Market dips early but fights back
Index & Sector performance 1/21/14
The Market:
This is the type of market that frustrates both the Bull & the Bears. Strong moves in each direction serve to whip weak traders our of their positions. After a very light futures trading session Monday with the Stock Market closed, the S&P 500 futures pressed higher in late Monday/early Tuesday trading. Just before the open the futures printed $1844 and then started to sell off right at the open. The market finally found a bottom near noon EST but only after losing roughly 18 points from the pre-market highs. The S&P 500 managed to rally back and close slightly positive for the day.
There was no Economic data released today and there is none scheduled for tomorrow with Thursday being the next day to look for data including Unemployment claims but it is worth noting that tomorrow starts the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland which runs until Saturday January 25.
Economic data week of 1/20/14
In the News:
As would be expected this time of year, many of the names moving on the day are due to earnings or guidance. Tonight we go over some of the names that reported and their reaction.
Baker Hughes (BHI) closed up 4.78% after beating EPS (62c vs. 61c) and revenue ($5.9B vs. $5.68B). Along with the better numbers BHI’s CEO stated the company expects to see increased activity and growth across all operations.
Verizon (VZ) reported earnings which like BHI beat both EPS (66c vs. 65c) and revenue ($31.07B vs. $31.02B) but VZ ended up closing down 1.34%. While it ended up down for the day, VZ rallied off the lows and could be a long candidate if the 1/14/14 lows hold.
Travelers (TRV) crushed earnings reporting EPS of $2.68 vs. estimates of $2.17 on revenue of $6.74B vs. estimates of $5.46B but Wall Street wasn’t happy with what they saw as TRV ended up closing 1.70% lower on the day. TRV is a name we would be very interested in but likely only 10-15% lower or with a much more positive technical pattern.
Initially Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) sold off in early trading after reporting EPS pre-market but was able to bottom in the first 30 minutes of trading and rallied gaining more than 50% off the earlier losses back. We will we watching to see if this Blue Chip can continue to work higher or if today’s bounce was just a head fake.
Not moving on earnings was Dow Chemical (DOW) which gained 6.64% on a report of CNBC’s David Faber stating that activist investor Dan Loeb in interested in the company.
The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: UTX, USB, ABT, FCX, GD, NSC, TEL, PH, STJ, MSI, COH, TXT, EAT, XRS, PJC
Analyst Comments:
Upgrades 1/21/14
Downgrades 1/21/14
Initiations 1/21/14
Price Target Changes 1/21/14