Overnight loses quicky negated

Index & Sector performance 10/30/14

The Market:

In the overnight session the S&P 500 futures lost roughly 20 points and it appeared to be signaling for a rough Thursday but then recouped nearly all the loses by the open and managed to rally for the majority of the day.  All 4 indices from the WSC Scoreboard finished higher with the Dow (DIA) leading the charge helped immensely by Visa (V) which finished the session up 10.24% after reporting better than expected EPS and a new $5B Share Repurchase program yesterday after the close.

In Individual sectors the clear standout was the Utilities (XLU) which gained 2.2%.  If you recall we noted the strength the XLU showed during the recent market decline and often what shows strength in a bad tape leads in a good tape.  HealthCare (XLV) also put in a strong showing finishing up 1.84%.  Lagging today was Transportation (IYT) which closed down 1.07%.

In Economic data the U.S. GDP grew 3.5% in Q3 which was better than analysts expected while Unemployment Claims ticked slightly higher.

Economic Calendar week of 10/27/14

Reporting EPS 10/31/14 Pre-Market:

Companies reporting EPS 10/31/14 pre-market

Analyst Comments:

Upgrades 10/30/14

Downgrades 10/30/14

Initiations 10/30/14

Price Target Changes 10/30/14