As Q4 earnings season gets unofficially underway with another big earnings beat from Alcoa (AA), oil prices continue to crash through the floor, now trading below $45 per barrel. On the earnings front, Alcoa beat estimates easily...
Stocks started today’s session on a positive note, with another strong labor market reading reconfirming the improved U.S. economic picture. The weak inflation data out of Europe is helping sentiment as well, as it is interpreted as increasing the odds of...
We don’t have much on the data front today, but plenty of economic data the rest of this week will occupy the market’s attention. These range from minutes of the Fed’s last meeting coming out Wednesday afternoon to the December non-farm...
Stocks have been on a tear in the last few sessions and the trend will likely continue in today’s session as well, with the extremely positive GDP report adding to market sentiment.
The Fed remains in the spotlight today, with the central bank expected to give investors a roadmap for the future course of monetary policy. There are plenty of other headlines as well, ranging from a continued oil price sell-off...
The sharp drop in oil prices in recent days has been weighing on markets in the last few sessions. Pre-open sentiment appears to be indicating a positive open, with strong retail sales reading helping the mood.
Stocks ended Tuesday’s session modestly in the red and appear on track to start today’s session the same way. Overnight action out of Asia was mixed, with Chinese stocks rebounding strongly after sell-offs the last couple of sessions, while Japan was down.
Monday’s pullback appears on track to continue into today’s session as well, with overnight weakness in Asia carrying into Europe and weighing on U.S. sentiment. Chinese stocks pulled back sharply in response to new...
A total of +321K jobs were created in the U.S. economy, way above consensus estimates of around +230K and the 12-month average of about 224K. Revisions to the prior two months were revised higher, with October now at +243K from +214K and September now at +271K from...
Stocks today were indicated to open essentially flat even before this morning’s ADP report and the labor market report, which didn’t add any excitement. The government jobs report coming out on Friday is the key economic read on the docket now.
Stocks ended in the red on the first day of December, but appear on track to reverse course in today’s session following a positive market action in Europe ahead of the ECB meeting on Thursday.
The positive GDP report should help the market maintain its positive momentum in today’s session. Stocks have been steadily building on their record level in recent sessions, and today will likely be no different.
Stocks today are expected to continue the positive momentum from last week, pushing the major indexes even deeper into record territory. Positive data out of Germany and more follow-through from China’s surprise rate-cut last week should help...
Today’s market promises to be one of those nice global central bank-driven rallies that we have become accustomed to seeing in recent years. The Chinese central bank is the main driver today, though positive commentary from Mario Draghi is also adding to bullish sentiment.
Today’s housing data was broadly mixed, with Starts coming a shade below estimates and Permits a tad above consensus levels. The Starts weakness was primarily in the multi-family (or apartment buildings) category, which tends to be volatile on a month-to-month basis.
Japan will remain the dominant theme in today’s session; this prompted a big sell-off in Japan that carried into Europe and will have a bearing on our markets today as well. With not much on the economic calendar and the Q3 earnings season slowly moving into the rearview mirror...
The positive Retail Sales report this morning has helped improve sentiment that was earlier showing a mixed picture due to the soft GDP read out of Europe. This morning’s economic readings spotlight the growth divergence between the U.S. and...
Including this morning’s reports from Wal-Mart and Viacom, we now have Q3 results from 461 S&P 500 members or 91.8% of the index’s total membership. Total earnings for these 461 companies are up +6.9% from the same period last year, with 70.5% beating earnings estimates.
Stocks lost ground in a big way about a month back, with global growth fears giving us the first major correction of the year. It didn’t last long, with investors gaining confidence that the strong U.S. economic momentum will be able to sustain itself without global growth support.
The jobs report may have missed estimates, but it provides plenty of confirmation that the U.S. economy can sustain its growth momentum despite the sub-par outlook for its trading partners in Europe, Japan and China.
