The Calm before Jobs data storm?

Index & Sector performance 1/9/14

The Market:

A mixed consolidation day in S&P 500 saw the futures up in the pre-market only to sell off at the open.  That sell off persisted until 11am EST losing roughly 15 S&P points from the pre-market highs and then the S&P bottomed and staged a rally which didn’t make it back to the pre-market highs but did take back more than half of what was lost.

In Economic data today, Unemployment claims came in better than expected posting a 330K number when 337K was expected but the previous week was revised about 6K higher somewhat leveling out the report.  Tomorrow traders will be focusing intently on the Non-Farm Employment data and Unemployment rate which are due to be released pre-market.  This number could set the tone for not only Friday but the week ahead.

Economic Data week of 1/6/14

In the News:

Alcoa (AA) is most known for kicking off the earnings season and they report EPS tonight after the close but were making new before the report after announcing a $384M settlement with the SEC and DOJ stemming from bribes to Bahraini officials totaling over $100M.  After Hours Update, AA missed EPS posting 4c when 6c was expected but did so on better than expected revenue of $5.6B vs. $5.38B.  AA is currently quoted slightly lower building on the 1.2% lost in today’s action.

Macy’s (M) closed 7.7% higher after reporting better than expected profit guidance for 2014, same-store-sales for the November – December period up 3.6% and also announced they will be cutting 2500 jobs and closing 5 underperforming stores.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT) gained an astonishing 285.55% today after positive trial results.

Analyst Comments:

Upgrades 1/9/14

Downgrades 1/9/14

Initiations 1/9/14

Price Target Change 1/9/14