In my opinion today may be a great day to pick a top in equity indices after an irrational rally this past week. I would hold a position for a mid-term fall in the EUR/USD and S&P 500 index futures.

SanDisk Corp (SNDK) gained over 13% after reporting weak earnings, but growing demand for the second half of the year.

David Cornes holds a degree in economics from the University of Montana.

Last night Chipotle reported quarterly earnings of $2.56 a share and revenues of $690.93 million. Analysts expected an EPS of 2.3 and revenues of $707.09 million. CMG reported a 61% rise in profit last quarter after stronger margins, developmental growth and increased sales. Although they posted growth, CMG said that they did not see as many customers in April as customers may be downgrading to lower quality and more affordable fast food restaurants due to our weak economy. Their customer base is still growing, just at a slower rate than previous time frames.

David Cornes holds a degree in economics from the University of Montana.

Europe is beginning the day down across the borders with the FTSE showing a .5% loss, however is still up for the week and has added 12% since June 4th. 15% of European companies due to report results have done so with average earnings up 6% above consensus. Vodafone fell 2.4% showing a drop in organic growth the first quarter. Nokia also fell, 4.6%, as a number of banks cut their target price. Scania, a truck maker, rose 4.7% due to a less than expected drop in sales orders. EADS gained 4% after being upgraded to buy by Goldman Sachs. The next wave of bad debt to hit lenders comes in the form of student loans. A report released yesterday showed defaults on private student loans was over 8B last year. They reported this was due to aggressive marketing by lenders over the past 10 years. Woes are weighing in the commodity market with crude, natural gas, and silver down and gold showing a spark of hope up just .06%. Contributer Chris Rygh is currently pursuing his MBA in Wisconsin and has a passion for the Market. Comments can be directed to ryghcw19@uww.edu

In the news there are no reports or censuses being announced today so we will
move right along to the stock market. The S&P 500 is up 0.27% while 10-year
treasuries are down 2.63%. Oil is taking a hit as well, down 1.74%. The dollar holds
strong at an increase of 0.50%

Today the dispute between Viacom and DirecTv was finally settled. DirecTv
customers will now get 17 channels such as Comedy Central and MTV back.

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A downbeat round of economic data kept a lid on the market’s gains. The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits jumped to 386,000 last week, the Labor Department reported, more than expected by economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires. The prior week’s reading was revised higher but remained at the lowest level since 2008.

Factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region contracted, albeit at a slower pace, for a third straight month in July, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s index of manufacturing activity. The Conference Board’s leading economic index fell further than forecast.

European markets were broadly higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 rising 1.1% as strong earnings and Germany’s expected approval of the aid plan for Spanish banks buoyed sentiment. Asian markets rallied on the back of strength in the U.S. and in resource stocks, which were boosted by continued gains in oil prices. China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.7%, Australia’s S&P ASX 200 ran up 2%, and Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average advanced 0.8%.

Crude-oil futures rose 3.1% to settle at $92.66. Gold futures gained 0.6% to finish at $1580.10. The dollar ticked higher against the euro but fell versus the yen.