Coming off the
worst monthly showing
by U.S. stocks so far in 2012, the bulls seem determined to regain
control in today's session. With futures on the
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)
and
S&P 500 Index (
SPX
)
pointed north of breakeven, traders may want to keep their eyes
trained on:
- that pesky
1,400 mark
.
- a slew of earnings and economic data. It's going to be a
doozy of a week
for bulls and bears alike, according to Equities Analyst Bryan
Sapp.
Among equities in focus,
Apple's (AAPL )
price movement could set up a ripple effect on the broader market;
Veeco Instruments (VECO )
is poised for a big post-earnings pop; and
Pfizer Inc. (PFE )
and
Shutterfly (SFLY )
both reported their respective quarterly results.
And now, on to the numbers...
Market Statistics
Equity option activity on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (
CBOE
) saw 984,949 call contracts traded on Monday, compared to 646,400
put contracts. The resultant single-session put/call ratio arrived
at 0.66, while the 21-day moving average was 0.63.
From the Trading Floor
In today's session, Sapp will also be eyeing "the
materials sector
--
coal
and steel names were strong Monday, and both should have a reaction
to today's
Institute for Supply Management (
ISM
) manufacturing number
. Also,
AAPL
. Big down day yesterday -- if it can't get any traction then the
market could be trouble."
Sapp continues, "On the sentiment front, I still see bears
getting bolder and bolder. It's ironic because we're only about 3%
off of 52-week highs here, and bears seemed convinced that we have
to go lower because the data is getting worse. This could set the
stage for a contrarian long play and the potential for short
covering."
Currencies and Commodities
- The
U.S. dollar index
is rolling around breakeven this morning, with the greenback
last seen at $78.76.
-
Crude oil
is
continuing to pull back
, with the front-month contract down 0.3% at $104.60 per
barrel.
-
Gold futures
are pointed south, as well, with gold for June delivery 0.1%
lower at $1,662.70 an ounce.
In earnings news,
Pfizer Inc. (PFE - 22.90)
said its first-quarter profit fell 19% to $1.79 billion, or 24
cents per share. Excluding items, earnings arrived at 58 cents per
share. Due in part to declining sales of its cholesterol drug,
Lipitor, PFE's revenue backpedaled 7% to $15.41 billion. The
results were mixed, with analysts calling for an adjusted per-share
profit of 56 cents on $15.47 billion in sales. The majority of
analysts are in PFE's corner, with no fewer than 88% maintaining a
"buy" or better recommendation toward the stock. PFE is trading
0.7% lower ahead of the bell.
Veeco Instruments (VECO - 30.19)
reported a first-quarter profit of $16.4 million, or 42 cents per
share, down 69% year-over-year. On an adjusted basis, VECO earned
49 cents per share, while net sales declined 45% to $139.9 million.
The report handily beat Wall Street's expectations, which called
for a profit of just 19 cents per share on $126 million in revenue.
Short sellers reduced their exposure by 13.3% over the last two
reporting periods. VECO is on pace to start the session with an
18.9% pop.
Shutterfly (SFLY - 31.16)
widened its first-quarter loss to $10 million, or 29 cents per
share, while revenue surged by 59.6% to $91.3 million. The results
surpassed analysts' expectations for a loss of 32 cents per share
on sales of $84.6 million. Short-term speculators were picking up
puts ahead of earnings, with SFLY's Schaeffer's put/call open
interest ratio (SOIR) docked at a put-heavy 1.43. In pre-market
trading, SFLY is up 9.1%
Earnings and Economic Data
Today's economic calendar features the
ISM manufacturing index
, construction spending, and
auto sales
. On the earnings front,
Arch Coal (
ACI
)
, Archer Daniels Midland (
ADM
),
Automatic Data Processing (ADP)
, Avon Products (AVP), Biogen Idec (BIIB),
BP (BP),
Broadcom (BRCM),
Chesapeake Energy (CHK)
, Office Depot (ODP),
OpenTable (OPEN)
, P.F. Chang's China Bistro (PFCB),
Sirius XM Radio (SIRI)
, and
Valero Energy (VLO)
will all unveil their quarterly results.
Overseas Trading
It was a light-volume session in Asia today, with traders in
Tokyo returning from a long weekend to follow suit with Wall
Street's selling mood. Corporate heavyweights Sharp and Honda Motor
were among the notable laggards, thanks to disappointing quarterly
results. With most other regional bourses closed for holiday,
Japan's Nikkei ended the day down 1.8%.
Likewise, many traders in Europe have the day off. In Britain,
oil major BP turned lower post-earnings, but a well-received
quarterly report from Lloyds Banking Group provided a halo lift for
financial stocks. With markets in Germany and France closed,
London's FTSE 100 was last seen up 0.4%.
Unusual Put and Call Activity:
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and
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.
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