Wednesday, October 08, 2014

Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines 
Bloomberg:
  • Europe Sacrifices a Generation With 17-Year Unemployment Impasse. Seventeen years after their first jobs summit European Union leaders are divided on how to create employment and a fifth of young people are still out of work. At a meeting in Milan today Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi plans to tout the new labor laws he’s pushing through. French President Francois Hollande will argue for more spending, a proposal German Chancellor Angela Merkel intends to reject. Britain’s prime minister David Cameron isn’t coming. Their lack of progress may increase the frustration of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi who has faced down internal dissent to deploy unprecedented monetary easing. He’s calling on the politicians to do their bit now and loosen the continent’s rigid labor markets even if that means facing the ire of protected workers
  • Russian Hardship on Display at Delis as Sausages Shrink. There are many ways to measure the deepening financial crisis spreading across Russia. The ruble is sinking more than any other currency in the world, policy makers have burnt through some $55 billion of foreign reserves and the economy is teetering toward recession. Galina Mityaeva measures it in centimeters.
  • IMF Joining Fed in Stock Price Bubble-Spotting Contest. Everyone has an opinion on the stock market nowadays. Three months after the Federal Reserve said prices were stretched in some stocks, the International Monetary Fund weighed in with its own warning, saying the risk of equity losses in 2014 has risen and stock valuations may be “frothy.” 
  • Asian Stocks Extend Selloff as Oil Sinks; Dollar Rebounds. Asian stocks dropped, extending a global selloff, and oil dropped amid concern that the global economic outlook is worsening. Treasuries fell and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose with the dollar before the Federal Reserve releases minutes of its last meeting. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1 percent by 10:59 a.m. in Tokyo, as Japan’s Topix (TPX) index dropped toward a seven-week low. The Shanghai Composite Index and Chinese yuan were little changed after a weeklong holiday.
  • Nickel Drops on China Growth Concern as IMF Lowers World Outlook. Nickel fell for the first time in four days, leading most industrial metals lower, after a gauge of economic strength in China pointed to a slowdown and the International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecast. Nickel dropped as much as 0.7 percent and tin lost as much as 0.4 percent.
  • Gold Extends Rebound From 2014 Low as Dollar to Stocks Retreat. Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.2 percent to $1,211.70 an ounce, and traded at $1,210.55 by 8:10 a.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal dropped on Oct. 6 to $1,183.24, the lowest since Dec. 31, as U.S. jobs data signaled the recovery is gaining traction. 
Wall Street Journal:
  • Bundesbank’s Weidmann Criticizes ECB’s Stimulus Measures. Weidmann Warns That ECB Policy Risks Being ‘Held Hostage’ by Politics. German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann criticized the European Central Bank’s decision to buy private-sector bonds and chastised France for budgetary laxness, taking a hard line against new stimulus just before high-level International Monetary Fund meetings. Mr. Weidmann’s comments, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, expose some of the deep rifts that have plagued the 18-member eurozone since its debt crisis erupted nearly five years ago. While France and Italy, struggling with stagnant...
  • Ping An Offers to Finance Down Payments in China. Program Could Aid Housing Market, but Raises Worry About Risks to Financial System. One of China’s biggest financial firms is offering to lend money to home buyers for down payments, part of a trend that could help the housing market but has prompted worry about risks to the financial system.
Fox News:
  • UN warns of pending 'massacres' as ISIS closes in on Syrian city. A UN official warned of pending "humanitarian tragedies" and pleaded desperately with the world to intervene on behalf of Kurds trapped in a Syrian city near the Turkish border, as Islamic State fighters stood on the brink of taking it. Kurds from villages throughout northern Syria have fled to Kobani for a final stand as the terrorist group has marauded across huge swaths of land, leaving a trail of death and destruction. With the city under siege for three weeks, the black-clad fighters have begun to raise their flag over neighborhoods and UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said the city was about to fall.
CNBC:
  • Yum(YUM) profits, sales miss Street; Outlook disappoints. Yum Brands reported disappointing full-year guidance and quarterly results on Tuesday, sending shares lower in after-hours trading. The company said it expects full 2014 earnings growth of between 6 percent and 10 percent, versus Wall Street expectations of 14 percent.
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
Reuters:
  • Data breach at bond insurer MBIA may affect thousands of local U.S. governments. Bond insurer MBIA was told two weeks ago about a server breach that compromised the data of thousands of local U.S. government entities, but it did not address the problem until earlier this week, according to the cyber security expert who discovered the intrusion. MBIA said on Tuesday it had been notified that some client information at its Cutwater Asset Management unit may have been illegally accessed.
  • Banks to change rules governing derivatives market -FT. The world's biggest banks have agreed to change rules that govern the $700 trillion derivatives market, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Eighteen banks, ranging from Credit Suisse Group AG to Goldman Sachs Group Inc, have agreed to give up the right to "close out" deals on derivatives contracts if a financial institution runs into trouble, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Obama takes on coal with first-ever carbon limits
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20130919_ap_0f857b20e0c144a5a1e1b9dddc9f9d72.html#YRThyDOhArykUeYy.9Brazil cuts 2014 GDP growth forecast, keeps fiscal goal
Shanghai Securities News:
  • Chinese Investor Confidence Rises to Over 6-Year High. Chinese investor confidence rose to the highest level since April 2008 in Sept., citing a survey of 4,330 securities investors conducted in the month. The confidence index compiled by China Securities Investor Protection Funds rose 20.5% y/y to 70.5 in Sept., the highest since the index was created. Almost 60% of investors are optimistic on the outlook of China's A-shares market.
Evening Recommendations
Piper Jaffray:
  • Cut (GPRO) to Neutral, target $90.
Night Trading
  • Asian equity indices are -1.25% to -.25% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 117.0 +2.0 basis points.
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 67.75 -1.25 basis points.
  • FTSE-100 futures -.46%.
  • S&P 500 futures +.17%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures  +.15%.
Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate
  • (COST)/1.52
  • (MON)/-.24
  • (AA)/.22
  • (RT)/-.13 
  • (RPM)/.78
Economic Releases
10:30 am EST
  • Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory build of +1,677,780 barrels versus a -1,363,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to fall by -660,000 barrels versus a -1,836,000 barrel decline the prior week. Distillate supplies are estimated to fall by -1,100,000 barrels versus a -2,894,000 barrel decline the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to fall by -.72% versus a -3.6% decline the prior week.
2:00 pm EST
  • Minutes from Sept. 16-17 FOMC Meeting.
Upcoming Splits
  • (PHX) 2-for-1
  • (APH) 2-for-1
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The Fed's Evans speaking, Former Fed Chair Bernanke speaking, Fed's Yellen attending Financial Stability Oversight Council Meeting, Australia unemployment rate, $21B 10Y T-Note auction, weekly MBA mortgage applications report, (JCP) analyst meeting, (TFM) analyst day and the (HPQ) analyst meeting could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are lower, weighed down by industrial and commodity shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower. The Portfolio is 25% net long heading into the day.

Tuesday, October 07, 2014

Stocks Falling into Final Hour on Growing Global Growth Fears, Escalating Mideast Tensions, Increasing Ebola Outbreak Concerns, Technology/Transport Sector Weakness

Broad Equity Market Tone:
  • Advance/Decline Line: Substantially Lower
  • Sector Performance: Almost Every Sector Declining
  • Volume: Around Average
  • Market Leading Stocks: Underperforming
Equity Investor Angst:
  • Volatility(VIX) 16.88 +7.89%
  • Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 142.96 -.56%
  • Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 7.84 +.26%
  • S&P 500 Implied Correlation 58.04 +7.04%
  • ISE Sentiment Index 79.0 -43.17%
  • Total Put/Call .89 -8.25%
  • NYSE Arms 1.01 +14.67% 
Credit Investor Angst:
  • North American Investment Grade CDS Index 69.07 +1.94%
  • European Financial Sector CDS Index 66.43 +4.81%
  • Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 27.07 -.48%
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign Debt CDS Index 67.61 -1.94%
  • Emerging Market CDS Index 262.60 +1.42%
  • China Blended Corporate Spread Index 319.36 n/a
  • 2-Year Swap Spread 26.75 -1.0 basis point
  • TED Spread 22.25 -.5 basis point
  • 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -9.0 +1.0 basis point
Economic Gauges:
  • 3-Month T-Bill Yield .01% unch.
  • Yield Curve 184.0 -5.0 basis points
  • China Import Iron Ore Spot $77.50/Metric Tonne n/a
  • Citi US Economic Surprise Index 17.90 +.3 point
  • Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index -22.30 -4.1 points
  • 10-Year TIPS Spread 1.92 -2.0 basis points
Overseas Futures:
  • Nikkei Futures: Indicating -183 open in Japan
  • DAX Futures: Indicating -30 open in Germany
Portfolio: 
  • Slightly Lower: On losses in my biotech/retail/medical/tech sector longs 
  • Disclosed Trades: Added to my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges
  • Market Exposure: Moved to 25% Net Long

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg: 
  • Islamic State Enters Kobani Amid Street Fight With Kurds. Islamic State militants pushed further into Kobani on Syria’s border with Turkey and battled Kurdish fighters inside the town, as the U.S.-led coalition stepped up airstrikes in the region. About 2,000 militants entered Kobani late yesterday, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency said. The Kurdish agency Firat reported fierce clashes in eastern and southern districts. Airstrikes late yesterday and today against the group’s positions “were effective and have slowed their advance,” Ibrahim Kurdo, a local official, said by phone, describing the Kurdish position as “better than it was two days ago.”
  • IMF Cuts Global Outlook as Risk of ‘Frothy’ Stocks Raised. The International Monetary Fund cut its outlook for global growth in 2015 and warned about the risks of rising geopolitical tensions and a financial-market correction as stocks reach “frothy” levels. The world economy will grow 3.8 percent next year, compared with a July forecast for 4 percent, after a 3.3 percent expansion this year, the Washington-based IMF said. U.S. growth is helping lead a worldwide acceleration that’s weaker than the fund predicted 2 1/2 months ago as the outlooks for the euro area, Brazil, Russia and Japan deteriorate. “In advanced economies, the legacies of the precrisis boom and the subsequent crisis, including high private and public debt, still cast a shadow on the recovery,” the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook. “Emerging markets are adjusting to rates of economic growth lower than those reached in the precrisis boom and the postcrisis recovery.” “Downside risks related to an equity price correction in 2014 have also risen, consistent with the notion that some valuations could be frothy,” the lender said without naming specific markets
  • Japan Lawmakers Flag Need for Exit Strategy as Yen Falls. Japanese lawmakers are flagging the need for discussion of an exit strategy to a monetary policy program that’s driving the yen lower and hurting parts of the economy. “It could be important to get involved in this issue and the government should thoroughly examine it,” lawmaker Toshihiro Nikai said after a meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s general council. An exit strategy should be considered was an opinion that came up at the council meeting, Nikai said.
  • German Industrial Output Drops Most Since 2009 in August. German industrial production (GRIPIMOM) fell more than economists forecast in August in the latest sign that the outlook for Europe’s largest economy is deteriorating. Production, adjusted for seasonal swings, dropped 4 percent from July, when it expanded 1.6 percent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. That’s the biggest decline since January 2009 and compares with a median estimate of 1.5 percent in a Bloomberg News survey.
  • Russia Spends Up to $1.75 Billion in Two Days to Buoy Ruble. Russia’s central bank spent as much as $1.75 billion to prop up the ruble over the last two trading days, its biggest market intervention since President Vladimir Putin’s incursion into Ukraine in March. Russia’s central bank spent the equivalent of $980 million to shore up the ruble on Oct. 3, the latest data on the authority’s website showed today. The bank also said it shifted the upper boundary of the currency’s trading band by 10 kopeks yesterday, a move that may have involved spending between $420 million and $769 million that day. The exchange rate weakened 0.3 percent to 44.6234 versus the basket by 5:12 p.m. in Moscow, set for a record low for the fourth time this month.
  • Spain Hunts for Anyone Who Had Contact With Ebola-Stricken Nurse. Spain is urgently compiling a list of people who had contact with the nurse who became the first case of an Ebola infection outside Africa when she was diagnosed in Madrid yesterday. The government is taking action to keep doctors and staff safe at Hospital Carlos III, and is investigating how the woman became infected, Health Minister Ana Mato said at a news conference yesterday. The nurse treated Manuel Garcia, a priest who died of Ebola last month, at the hospital. Her husband and thirty medical workers are being monitored, officials said. 
  • Euro-Area Bonds Drop as Investors Question ECB Response to Slump. Euro-area government bonds declined on investor concern the European Central Bank will fail to revive the region’s faltering economy, curbing demand for assets across the currency bloc. A gauge of price-growth expectations in the euro region dropped to the least on record even as a German official said the government doesn’t see a deflation risk. Benchmark 10-year bund yields earlier approached an all-time low as data showing industrial production dropped the most since 2009 in August boosted speculation the outlook for Europe’s largest economy is deteriorating. Spain sold index-linked debt due in November 2019 via banks today.
  • European Stocks Decline as German Output Data Disappoint. European stocks slid to a seven-week low as a report showed German industrial production contracted the most in more than five years, and the International Monetary Fund cut its outlook for global growth. Travel and health-care companies led declines on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Schroders (SDR) Plc lost 2.3 percent after Bank of America Corp.recommended investors sell shares of the asset manager. Rio Tinto Group gained after saying it rejected a merger offer from Glencore Plc. The Stoxx 600 fell 1.5 percent to 330.85 at the close of trading, extending losses after the IMF release.
  • Oil Plunge Magnifies Russia’s Sanctions Pain: Chart of the Day. Oil prices that have plunged to a 27-month low are inflicting damage on a Russian economy already contending with escalating sanctions from the U.S. and European Union over its role in Ukraine. The CHART OF THE DAY shows how an average oil price of $90 a barrel, close to where prices are now, would give Russia a budget deficit of 1.2 percent of gross domestic product next year, according to Sberbank CIB, the investment bank of Russia’s biggest lender.
  • Copper Falls Amid Concern European Demand Is Set to Slow. Copper in London capped the first loss in three sessions as industrial production dropped in Germany, the world’s third-biggest consumer of the metal. Copper for delivery in three months fell 0.6 percent to settle at $6,670 a metric ton ($3.03 a pound) at 5:50 p.m. on the LME. The metal lost 9.4 percent this year on concern that demand is slowing in China, the biggest user.
  • Several Dozen U.S. Troops to Have Contact Testing Ebola. A few dozen U.S. troops will have direct exposure to potential Ebola patients by running testing labs in Liberia, the head of U.S. Africa Command said for the first time today.
MarketWatch.com:
CNBC:
ZeroHedge:
Business Insider:

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:
  • Small-Cap Growth -.85%
Sector Underperformers:
  • 1) Gold & Silver -1.91% 2) Drugs -1.61% 3) Networking -1.43%
Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:
  • BBEP, SODA, TCS, XOOM, RIO, AGCO, BURL, LRN, WPPGY, TOT, QRE, CUK, SOXX, GEOS, IDT, OSK, RCL, MRKT, CMI, EZCH, LVNTA, TARO, BERY, SYT, AEGN, EMES, IPI, CCL, BBY and URI
Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:
  • 1) MDR 2) HTZ 3) RCL 4) CCL 5) YUM
Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:
  • 1) GM 2) AGCO 3) F 4) CCL 5) CLF
Charts:

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:
  • Mid-Cap Value -.42%
Sector Outperformers:
  • 1) Oil Service +1.74% 2) Hospitals +.90% 3) Steel +.89%
Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
  • LAKE, CAMP, CMRX, GMCR, PBR and DO
Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
  • 1) OCN 2) RICE 3) TRN 4) SE 5) ABT
Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:
  • 1) AMXL 2) VALE 3) GMCR 4) SIMO 5) PSMT
Charts:

Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines 
Bloomberg:
  • Stagflation Risk Seen Holding Back BOJ on Yen Drop: Japan Credit. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda faces resistance to faster monetary easing as politicians and businessmen lament the waning buying power of the yen. The yen’s effective exchange rate against a basket of currencies was at 77.2 at the end of August, lower than its 10-year average of 92.93 and near a more than two-decade low of 74.91 reached in January. Its nominal rate broke above 110 per dollar last week for the first time since 2008.
  • North and South Korea Navies Trade Warning Fire Near Border. Naval boats of North Korea and South Korea exchanged warning fire near their disputed sea border in the Yellow Sea, days after high-ranking officials from both countries agreed to seek better relations. South Korea’s navy fired warning shots at a North Korean patrol boat that crossed the Northern Limit Line that serves as the de facto maritime border between the two countries, South Korea’s defense ministry said today. Both sides exchanged fire before the North Korean boat retreated to its own territorial waters. No casualties or damage were inflicted on the South’s navy, which fired about 90 shots in total, the ministry said. 
  • RBA Holds Rates at Record Low to Spur Growth in Slowing Economy. The Reserve Bank of Australia kept its key interest rate at a record low to spur hiring in an economy struggling to expand outside the property market. The overnight cash rate target was held at 2.5 percent for a 14th month, Governor Glenn Stevens said in a statement today following an RBA board meeting in Sydney. The decision was predicted by all 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and markets had priced in almost no chance of a move.
  • China Removes Phantom Staff, Government Vehicles to Cut Spending. The Chinese government removed staff who receive salaries without working and cut government car use amid an austerity drive by President Xi Jinping. A total of 162,629 so-called “phantom employees” have been cleared out of central and provincial governments, state-controlled financial companies and universities as of Sept. 25, the official People’s Daily reported yesterday. The country also disposed of 114,418 vehicles, about 95 percent of a planned cut, it said in a separate report.
  • Pockets of Hong Kong Protesters May Defy Student Leaders. With Hong Kong’s student-led protests dwindling and rally leaders in talks to end their 12-day campaign, a small number of demonstrators are threatening to ignore any call to abandon their posts. Pro-democracy protesters still on the streets of central Hong Kong increasingly don’t answer to the leaders from various student groups. As people drift back to school and jobs, those who remain pose a challenge to police under pressure to remove blockades and open roadways.
  • Samsung Earnings Slump as Galaxy Smartphones Struggle. Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) posted its biggest drop in quarterly profit since at least 2009 as the world’s largest smartphone maker loses ground to Apple Inc. and Chinese competitors. Operating profit fell 60 percent to 4.1 trillion won ($3.8 billion) in the three months ended September from a year earlier, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in a regulatory filing today. The shares rose on expectations fourth-quarter earnings will improve on new devices.
  • Hockey Says Falling Commodity Prices to Hurt Australia’s Budget. Falling commodity prices will hurt Australian government efforts to rein in its budget deficit, spurring possible new savings measures, according to Treasurer Joe Hockey. “Lower commodity prices in iron ore and coal are going to have an impact on our budget bottom line,” Hockey said in an interview in New York yesterday. “There are many variables at play but there will be a negative impact.”
  • Asian Stocks Advance Second Day as Rio Tinto Advances. Asian stocks headed for a two-day gain as information-technology and materials companies advanced, with Rio Tinto Group surging amid optimism for a merger with Glencore Plc. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) added 0.2 percent to 139.43 as of 9:04 a.m. in Tokyo before markets open in Hong Kong.
  • Cotton Glut Eroding Cost for Gap Jeans as China Buys Less. Cotton inventories in the U.S., the world’s top exporter, are heading for the biggest increase since 1986 as growers across the South store more crops that, for some, are worth less than they cost to produce.
Wall Street Journal:
  • Islamic State Battles Kurdish Fighters in Syrian Border City for First Time. Black Flag Is Raised as Fears Grow of Imminent Fall of City to Extremist Group. Islamic State militants waged fierce battles with Kurdish fighters on the outskirts of Kobani, raising fears the Syrian city would fall to the extremist group despite U.S.-led airstrikes aimed at halting the latest advance. Islamic State has captured more than 300 Syrian Kurdish villages around the city, also known as Ayn al-Arab, over the past three weeks. But Monday was the first time the group entered the outskirts of the...
  • Hong Kong Pops the China Bubble. The protesters know that what’s hailed in the West as ‘the China dream’ is a hoax. Whatever comes next with the demonstrations in Hong Kong, they’ve already performed a historic service. To wit, they remind us of the silliness of the China infatuation so prevalent among pundits and intellectuals who don’t live in China.
Fox News:
  • Biden comment shakes US-Arab alliance against ISIS. This time, Joe Biden’s gaffes are causing an international fracas. The vice president has apologized twice now for suggesting last week that key U.S. allies inflamed the situation in Syria by sending arms and money to extremists opposed to Bashar Assad. The fallout over Biden’s remarks is perhaps unprecedented – his verbal miscues typically cause headaches for the White House, but otherwise are diplomatically harmless.
CNBC:
  • Party's coming to a close for high-debt companies. Companies that have used cheap money to load up on debt and boost earnings have been the market darlings for the past two years, but it's a trade that is getting old. With tightening conditions—particularly a rising dollar and upward pressure on interest rates—companies with weak, high-debt balance sheets would be the big losers as that trend plays itself out.
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
Reuters:
  • White House urges U.S. regulators to rein in Wall Street risk-taking. U.S. President Barack Obama is urging the country's top financial market regulators to find additional ways to "prevent excessive risk-taking across the financial system," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday. Obama spoke about his concerns in a closed-door meeting convened earlier with the heads of regulators at the Federal Reserve, Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, among others.
Obama takes on coal with first-ever carbon limits
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20130919_ap_0f857b20e0c144a5a1e1b9dddc9f9d72.html#YRThyDOhArykUeYy.9Brazil cuts 2014 GDP growth forecast, keeps fiscal goa
Telegraph:
Nikkei:
  • Japan Needs Sales Tax Increase, Economist Ito Says. The planned increase to 10% from 8% next October is necessary to reduce the nation's fiscal deficit, economic professor Takatoshi Ito said in a speech in New York. Ito advocates >10% rate, warning of potential fiscal crisis.
Evening Recommendations
  • None of note
Night Trading
  • Asian equity indices are -.50% to +.25% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 115.0 new series.
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 69.0 -2.75 basis points.
  • FTSE-100 futures +.15%.
  • S&P 500 futures -.02%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures  +.04%.
Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate
  • (ISCA)/.00
  • (YUM)/.83
Economic Releases
10:00 am EST
  • JOLTS Job Openings for August are estimated to rise to 4700 versus 4673 in July. 
  • IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index for October is estimated to fall to 45.1 versus 45.2 in September.
3:00 pm EST
  • Consumer Credit for August is estimated to fall to $20.0B versus $26.0B in July.
Upcoming Splits
  • (PHX) 2-for-1
  • (APH) 2-for-1
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The Fed's Kocherlakota speaking, Fed's Dudley speaking, HSBC China Services PMI, UK industrial production/gdp data, $27B 3Y T-Note auction, weekly US retail sales reports, (CDE) investor day, (VRA) analyst day and the (ACN) analyst conference could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by technology and commodity shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.