6:00pm (EST)
The market ended the week flat despite a couple of volatile days and if we had to declare a winner in the fight it would be the bulls. The bears had their chance on Tuesday after Moody’s (MCO, $26.69, up $1.54) put the spotlight on the growing deficits of the U.S. and U.K. and the threat they pose on their triple-A credit ratings. However, a late rally by the bulls on Wednesday carried over into Thursday and Friday was a tossup.
As a result, the Dow ended the week at 10,471, up 82 points, or 0.8% for the week. The S&P 500 made a slight advance of a half-point and closed at 1,106 while the Nasdaq lost 4 points and settled at 2,190.
We don’t expect a dull market this coming week as there are a slew of MAJOR earnings announcements that will surely sway the market one way or the other.
Some of the bigger names in Tech that will report are Adobe (ADBE, $35.38, down $0.42), Oracle (ORCL, $22.78, up $0.19) and Research In Motion (RIMM, $63.84, down $1.96).
We will also get clues from the other sectors as Best Buy (BBY, $44.34, up $1.13), Darden Restaurants (DRI, $32.45, up $0.32), FedEx (FDX, $87.94, down $0.10), General Mills (GIS, $69.06, up $0.33) and Nike (NKE, $63.86, up $1.16) announce this week.
As far as economic news, we get numbers on the Producer Price Index (PPI) and Industrial Production on Tuesday and the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and Housing Starts/Building Permits on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, we get the FOMC policy statement. Wall Street will once again be looking for the devil in the details, specifically if the Fed will continue to expect rates to stay at exceptionally low levels for an extended period. A change or hints of an interest rate hike and it could help continue the recent rebound in the dollar.
We think with all the pending news, the market could be a little more volatile than usual, especially if we get a big surprise or major disappoint of some kind.
Earnings for the week (quotes are from Friday’s close):
Monday: Alico (ALCO, $26.48, down $0.18), Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO, $7.80, up $0.02), Somanetics (SMTS, $15.74, up $0.61) and VeriFone
Holdings (PAY, $14.32, up $0.13)
Tuesday: Adobe Systems and Best Buy.
Wednesday: Apogee Enterprises (APOG, $14.26, up $0.36), Joy Global (JOYG, $52.32, up $0.18) and Nordson (NDSN, $55.32, up $0.46).
Thursday: Actuant (ATU, $17.07, up $0.15), Darden Restaurants, FedEx, General Mills, Nike, Pier 1 Imports (PIR, $4.75, up $0.12), Research In Motion, Rite Aid (RAD, $1.29, down $0.02) and Winnebago (WGO, $10.75, up $0.26).
Friday: CarMax (KMX, $20.99, up $0.39) is about the only earnings announcement worth note. This one will be interesting. The stock has rebounded from a 52-week low of $7 and set a recent high of $23 in October. There is a huge amount of open interest in the December calls which expire the same day. There looks like there could be an explosive move to the upside or downside with this one.
We will be back in the morning with the current trade updates and the outlook for the day. As we head to press, Dow Futures are up a whopping 81 points and the S&P 500 futures are up 6. However, the Nasdaq 100 futures are slightly lower (-6) and we still have to wait for the overseas markets to open. Still, it looks like the bulls want to run.
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