.31M was expected. Tomorrow will be a much bigger day as we get the jobs report that was delayed due to the government shutdown. Current forecast is for 182K and Unemployment rate of 7.3%
Story Stocks:
McDonald’s (MCD) closed down 0.65% after reporting earnings that narrowly beat EPS and missed revenues. MCD might be putting in a short term trade-able bottom after consolidation since the early April highs.
There was news on J.P. Morgan (JPM) that they have reached a deal with the Justice Department for $13B to settle probes relating to its residential mortgage-backed securities business. Wells Fargo put out a note citing investor uncertainty if reports are true there is no ” lack of culpability waiver in settlement” as this could leave JPM open for future liability. Wells kept an Outperform target on the shares as they feel the upside outweighs the risk.
Crosstex Energy (XTXI) agreed to combine midstream assets with Devon Energy (DVN). XTXI closed up over 70% on the news while DVN closed up 3.34%.
A notable loser for the day was J.C. Penney (JCP) which lost 8.29% on the day and saw Imperial Capital lower its price target on the shares to $1 from $5.
The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: UTX, DD, EMC, LMT, KMB, TRV, RAI, DAL, MHFI, COH, HOG, WHR, PII, R
Analyst Comments:
Upgrades 10/21/13
Downgrades 10/21/13
Initiations 10/21/13
Price Target Changes 10/21/13
The Game Plan:
The S&P 500 closed today near the upper end of the recent channel while also pressing the longer term MACD trend line we have been watching. With the jobs number tomorrow this could be an inflection point for the markets. The bulls should look to hold $1720 and then further $1700 or risk much greater damage to the downside.
