Halftime Report for 4.27.2012

Amazon (AMZN) continues to be one of the stellar performers of the day, rising over 14% at last glance. But, Expedia (EXPE) shareholders are feeling even better – as that stock is higher by 27% today after earnings. EPS came in at $0.26 versus expectations of $0.16.

With the slowdown in the session, we can take a look at some of the other happenings this week. Apple (AAPL) quieted skeptics with a blockbuster quarter, sending shares from around $560 to $610. AAPL shares have retreated slightly, but the stock is holding above $600 today. 

Since EUR/USD closed above its Ichimoku Cloud on the daily chart last Friday, we have expected prices to rise. A Monday sell-off was followed by rallies through the rest of the week to have the pair up 50 pips, a gain of just 0.3%. Other major currencies are posied to close the week relatively higher against the US$ as well. Gold has gained 1.3% this week.

Natural Gas has been the best performer this week, up 12%. This looks to be the first weekly advance for Nat Gas in six. Over the year, Nat Gas is still lower by 27.7% – and we do not expect that this marks a reversal.

Live Cattle are down 6.6% this week following revelations on Monday about a Mad Cow outbreak in California. 

Equity futures are higher by 2.3% (NASDAQ), 1.7% (S&P 500), and 1.5% (DJIA) for the week.