MARKET UPDATE
Equities are up ahead of the opening bell, with DJIA futures up 40 points and S&P futures up about 5 points. S&P Futures are down 6 points and DJIA futures are down about 50 points. Treasuries prices are indicated lower, and the call from Barron's on the cover story for Bernanke to take rates back up to a normalized 2% is probably only adding fuel to that fire. The 10-Year is yielding 3.43% and the 30-Year yield is 4.25%. Commodities are lower on a marginal basis with NYMEX WTI Crude down $0.25 at $78.28 per barrel and gold is up by +0.3% at $1055.00 per ounce. Today is light on economic data, so markets may have to key off equities today.
ECONOMIC & MACRO EVENTS
These are today’s top economic data:
There are no major economic reports today via government economic data. At 11:00 AM EST Fed Chairman Bernanke speaks at the San Francisco Federal Reserve's Asia economic policy conference on topics about business in and with Asia and is said to be discussing the global financial crisis.
Earnings Today: Apple (AAPL), BB&T (BBT), Eaton (ETN), Gannett (GCI), Jefferies (JEF), Hasbro (HAS), Zions Bancorp (ZION)PetMed Express (PETS), McMoRan Exploration (MMR)
ANALYST UPGRADES & DOWNGRADES
Upgrades
Marvell Tech (MRVL) Started as Buy at Citigroiup.
Downgrades
Accenture (ACN) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
First Solar (FSLR) Cut To Neutral at Macquarie.
Fannie Mae (FNM) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Freddie Mac (FRE) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Tellabs (TLAB) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
BULLISH EVENTS
CME Group Inc. (CME), the parent of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of trade, is reportedly interested in acquiring the Chicago Board of Options Exchange.
Eaton Corporation (ETN) beat earnings but missed on revenues. The company posted Q3 EPS of $1.21 vs. $0.92 estimates and revenue of $3.03B vs. $3.13B estimates. The power management company also sees Q4 EPS of $1.15 to $1.25 EPS vs. $1.06 estimates.
Hasbro (HAS) posted an 8% earnings game on toy sales. Earnings were $0.99 EPS vs $0.93 EPS estimates. Revenue was down almost 2% at $1.28 billion. The toy maker also said it can grow revenues in 2009 if recent trends continue.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is on deck for earnings after the close of trading today. Shares are within about 2% of 52-week highs and within about 5% or 6% of all-time highs. Whisper numbers are above the estimates of $1.42 EPS and $9.2 billion.
Corrections Corp. of America (CXW) was noted very positively in Barron's over its valuations along with other prison operators of Geo Group Inc. (GEO) and Cornell Companies Inc. (CRN). The publication noted that the fears about losses and stop-gaps at the state level are very overblown here.
BEARISH EVENTS
Weatherford International (WFT) posted Q3 earnings of $0.13 vs. $0.13 EPS. Revenue was down about 15% at $2.15 billion (in-line). Weatherford also noted that its North America rig count was down by a whopping -52%, while its international rig count was down by -11%.
CIT Group (CIT) has sweetened part of its debt exchange offer to convert more debt holders, however there are still reports that more of the debt holders want to opt for bankruptcy so they have a far higher place in line.
Chevron (CVX) is not exactly bearish. The company announced that it made a new gas discovery offshore in Australia which will help feed the proposed A$43 billion Gorgon liquefied natural gas project. Chevron owns half of that project and this builds on the supply that underpins the projected 40-year life of the project.
Fannie Mae (FNM) is indicated slightly lower this morning, but not on news of its own. Boutique broker-dealer Keefe Bruyette & Woods downgraded Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac (FRE) for that matter. The old "Market Perform" is now listed as "Underperform."
Exterran Holdings, Inc. (EXH) was hit hard over the weekend by a cautious articel in Barron's. The publication noted, "Exterran's stock is overpriced, given the glut of natural-gas compressors."
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