Tech and HealthCare EPS lead

Index & Sector performance 7/23/14

The Market:

Today the stand out index was the NASDAQ (QQQ) which finished 0.64% higher with a lot of help from Apple (AAPL) which finished the day up 2.61% after reporting EPS yesterday after the close.  The S&P 500 (SPY) and Russell 2000 (IWM) were relatively flat, while the Dow (DIA) was the clear laggard and the only index to finish down on the session.  Weighing on the Dow was Boeing (BA) and Caterpillar (CAT) which finished down 2.34% and 1.53% respectively.

In individual sectors it was HealthCare (XLV) which shined helped immensely by Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) and Biogen Idec (BIIB) which finished the day up 17.71% and 11.17% respectively after beating Wall Street EPS estimates.  It will be interesting to watch ISRG after this big gap to see if the stock can hold and digest this move.  If so then it may look to challenge the all time highs near $600.

This is a light economic week overall and we continue to believe earnings will be the main driver but tomorrow traders will be watching Unemployment Claims wand New Home Sales.

Economic Calendar week of 7/21/14

Reporting EPS 7/24/14 Pre-Market:

Below is a list of the majority of the names reporting EPS tomorrow before the open but please visit the Events Calendar for the entire list of confirmed names with average volume over 300K.

Companies reporting EPS 7/24/14 pre-market

Analyst Comments:

Upgrades 7/23/14

Downgrades 7/23/14

Initiations 7/23/14

Price Target Changes 7/23/14