Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:
  • Large-Cap Value +.48%
Sector Underperformers:
  • 1) Gaming -1.33% 2) Drugs -1.01% 3) Hospitals -.63%
Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:
  • HASI, WMGI, SNY, STCK, CVLT, PEB, LMNX, MDSO, MSM, NVO, DCO, SAIA, APAM, CROX, RGLS, TWTR, AKBA, KSS, COH, HLS, HOT, DORM, MLM, PCL, MAS, PCL, LLY, AWI, HLS, SRPT, MAS, FCX, CGNX,  BAS and UTHR
Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:
  • 1) SMH 2) HCA 3) XLV 4) JWN 5) TIF
Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:
  • 1) LLY 2) CROX 3) RAI 4) SRPT 5) AWI
Charts:

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:
  • Small-Cap Growth +1.89%
Sector Outperformers:
  • 1) Airlines +2.47% 2) I-Banks +1.95% 3) Steel +1.54%
Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
  • TRNX, MSG, RGC, RCPT, VDSI, MDCO, BWLD, AMGN, IDTI, CLF, SNCR, SANM, VNDA, ALSN, ALR, MSG, CLDX, CLDX, MTW, WHR, TSLA, ALSN, ALR, ICON, CMI, SAVE, AN and PCYC
Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
  • 1) BWLD 2) AMGN 3) MRK 4) COH 5) CNX
Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:
  • 1) SAVE  2) TMUS 3) GMCR 4) BBRY 5) AAPL
Charts:

Monday, October 27, 2014

Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines 
Bloomberg:
  • Putin Narrative of Abandoned Ukraine East Fueled by Vote. Vladimir Putin may have more ammunition to extend his influence over the Ukraine’s war-torn east after the country’s parliamentary election. A surge in support for pro-European parties leaves the area, the bedrock of ousted leader Viktor Yanukovych’s popularity, with less of a say in the nation’s future. Parties backing President Petro Poroshenko’s bid to steer Ukraine away from its Soviet past are set to form a coalition, a move that may make reconciliation in the east more difficult and fuel complaints from Putin that Russian speakers are being trampled. 
  • WHO Said to Track 111 People in Mali After Ebola Death. Health officials in Mali have identified 111 people who came into contact with the nation’s first Ebola patient last week, according to an internal World Health Organization document. Workers have been unable to find at least 40 of those people who may have been exposed to the toddler, the Geneva-based WHO said in the document, seen by Bloomberg News. The two-year-old girl contracted the disease in Guinea and died on Oct. 25 in Mali.
  • Asian Stocks Fall Before Fed as U.S. Data Disappoint Investors. Asian stocks fell, following U.S. shares lower, after American data from home sales to manufacturing fell short of estimates and investors awaited a Federal Reserve decision on its stimulus program. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) dropped 0.1 percent to 138.22 as of 9:02 a.m. in Tokyo, before markets opened in Hong Kong and China.
  • Oil Drops as Asia Shares Fluctuate With Dollar Before Fed. Oil fell for a third day as U.S. supplies were estimated to be near a four-month high. Asian stocks fluctuated and the dollar held losses as investors await a Federal Reserve decision on its stimulus program. West Texas Intermediate oil slid 0.5 percent as of 10:54 a.m. in Tokyo, taking its decline since June to 25 percent.
Wall Street Journal:
  • CDC Rejects Mandatory Ebola Quarantines. Federal Officials Push for Voluntary Isolation of Those at High Risk. The Obama administration laid out new guidelines Monday calling for voluntary isolation and monitoring of travelers exposed to Ebola, to counter a proliferation of divergent state rules over how to contain the outbreak.
CNBC:
  • Why OPEC's losing its ability to set oil prices. (video) U.S. shale oil will replace the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries as the first-mover "swing producer," according to a Goldman Sachs report from the weekend—meaning OPEC is losing its power to set global prices for crude.
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
Washington Times: 
  • Reinflating the housing bubble. The feds are pushing the same lax rules that triggered the crash. The headline in newspapers one recent weekend read like an April Fool’s joke, but it wasn’t April 1. The Obama administration announced it wants to provide a little more juice to the now-lackluster housing market by bending the home lending rules to make it easier for banks to make loans and marginal buyers to take on a mortgage.
Reuters: 
Telegraph:
Evening Recommendations
  • None of note
Night Trading
  • Asian equity indices are -.50% to +.50% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 114.0 -1.0 basis point.
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 67.0 -.75 basis point.
  • FTSE-100 futures +.25%.
  • S&P 500 futures +.04%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures  +.02%.
Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate
  • (SCHN)/.31
  • (CMI)/2.28
  • (NBL)/.36
  • (AN)/.86
  • (CPLA)/.55
  • (GLW)/.38
  • (ACI)/-.41
  • (PCAR)/.96
  • (HCA)/1.17
  • (AET)/1.58
  • (DD)/.53
  • (WHR)/3.13
  • (COH)/.45
  • (SHW)/3.22
  • (TRW)/1.69
  • (PFE)/.55
  • (AMTD)/.36
  • (FCX)/.61
  • (AGCO)/.63
  • (MCK)/2.73
  • (GILD)/1.93
  • (AFL)/1.43
  • (EA)/.53
  • (FB)/.40
  • (WYNN)/1.82
  • (OI)/.73
  • (PNRA)/1.43
  • (APC)/1.27
  • (ESRX)/1.29
  • (X)/1.20
  • (BXP)/1.37
  • (WDC)/2.04
Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
  • Durable Goods Orders for September are estimated to rise +.5% versus a -18.2% decline in August.
  • Durables Ex Transports for September are estimated to rise +.5% versus a +.7% gain in August.
  • Cap Goods Orders Non-Defense Ex Air for September are estimated to rise +.7% versus a +.6% gain in August.
9:00 am EST
  • The S&P/CS 20 City MoM SA for August is estimated to rise +.18% versus a -.5% decline in July. 
10:00 am EST
  • Consumer Confidence for October is estimated to rise to 87.0 versus 86.0 in September.
  • The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for October is estimated to fall to 11.0 versus 14.0 in September.
Upcoming Splits
  • None of note
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The China Industrial Profits report, $29B 2Y T-Note auction,  weekly US retail sales reports, (KR) investor conference and (AMGN) business review could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by industrial and commodity shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.

Stocks Slightly Lower into Final Hour on Rising Emerging Markets/Eurozone Debt Angst, Global Growth Fears, Technical Selling, Commodity/Construction Sector Weakness

Broad Equity Market Tone:
  • Advance/Decline Line: Lower
  • Sector Performance: Mixed
  • Volume: Below Average
  • Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line
Equity Investor Angst:
  • Volatility(VIX) 16.40 +1.74%
  • Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 142.96 -.05%
  • Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 7.31 -6.32%
  • S&P 500 Implied Correlation 65.17 +1.86%
  • ISE Sentiment Index 126.0 unch.
  • Total Put/Call .97 +10.23%
  • NYSE Arms 1.70 +111.13% 
Credit Investor Angst:
  • North American Investment Grade CDS Index 65.45 +.85%
  • European Financial Sector CDS Index 67.58 +.71%
  • Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 32.70 +2.16%
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign Debt CDS Index 67.24 -.90%
  • Emerging Market CDS Index 259.94 +1.82%
  • China Blended Corporate Spread Index 331.86 +.65%
  • 2-Year Swap Spread 26.25 unch.
  • TED Spread 22.75 +.5 basis point
  • 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -7.0 +.75 basis point
Economic Gauges:
  • 3-Month T-Bill Yield .00% unch.
  • Yield Curve 188.0 -1.0 basis point
  • China Import Iron Ore Spot $79.52/Metric Tonne -1.19%
  • Citi US Economic Surprise Index 12.0 -5.2 points
  • Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index -40.50 -3.7 points
  • Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index -17.30 +.3 point
  • 10-Year TIPS Spread 1.90 unch.
Overseas Futures:
  • Nikkei Futures: Indicating -49 open in Japan
  • DAX Futures: Indicating +7 open in Germany
Portfolio: 
  • Higher: On gains in my tech/retail/biotech sector longs, index hedges and emerging markets shorts
  • Disclosed Trades: Covered some of my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges, then added them back
  • Market Exposure: 50% Net Long

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:  
  • Rousseff Rout Still Leaving Ibovespa Overvalued to UBS. For all the stock declines investors have seen in Brazil under President Dilma Rousseff, her re-election means there’s more losses in store before equities look attractive to UBS AG and USAA Investment Management Co. After Brazil entered a recession this year and inflation soared past the top end of policy makers’ target, the Ibovespa is trading at a seven-month low of 9.8 times forecast earnings. Stocks won’t be attractive until valuations fall to about 8 times, according to UBS and USAA. The Ibovespa lost 5 percent today at 11 a.m. in Sao Paulo, poised for the biggest drop since 2011 and leaving the index set to enter a bear market. 
  • Petrobras Leads Emerging-Market Losses After Rousseff’s Win. Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4) fell the most in six years as President Dilma Rousseff’s re-election dashed hopes of repealing price and project restrictions that have made it the world’s most-indebted oil producer. The shares tumbled 13 percent to 14.11 reais at 3:13 p.m. in Sao Paulo, leading losses on the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which retreated 0.7 percent. Petrobras, as Rio de Janeiro-based Petroleo Brasileiro is known, now trades at 6.3 times its forecast earnings, the cheapest since March. “Today’s losses may get worse in the next few days,” Sandro Fernandes, a trader at brokerage firm Geraldo Correa, said in a phone interview from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. “Shares may move closer to 12 reais soon.”
  • China Fake Invoice Evidence Mounts as HK Figures Diverge. The gap between China’s reported exports to Hong Kong and the territory’s imports from the mainland widened in September to the most this year, suggesting fake export-invoicing is again inflating China’s trade data. China recorded $1.56 of exports to Hong Kong last month for every $1 in imports Hong Kong registered, leading to a $13.5 billion difference, based on government data compiled by Bloomberg. Hong Kong’s imports from China climbed 5.5 percent from a year earlier to $24.1 billion, figures showed yesterday; China’s exports to Hong Kong surged 34 percent to $37.6 billion, according to mainland data on Oct. 13. 
  • Europe Stocks Drop with Italian Lenders Amid ECB Stimulus. A slide in Italy’s lenders sent European stocks lower, after their best weekly jump of the year, as investors weighed stress-test results and central-bank stimulus measures. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.6 percent to 325.1 at the close of trading in London, paring a decline of as much as 1.1 percent as the European Central Bank said it settled more than 1.7 billion euros ($2.2 billion) of covered-bond purchases last week. A gauge of lenders lost 1.7 percent, reversing a gain of 1.4 percent this morning, as Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA sank the most since at least 1999.
  • Commodities Drop to Five-Year Low Led by Gasoline, Sugar. Commodities slumped to a five-year low led by gasoline and agriculture products grown in Brazil on speculation a slump in the country’s currency will fuel exports. The Bloomberg Commodity Index dropped 0.6 percent at 1:56 p.m. in London after falling to the lowest since July 2009. Raw sugar futures fell 1.6 percent and soybeans dropped 0.4 percent. Brazil is the biggest exporter of both commodities.
  • Five-Year-Old Boy Being Tested for Ebola in New York; Has Fever, in Isolation. (video)
  • IMF Sees Risk of Plunge in GCC Surplus Amid Oil Decline. Gulf Cooperation Council countries may see their current-account surplus decline by $175 billion next year if oil prices stay about $80 a barrel, according to the International Monetary Fund. The projected surplus for the six GCC countries may plunge from $275 billion to about $100 billion next year, Masood Ahmed, director of the Middle East and Central Asia department at the IMF, said in an interview in Dubai. The extended drop in prices would also “translate into an 8 percent reduction in the fiscal revenues of the GCC as a whole,” he said.
  • Junk Market Stressed by Fed Stress Test as Banks Cut Debt. When the Federal Reserve examines the trading books of the world’s largest banks, regulators may find surprisingly little exposure to one risky market: junk bonds. Wall Street’s biggest debt dealers have been dumping speculative-grade securities at the fastest pace on record ahead of annual stress tests by the Fed. They reduced their holdings by 68 percent in the week ended Oct. 15 as the market posted losses of 1.5 percent that week alone, according to data released by the Fed last week.
Wall Street Journal:
  • Tesla(TSLA) Unveils Lower-Cost Lease Program. Electric-Car Maker Looks to Lift Sagging U.S. Sales Through New Incentives. Tesla Motors Inc. is offering sales incentives on its $71,000 and up Model S electric sedan, promising to lower the lease price of the sedan by 25% and to give buyers 90 days to return a vehicle if they are unhappy with it. The move comes amid a sales decline in the U.S. for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla. The auto maker sold 10,335 Model S sedans through September, down 26% from the first nine months in 2014, according to WardsAuto.com, an industry publication that closely tracks sales and production.
  • UBS Executive: Sanctions Pain on Russia Has Only Just Begun. There’s been little progress resolving the Ukraine crisis, and Russia’s pain from sanctions could be just beginning. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Western leaders are trading blame over continued bloodshed in Eastern Ukraine. And German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that sanctions against Russia would stay in place.
CNBC: 
ZeroHedge:
Business Insider:
Telegraph: 
Market Business News:
  • German business sentiment plunges to 2 year low, says Ifo Institute. Business sentiment in Germany hit a nearly two-year low after sliding for six consecutive months. The prestigious Munich-based think tank, the Ifo Institute, reported on Monday that its Ifo Business Climate Index for industry and trade in Germany slid in October to 103.2 points, compared to 104.7 in September. The news put a dampener on the initial surge in European bank share prices on Monday following Sunday’s publication of the ECB and EBA stress test results. Not only did expectations of the current business situation in the country fall, but predictions for the next six months turned more negative too. “The outlook for the German economy deteriorated once again,” Ifo wrote.
Channel News Asia:

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:
  • Small-Cap Growth -.62%
Sector Underperformers:
  • 1) Steel -4.01% 2) Oil Service -3.70% 3) Oil Tankers -3.43%
Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:
  • TSLA, AKBA, SRPT, VNDA, TEN, PBR, HLSS, CVTI, LYB, ITUB, JONE, CVLT, BBD, SODA, BYI, ASPS, CPL, FTK, BLUE, WLK, SNY, B, FI, SLB, OXY, SN, OXY, WTW, FET, NOG and MXWL
Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:
  • 1) TGT 2) COH 3) M 4) BWLD 5) TWTR
Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:
  • 1) TSLA 2) SRPT 3) BAC 4) HAL 5) PTEN
Charts: