MARKET UPDATE
Equities are bouncing this morning after a mixed show yesterday. We have DJIA and S&P futures up close to 0.5% each. In Europe, the FTSE is up the least with 0.75% gains and the CAC and DAX are both up over 1%. Asian markets rose as well with the Nikkei up 0.4% and the Hang Seng up 1.8%.
Friday's unemployment data may have just gotten a boost as the October Challenger Jobs data showed that layoffs fell to 55,679 vs. 66,404 in September. That would be the lowest since March 2008.
ECONOMIC & MACRO EVENTS
These are today’s top economic data:
10:30 AM EST Weekly DOE oil inventory data
2:15 PM EST FOMC DECISION ON RATES
Major earnings reports are due from CMCSA, TWX, CSCO, VG, FWLT, QCOM
ANALYST UPGRADES & DOWNGRADES
General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) Started as Buy at Janney Montgomery.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Energizer Holdings (NYSE: ENR) Cut to Neutral from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES) Cut to Hold at Lazard.
BULLISH EVENTS
Foster Wheeler (FWLT) beat its earnings estimates with $0.71 EPS vs $0.63 estimates. Revenue was down by about 29% to $1.22 billion, which was under the $1.29B estimates.
Marsh & McLennan (MMC) reported earnings for the third quarter of $0.48 EPS vs $0.26 estimates. Revenue was down 10% to $2.52 billion, but under estimates of $2.6B.
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) Is seeing a recovery snap-back rally this morning on its earnings the week after the Google Navigation launch. The company posted $1.02 EPS and $781 million in revenues with improved margins. This may cause an additional short squeeze for at least a day.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) beat its earnings projections after it reported $0.61 EPS on $7.13 billion in revenues versus estimates of $0.53 EPS $7.08B. The company sees 2009 EPS around $2.05 or better versus consensus of $2.03.
Comcast (CMCSA) managed to beat earnings at $0.28 vs $0.25 estimates. The cable giant's revenue was in-line with estimates. No news was released on any deal with GE over NBC Universal.
BEARISH EVENTS
True Religion (TRLG) posted soft earnings last night, barely. And its 'raised guidance' actually was under the estimates from Thomson Reuters. With $200 jeans and with 24% of its float short, that isn't good enough.
Sun Microsystems (JAVA) may have another road block in the acquisition by Oracle. The EU is apparently listing formal objections, which if not resolved could be the first step to formally block there merger.
Kraft Foods (KFT) beat earnings, but it was sloppy and the currency was an issue. The food giant and DJIA component reported $0.55 and $9.8 billion in revenues vs. estimates of $0.48 and $10.32B. The company also raised its 2009 EPS target to at least $1.97 from at least $1.93 prior estimates and versus estimates of $1.97 EPS.
Baker Hughes (BHI) earnings looks pretty ugly if there are not any charges in the earnings figures. The oil services giant reported Q3 earnings results of $0.26 EPS and $2.23B revenues vs. estimates of $0.36 EPS and $2.26B revenues.
Pulte Homes (PHM) is showing that the housing recovery might not be in the numbers yet. the housing builder posted earnings of of -$1.15 EPS rather than -0.89 estimates. Revenue was down 30% to $1.09 billion, also under the estimates of $1.23B. Pulte said the industry continues its transition toward more stable market conditions as lower prices and historically low mortgage rates are helping to support homebuyer demand. It also noted that challenges remain.
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