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Halftime Report 7.19.2012

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Existing homes sales took a nosedive to $4.37 million from $4.62.

S&P 500 futures rose 4.75 points to 1372.00, NASDAQ futures rose 30 points to 2650.00 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 16 points to 12876.00.

Commodities were dealing with different crisis across the world. WTI crude futures rose on tensions in the Middle East. WTI was up $2.44 to $92.31 and gold futures rose $16.20 to $1587.00.

Corn and soybean futures continued their July climb, rising 11 and 39.20 cents respectively. 95% of the number 2 largest corn and soy state of Illinois was in what is considered a severe drought, up from 65% last week.

Morgan Stanley (MS) released weak earnings after reporting the lowest stock and bond trading revenue on Wall Street. Profit was $591 million and 29 cents a share Shares were trading at $13.37, down 62 cents or 4.43% on the day.

Nokia Corp. (NOK) also released a weak set of earnings due to its premier telephone handset missed sales expectations. Although earnings were weak, they did boast a healthy supply of cash.

J.M. Smucker, the jam company released earnings of 52 cents a share, an increase of 8%. Maybe people flock to jam based sandwiches in difficult economic times?

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

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Movers and Shakers – MLNX – 7.19.2012

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Mellanox Technologies posted quarterly earnings numbers that beat last year’s and analysts numbers. The Israeli semiconductor connectivity company posted a profit of 80 cents a share, 25 cents higher than expected and over double last year’s earnings. Revenue was $133.5 million, shooting the $128 million projection out of the water. EPS increased by 267% and sales grew 111%. Gross profit margins increased to 70.5%, higher than 68.9% at the same time last year.

MNLX remains optimistic about their guidance with Q3 sales estimates in the range of $150-155 million. Their growth is mostly based in Web 2.0, cloud, database and financial services sectors.  It is nice to see that the European crisis in not negatively affecting every industry.

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

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Chris Cruises the Globe 7.19.2012

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The Hang Seng climbed 1.7% with some help from the banks and a positive MBA report from the US.
China Construction bank added 2.7% and the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China followed with 2.5%.
Real estate also lagged today in China with China Overseas Land & Investment losing 1.4% and China
Resources Land down .1%, two of only 4 that posted losses in the index today.

European shares advanced to 11 week highs as the FTSEurofirst is currently up .4%, on track for 7
straight week of gains, its longest since 05’. Electrolux jumped 4.4% and AkzoNobel gained 5% after
their earnings beat forecasts. Tool maker Sandvik grew 6% lifted by earnings above market expectations
for Q2. So far 64% of European large and mid-cap firms beat or met expectations and have had profits
increase an average of 3.4% year over year, according to Reuters Starmine data.

Deutsche Bank plans to cut 1000 investment-banking positions as activity in the capital market slows
down due to the Eurozone Crisis.

Nokia Siemens returns to profitability with pre-market shares up 5.8%.

The Home Depot plans to close 10 of its 52 branches across Israel, looking to lower rental costs.

Commodities are benefiting from the upbeat data with crude, natural gas, gold and silver all showing
gains to begin the session.

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

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Morning Rage 7.19.2012

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As for the economy today there are quite a few announcements, here is the
schedule:
• 8:30am Jobless Claims – There was an increase in jobless claims this week.
• 9:45am Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
• 10:00am Existing Home Sales
• 10:00am Philadelphia Fed Survey
• 10:00am Leading Indicators

In the stock market today the S&P 500 is up 0.67% as well as 10-year treasuries at
1.33%. Crude oil is up 1.47% while the dollar is down 0.34%.

Regarding the stock market the topic everyone won’t stop talking about is the Libor
scandal. Barclays and numerous other banks were found to be fixing the rates. But
other than fine the companies what can the government do? Bernanke says it is up
to the FSB find a solution.

Make sure to check out our Webinar on Sunday, 22nd and follow us on Twitter
@keeneonmarket!

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Cornes at the Close 7.18.2012

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It appears that earnings sentiment has changed after the first week of earnings. Markets were timid going into last week, and started to chart new positive territory after some better than expected earnings. Could rallies such as today’s be too impulsive? When is the Euro crisis going to be priced in?

Corn futures continued to rise on weather concerns. Contracts were trading up 10.80 cents at 790.20 cents.  

WTI crude futures rose 65 cents to $89.87 and gold futures fell $12.80 to $1576.70.

S&P 500 futures gained 8.75 points to 1367.25, NASDAQ futures rose 33.25 points to 2620.25, and Dow Jones Industrial futures rallied 109 points to 12846.00.

I have my eye on EUR/USD futures as they have been hanging around the $1.23 level for some time now. In my opinion I think that it willl break down below $1.20, I am just not sure when that will happen.

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

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Halftime Report 7.18.2012

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Natural Gas futures rose with the country’s temperatures gaining 12.6 cents to $2.9220. WTI crude futures continued their rise, gaining a modest 15 cents to $89.37. Gold futures fell with EUR/USD futures, falling $16.30 to $1573.20 and 24 pipps to $1.2273 respectively.

Intel Corp (INTC) and Honeywell Inc. (HON) were at the top of today’s earning reports with strong earnings and high guidance relative to this season’s earnings so far.

Investors were bullish on stocks this morning on hopes of QE3. I think that today’s rally can be easily erased and would not long stock indices until they fall back from the past week’s impulsive gains.  S&P 500 futures rose 8.75 points to 1367.25, NASDAQ futures rose 30 points to 2617.00 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 99 points to 12836.00.

Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) fell over 4% after reporting weak earnings. I would assume that their weak earnings are due to traders pulling out of the market, hence less commission revenue.

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

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Movers and Shakers – ROVI – 7.18.2012

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ROVI was among a large group of stocks that received analyst downgrades today based on poor guidance. The digital entertainment company lowered its earnings estimates for their August 2nd earnings release to be lower than expected with earnings between 35 and 38 cents and revenue of $158 million. The drops in expectations are due to slower demand for consumer electronics along with slow-moving patent licensing.

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