1:10pm (EST)

The bulls are trying to play the same cards from yesterday as the market opened slightly higher and has made a steady climb throughout the morning.  We mentioned this morning we could see one last test of Dow 9,800, but we really didn’t expect to see another bounce.

The only confirms that this could be the bulls last rally cry as volume dries up and the major indexes continue to test resistance and fail.

As we write this, the Dow is up 149 points to 9,892 while the S&P 500 is higher by 16 points to 1,044.  The Nasdaq is showing a gain of 28 points and is at 2,122. 

The resistance at 1,040-1,050 for the S&P 500 continues to be a headache for the bulls and 2,150 on the Nasdaq is starting to feel like a brick wall as well.  Note: The Russell 2000 is at 596, up 6 points and touched a high of 600. 

We mentioned in our Weekly Wrap that this is normally the week when companies pre-warn Wall Street if they are going to come in light on their earnings for the upcoming second quarter.  The party starts next week so companies usually warn a week or two in advance if they aren’t attending.

FTI Consulting (FCN, $32.84, down $10.37) decided to fess-up this morning, and shareholders are feeling the pain.  The company said 2Q earnings would come in at $0.50-$0.55 a share versus estimates of $0.75 from the Wiz Kids.  FTI also lowered guidance for the year to $2.50-$2.80 from its previous guidance of $3.00-$3.25.  The pencil-pushers were looking for $3.10.

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Family Dollar (FDO, $36.30, down $3.13) reported earnings (they are on a different cycle as they reported 3Q earnings) of $104 million, or $0.77 a share, on revenue of $2 billion.  This was a penny ahead of the Street’s estimates, but the company said 4Q earnings would come in at $0.46-$0.51 a share.  Analysts were looking for $0.53 a share.

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We talked about how the bar might be easy to clear for companies when they announced earnings, but said it would be all about what they say going forward.

As we move closer towards the end of the week, we could see a few more skeletons come out of the woodwork… 

We will be back in the morning with a fresh outlook, and we have updated the current trades in the Members Area for today.  See you in the A.M.!

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